근대문명충돌기 이양선 출몰에 따른 조선의 해외인식 연구

Abstract

This study analyzes foreign ships that were attracted to the Joseon Dynasty and appeared in the seas off Joseon during the collision period of modern civilizations. As a result of the analysis, the foreign commercial vessels and trading ships were drawn to Joseon’s Korean ginseng trade and gray whale hunting, a local endemic species. The Joseon Dynasty’s perception of this was negative. This was due to Joseon’s rulers’ desire to prevent the inflow of the Catholic Bible and their religious objects that would seemingly destroy the Confucian order of Joseon. It was also because of advanced armed foreign ships, language difficulties, and the strange appearance of foreigners, they were especially alarmed by the aforementioned installing of cannons on warships and even on merchant ships for trade. This study has found that the interaction of the communication and conflict between foreign countries and the Joseon Dynasty’s mutual perception of their intent had a certain influence on the psychology of historical development. By analyzing the historical records from this period of ‘the clash of civilizations’, the following data was compiled. First, as the United States exported ginseng to the Chinese market in 1757, it became a strong competitor to the Joseon Dynasty. Meanwhile, the Korean ginseng trade was a factor in foreign countries’ attraction to the Joseon Dynasty. As the Joseon Dynasty exported Korean ginseng to the Chinese market, Joseon’s attraction was recognized by foreign countries under the name of Goryeo (Korea, Corea) rather than the eponymous  name Joseon. Second, in the 1840s, a large number of whaling boats flocked to hunt the aforementioned  gray whale, Therefore, this whaling trade attracted foreign countries to Joseon. Third, the negative perception of Western religions came from the introduction of Roman Catholicism, a Western religion, in the early 19th century. Not only the Byeongin Catholic Persecution, Byeonginyangyeo, and General Sherman Incident in 1866, but also Oppert’s Tomb Robbery Incident in 1868 served as a momentum to treat Westerners as ‘human animals [dogs and sheep]’ who were worse than  brute. In particular, the Bible and religious objects were deemed as especially undesirable by Joseon’s rulers. Fourth, foreign ships, which appeared in the seas of Joseon during the collision period of modern civilizations, were so huge that they could not be compared with those of Joseon’s navy and fleet. The foreign ships were not only warships but also merchant ships armed with cannons that could be fired from a long distance at any time. The Joseon people were unable to communicate with the sailors on the ships due to language difficulties. In addition, the appearance of these foreigners was too exotic to be recognized as attractive by the Joseon people. The size and armaments of foreign ships, language difficulties, and strange appearance of foreigners was another factor in the Joseon Dynasty's perception of foreign countries as unattractive at this time. Finally, this study has found that the aforementioned four factors combined and had a certain influence on the psychology of historical development. This created negative thoughts regarding foreign interaction, xenophobia, and extreme caution.