KJC Korea
Journal Central

During the ancient times, such areas as the Korean Peninsular, Japanese Islands and Vietnam could be included in the Chinese Cultural sphere in that Chinese Character, Confucianism, Chinese law code and statutes, Chinese Buddhist Canons had affected. On the one hand, the Chinese Emperor's Installation System to the Kings of these neighboring states had strongly influenced the diplomatic and cultural relationship in this area. This traditional system had drastically been destroyed since the declining of T'ang China in the 9th Century. Therefore, it was natural that the Chinese World Order didn't operate in the area until the Mongol's conquest on the area in the 13th Century. From the 9th to the 12th Century, the East-Asian World was so much pluralistic and fluctuating in the political area which was caused by the failure of Chinese dominating power. These nations held many distinctive political features in common. They could not control their country systematically so that the centralized authoritarian system had become weaker as the people's power got stronger. Specifically, the new leaders at that time were the sea farers who had indulged their dynamic energy into the international trades beyond the national boundary. Because there were no formal foreign relationships among nations around that time, these merchants could contact and engage in informal diplomatic messenger with many countries. Therefore, the East-Asian World Trade System could be maintained only through these maritime merchants. It is very remarkable that the increase of the mutual understanding among these peoples had affected the advent of consciousness as marginal man who did not belong to the exclusive national identity.

Oishi Masami was selected for a Japanese Minister to Korea as a defender of democratic right who solved the event of Banggongnyeong(Grain Export Prohibition Order). And he left his own diary and various writings for Japan's policy toward Korea. Therefore through his studies that how he thought of Korea and what was his writings' characteristic, we will have a important clue to study systematically modern and present-day Japanese consideration for Korea and to analyze Japan's policy toward Korea. However there have been accumulated a store of studies on Japanese recognition about Korea in Meiji period, not only Korea but Japan study hardly about Oishi. Only his activities that he solved the event of Banggongnyeong were mentioned briefly a time when he was a Japanese Minister. By exhumation and investigation about Oishi's writings, I will study Oishi's views of Korea by the way three parts divided ; before Japanese Minister to Korea, before and after Russo-Japanese war, before and after the Japanese Annexation of Korea. Specially I will study how to change according to each period the assumption of Korean incompetency for its independency and the assumption of dangerous Korean peninsula and how to influence Japan's policy toward Korea.

Recently for five years, there has been a long-standing feud concerning the recognition of history between Korea and Japan. Japanese Government apologized officially for the invasion on Korea and the domination of Korea in modern times and it kept a straight posture of reconsideration, but on the other hand, the Prime Minister actually offered worship at the ancestral shrine 'Yasukuni' and the Ministry of Education gave official approval to the history textbook tinctured with nationalism. The Korean Government made a strong protest against it that there is no authenticity in the Japanese history- understanding and demanded that the Prime Minister stop the worship of the ancestral shrine 'Yasukuni' and amend the history textbook. Meanwhile, there has been briskly developed a solidarity movement for the reconciliation of history and for overcoming the history conflict on the civil level between Korea and Japan. The researchers and educators of history proceeded a joint-work in order to close the gap of history-understanding and developed common teaching materials for the students of the two countries. The severer the history-conflict is getting on the governmental level, the more vivant is becoming the history-dialogue on the civil level for surmounting the history-conflict. It is needless to say that the history-dialogue should be strengthened in order to make a reconciliation of history between Korea and Japan. Furthermore, we should build the control system for stopping the high government officials' speech and behavior which could instigate history- conflicts.

Many were conferred with the titles of nobility upon serving as high-ranking officials, but some people still vaguely think of such system as a succeeding system to the prior investment system of nobility from the early Goryeo without precisely examining the characteristics or functions of titles. However, Iseongbonggun of this period was granted to those as a compensation for their distinguished services to the country. On the one hand, the titles of nobility were given to others absent from any services. The former indeed signified the status of government positions and possessed.

Until the King Seongjong(成宗) period in early Chosun dynasty, Gu-un(求言) had been conceived as a means realizing the politics on the basis of the people(民本政治) and expanding a memorial to the king. But the King Yonsangun regard Gu-un as a means checking the right of king by the group of retainers. In the King Joongjong period Gu-un was understood a empty forms by the retainers whose had experienced the tyranny of the King Yonsangun demanded king's moral practice, Su-sung(修省). The right mind(正心) was emphasized that the contents of king's moral practice, and it was linked improvement of Simsungron(心性論). However the thought on the basis of people (民本思想) was degenerated by paying no attention to people's livelyhood which should have accomplished through Jeong-Sim(正心). Drought disasters which had been stressed as a motive of Gu-un was not regard serious calamity any more. And the people whose could not rely on government protection could not help tumbling down into subject of landed gentry(土豪) and local ex-officer(品官).

