뉴스레터

Purpose of Publication of the Source Book of Jiandao during the Korean Empire Period

Jiandao refers to the Manchurian region north of the Dumangang River and the Amnokgang River. This was further subdivided into the area north of the Dumangang River called East Jiandao or North Jiandao and the area across the Amnokgang River called West Jiandao. This area was the territory of Goguryeo and Balhae, but after the fall of Balhae, it became a distant region from Korean people’s activity. After the foundation of the Qing Dynasty, it was prohibited for a while, making the affiliation to any country unclear, and few people lived there. However, in the mid-19th century, with a famine striking Hamgyeong Province, the Jiandao region was developed in earnest as tens of thousands of Koreans migrated to the region on a large scale, which led to the establishment of the Yanbian Joseon Autonomous Region of China, with a population of nearly 2 million as of 2020.

However, past studies and debates on Jiandao mainly focused on issues of ownership of Jiandao, such as the issue of the Baekdusan National Boundary Monument erected in the 18th century, the border adjustment dispute between the Korean Empire and Qing Dynasty in the 19th century, and the Jiandao Convention between Japan and Qing Dynasty in 1909. In fact, the source books previously published by the foundation were also mostly about border adjustments, such as the 『Joseon-Qing Border Conference Source Book』 (2005), 『Baekdusan National Boundary Source Book』 (2006), 『History of Northern Regions of the Joseon Dynasty Source Book』 (2007), 『Annotated Minutes by Gamgye Official』 (Volumes 1 and 2)] (2008, 2010) and 『Translated ‘Documents on Foreign Relations,’ Source Book on Transgression, Boundary, Imperial Order, Prohibition, and Reversion』 (2008-2013).

The legal and historical reversion of the Jiandao region is, of course, an important issue. However, apart from the territorial reversion, the lives of the members of the Korean people who migrated from the Jiandao region since the mid-19th century are also history that we must remember. In addition, to accurately investigate the territorial problem, it is necessary to pay more attention to what kind of life Koreans led in Jiandao and the policies of the governments of Joseon and the Korean Empire on Jiandao.

With this critical mind, the Northeast Asian History Foundation is carrying out a project of collecting and translating Jiandao-related historical materials from government documents dating back to the late Joseon and Korean Empire periods in the Kyujanggak Institute for Korean Studies at Seoul National University, and publishing them as a series of 『Source Book of Jiandao during the Korean Empire Period』. Volume 1, which was published in 2021, contains related materials from 『Hamgyeong Nambuk Dorae Geoan』 and 『Pyeongan Nambuk Dorae Geoan』 among the historical materials in the collection of Kyujanggak, and Volume 2, slated for publication in 2022, collected and translated historical materials regarding 『Uijeongbu Raegeomun』 and 『Oebu Ilgi』, 『Naebu Raegeomun』, 『Johoewonbon』, 『Gyeongmucheong Raegeomun』, 『Gyeongwiwon Raegeomun』, 『Wonsubu Raegeoan』, 『Nongsanggongbu Raegeomun』, 『Beopbu Raegeomun』, 『Appeals』, 『Chonggwan Geohun』’, etc. were collected and translated.

Jiandao Residents Begins to Submit Written Opinions

The materials in the source book we are publishing here that I would like to introduce are the written opinions submitted to the Korean government by Koreans living in Jiandao. Although many Koreans migrated to Jiandao after the 1860s, the Joseon government took an ambiguous position of neither protecting nor regulating residents in Jiandao. At the end of the 19th century, however, as unstable factors increased in the Jiandao region, the Joseon-Korean Empire governments’ Jiandao policy began to change toward a more active direction.

But it was not the government that initiated these changes. On November 27, 1896, former official Oh Sam-gap submitted a written opinion, proposing the restoration of the military base and establishment of a regional defense corps in the Jongseong region of Hamgyongbuk-do, which borders Russia and the Qing Dynasty. (「Gyeongui Sobonjonan」, GYU17233) In November 1897, former military official Yeo Hyeong-seop submitted a written opinion to the king to operate a defense corps for Hamgyeong-do using the profits from the fields and paddies belonging to the station to maintain security in Jiandao. (『Diary of the Royal Secretariat』).

These written opinions were unique in that they were submitted before discussions on the northern armaments began within the government, but they were rather passive, requesting to strengthen the armaments of Hamgyeong-do. However, from 1898, the content changed much more actively. On August 12 of that year, Jo chi-ryong, a Confucian scholar, requested the establishment of a Korean government office in Vladivostok, where he lived (『Uijeongbu Raegeomun』, GYU17793). On August 13, Oh Sam-gap raised the issue regarding the basis for defining the Dumangang River-Tumen River border and suggested that the government secure the Jiandao region by setting the boundary on the Dumangang River and assign an official to the region.

According to these recommendations, Koreans who settled in the Jiandao region greatly outnumbered the Chinese people, but the living conditions of Koreans were very challenging due to discriminatory tax collection and control by Qing officials and the misconduct of the remnants of the Boxers. However, when the government failed to protect them, the residents of Jiandao actively advocated that Jiandao be secured and operated as Korean territory.

From Written Opinion to Policy

These suggestions were also discussed at the state council meeting, and the issue of re-defining the boundaries between Korea and China was passed at the state council meeting on September 23, 1898 (『Uijeongbu Raegeomun』). However, this issue was eventually rejected by the external officials on November 1.(『Uijeongbu Raegeomun』). The conflict between internal officials insisting on securing Jiandao and external officials insisting that Jiandao is not Korean territory appears continuously in this historical document, but the written opinions of the residents of Jiandao were ignored amid the conflict.

Nonetheless, the written opinions of the people of Jiandao continued. Yeo Hyeong-seop, Oh Sam-gap, and others suggested a plan to protect Koreans in Jiandao several times from 1899 to 1902, to be specific, by allowing the residents of Jiandao to be armed so that they could defend themselves (『Johoewonbon』, GYU17234). The fact that Lee Beom-yoon became a Jiandao Administrator and effectively ruled the Jiandao area by recruiting privately managed soldiers resulted from reflecting the written opinion of the Jiandao residents as described above. Although Lee Beom-yoon's activities had to be stopped due to pressures of world powers and the government's neglect, the will of the people of Jiandao became a policy even for a short while and had the effect of broadening the field of activities of the nation and protecting the lives of its members. I hope that the history of the Jiandao region could be reconstructed more richly with more data to be confirmed in the future.