19세기 중국인의 아메리카 인식 ― 魏源의 ≪海國圖志≫를 중심으로

Abstract

This paper is meaningful in examining the perception of America in 19th century China through the records of America in WeiYuan(魏源)’s Haiguotuzhi(海國圖志). Weiyuan’s perception of America began with the independence of the United States and the independence of other American countries. However, since the independence of the American countries was influenced by the independence of the United States, Weiyuan’s perception of the Americas was forced to focus on the United States. Therefore, this study examined the United States, Peru, Mexico and Chile according to Weiyuan's perception, and focused on the United States among them. How does Weiyuan perceive America? Weiyuan expressed the characteristics of the United States in six letters: bravery[武], wisdom[智], public[公], democracy[周], rich[富], friendship[誼]. The bravery[武] and wisdom[智] represent American independence, public[公], and democracy[周], rich[富] and friendship[誼] are concepts that symbolize the political system and friendship of the United States. Weiyuan thought that the United States was wise in that it recognized the United States as a brave country because the people had achieved independence against the world's greatest power, Britain, without a superior monarch, and brought Britain's hostility, France, to war and led American independence. In addition, the United States, unlike China, where the state is operated by the emperor, thought it was an public because it chose the president through public elections, said it was an public because it decided according to the principle of majority resolution reflecting the opinions of all people, and recognized it as a country that knows friendship because it does not ignore other countries. At the time, both Britain and the United States were invaders, but from the Chinese point of view, the United States was relatively less hostile to them, and did not harm China with opium like Britain. Therefore Weiyuan and other Chinese people often expressed hostility by expressing Britain as a Yingyi(英夷), while the United States did not label it as an Meiyi(美夷), which is also understood to have been intended to check Britain through the United States. From this, Weiyuan tried to make a model for the revival of China, which is in crisis, by examining the US independence process, the US system.