When Joseon Encountered Western Powers
By Chung Ah-young
Staff Reporter
Western ships that often drifted to the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910) were called ``Iyangseon,'' which literarily means ``strangely-shaped ships.''
The term suggests the Joseon's hostility against the foreign vessels as it thought China and Japan were the only outside world.
But how does this small and closed-off country come across foreign powers on the threshold of the Western influx led by Euro-centric powers to the self-isolating Asian countries?
``Evil Spirits Drifting to the Joseon Sea,'' written by Park Cheon-hong, gives a broader perspective about Joseon's encounters with foreign powers based on historical data from both Korean and Western points of view.
The book may surprise many readers who only know the well-known incidents such as the U.S. warship landing on Ganghwa Island in 1871 and the French vessel incursion in 1866.
The book says that before these incidents, numerous expedition boats, warship and commercial ships visited Joseon.
The book also reveals the hidden stories in the process of Joseon's contact with foreign powers using travel books written by foreigners who visited Joseon and their vivid portrayals of the Joseon people and their lifestyles.
It also offers a comprehensive outlook of the then East Asian landscape, which was laid in the middle of Western imperialism.
Foreign merchant ships and warships frequently appeared on Korean shores starting from the 16th century and peaked in the 19th century.
In the late 16th century, Westerners were found in Joseon official historical records. From Portugal, England, the Netherlands, France, Russia and America, the foreign vessels flooded onto Korean shores for many reasons.
But the reasons changed as time went by. An early type of contact was Westerners' accidental arrival after shipwrecks, seeking food, water and shelter.
Later on, they attempted to open commercial relations with Joseon and then came to the country on missionary purposes or expedition, the author said.
In the 19th century, British vessels flocked to the shores during expeditions, while French ships landed on the peninsula under the name of freedom, and imparted Christian missionaries.
In this period, the flood of foreign ships was a turning point for the Joseon Kingdom because it suffered a leadership crisis internally resulting from both the rulers' and aristocrats' corruption.
Outwardly, allied troops of Britain and France forced China to open its doors through the Beijing Treaty. Meanwhile, Japan was forced to open the doors by the ``Black Ship'' led by Admiral Perry.
During that time, contagious diseases gripped Joseon where the feudalistic society was staggering from its own corruption and contradictions.
The author says it was inevitable to face a clash with foreign powers as the region was in the middle of Western expeditions and expansion into the unknown world.
The author said that although Joseon remained closed-off from the outside world, the ordinary people living on the seashores warmly treated foreign strangers.
In the late 18th century, Catholicism known as ``seohak'' was first introduced into the Confucianism-oriented society, in which a small number of intelligent scholars adopted the doctrine and gradually transmitted the religion to the masses.
Such an inflow of the new religion baffled the ruling class because the doctrine conflicted with Confucian ideals.
So the ruling class regarded all foreign ships as ``evil spirits'' and the subject of fear to be warded off.
But ordinary people suffering from poverty and irregularities from the social structure behaved nicely toward these strangers.
Most Western expeditionary forces who met the Joseon people wrote of heart-warming experiences, which contrasted with the government's rigid policy of sticking to strict exclusionism.
``Joseon people whom we met later were kind and cheerful. Their hostility came from the iron-fisted rule by the government. … We began to believe that all violators who make a close relation with strangers against the rules were supposed to be executed by the government,'' Karl Gutzlaff, a missionary from the Netherlands, wrote in his voyage record.
The author wraps up the thick book, saying ``Joseon has double faces. As the structure of the ruling class got more rigid, they got tougher and exclusive toward the outside world. Meanwhile, the ordinary people living in shanty houses were favorable and open-minded.''