오귀국(烏鬼國), 19세기 중국인의 아프리카 인식 — 魏源의 《海國圖志》를 중심으로

Abstract

This paper is meaningful in examining the perception of Africa in 19th century China through the records of Africa in WeiYuan(魏源)’s 《HaiGuoTuZhi(海國圖志)》. Africa is the third largest continent in the world, with no shortage of Europe in terms of population or land area, and civilizations such as Egypt and Ethiopia existed. Nevertheless, Africa had the misfortune of entering the 19th century, when its territory was separated by Britain, France, Portugal and the Netherlands, and slaves were sold around the world. China, which had an unequal treaty in the outbreak of the Opium War, felt that the misfortune of Africa was his own. WeiYuan(魏源) needed to use the fall of Africa as a stepping stone for China by looking at how Europe made Africa its economic colony and why it was forced to become a European colony. What has Europe made Africa its economic colony? It is the control of the sea route and the development of the steamship and cannon. In the eyes of the Chinese, Africa was a trivial continent with no grand dreams, no desire to work, no king, and no fighting. Therefore, China called Africa a “Wūguǐguó(烏鬼國)” in the sense of black and insignificant continent. As a result, “Wūguǐguó(烏鬼國)” is another misconception about Africa formed through Western geography and another prejudice against Africa created by the goal of “China’s wealth” in the 19th century.