1900~1940년 왕립아시아학회 한국지부와 서양인들의 한국 연구

Abstract

On June 16th, 1900, seventeen Western people gathered at the reading room, Seoul Union, and founded the Korea Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland (Korea Branch). It was established as a branch of the British academic association which received its charter in 1824, but its founding fathers were residents in Korea, rather than those in London. They held regular meetings for research presentation and published Transactions of the Korea Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (Transactions). They barely received intervention of the headquarters. It settled in the early 1910s after some difficulty, and had been the center of Korean studies for about thirty years until the Japanese forced American missionaries to leave Korea. It was reestablished by a few American and British people on December 18th, 1947. Last year saw its 120th year. This article reviews the early history of the Korea Branch between 1900 and 1940, and divides it into three stages (1900-1916, 1917-1928 and 1929- 1940). First, George H. Jones (1867-1919), Homer B. Hulbert (1863-1949) and James S. Gale (1863-1937) had a major role in its foundation. Especially, Gale contributed to its settlement after Jones and Hulbert left Korea. Secondly, some Anglican missionaries had a real enthusiasm for Korean studies. Under the influence Eli B. Landis (1865-1898), missionary and scholar like Jones, Hulbert and Gale, Mark N. Trollope (1862-1930) published his research to Transactions in the initial period. He had been elected as president almost every year since 1917, and helped his colleagues study Korea. Finally, in the end of 1920s, second generation of American missionaries in Korea started leading the Korea Branch. Among them, Harold J. Noble (1903-1953) and George M. McCune (1908-1948) got a doctor’s degree in Korean studies and entered the world of academia in the United States. Around the same time, Andreas Eckardt (1883-1974), Catholic missionary, got a doctor’s degree as well and became a pioneer in Korean studies in Germany.