Kim Minho (bio)

10.18399/acta.2017.20.2.007

Hong Tae-yong Hallerstein (Liu Songling)  Yŏnhaengnok  Tamhŏn yŏn'gi  Ŭlbyŏng yŏnhaengnok

There were encounters between Chosŏn 朝鮮 scholar Hong Tae-yong 洪大容 (1731–1783) and Jesuit missionary Ferdinand Augustin von Hallerstein (1703–1774), whose Chinese name was Liu Songling 劉松齡 at the South Church (Nantang 南堂) in Beijing on the 9th day of the 1st month of 1766. Hong Tae-yong, who wanted to learn advanced Western technology, met Hallerstein personally three times and asked him about various aspects of astronomy, Western technology, musical instruments, and Catholicism. He recorded these encounters in classical Chinese in one of the chapters of Tamhŏn yŏn'gi 湛軒燕記 (Hong Tae-yong's record of an embassy to Beijing), entitled "Yu P'o mundap" 劉鮑問答 (Questions and answers with Hallerstein and Gogeisl). He also recorded these encounters in vernacular Korean in his Ŭlbyŏng yŏnhaengnok 乙丙燕行錄 (Record of an embassy to Beijing in 1765–1766). This study discusses how Hallerstein's and Gogeisl's names came to be recorded on the two red papers used to accept Hong's request for the visit, and further analyzes the historical context related to the red papers. This study also introduces Hallerstein's letter concerning Chosŏn and attempts to evaluate the encounter between Hong Tae-yong and Hallerstein. Ultimately, in explaining how the background and surroundings of that time made it difficult for their relationship to develop in a constructive way, this study tries to shed light on one case of important interactions between Chosŏn and the West.