갑오개혁 이전 조선의 황제국 용어 사용

Abstract

East Asian world order, also known as sadaejilseo(事大秩序), consisted of an empire(China) and its vassal states including Korea. In this order there were also some specific terms and appellations only for the emperor(皇帝; ruler of China), not allowed to the kings(王; vassals of the emperor) like Jim(朕; a self-appellation for the emperor), Chik(勅; the emperor’s order), and Pyeha(陛下; meaning ‘his Majesty’ for the emperor). In the pre-modern age, Korea generally used the terms for the vassal state, not that of empire. And the appellation for Korean King was Guk-Wang(國王). From the conclusion of the treaty with U.S.A. in 1882, Korean King’s appellation changed into ‘Gunju(君主)’ originally used as the common noun for a king, not the appellation. This had been originated from the treaty between U.K. and China in 1842, in which U.K. needed the appellation for the king that had nothing to do with the discrimination between the emperor and kings in the east Asian world order. The appellation of ‘Daegunju(大君主; Great King)’ appeared from the treaty between Korean and U.K. in 1883, inserting the prefix of ‘Dae(大; big, great)’ before ‘Gunju’, also initially used by U.K. from the treaty with China in 1860. This gradually took root as the appellation for the King Gojong among the foreign diplomatic corps in Korea. Along with the appellation, the terms like ‘Jim’ and ‘Chik’ also began to be used in the diplomatic materials for the western countries, because these ones had previously used the same terms in the process of negotiating with China, the empire. The appellation of ‘Daegunju Pyeha(大君主陛下; His Majesty of Great King)’, inserting the suffix of ‘Pyeha’, only allowed for the emperor, at the end of ‘Daegunju’ began to be used in the diplomatic materials for the foreign countries excluding China from 1888. The use of this appellation seems to be a kind of the policy of passive resistance against Chinese interference in domestic affairs of Korea, seeking self-reliance. Its use spread to almost all the diplomatic representatives in Korea, along with extension of the use of ‘Jim’ and ‘勅’, and of course perfectly secret to China. And after the Sino-Japanese War in 1894~1895, as Chinese Power had been expelled from Korea, the appellation of ‘Daegunju Pyeha’ became used in public, outside the diplomatic materials.