조선의 18세기와 탈중화 문제

초록

With emphasis on the politico-intellectual trend of the Joseon Dynasty in the 1700s, this paper examines whether Korean intellectuals attempted to escape from the political and cultural authorities of China (Zhonghua) under Manchu dominance. Unlike preexisting studies on this question, which regard both Ming China and Qing China as “China,” this paper discriminates between the two because Joseon ruling elites and intellectuals never accepted the Manchu Qing as Zhonghua. Even after the king of Joseon walked out of a mountain fortress and capitulated to the Manchu emperor in 1367, Korean intellectuals never regarded the Manchu emperor as the real Son of Heaven. Although the Joseon court sent tributes to Beijing on a regular basis and all Joseon kings received investiture from Manchu emperors thereafter, Joseon intellectuals still firmly believed that they were superior to the Manchu in terms of culture, especially with respect to their Confucian orthodoxy. Indeed,Joseon intellectuals believed the barbaric Manchu had fatally tarnished the outer world, including China, and now true Confucianism only survived in the land of Joseon. Not surprisingly, their cultural and spiritual reliance on fallen Ming China strengthened under Manchu dominance. The more they attempted to escape from Qing China, the more they thought of Ming China. For this reason, it is difficult to argue that Korean intellectuals attempted to escape from both Ming China and Qing China in the 1700s.

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