@article{ART001991878},
author={Kim Mee Young},
title={A Study on the Foreign Travels of Lee Kwangsoo in the 1910’s},
journal={Journal of Humanities, Seoul National University},
issn={1598-3021},
year={2015},
volume={72},
number={2},
pages={305-341},
doi={10.17326/jhsnu.72.2.201505.305}
TY - JOUR
AU - Kim Mee Young
TI - A Study on the Foreign Travels of Lee Kwangsoo in the 1910’s
JO - Journal of Humanities, Seoul National University
PY - 2015
VL - 72
IS - 2
PB - Institute of Humanities, Seoul National University
SP - 305
EP - 341
SN - 1598-3021
AB - This article aims to reveal the main achievement of Lee Kwangsoo’s travels abroad in the 1910’s. Lee Kwangsoo traveled to Shanghai, Vladivostok, Cheeta, and North Manchuria in 1913~1914. In those travels, he observed the grades of rank, catching up with how much these nations had been modernized. The nations of the East could not compare to those of the West in terms of the degree of civilizedness. Japan was observed to be more developed than the other eastern countries at the time. Russia was also more civilized. But China was seen to be only half-civilized and Joseon yet to be civilized. Lee Kwangsoo regarded the Joseon people to be very poor and unenlightened, and the Joseon intellectuals to be very lazy and emersed in violent disputes regarding party politics. Thus, he did not find any kind of hope for Joseon to remain an independent nation in the near future. In 1915~1918, Lee Kwangsoo lived in Tokyo due to his studies. During this time, his second period of study abroad, he observed how great the Japanese power of civilizedness was, as well as how high the Japanese grade of civilization was, compared to Joseon. He had been impressed by Fuguzawa Yugichi’s theory of civilization and evolutionism.
But it is in Russia that he realized the fate of the Joseon people. This is why his theory of civilization was transformed into a theory of culture for Joseon, as a neighbor of Japan in those times. He believed that if the independence of Joseon could not be ensured, then at least efforts should be made to reserve the identity of its people by maintaining the unique characteristics of Joseon culture. These thoughts were the results of his travels abroad in the 1910’s.
KW - Lee Kwangsoo;travels abroad;travel sketches;Fuguzawa Yugichi;post-colonialism;theory of civilization;evolutionism
DO - 10.17326/jhsnu.72.2.201505.305
ER -
Kim Mee Young. (2015). A Study on the Foreign Travels of Lee Kwangsoo in the 1910’s. Journal of Humanities, Seoul National University, 72(2), 305-341.
Kim Mee Young. 2015, "A Study on the Foreign Travels of Lee Kwangsoo in the 1910’s", Journal of Humanities, Seoul National University, vol.72, no.2 pp.305-341. Available from: doi:10.17326/jhsnu.72.2.201505.305
Kim Mee Young "A Study on the Foreign Travels of Lee Kwangsoo in the 1910’s" Journal of Humanities, Seoul National University 72.2 pp.305-341 (2015) : 305.
Kim Mee Young. A Study on the Foreign Travels of Lee Kwangsoo in the 1910’s. 2015; 72(2), 305-341. Available from: doi:10.17326/jhsnu.72.2.201505.305
Kim Mee Young. "A Study on the Foreign Travels of Lee Kwangsoo in the 1910’s" Journal of Humanities, Seoul National University 72, no.2 (2015) : 305-341.doi: 10.17326/jhsnu.72.2.201505.305
Kim Mee Young. A Study on the Foreign Travels of Lee Kwangsoo in the 1910’s. Journal of Humanities, Seoul National University, 72(2), 305-341. doi: 10.17326/jhsnu.72.2.201505.305
Kim Mee Young. A Study on the Foreign Travels of Lee Kwangsoo in the 1910’s. Journal of Humanities, Seoul National University. 2015; 72(2) 305-341. doi: 10.17326/jhsnu.72.2.201505.305
Kim Mee Young. A Study on the Foreign Travels of Lee Kwangsoo in the 1910’s. 2015; 72(2), 305-341. Available from: doi:10.17326/jhsnu.72.2.201505.305
Kim Mee Young. "A Study on the Foreign Travels of Lee Kwangsoo in the 1910’s" Journal of Humanities, Seoul National University 72, no.2 (2015) : 305-341.doi: 10.17326/jhsnu.72.2.201505.305
