조선시대 韓中日 관계와 相互認識의 추이

Abstract

The three countries of Korea, China and Japan are often referred to as the “Chinese Character Culture Zone” and “Confucian Culture Zone” or “Sinosphere” to emphasize the cultural commonality of the three countries. However, in the past, the interactions and exchanges between the people of the three kingdoms were cut off. This was because all three countries strictly forbade the movement of their subjects between the respective countries. Under this restriction, it was impossible for the majority of the residents, except for the envoys, interpreters, and some merchants, to contact people in other countries. The Chinese perception of Japan was positive before the advent of the Yuan Dynasty. Through contact with Japanese officials and monks who had been envoys, Japan was regarded as a “country of courtesy” and a “country of virtues”. However, Japanese pirates became a major problem for China by the end of the Yuan dynasty, China's perception of Japan became the opposite. The Joseon Dynasty in the late 14th century, also suffered heavily from frequent invasions of the Japanese pirates, started to regard the Japanese with contempt. This antagonistic sentiment is shown in the terms that were used to describe Japan such as “The Island Barbarians”, “The Japanese Enemy” and “The Wicked Scoundrels”. However, since the middle of the 15th century, the ensuing success of the policy of appeasement with the Japanese pirates and the resulting decrease of the invasions, the Korean perception of the Japanese changed, this time for the better. However, Joseon's attitude that they were a Great country and Japan was a subordinate nation continued as before. Joseon Dynasty in the 15thcentury, had frequent contacts with the Japanese nation while concealing them from the paternal Ming dynasty. The Ming Dynasty did in fact were opposed to Joseon having communication with Japan. 15th to 16th century intellectuals of Joseon touted that Joseon was the “most loyal subjectnation” to the Ming Dynasty and the “honoured pupil of the Great Chinese Civilisation” therefore they treated Japan as “barbarians” and a “country yetto-be-reformed”. On the other hand, Japan asserted itself as a “God's nation”, and rejected being a tributary state to the Ming Dynasty and scorned the Joseon Dynasty. The geographical difference between Joseon and Japan in relation to China, that Joseon peninsula(the Korean peninsula) is attached to the Chinese continent and Japan is separated from the Asian mainland by ocean, caused the difference in their attitude and perception towards China and this furthermore affected the mutual perceptions they had of each other. In the wake of the Japanese invasions of Korea (Imjin War 1592-1598) contacts between peoples of the three kingdoms increased explosively. First of all, after the war, the mutual perceptions of Joseon and Ming revealed a new face. As the military and geopolitical importance of Joseon emerged after the war, Ming recognised Joseon as their “front” and “defense base”. Ming pressured Joseon and even planned to colonise it. On the other hand, after the war, the Joseon Dynasty recognised the Ming Dynasty as “saviours” despite the serious havoc the military of Ming created in Joseon. But then, they perceived Japan as an “eternal enemy”. In addition, the Joseon Dynasty experienced the formidable prowess of the armed forces of Japan through the war which raised fears. It was through the Imjin War that hostility and fear toward Japan were made to coexist. With the replacement of the Ming Dynasty with the Qing Dynasty, the mutual perceptions of Joseon and Ming, and Joseon's perception of Japan showed signs of change. In particular, through the Later Jin invasion of Joseon (Jeongmyo-Horan 1627) and the Qing invasion of Joseon (ByeongJa-Horan 1636-1637) their perception towards Japan showed sings of change. Some intellectuals began to perceive Japan as an ally to cooperate with in the fight against the “barbarian forces of Qing”, not “the eternal enemy” they once thought Japan was. In the 19th century, the approaching threat of the West gave impetus to Japan's national defence efforts and they were of the opinion that Korea had to be conquered. Indeed, as Japan's power grew again, Qing's sense of crisis toward Japan also grew. In particular, some of Qing's officials who believed that Japan conquering Joseon would prove to be dangerous for Qing, argued that Joseon should be ruled directly. In 1882, during the riots of Joseon soldiers, Qing militarily intervened in the country, established military rule and attempted to make Korea a colony. The situation changed after the First Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895). Anti-Japanese sentiment spread in Joseon as Japan occupied the Gyeongbokgung Palace, oppressed peasant forces and attempted to colonise Joseon. During the war, the Qing Dynasty was overwhelmed in the face of the superior force of Japan, but many intellectuals in Joseon hoped for the victory of the Qing. However, when Qing was defeated in the First Sino-Japanese War, Joseon through embarrassment was forced to recognise Qing's waning power over the East. Qing's intellectuals also recognised that through the loss of the war they were to learn from Japan. In conclusion, Korean perceptions of the Japanese and of the Chinese during the era of Joseon Dynasty were formed under the geopolitical conditions and security conditions of the Korean Peninsula, which is sandwiched between the Chinese continent and the Japanese archipelago. And they appeared to antagonise or facilitate each other depending on the changes of relationship and situations between Korea and the two countries of China and Japan surrounding the Korean Peninsula. mutual perceptions, “country of courtesy”, “country of virtues”, Japanese pirates, the “most loyal subjectnation” to the Ming Dynasty, Imjin War, “defense base”, “the eternal enemy”, the Later Jin invasion of Joseon, ‘the situation sandwiched between the Chinese continent and the Japanese archipelago’