19세기 중반 金直淵의 燕行과 청 정세 인식

Abstract

Kim Jik-yeon traveled China as seojanggwan (a document officer) from October, 1858 to March, 1859, during which the Qing Dynasty was having considerable difficulty due to the activities of all kinds of rebels including Taiping Rebellion Army and the invasion of Western force. It was a time when the roles of sahaengsa (an ambassador) were more significant than any other time. Kim Jik-yeon performed his duties sincerely. Kim tried to figure out the situations of the Qing Dynasty through various channels and found out that the movements of rebels and Western force were unusual. He focused on the circumstances around rebels emerging in large numbers due to the excessive exploitation of general populace and the discriminating policies against certain ethnic groups. News about rebels were continuously reported to the Joseon Government by several ambassadors, but no one examined the issues of rebels in a comprehensive manner like him. He also observed that the Qing Dynasty gave in to the military power of Western force and opened its market to them and that Russia caused conflict over territory issues. In the 1850s, Joseon politicians paid not enough attention to Western force, being overwhelmed by the issues of rebels. Kim warned them against the danger of Western force by introducing the latest situations. He felt the most serious about the vulnerability of the Qing Dynasty after traveling China and judged that Qing was in such a perilous situation due to lack of finance and tyranny of officials that it could not predict its future at all. He thought that those situations made it difficult for Qing to suppress the rebels properly. And, due to the same problems, Qing could only take a defensive attitude toward Western force, which thus continued to invade it. It was his opinion that Qing needed a figure that would lead reform to overcome the crises but had no such leader so that it was difficult to expect reform from Qing. The Joseon government stuck to its policy of trusting Qing's power and depending on it even after Qing lost in the First Chinese-British War. What Kim Jik-yeon saw and heard was very important in that it accurately observed the actual situations of Qing. If the Joseon government had carefully reviewed and consulted his reports and closely observed the situations of Qing, it would have changed its foreign policies earlier. It was unfortunate, however, that his experiences of traveling China were not used in policies at all.