헐버트(Homer Bezaleel Hulbert) 선교사의 한국사 연구 - 새로 발굴된 동사강요(東史綱要)를 중심으로

Abstract

Homer Hulbert’s views on Korea have been studied based on his books, so far. The studies on Hulbert were focused on his contributions to the Korea Review or his book, the Passing of Korea, in particular. Prior research on Hulbert often made comparisons between him and Samuel Austin Moffet. Moffet has denounced feudalism from a historical perspective, but main- tained that Korea should introduce the Japanese civilization for Korea’s modernization. As opposed to Moffet, Hulbert retained the anti-Japanese po- sition that the Japanese should not interfere with the modernization of Korea in his shift from a pro-Japanese stance to an anti-Japanese one. However, in this study we confirm that Hulbert held views not only as a westerner but also as a Korean in his balanced and in-depth approach to- ward Korea, and that his views have transformed in step with the changes in Korea’s relations with neighboring countries and Western powers. Based on these finding, this article has examined his perceptions about Korea and his accounts of Korean history, as well as comparing his accounts with Dongsagangyo, 東史綱要 (The Essential History of Korea), which was ob- tained during the course of preparing this article. As there has been no com- parison of his views with the history books of the late Joseon dynasty, we expect this article to offer significant insights as to his perceptions about Korean history. Dongsagangyo can be characterized by its Sino-centrism, or ‘Little China’ -centrism. It refers to Mongolia and Ming dynasty as Daemyeong,大明(Great Ming), indicating a perception of Ming dynasty as the center and Mongolia as part of the periphery. It also justified the founding of the Joseon dynasty by emphasizing the inertia and incompetence of the Goryeo dynasty which had been under the Mongolian rule. The overall content and viewpoints of the book are largely similar to those found in other history books of the late Joseon dynasty.