Note 57 — Chapter XIV

According to the letters of Louis Froez, the prince of Ōmura joined the army against Corea with one thousand men, the king of Arima with two thousand, and the king of Bungo with ten thousand, besides mariners and mean people to carry the baggage. The entire number of men-at-arms in the empire, at this time, is stated to have been, by a written catalogue, three hundred thousand. The victories mentioned in the text were gained by an advanced body of fifteen thousand men. The Coreans are described by Froez as different from the Chinese in race and language, and superior to them in personal prowess, yet as in a manner tributary to China, whose laws, customs, and arts they had borrowed. They are represented as good bowmen, but scantily provided with other weapons, and therefore not able to encounter the cannon, lances, and swords of the Japanese, who had been, beside, practised by continual wars among themselves. But in nautical affairs Froez reckons the Chinese and Coreans as decidedly superior to the Japanese. Translations from several Jesuit letters relating to the Corean war will be found in Hackluyt, vol. iv, near the end. Siebold, relying upon Japanese authorities, insists that it was through Corea that the arts, knowledge, language, and written characters of China were introduced into Japan.