Yi Sam-pyeong - Development of The Narrative

Development of The Narrative

Komiya further analyzed historical sources in chronological order to explain how the narrative of Yi Sam-pyeong has been developed.

An appeal, dated 1770, from the Kanagae family to the Taku family shows an early form of the foundation myth. The purpose of the appeal was to overturn the Taku family's decision to stop giving small salary to the Kanagae family, and thus they attempted to glory the achievement of their ancestor and to claim his close tie with the Taku family. According to the appeal, Kanagae Sanbee was brought to Japan by Nabeshima Naoshige and served him as a story teller for several years. He expressed his hope of becoming a potter. As a result, he became a retainer of Taku Yasutoshi and moved to Arita to start porcelain. The appeal claimed the foundation of Arita porcelain to be solely attributed to Kanagae Sanbee, but admitted that no one in Arita "remembered" his achievement at that time. Also this is the first known source that claimed the original surname of Kanagae Sanbee to be Ri (李, Yi).

A memorandum (1784 or 1796) added one more achievement by him: During the Korean campaign in 1592-98, Kanagae Sanbee is said to have risked his life to guide the Nabeshima army. An appeal of circa 1807, again to the Taku family, further expanded the story: He served Nabeshima Naoshige as a navigator during the Korean campaign. It was Nabeshima Naoshige who invited him to Japan for fear that otherwise he would be revenged. It was at this time that he "revealed" his family business of pottery, and he was allowed to continue his business in Japan. As a result of the modification, the memorandum dropped the claim of his supposed service to Nabeshima Naoshige as a story teller. Still, the memorandum admitted that he had not immediately started pottery but that all he could do for early years was to survive his life in the undeveloped region. The use of the name Sanpei (三平, or Sam-pyeong) may be worth mentioning. It is uncertain whether this is indeed his original name or just "Koreanization" of his Japanese name Sanbee (三兵衛).

The above documents were presented by the Kanagae family. Historical sources reveal that there were several other families around Arita that have similar and mutually conflicting foundation myths. The unification of these foundation myths into that of Kanagae Sanbee occurred during the Meiji era, or the late 19th century. In the early Meiji era, people of Arita had no consensus on the history, and the origin in particular, of Arita porcelain. The first publication known to spread the myth nationwide was of 1877, which copied the story of the Kanagae family but used the alleged Korean name of Yi Sam-pyeong. In 1880s several attempts were made in Arita to build a unified view, and during this process, the story of Kanagae Sanbee, now Yi Sam-pyeong, survived as the most influential one. The hegemony was reaffirmed in 1917 when a monument titled "Monument for the Father of Porcelain Yi Sam-pyeong" was build in Sueyama Shrine of Arita.