1599年，日本京都發生一件至今仍令人不寒而慄的歷史事件。為了在京都豐國神社安葬剛剛去世不久的豐臣秀吉，日本方面竟將萬曆援朝戰爭中犧牲的明朝與朝鮮將士的耳鼻割下，用鹽進行醃製，隨後集中掩埋在神社門前，並將其命名為「耳塚」。這座看似靜默的土塚，實際上卻是侵略、屠殺與戰爭暴行的具體象徵，也是萬曆援朝戰爭中最悲壯、最殘酷的歷史見證之一。

萬曆援朝戰爭最終以明朝與朝鮮聯軍的勝利告終，成功粉碎日本稱霸東亞的野心，並為整個東亞地區換來近三百年的相對和平。然而，這場勝利的代價極其沉重。明朝不僅耗費大量軍費與物資，更在兵力與國力上遭到嚴重消耗，國勢由盛轉衰，為 1644 年甲申之變、明朝滅亡埋下長遠的伏筆。耳塚，正是這段「以勝利換衰亡」歷史最具象化的象徵。

時間回溯至1598年，豐臣秀吉病逝，日本侵朝戰爭失去核心推動者，日軍士氣崩潰，開始準備分批撤離朝鮮半島。就在這一關鍵時刻，明朝與朝鮮聯軍在半島南端的露梁海域，與撤退中的日軍展開最後一場決戰。此役聯軍全殲日軍水師主力，擊沉戰船約 200 艘，殲滅日軍過半兵力，僅小西行長一人僥倖逃生。然而，這場勝利同樣付出慘痛代價——明朝水師統帥鄧子龍與朝鮮水師統帥李舜臣雙雙陣亡，成為整場萬曆援朝戰爭中犧牲級別最高的將領，其死至今仍被視為中朝兩國共同的歷史傷痕。

事實上，在豐臣秀吉尚在人世時，日本方面便已對戰死敵軍的遺體進行系統性的處理與羞辱。按照其命令，凡是明軍軍官，一律斬首作為戰功證明；普通士兵則割去耳鼻，並以鹽、醋與石灰進行防腐處理，裝入木桶中展示，以便向後方交差、誇耀戰績。這種將人體殘肢作為「軍功數據」的做法，本身即是對人性的極端踐踏。

相傳不久之後，豐臣秀吉開始出現強烈的心理恐懼與精神壓力，時常夢見失去耳鼻的明軍亡魂索命，夜不能寐。在其授意下，京都相國寺住持西笑承兌於1597年舉行所謂「供養大會」，名義上為亡靈超度，實際上也為集中掩埋這些殘肢鋪路，耳塚的修建工程由此展開。待豐國神社落成、豐臣秀吉正式入葬後，那些裝滿明朝與朝鮮將士耳鼻的木桶，便就地以封土方式埋葬，塚頂豎立五輪塔，象徵對亡靈的超度，卻無法掩蓋其本質上的戰爭罪行。

根據學者推估，耳塚內共埋葬明軍將士耳鼻29,014個，朝鮮將士耳鼻185,738個。而實際統計顯示，明軍在萬曆援朝戰爭中陣亡人數接近5萬人，朝鮮方面更是付出超過100萬軍民傷亡的慘烈代價。這些數字背後，是無數家庭的破碎與難以彌補的歷史創傷。

令人遺憾的是，對於當年侵略朝鮮與屠戮他國軍民的行為，日本官方與主流史觀從未進行過真正的反省與懺悔。相反，在《朝鮮征戰記》等史書中，仍將豐臣秀吉描繪成「千古赫赫威光……令兒童亦頌其德」的英雄人物。甲午戰爭結束後，日本更以所謂「豐公三百年祭」為名，在耳塚前修建紀念碑，公然將割取他國將士耳鼻的戰爭罪行美化為「功績」與「德行」，對受害者及其後代造成二次傷害。

時至今日，耳塚依然矗立在京都街頭，看似沉默，卻不應被遺忘。它不只是歷史遺跡，更是一座提醒世人正視侵略、暴力與歷史責任的警示碑。唯有誠實面對過去、承認罪行、尊重亡靈，歷史的悲劇才不會在未來重演。

In 1599, a deeply chilling historical incident took place in Kyoto, Japan. In preparation for the burial of Toyotomi Hideyoshi at Hōkoku Shrine, the Japanese authorities committed an act of extreme brutality: they cut off the ears and noses of Ming dynasty and Korean soldiers who had died during the Imjin War (the Ming intervention in the Japanese invasions of Korea), preserved these body parts with salt, and buried them in front of the shrine. This mound was later named the “Mimizuka,” or “Ear Mound.” What appears today as a silent earthen mound is, in reality, a stark symbol of invasion, massacre, and war crimes, and one of the most tragic and brutal testimonies of the Imjin War.

