駐朝鮮使館의 화교 실태조사와 관리 ― 청일전쟁 이전 漢城ㆍ仁川을 중심으로 ―

Abstract

This study was conducted as a part of research on the history of policies for Chinese in Chosun, focusing on how China managed Chinese in Chosun in consideration of international environment surrounding Chosun in those days. It was after the conclusion of <Regulations for Maritime and Overland Trade between Chinese and Korean Subjects> that China tried active management of Chinese in Chosun, which was a strategic region in East Asia. Thus, it sent Qing trade commissioners to open ports including Hanseong so that they would be responsible to protect Chinese merchants. The first Trade Commissioner was Chen Shu Tang, who was succeeded by Yuan Shi Kai as the General Commissioner of Trade. Offices in the open ports and Hanseong where the trade commissioners resided became bases for managing and protecting Chinese merchants. With this, the minimum condition was satisfied for Chinese merchants to run their business in Chosun safely. At the beginning, the offices had limitations in personnel, budget, etc., so they had difficulty in managing Chinese in Chosun. With increase in the number of Chinese merchants, Chinese merchants established their own private organizations called Center and the directors of the organizations were given responsibility to survey and monitor the state of Chinese in Chosun. Particularly in 1889, the Police Office was erected in Hanseong, and it assumed responsibility for management and inspection according to <Regulations for Policing>. Trade between Korea and China was conducted basically based on <Regulations for Maritime and Overland Trade between Chinese and Korean Subjects>. However, the range of Chinese activities in Chosun went beyond Hanseong and open ports permitted by the regulations. An example was trade with inland areas through the issue of travel document. Travel document was issued in a form approved by the officials of both countries and through the joint sealing by the officials of both countries. In the procedure of the application, issue and return of travel document, the director of each center was involved and stood security and he assumed responsibility to manage the Chinese merchant. Furthermore, illegal acts occurred frequently such as entering an inland area without travel document and opening a shop, smuggling without passing through the open ports, and running business wherever they wanted. Such acts were regulated strictly by punishing the involved director and surety. Chinese officers gave instructions against illegal stay and smuggling continuously, and arrested and deported offenders. Most of previous studies understood the background of such frequent illegal acts as a phenomenon resulting from the trade relation between Chosun and China. In addition, they underestimated the Chinese officers’ series of actions against illegal acts as nominal gestures existing only in official documents. Until the establishment of the offices, however, there had never been such a strict measure to manage Chinese in Chosun. The management of Chinese in Korea was also for protecting them, and while Chinese in Chosen were managed and protected by the Chinese government, Chinese merchants could maintain and expand their power stably in Hanseong and Incheon where they competed with Korean and Japanese merchants. On the other hand, the rampancy of illegal acts was considered to disgrace China as a big country and to damage their image among Korean people. From this viewpoint, the management of Chinese merchants was one of efforts to save the face of China as a big country, and again the issue is returned to the ‘inequality’ problem of <Regulations for Maritime and Overland Trade between Chinese and Korean Subjects>. It was just and necessary enough for China to trade with Korea and to manage Chinese merchants according to <Regulations for Maritime and Overland Trade between Chinese and Korean Subjects>. Trade between Korea and China was basically conducted under <Regulations for Maritime and Overland Trade between Chinese and Korean Subjects>, and China tried to reach two goals, namely, saving its face as a big country and protecting its merchants. The rampancy of illegal acts receded gradually after the coming of Yuan Shi Kai, but obviously the outcomes were not as good as intended and expected. The survey and management of Chinese in Korea is noteworthy not because it achieved many things but because it provided a starting point of modern diplomatic administration for ‘protection of its own people’ though contradictory to Qing’s original intention.