『中東戰紀』의 한국적 수용에 대한 고찰

The Dissemination of “Zhongdong Zhanji” in South Korea

“Zhongdong Zhanji(中東戰紀)” was a great Chinese masterwork associated with the First Sino-Japanese War, jointly translated and compiled by Lin Lezhi (Young John Allen, 林樂知) who was an active American missionary in China in the late Qing Dynasty and Chinese scholar Cai Erkang(蔡爾康). The full name of “Zhongdong Zhanji” in Chinese was “The Whole Course of the First Sino-Japanese War”. “Zhongdong Zhanji” appeared originally as serials -- 8 volumes in first edition, 4 volumes in second serial and 4 volumes in third serial, and it was seen as a masterwork of a total of 16 volumes. “Zhongdong Zhanji” featured the Qing Dynasty s imperial edicts, telegraphs and official documents which were associated with the First Sino-Japanese War, and international news media coverage of this War as well as related articles written by those missionaries living in China and a number of Chinese intellectuals. According to statistics, “Zhongdong Zhanji” collected myriads of news reports and comments on the First Sino-Japanese War in more than 40 newspapers from many countries like Great Britain, Germany, France, Russia, and America. By virtue of the richness of content, “Zhongdong Zhanji” became a best-selling book soon after its publication, and had rather a large influence on Chinese intellectuals who were on the verge of national subjugation. Moreover, after “Zhongdong Zhanji” was introduced to Japan, South Korea, Vietnam and other countries, it received quite some international attention of the times. In 1899, Hyun Chei(玄采), South Korea s Enlightenment thinker, sorted out those materials pertinent to Joseon Kingdom, and translated into “Zhongdong Zhanji” by adopting the mixed translating style of Korean language and Chinese characters. “Zhongdong Zhanji” in Korean also drew considerable attention the moment it was published by Hwangseong Shinmun(皇城新聞). At that time, some Korean popular newspapers like Hwangseong Shinmun and Korea Christian Advocate also published some relevant reviews on “Zhongdong Zhanji”. In addition, “Zhongdong Zhanji” was referenced or dealt with in this period by Korean famous writer Hwanghyun(黃鉉) in Maechenyalok(梅泉野錄 , Korean scholar Kwak Zhong Seok(郭鐘錫) in the Mianwujip(俛宇集) , and Chun Wu (田愚) in Kanzaijip(艮齋集) . By means of newspaper coverage and pertinent reviews on “Zhongdong Zhanji”, we can have a general view of South Korean Intellectuals standpoints and perspectives in terms of the First Sino-Japanese War as well as three countries concerned ----China, Japan and Korea.