ConflictJanuary – March 1627(Lunar)

First Manchu Invasion

The Later Jin invaded with 30,000 troops; King Injo fled to Ganghwa, and the war ended with a pact making the two states “elder and younger brothers”.

Ganghwa Sanseong, the walled town on Ganghwa Island where King Injo took refuge
Nt · CC0 · Source

After the 1623 coup Joseon turned pro-Ming, and the Ming general Mao Wenlong, based on Ga Island off Pyeongan, threatened the Later Jin’s rear. Followers of Yi Gwal who had fled to the Jurchens also urged an invasion, offering the pretext of avenging Gwanghaegun.

In the 1st month of 1627 a Later Jin army under Amin, sent by Hong Taiji, crossed the Yalu, took Uiju and pushed south to Pyeongsan. Injo fled to Ganghwa and Crown Prince Sohyeon to Jeonju. Militia leaders such as Yi Rip at Uiju and Jeong Bong-su at Yonggolsanseong resisted.

Facing war with the Ming, the Later Jin could not stay long and pressed for peace. In the 3rd month the two states swore a pact as elder and younger brother on Ganghwa, and the Jurchen army withdrew. Joseon kept its ties with the Ming but, at Later Jin demand, opened border markets at Junggang and Hoeryeong.

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The map in 1627

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States and rulers at the time: Joseon · invaded — Injo
Later Jin · invader — Hong Taiji
Places: Ganghwa

People

Injo1595 – 1649
monarch · Sixteenth king of Joseon, enthroned by coup; endured two Manchu invasions and surrendered at Samjeondo
Hong Taiji1592 – 1643
leader · Khan of the Later Jin and first emperor of Qing, who invaded Joseon twice

Before and after

Earlier: 1624 Yi Gwal’s Rebellion
Later: 1635 Mireukjeon Hall, Geumsansa, Gimje

Themes that include this event

Ming, Qing and Edo Japan1500 – 1800
The age when the Ming, shaken by northern raiders, southern pirates and the silver economy, fell to Li Zicheng’s rebels, and the Manchu Qing reached its greatest extent and prosperity under Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong — as Japan was unified out of the Warring States into the Edo shogunate’s bakuhan order and closed country, and Joseon, after two great wars, met its neighbours through embassies to Edo and the Northern Learning
Ganghwa Island1000 BC – 2011
From dolmens to the Treaty of Ganghwa — Goryeo’s refuge capital and the stage of Korea’s opening, the island the kingdom fell back on in every crisis