대구 수창사의 활동과 국채보상운동

Abstract

It is generally agreed that The National Debt Redemption Movement(NDRM) was started by the coalition between the leader of Patriotic Enlightenment Movement and the Merchant class in Daegu region. 「The Daegu Gwangmunsa」 is the symbol of Patriotic Enlightenment Movement and 「The Suchangsa」 is the symbol of the Merchant class in Daegu. By examining the resources of Suchangsa which were founded recently, this Paper focuses on the process of the Suchangsa’ establishment, the characteristics of the Suchangsa and how the Suchangsa came to play a central role in NDRM. After the Opening of Joseon and since 1904 when the Gyeongbu Train-line opened, the trade business of the Nakdong River has been dominated by Japanese Merchant group. At that time, the Daegu Suchangsa installed its branch at Eomgung and Hadan area because of feeling threatened by competition with Japanese merchants in the Nakdong River trade. This fact was confirmed in 「The Suchangsa Rule」 and 「The Suchangsa business diary(座目)」. According to these resources, the Suchangsa is basically ‘a non-specialized private enterprise’, and ‘the ordinary partnership’ in which the employees unified the transaction lines with their respective shares. And then Suchangsa's business scopes were limited to Loan and Brokerage and Warehousing in order to providing convenience to its employees. Scale of Suchangsa's Capital has drastically decreased since 1900’s and it withdrew its branch offices from Busan in 1905. Suchangsa was finally liquidated in 1935. The employees of Suchangsa, who were defeated by the Japanese merchant's power expansion, used Suchangsa as a office for A civilian assembly, and also accepted the role of a collection center for NDRM. The Daegu merchant responded to the expansion of the Japanese merchant in this way. At a circumstance which they were losing ground from competition with Japanese merchants, they actively participated in the Movement for Resumption of the National Sovereignty in connection with the Self-reliant Movement. This sentiment is well expressed in The National Debt Redemption Movement's promotion statement. Consequently, many of the company’s member played a central role in NDRMt, the personnel network of the head of the company also have contributed to the nationwide expansion of NDRM.