연행록 속에 나타난 중국 여성의 사회적 역할 연구

Abstract

It is the social role of Chinese Women in the minds of the Korean envoys who compiled Yonhaengnok that this paper analyzes, thus making a difference from the previous researches on the images of Chinese women depicted in Yonhaengnok. From those Korean envoys’ perspective, ideal women should take the social responsibility of being married, raising children, taking good care of husband and even the whole big family, all of which were also what the patriarchal society expected women to do. What should be noted in Yonhaengnok, however, is that the social value in the existence of women was so self-evident that it could not be denied, no matter in what ways the Korean envoys constructed female images. The Korean envoys depicted the social value and significance of Chinese women in the aspects of body and spirit, and came to a conclusion: The Chinese women whose value was beyond what their bodies meant to family served as the main embodiment of the local and state prosperity, and such pure female images became role models for their good spirits, regardless of the value of their bodies. At present when Peng Liyuan, China’s first lady, exerts considerable influences on promoting the appeal of Chinese culture, this study has practical implications on repositioning the social roleof modern women and reconstructing the images of China and South Korea.