The Priest Wonho's Memories of Admiral Yi     Admiral Yi Sun-Sin is arguably the greatest naval commander of all time. He is Korea's ultimate hero,  His Chinese allies praised him during the 1692-98 Imjin War, and after the Japanese, his fierce enemies, admitted his greatness, too.     The Priest Wonho's Memories of Admiral Yi tells the tale of the greatest warrior of his day as seen through the eyes of an always humble but ever-surprising Buddhist Priest.  Through the Memories of the Priest Wonho we see the whole Imjin War occur. In 1592 Japan invades, and most of Korea collapses. China comes to help Korea, but slowly, arrogantly, almost as dangerous to have as an ally as it is to have Japan as a foe.     Yet one Korean triumphs. From a forgotten corner of Korea this naval hero's ports have remained unconquered. The Japanese focused on conquering the major cities of Korea, and on trying to capture the king. They could not have guessed what a mistake they had made until it was too late.     Except they couldn't go home. Their leader, Hideyoshi Toyotomi, the Taiko, would not let them. His ego did not allow for them to return to Japan defeated. Indeed, in the first year of the war, 1592, the Japanese had won on land against the Koreans as easily as in 1939 the WWII Germans beat up Poland.     However, at the hands of Admiral Yi they had also suffered four horrible naval defeats. Plus the Chinese armies had proved tougher than the Korean land forces had, though in time the Koreans on land learned to fight well, too.     The samurai could no longer conquesr, but they could also not go home. So from 1593-1597 the Japanese sat in and around Pusan. In those years they only won one big victory on land. This was on land at the second battle of Chinju.
Not able to defeat Admiral Yi in battle, the Japanese arranged for a spy to plant an accusation against their greatest foe. To their amazement, it worked. Admiral Yi was removed from command, having been charged with betraying the throne. The Japanese then moved to the offensive gain, convinced their time had come. They crushed the Korean navy under its new commander, and prepared for renewed war against a now defenseless Korea. Finally they could get their ships around to the west coast to support the armies. The way to China was open.     Except for one thing. Admiral Yi was not dead, yet. As he had said in a written message to the King at Court, "As long as I live the enemy must respect us."     Perhaps this was one of the great understatements of all time.     The Priest Wonho's Memories of Admiral Yi tells of the greatest feats of this magnificent hero, and much more. One of the highlights of the book is the writer himself-- Wonho , the humble, well-versed, wandering Buddhist Priest. This book is his story as well as the Admiral's.     The Priest Wonho shares his world with us. We can be thankful for the eyes with which he sees it. We can also be glad for the way he tells of us the great and the horrible, the best and the worst, and the most holy and most evil of acts and times.     Along with his interactions with Admiral Yi, the Priest Wonho's experiences range from meditations to preventing a rape to secret missions behind enemy lines and.... The modest priest is actually a very good man, worthy to assist the legendary Admiral.     The discovery of the manuscripts of the Priest Wonho after having been lost for 365 years is a wonderful miracle of history. The translators of his words into English also deserve the highest praise--it is also thanks to them that this story is so meaningful to the modern reader.
	The Priest Wonho's Memories of Admiral Yi by M. F. Sawyer is available direct from his publisher here and is also available at Barnes & Noble, Amazon.com, and other on-line and neighborhood bookstores. .   .   .
Mark Sawyer writes as M. F. Sawyer to keep web searchers avoid the tangle of Mark Twain and Tom Sawyer.