중국망명시기 신규식의 중국인식

Abstract

Shin Gyu-sik (1879~1922) is a famous guru of the independence movement, an eminent political diplomat, and also a great writer in Modern Korea. In 1911, he went to Shanghai as an émigré and joined the Chinese Revolutionary League. He participated in the Revolution of 1911 in person, and had a close contact with reformists including the leader Dr Sun Yat-sen. While associating with Chinese reformists, he joined the Nan She (Southern Society), the most influential literature communities at that time. He took an active part in its periodic get-togethers and got acquainted with some progressive scholars like Liu Yazi. In 1920, Shin started in Shanghai a Chinese-language weekly called Chindan, and served as the editor in chief. He not only wrote many political comments on the weekly, but also published his Chinese poetries and prose, including “The Soul of Korea”, “The Lee-sunsin Biography”. At the same time, he composed more than one hundred poems in Chinese as a poet. This paper will mainly analyze Shin Gyu-sik’s cognition of the times and his understanding of China by analyzing his collections of literary works and public activities. Such understandings mainly exhibit in the following points. He regarded the Revolution of 1911 led by Sun Yat-sen as the only hope of China’s revolution and even the only hope of Asia, and he revealed Japan’s aggressive ambition for invading China as well as the inefficient, corrupt nature of the Beiyang Government(1912~1928). His interpretation of China is the product of his national consciousness, Anti-Japanese consciousness and the cognition of the times, which has a significant implication for the history of Korean independence movement, as well as in the modern history of Sino-Korea relationship. It was because of his clear interpretation of China and the age that he was recognized by many Chinese politicians and progressive scholars, and later got their support for the independence movement of Korea. This also accounts for the reason why the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea could get the recognition and support of Sun Yat-sen’s law-enforcement government and the later national government. It could be argued that Shin Gyu-sik’s interpretation of China is the cornerstone of the formation of the modern Sino-Korea relationship.