European Literature and the “First East Asian War” of 1592-1598

The Japanese invasions of Korea between 1592 and 1598 are known as the Imjin War. This war is considered of major interest in the East Asian world, and also attracted the interest of the European forces. However, there are no studies analysing how Europeans perceived this inter-Asian war. The EU-funded EURO IMJIN project will identify, transcribe, translate and analyse European records relating to the Imjin War, and for the first time, advance the potential to connect European and East Asian research on this war, opening new perspectives for European and East Asian scholars. EURO IMJIN will be based on an in-depth study of 17th century European literature.