<Note>The Investiture Envoy Li Ding-Yuan's Perception of Ryukyu from Yu Deuk-gong's Manuscript Version of Youn Dae Jae You Log and International Relationships among Qing, RyuKyu, Japan and Joseon

After the invasion by Satsuma, a Japanese feudal domain, Ryukyu was able to maintain its monarchy. Concealing his relationship with Japan, Ryukyu received investiture 冊封 from the Qing recognizing its tributary status. Satsuma helped in this concealment. Joseon, likewise a vassal state of Qing, had known Ryukyu was a subject of Japan through Joseon's embassies to Japan. However, the relationship between Ryukyu and Japan was not revealed and did not become a subject of discussion in the suzerain state, Qing. Investiture envoys who came to Ryukyu sensed the shadow of Japan but did not investigate or report this to the Qing Court. One example is the problem of Japanese era name inscribed on Gohei 御幣 of Naminoue temple 波上寺 in Ryukyu. Even though that Japanese era and zodiac signs did not coincide with each other, investiture envoys could not correct it. If they were to correct it, the fact that Qing had granted investiture even though Ryukyu was a subject of Japan would also come to light. Therefore investiture envoys cautiously avoided dwelling on that fact. In relation to this problem, the example of Li Ding-yuan 李鼎元, the investiture envoy in 1800, deserves attention. After he went back to Beijing, he met Yu Deuk-gong 柳得恭, an envoy from Joseon, and they discussed Ryukyu. The content of their discussion appears in Yu Deuk-gong's Youn Dae Jae You Log 燕臺再游録. Yu mentioned that the king of Ryukyu had been captured by Hideyoshi Toyotomi, but Li did not respond and unnaturally allowed the dialogue on Ryukyu to conclude. Therefore, it is said that Qing diplomats and scholars were vaguely aware of the relationship between Ryukyu and Japan but did not to refer to it or ask openly about Ryukyu's status. However, it has now been discovered that the text of the Youn Dae Jae You Log used in previous studies differs from Yu Deuk-gong's manuscript version. In the manuscript version, it is recorded that they discussed the fact that Ryukyu was a subject of Japan. Li Ding-Yuan knew this, but in his record as investiture envoy, Shi Liu Qiu Ji 使琉球記, he made no mention of it. It is now clear that he was unable to record it. In this period, the relationships between Qing, Ryukyu, Japan and Joseon were formed on the premise that Ryukyu was a subject of Japan. Stable relationships among these countries were maintained not only by the efforts of Ryukyu and Satsuma to conceal their relationship but also by people, like Li Ding-Yuan of the Qing, who kept their silence