In the Joseon Dynasty, sericulture was considered as a major industry along with agriculture. In the early Joseon period, the sericulture was growing into one of main subsidiary works. In spite of the importance of sericulture in the Joseon Dynasty, the research relating to the 17th century sericulture has scarcely been done. In the 17th century, the Joseon Dynasty didn't drive an active policy to encourage the sericulture as a nationwide level. Namin(南人) having the power in the reign of King Sukjong(肅宗) tried to drive the temporary policy of encouragement of sericulture, but it wasn't enforced as a nationwide scale. However, inactivity of the nationwide sericulture policy doesn't mean an instant decline of the sericulture. At that time, the sericulture was considered as an important industry which can produce properties. As reflecting this trend, Nam Geup(南礏) who were Sa-dae-bu(士大夫) living at Andong of Kyungsang-do Province published a local sericultural bibliography named Jamnongyoeo(蠶農要語). On the other hand, the 17th century sericulture was also growing up in its technological aspect. As comparing sericultural items of the sericultural bibliographies in the early Joseon period with those of Nonggawollyeong(農家月令) which was a local sericultural bibliography in the 17th century, lots of change are shown in the aspect of sericultural technology. This means that the 17th century Nonggawollyeong was describing sericulture technology which was adequate to that Joseon society. Although there were few sericultural policies driven as a nationwide level, the sericulture in the late Joseon period was growing up gradually. In the 17th century, the publication of the Jamnongyoeo which was a local sericultural bibliography of Kyungsang-do Province and the technological change of sericulture as described in the Nonggawollyeong can be assumed to have certain relations to the social atmosphere at that time.

This essay investigates trade networks of Tongsuntae(同順泰, Tongshuntai in Chinese), one of most representative Chinese companies in Korea during the modern transition period. For that purpose, besides Tongsuntae documents in kyujang-gak奎章閣 collection, this study analyses Tongsuntae-wangbok-munseo同順泰往復文書 and Tongsuntae-bohogi同順泰寶號記 newly discovered from Ancient Documents Archives in SNU. The internal organization and East-Asian trades of Tongsuntae were rooted in family and lineage networks and extending through regional ties. Tongsuntae was one of nodes in Canton-networks. Tongsuntae made inroads into Korea and developed, with Qing dynasty's increasing political presence in Korea. Liang Lunqing梁綸卿, the owner of Tongtaeho同泰號, who was most important business partner and could be major stock-holder, gudong股東, of Tongsuntae, provides a decisive clue for understanding the background of Tongsuntae's success in Korea. He was a leading figure in Cantonese societies of Shanghai and had close relationship with Cantonese compradores(maiban, 買辦) and self-strengthening officials(Yangwupai, 洋務派). They were performers of Qing policies to Korea and held the great influences in Korean affairs. Qing empire provided official encouragement and support for Chinese commercial ventures in Korea and Tongsuntae can exploit the Cantonese capitals. In this view point, Canton-networks in Korea might be not just overseas Cantonese merchant networks but Cantonese political networks.

This dissertation examines the reorganization of the Seoul Electric Company into the Korean-American Electric Company during the Greater Han Empire period and the practical management of the Korean-American Electric Company. Although Collbran & Bostwick Co. and Yi Yong-ik were at odds due to the debts of the Seoul Electric Company from 1902, the impending outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War and changes in international politics caused the two to quickly resolve their differences by late 1903. Since the Korean government was preparing its declaration of wartime neutrality, Yi Yong-ik needed the support and cooperation of the other Great Powers. As a result, the Korean-American Electric Company was established as a limited-liability company in Hartford, Connecticut in July 1904, with capital of one million dollars (two million won). In this manner, Yi Yong-ik's plan to gain control of Seoul Electric Company between 1902 and 1903 ended in failure. Since the assets of the Seoul Electric Company were not completely taken over, it was reestablished as a Korean-American partnership. To offset Japanese pressure, the Kwangmu emperor and the centrist members of his government sought to maintain American political and economic interest in the Greater Han Empire.