일제시기 臺灣知識人의 朝鮮認識

Taiwanese Intellectuals’ Recognition of Joseon(朝鮮) during Japanese Colonial Rule: Focusing on Members of the Taiwanese Cultural Association

The purpose of this study is to understand the recognition of Joseon expressed by Taiwanese intellectuals through magazines, newspaper articles, and diary analysis, focusing on members of the Taiwanese Cultural Association during the Japanese colonial period. The Taiwanese Cultural Association was founded in 1921 as a representative organization of Taiwanese intellectuals at that time. While promoting the movement to increase Taiwanese people’s rights in various spaces, it actively expressed its opinions on Táiwān Mínbào(『臺灣民報』). The Taiwanese consciousness distinguishes itself from the others by naming the people ‘Taiwanese’ and uses ‘Taiwan’ as the space of community. It was the result of the dissatisfaction with exploitation and national discrimination in the Japanese colonial period. As a result of modernization and assimilation policies, social mobility was enhanced and a common language emerged; all of this gradually began to form around Taiwanese students in Japan. The Taiwanese Cultural Association, founded by people with Taiwanese consciousness, aimed at reforming colonial rule such as establishing Taiwan’s parliament and local self-government assuming that political colonial rule was admitted. Therefore, they were sensitive to the situation and the change of government policies in Joseon, which was the same colony of Japan. To the intellectuals of Taiwan, Joseon was recognized as a companion who was in a similar situation under Japanese colonialism, working with Taiwan to have the right to be treated equally. The press of Joseon had also the same sense of identity. However, Taiwanese people’s interests were mainly concentrated on the issue of political rights and local autonomy, and Joseon was often regarded as a comparison for raising practicality. On the other hand, Taiwanese intellectuals referred to Joseon as a reference case to highlight the status of Taiwan in the Japanese empire and to make clear the reality that Taiwan is discriminated compared to Joseon. In other words, it emphasized the financial integrity of Taiwan and raised the issue of Taiwan’s press freedom and inequality, which was lower than that of Joseon. In summary, Taiwan demanded appropriate rights. However, when the news that the local autonomy reform plan would be implemented first came to Joseon in late 1929, the Taiwanese Cultural Association, which had been demanding autonomous reform for a lifetime, was shocked. So, they began to reveal their superiority to Joseon with a lot of conjecture and countermeasures. It seems that the idea that Taiwan was discriminated against compared to Joseon made Taiwanese intellectuals expressing the Chinese consciousness and aware them of Joseon as a competitor. This duplicity by the Taiwanese makes us think about the lessons of the irony of history in the sense that it has been repeated in the process of perception change in Korea since the Cold War.