한말 修身敎科書 번역과 ‘국민’ 형성

The Translation of Ethics Textbooks and Nation-Building in Korea, 1905-1910

Even after falling to the Japanese ‘protectorate’, some Korean intellectuals still believed and regarded that they could restore the sovereignty and independence and establish modern nation-state as the goal of the day. It was the nation building and national unity through the education and enlightenment movement that they made an effort first and most to establish modern nation-state. They made academic societies and published journals or became school teachers for the national education. And perceiving the importance of textbooks for education, they enthusiastically wrote and published textbooks. The intellectuals who had not had much experience to write and publish textbooks for modern education published books with referring to or translating Japanese textbooks that had already implemented modern education and published textbooks. The textbooks not only for practical subjects such as modern technology or science but also for formation national identity and consciousness like national history and ethics were translated. Sin Haeyoung’s Ethics Textbook(倫理學敎科書) which was one of representative private published ethics textbooks was just the case translated from Japanese textbook. The original copy of Ethics Textbook was Japanese New Ethics Textbook(新編倫理敎科書). Inoue Tetsujiro and Takayama Chogyu, co-authors of this textbook, who were well known as ideologues of Japanese kokutairon(國體論), wrote the textbook to educate kokutairon and nationalism based on the Rescript on Eucation(敎育勅語) to their people. The reason why Sin Haeyoung translated from New Ethics Textbook and published Ethics Textbook was that he might sympathize with kokutairon and nationalism included in the former and judge that this kind of ethnic education was needed to nation building and unity. As a result of comparing and analyzing two textbooks, even if most of table of contents and contents are the same as each other, some corrections of terms and different texts are also founded out. As Inoue wrote the textbook to educate his people “Unique Ethics of Our Country”, Sin Haeyoung also seemed to take a method to correct the text or describe new text not to translate all of the contents of New Ethics Textbook in order to educate his people “Unique Ethics of Korea”. The biggest change in the structure of contents and text can be found in the chapter 1 of volume 4 which explains the origin, elements of foundation and the basic principle of management of the state in the title of General Introduction of the State(國家總論). Due to the difference of national and political system and situation between Taehan empire and Japan, the contents of textbook was modified and described in accordance with the circumstances of Taehan empire. Even though Taehan empire and Japan were all monarchies in the aspect of national polity, which means who has the sovereignty, the textbooks explain that the monarchy needs to adopt the constitutional political system to make up for the defects of monarchy. The intellectuals of Taehan empire facing a crisis of losing national sovereignty accepted Japanese education of ethics based on kokutairon and the educational thought of nationalism focused on national right as a logic and a theory of education for the people for building and integrating the nation who can restore sovereignty and establish nation-state. This might be the reason why Sin Haeyoung translated Japanese New Ethics Textbook and published Ehics Textbook. Sin Haeyoung and Inoue alike wanted the modern person as the model of nation who would carry out reform and enlightenment to establish nation-state, and Sin translated the contents making the nation like that as it is. On the other hand, he couldn’t translate all contents of New Ethics Textbook as it is to build the nation who has the identity and loyalty or patriotism as members of Taehan empire, a nation-state and sovereignty.