Although the Imjin War ultimately ended in victory for the Ming dynasty and the Joseon Kingdom—successfully shattering Japan’s ambition to dominate East Asia and bringing nearly three centuries of relative peace to the region—the cost of that victory was staggering. The Ming court expended enormous financial and material resources, while suffering severe military losses that critically weakened the state. The empire’s decline accelerated, laying the groundwork for the Jiashen Catastrophe of 1644 and the eventual fall of the Ming dynasty. The Ear Mound stands as one of the most tangible symbols of a victory achieved at the price of long-term national exhaustion.

In 1598, following Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s death, the Japanese invasion forces lost their central driving figure. Morale collapsed, and preparations began for a phased withdrawal from the Korean Peninsula. At this critical juncture, Ming and Joseon allied forces confronted the retreating Japanese navy in the waters of Noryang. This final battle resulted in the complete annihilation of the Japanese naval main force—approximately 200 warships were destroyed, and more than half of the Japanese forces were wiped out, with only Konishi Yukinaga managing to escape. However, the victory came at a devastating cost: Deng Zilong, commander of the Ming navy, and Yi Sun-sin, commander of the Joseon navy, were both killed in action. They became the highest-ranking commanders to die during the Imjin War, and their deaths remain a shared historical wound for both China and Korea.

Even before Hideyoshi’s death, Japan had already institutionalized the mutilation of enemy corpses. Under his orders, the heads of Ming officers were severed as proof of military merit, while ordinary soldiers had their ears or noses cut off. These body parts were treated with salt, vinegar, and lime for preservation, placed into wooden barrels, and displayed to demonstrate battlefield “achievements.” The practice of reducing human remains to numerical trophies represents a profound violation of human dignity.

According to historical accounts, Hideyoshi soon began to suffer intense psychological torment, reportedly plagued by nightmares in which the spirits of mutilated Ming soldiers came to claim his life, leaving him unable to sleep. At his direction, the abbot of Shōkoku-ji Temple in Kyoto, Seishō Jōtai, convened a memorial and appeasement ceremony in 1597, ostensibly to console the dead but in reality to legitimize the burial of these remains. Construction of the Ear Mound began shortly thereafter. Once Hōkoku Shrine was completed and Hideyoshi was interred, the barrels containing the ears and noses of Ming and Joseon soldiers were buried on-site and covered with earth. A five-ringed pagoda was erected atop the mound, symbolizing ritual pacification of the spirits—though it could not conceal the underlying nature of the atrocity.

According to research by Japanese Confucian scholar Hayashi Razan, the Ear Mound contains the ears and noses of 29,014 Ming soldiers and 185,738 Korean soldiers. Historical records indicate that nearly 50,000 Ming troops were killed during the Imjin War, while more than one million Korean soldiers and civilians perished. Behind these figures lie countless shattered families and irreparable historical trauma.

Regrettably, Japan has never engaged in genuine repentance for its invasion of Korea and the mass killing of foreign soldiers. On the contrary, texts such as The Record of the Korean Campaigns glorify Toyotomi Hideyoshi as a figure of “eternal and resplendent power, whose virtue is praised even by children.” After the First Sino-Japanese War, Japan further compounded this distortion by erecting a commemorative monument in front of the Ear Mound under the pretext of celebrating the “300th Anniversary of Lord Toyotomi,” openly reframing the mutilation of enemy soldiers as acts of “virtue” and “achievement.” Such actions inflicted renewed harm upon the victims and their descendants.

To this day, the Ear Mound still stands in Kyoto—silent, yet impossible to ignore. It is not merely a historical site, but a warning carved into the landscape, reminding humanity to confront aggression, violence, and historical responsibility with honesty. Only through truthful acknowledgment of the past, recognition of wrongdoing, and respect for the dead can the tragedies of history be prevented from repeating themselves.