18세기 연행사와 서양 선교사의 만남

Abstract

In the eighteenth century, a number of Joseon Korean envoys visited Catholic churches in Beijing and recorded such experiences in their yeonhaengrok (Korean travel literature to Qing China), which are invaluable sources for us to examine Korean intellectuals' understanding of Western Learning in the late Joseon Dynasty. Though study on the topic of Koreans' encounter with Western missionaries has been advanced by modern scholars to a great extent, the precedent scholarship left out some significant records owing to the limitations of their examined materials. In his paper, I presents newly discovered records of Koreans visiting Catholic churches in Beijing and provides an account of general pattern of interaction between Korean envoys and Western missionaries as described in yeonhaengrok of the eighteenth century. We can see relatively detailed reports of Koreans visiting Catholic churches in Beijing in such yeonhaengrok as Yi Gi-ji's Iram yeon-gi (1720), Gang Ho-bu's Sangbong rok (1727), Kim Sun-hyoep's Yeonhang irok (1729), Jeong Gwang-chung's Yeonhang irok (1755), Yi Ui-bong's Bukwon rok (1761), and Hong Dae-yong's Eulbyeong yeonhangrok (1765). As late as in Seo Ho-su‘s Yeorha giyu (1790), we can see the report of his visiting Matteo Ricci's tomb and his noteworthy discussion on Joseon Korea's reception of Western Learning. In my discussion, I will show some general characteristics of Korean visitors to Catholic churches and their meeting with Western missionaries in diving the eighteenth century yeonhangrok into the first period and the second period. And I examine as a case study Iram yeon-gi (1720) specifically by offering detailed tables of important cultural matters, which contains the richest account of Western civilization and culture of the eighteenth century yeonhaengrok. Because Yi Gi-ji and Yi Ui-bong were two of the most enthusiastic Koreans for interacting with Western missionaries in the eighteenth century, I put their records in my focus. Though Yi Gi-ji and Yi Ui-bong came from different political factions, they had shared interests in Practical Learning. For this reason, they must have showed strong intellectual curiosity for Western things and thereby visited Catholic churches and had conversations with Western missionaries there. From their records of yeonhaengrok, we can see vividly what impacts or wonders the new foreign civilization did bring out to Joseon Korean intellectuals, and how they responded to and handled such cultural confrontations. At any rate, we should remember that Hong Dae-yong and Seo Ho-su exhibited more matured understaning of that foreign civilization and assumed a more informed and confident attitude in their conversation with Western missionaries than other Koreans, obviusly thanks to their broad knowledge of Western Learning. To have a balanced view of inter-cultural interaction between Korean envoys and Western missionaries, we need to examine not just Korean yeonhaengrok but also those accounts written by Western missionaries. I look forward to enriching our understanding of such inter-cultural issues by facilitating interdisciplinary research.