The rumor of ‘Ryukyu Prince’s murder on Jeju island’ in the early 17th-century and its historical context

This paper examines the connection between Joseon-Ryukyu relations and the ban on Jeju people from entering the land by reconstructing the formation process of the rumor of the ‘Ryukyu Prince’s murder on Jeju island’ in the early 17th century and examining the specifics of the rumor's plausibility. The fact that the ‘Ryukyu Prince’s murder on Jeju island’ rumor, which is a mixture of fact and fiction, persisted for a long time, rather than only for a short period of time when it was circulated among the population, is due to the special relationship between the rumor and its background. The international context refers to the diplomatic predicament that Joseon faced between the Ming and Ryukyu (and Japan) from shortly after 1609, when Japan annexed the Ryukyu, and the domestic context is the ban on Jeju people from entering the land since 1629. Faced with the dual predicament of being at odds with Ryukyu, which had been annexed by Japan, and under pressure from Ming, which was wary of engaging with Japan, Joseon encouraged the circulation of this rumor and enforced the ban on Jeju people from entering the land. As a result, this rumor story mentally bound the lives of Jeju who had nothing to do with it, and the ban, while less effective, had a restraining effect on Jeju Islanders. In this way, the Joseon government succeeded in “avoiding” unnecessary diplomatic relations with the Ryukyu until the 18th century.