Beyond the Narrative of Legitimacy: The Political Significance of Yongle’s 1419 Gift of Paintings to Chosŏn

This study examines the content and production context of the five paintings presented in 1419 by the Yongle Emperor (永樂帝, r. 1403~1424) to the kings of Chosŏn. The works depict exotic animals such as the giraffe, lion, and zebra, as well as miraculous Buddhist manifestations at sites later identified as the Dabao'en Monastery (大報恩寺) in Nanjing and the Xiantong Monastery (顯通寺) on Mount Wutai. While previous scholarship has interpreted Yongle-era paintings of auspicious signs (祥瑞) largely as tools for legitimizing the emperor’s rule after the Jingnan (靖難) campaign, this study reconsiders their significance by focusing on the concentrated production of visual representations of auspicious portents in 1419.The animal paintings draw on real creatures brought to the Ming court through Zheng He’s (鄭和, 1371~1433) maritime expeditions and were presented as heavenly portents whose appearance in Beijing helped sacralize the nearly completed new capital. The Buddhist paintings, created in response to signs reported after the dissemination of the Songs for the Names of Various Buddhas and Bodhisattvas (諸佛世尊如 來菩薩尊者名稱歌曲), visualized miraculous events that shaped the emperor’s image as a ruler endowed with extraordinary spiritual authority comparable to a universal sovereign (cakravartin).Placed within the political and religious context of 1419, the presentation of these paintings to the Chosŏn mission was closely connected to King T'aejong’s (太宗, r. 1401~1418) decision to dispatch his son, Kyŏngnyŏng-gun (敬寧君, 1395~1458), as an envoy of exceptional status. This context helps explain why the delegation formally viewed auspicious portents before receiving the paintings, a procedure that reveals how the Yongle court extended its commemorative practices into the sphere of foreign diplomacy.