서세동점기의 서구인과 한국인의 상호 인식 = A Study of the Reciprocal Understanding between Korean and Westerners in the 19th Century

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

[1] This article was written to depict the reciprocal understandings between Koreans and Westerners in the 19th Century, focusing on their relevance, misunderstanding and their influence upon the following history.
[2] Before the Middle age, the Westerners knew the existence of Korea, but it was 1668 when the Westerners get concrete informations on Korea through Narrative and Description of the Kingdom of Korea written by H. Hamel. It was after 1860s when Korea opened ports and began trade and communications with Western countries. The reasons why they approached to Korea were: (1) extension of Westward frontiership in the U.S. toward the East (2) adventurist dream for upstart (3) Western-triumphalism under the name of gospel propagation.
[3] The features of Korean people reflected in the eyes of Westerners were generally negative. But in some respects, they pointed out what Koreans did not know for themselves. (1) Regarding the political situation, they were pessimistic, due to the corrupted bureaucrats, but the political struggles between sects (黨爭) are positively evaluated. (2) Concerning the racial origins of the Korean people, they denied the theory of unitary blood to which Koreans excessively attached. They described the Korean as lazy, luxurious and dissipated. But, they say, such temper was not natural disposition but outcome of renunciation due to the corruption of the ruling class. (3) The women were generally portrayed as being oppressed and they showed sympathy, but someone praised the integrity of the ladies in aristocrats. (4) Products were fluent, but Koreans hid them in order to keep them from exploitation by foreigners. Korean had not intention to increase the productivity. (5) Concerning the marine policy, Korean people adhered the ‘vacant island policy’ and prohibited the advance to ocean. Westerners pointed out that such a closed-door policy caused the fall of the Chosun Dynasty.
[4] The features of the Western people in the eyes of Korean can be summarized as followings. (1) According to the general theory of the Korean cognition to foreigners, Korean have xenophobia. But it is not true. Korean are ambivalent to foreigners. In some respect, they have xenophilia. (2) Korean had been astonished by the mechanical instruments from the West, which influenced Korean both to open and to close the ports. (3) Astonishment of the Korean to the Western civilization provided a moment to deviate from the Sino-centrism(中華主義). In this respect, the Western infiltration into Korea drew a line of modern nationalism. (4) On the civilian level, Westerners were good Samaritan to the Korean, but international level, they were passive supporter of the Japanese seizure of the late Chosun Dynasty.
[5] In sum, in spite of the time lag of 150 years, the modern Korean diplomatic history during the Western infiltration era, haㅇ significant lesson to the Korean contemporary history. Especially the political situation of today is less different to that of the ruined Chosun Dynasty in the early 20th Century. Therefore, ‘when you want to know where you should go,’ as Confucius said, ‘look back from where you came.’