A Study on the Background of the Korean Perception of China and the Issue of ‘De-Sinicization’ in the Late 19th Century
Author: Byungbae Park
Abstract / Chinese PDF Download
The Korean perception of China in the Late 19th century can be divided into three categories. The first is ‘China as a regional hegemon.’ The second is China as the basis of the legitimacy of political power. The third is ‘China as a cultural system.’ After the Sino-Japanese War, Korea tried to modernize itself as it escaped from the China-centered tributary system, and it externally became an independent nation. However, there were different opinions on the issue of the ‘de-chinization’ process among the Korean society of the age, and how they accepted the civilizational discourse. Firstly, the radical reformists argued for total and complete de-chinization, pointing out that they identified China as a regional hegemon as being tied to China as a cultural system, and they argued that these factors disturbed Korean civilization and enlightenment. On the contrary, the Confucian elites of the moderate reformists completely separated the China that is a regional hegemon from the China that is the cultural system, and they argued that Chinese traditional civilization and Western civilization belong to a universal civilization. Furthermore, the Joseon Dynasty (朝鮮王朝) changed the name of the country to the Korean Empire (大韓帝國) and tried to show that it’s a universal civilized country and an independent nation internally and externally based on this awareness. This article will provide a deeper understanding of the Korean perception of China and the de-chinization of issues in the 19th century.