‘時辰’에서 ‘時間’으로 ―淸末 시간개념과 시간양식의 변모

Abstract

This paper investigates the transformation of temporal concepts and modes of time perception in the late Qing period by integrating the methodology of conceptual history with theoretical approaches from linguistics. The structural foundations of modern China’s temporal concepts and temporal practices were established during this era, which was marked by rapid and sweeping transformation. A major external driving force behind these changes was the expansion of Western powers into East Asia. With this expansion, modern Western notions of time entered China and exerted considerable influence. Indigenous calendrical systems and traditional temporal perceptions first confronted this impact. The millennia-old tradition of the lunisolar calendar began to collapse, and the formerly dominant cyclical understanding of time was increasingly challenged and overturned. China’s temporal practices modernized rapidly under the forces of globalization and the growing segmentation of time. As temporal units became more finely divided, the perceived pace of time accelerated, generating new forms of temporal alienation. The past receded, the present became unstable and unfamiliar, and the future emerged as a site of uncertainty and fear. As these new experiences accumulated and novel semantic associations entered temporal discourse, neologisms related to time proliferated. Moreover, the emerging concept of time signaled the rise of a new system of social discipline. The modern temporal regime that took shape in the late Qing period gradually came to regulate everyday life in increasingly detailed and pervasive ways.