이승만의 『청일전기』 번역.간행과 자주독립론

Syngman Rhee’s Translation and Publication of Sino-Japanese War History and Thought of Independence

Syngman Rhee spent his adolescence in the transition period from the Chinese centered confucian society to the U.S. centered Christianity society. During this period, the Sino-Japanese War played crucial role in breaking Korean’s ceno-centric point of view of the world. Moreover, influenced by the Sino-Japanese War, Syngman Rhee decided to learn about modern studies after giving up his study in confucianism. Syngman Rhee considers the Sino-Japanese War that altered his life path as an important incident that determined the fate of modern Korea. Syngman Rhee’s translation work of The Sino-Japanese War History was part of the movement by intellectuals who were trying to follow up with the modern civilization during The Greater Korean Empire. Moreover, in the period of The Greater Korean Empire, Enlightenment Movement texts and Christian texts imported from the Ch’ing Dynasty were distributed to the public, which contributed to the transition of Korean people’s thoughts. The books were published as the original version or translated in Korean Chinese and were widely distributed to the public. Publication of modern texts as well as translation activity continued to persist even in the negative condition when national sovereignty of Korea was being taken over by the Japanese imperialism. Therefore, translation work of the Sino-Japanese War history was part of acceptance movement of modern civilization by Koreans during the transition period of civilization. The Sino-Japanese War History contains variety of contents. It contains numerous articles including editorials of enlightenment campaign, royal edict, telegraphic news, all types of treaty and protocol, news articles, epistolary composition, etc. The time period the book covers is from prior to the Sino-Japanese War when there was disputes over withdrawal of troops between the Ch’ing and Japan to January, 1898 when a letter was sent to Emperor Kojong from the emperor of Ch’ing. Therefore, it would be more accurate to consider the Sino-Japanese War history as a text that deals with the history of international relations of East Asia before and after the Sino-Japanese War rather than as a text that records merely the history of the Sino-Japanese War The Sino-Japanese War History is not a work of Syngman Rhee alone but it was a work contributed by reform minded political prisoners who were imprisoned in Hansung prison. For approximately three months, Syngman Rhee contributed his time in translation work. However, due to his illness, translation work of religious texts, and other office work, he could not devote all of his time and energy into the translation work of The Sino-Japanese War History. Therefore, he had to receive aid from the politicians who were imprisoned, and at the time, Soonman Jung as well as several fellow imprisoner helped Syngman Rhee's translation work. Therefore, The Sino-Japanese War History could be considered as group work by politicians who were seeking independence and advancement of Korea, and civilization and improvement of the people. The Sino-Japanese War History had limited influence on Koreans in Korea as well as abroad. Nonetheless. it is the first book that contains Syngman Rhee’s desire to achieve civilization and independence of Korea. Syngman Rhee grieved over the fact that Korea was destroyed and lost independence due to the Sino-Japanese War. He claimed that we should be warned against Japanese who reorganized the battle line for hundreds of years after the Japanese Invasion of Korea in 1592 and took away the independence of Korea using the opportunity offered by the Sino-Japanese War. Therefore, he insisted that Koreans should be well aware of the reason. process, and results of the occurrence of the Sino-Japanese War in order to build the basis for sustaining the independence of Korea.