조선의 문명 의식과 서학의 변주

Abstract

This study investigates 'sinocentrism', within the topography of thought in the late Joseon Dynasty and the implications of the introduction of Western learning for the connotations of sinocentrism. This study mainly draws upon late Joseon scholars of Western learning, including Damhun Hong Dae-Yong, Yeonam Park Ji-Won and Seongho Lee-Ik. These scholars examined Western books and knowledge and achieved a unique intellectual transformation by creatively combining Western knowledge with their own ideological tradition. To them, sinocentrism was not an idealization of China but a traditional consciousness of civilization itself, which Western learning challenged. For instance, the Western books presented the idea of Earth as spherical, and Western maps showed scholars such as Hong Dae-Yong or Park Ji-Won a globe without a definite center anywhere on the surface. This Western knowledge helped Joseon scholars transcend the idea of China as center ("barbarians" on the periphery), and the introduction of Western knowledge was considered to represent academic and technological progress rather than that of an authenticity. Seongho Lee-Ik, an active acceptor of Western knowledge, also acknowledged Western knowledge as a pragmatic intellectual resource by recognizing not only Matteo Ricci's high academic quality but also his morality. To the eye of scholars like Seongho Lee-Ik, sinocentrism was a declaration of civilization, and Western knowledge was a new resource for that civilization. Even though the West was considered an "other" that could not be assimilated into sinocentrism, it was considered a carrier of civilization that could be worthwhile. Hence, it is reasonable to say that Western learning as a resource for civilization had potential to challenge the notion of sinocentrism as the only tradition and authority.