西洋 宣敎師들이 본 韓國人像 = The Western Missionaries' Image of Korea

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The images of non-Christian world in the Western countries were mostly fixed based upon the hearsays transmitted by such international travellers as diplomats, soldiers, merchants, and missionaries. However, in the case of Korea's Image, it was mostly the missionaries' descriptions that had impressed the dominant image In the minds of Western people before Korea's open-door policy in late nineteenth century.
Naturally, the missionaries had had both favorable and unfavorable impressions on premodern Korea. Many Christian religious historians tended to refer only to the favorable side of the stories. However, on close examination, there were more unfavorable descriptions than favorable ones. These unfavorable ones were later exaggerated, distorted, and made use of by Japanese colonial rulers to Legitimize their colonial rule. In this paper, some typical cases of such unfavorable descriptions are examined in minute details, e.g., the works of William of Rubruck, de Halde, Alexandre de Gouvea, Karl Gutzlaff, Alexander Williamson, and some others.