1880년대 초반 강위(姜瑋)의 일(日)·청(淸)여행과 조선 정부의 개화정책 = Gang Wi’s Visits to Japan and Qing in the Early 1880s and the Joseon Government’s Policy of enlightenment

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Gang Wi is a visionary intellectual and iconic poet of his time who lived like a flame in swirling turbulence of the 19th century when the three East Asian countries were stuck in great confusion due to troubles at home and abroad. His relatively lowly social status from a military noble family prevented him from obtaining a position and opportunity to be able to exercise his aspirations and capabilities for life. However, his outstanding knowledge and deep insight made a great impact on politicians in making their policy decisions around the time of the opening the national door to foreign countries and left a distinct mark in Sino-Korean literature as one of the four masters.
This paper focuses on the late years of his life when he took two trips to Japan, followed by to Shanghai, China. Gang Wi took the first trip to Japan in 1880 when he turned 60 years of age to accompany Kim Hong-jip, the second envoy to Japan(第2次 修信使), and made another trip two years later in early 1882 together with Kim Ok-gyun. The second envoy team had clear duties of resolving pending diplomatic issues between the two countries, identifying what Japan was up to with regards to the documents sent by Li Hung-chang and inspecting the civilized culture of Japan at the time. Accordingly, the envoy team focused on resolving pending diplomatic issues with limited resources assigned to inspecting the civilized culture and the exchanging friendship with Japanese officials. On the other hand, his second trip to Japan in 1882, which appeared to be intended to understand the Japan’s state affairs and to raise funds with government bonds, allowed more leeway for the envoy to set the schedule and itinerary. For this reason, they were able to make a closer inspection of ongoing Meiji Restoration and modernization sought by Japan and to meet with various figures.
The second envoy team brought the Strategy for Korea(『朝鮮策略』) on its way back from Japan and the Joseon Dynasty accelerated its policy of progressive movement, which had made little progress since signing the Ganghwado Treaty, sent another envoy to the Qing Empire to ask for an arrangement for a treaty with US and eventually signed the Joseon United States Treaty in 1882. However, the introduction of the Strategy for Korea triggered a strong anti-progressive movement in Korea while Gang Wi defended the legitimacy of implementing the progressive policy by writing two articles refuting the anti-progressive movement among Confucian scholars, which has a significant implication in that it provided the reason and justification for the Joseon government to push ahead with making a diplomatic relationship with the United States and promoting its progressive policies.
The two trips to Japan allowed Gang Wi to develop keen interest in Japan’s modernization move and the Theory of Asian Solidarity(亞細亞連帶論) sought by Heungaheu(興亞會). Hearing the the Im-O Military Revolt(壬午軍亂) on his way back home, Gang Wi decided to inspect the modernization of Shanghai, the cradle of the Chinese Westernized Reform(洋務運動) before returning home, after discarding his original plan to visit Tianjin to discuss how to respond to the situation with Eo Yun-jung. He wanted to witness the achievements of the Chinese Westernized Reform led by the Qing Dynasty after examining the Japan’s modernization status through two previous trips.
It was in November 1882 that Gang Wi returned home after inspecting the ongoing modernization of the two countries. It is a pity that we are not able to gain a clear understanding of what activities he engaged in after returning home due partly to the aftereffects of his overstretched overseas trips at a late age and partly to the destruction of most of the relevant records following the failure of the Gapsin Coup orchestrated by the Enlightment Party due to his close relationship with the party’s key figures, including Kim Ok-gyun.