『熱河日記』에 형상화된 중국 상인과의 우정 양상

Abstract

This study aims to understand Yeonam's views of humanity and friendship through his friendship with Chinese merchants in The Diary of Yeorha and to examine one aspect of friendship in East Asia. To understand the social, historical significance of Yeonam's friendship with Chinese merchants, I first examined the friendship discourse in late Joseon and Yeonam's view of friendship. In late Joseon, the ethics of friendship began to take on a social, political context, and Yeonam's view of friendship was at the centre of his discourse. Through friendship, Yeonam sought to overcome feelings of marginalization and corrected the social system of pursuing power and profit. Yeonam perceived friendship as a celestial relationship based on blood ties, and sought an ethic of horizontality and equality through friendship. Yeonam's horizontal view of friendship went beyond age and status to transcend borders and languages. In this study, I examined the aspects of his friendship with Chinese merchants embodied in Sokjae Pildam and Sangnu Pildam of The Diary of Yeorha. Yeonam and the Chinese merchants were different in nationality, thnicity, languages, social statuses, and ages. Yet, they were able to connect with each other with their hearts and minds, forming impressive exchanges. when Yeonam described Chinese merchants, he consistently portrayed them in a positive light, emphasizing their active and warm attitudes, affectionate and good personalities, and regarded them not just as profit-seeking businessmen, but as people who valued friendship and were highly educated. Thus, Yeonam broke the stereotype that China is a barbarian and merchants are lowly, and created a new image of them. His writing created a new image of merchants and demonstrated Yeonam’s intentional writing strategy of Yeonam’s to break the preconceived notions of the others whoa re different from oneself.