「륜리학」의 번역을 둘러싼 몇 가지 단상

Abstract

Yi Haejo translated the ethics textbook of Motora Yujiro, a professor at the Tokyo Imperial University in Japan, and published them twice in newspapers and magazines. While the former is written in Korean and has a question-and-answer format, the latter is written in a mixed style of Korean with Chinese characters and takes the form of editorials. He was interested in ethics enough to translate in different ways with the media and readers in mind. In the meantime, many researchers have tried to find Yi's original ideas, paying attention to the difference between Yi Haejo and Motora Yujiro. By the way, if we look at Chinese translations published in Shanghai in 1902, we can find that it has been known to contain Yi Haejo's original ideas. Based on Chinese translations, Yi Haejo translated into Korean and tried to faithfully translate rather than include his own ideas in the translation process. Therefore, the research that has been attempted to reveal the thought of Yi Haejo through translation process and translation attitude should be reconsidered. But we don't need to think that Yi Haejo was interested in the Chinese translation just because of his linguistic ability. The process of translating Motora Yujiro's book into Chinese shows that intellectuals in East Asia deeply associate national thought with ethics and that Yi Haejo wanted to improve society based on Confucian values without deviating from the ideology of monarchy.