이방인의 눈에 비친 제물포 Ⅰ－개항 전후부터 청일전쟁 시기까지－

Abstract

In this article, the activities of foreigners who visited the Chemulpo area, and the records they created and left, during the time period that started around the time of national opening and continued through the Qing-Japan war, are examined in a chronological fashion. The individuals from foreign countries, who visited Chosun after the Grand era of navigation, all had either public or private agendas of their own, and explored Chosun pursuing such agendas. Simply put, they tried to make contact with the Chosun people to achieve their own goals. In the process, foreigners depicted and described not only Chemulpo but also the entire Incheon area from various points of view. They documented the image of Chosun, which they explored with their own perspectives. These descriptions and documents practically shaped the image of Chosun, during the time it was first being introduced to the rest of the world. Through these records and documents created and left by the foreign visitors who came to Chemulpo, which was also an important historical site in the modern history of Korea, we can witness the customs and culture of Chemulpo during the time when it was transforming itself out of its pre-modern state and into a modernized city. The details in those depictions show us the historical changes the region was going through at the time. Around the time of national opening, Chemulpo was examined by the Westerners and their Orientalism-based perspective. Yet later, during the Qing-Japan war period, when tensions were growing considerably high throughout the peninsula, Chemulpo was also newly described and recorded by travelers who came with different agendas and interests, and also yet another set of multi-layered perspectives.