진주(陳奏)와 탐문(探問) -신유년(1801) 동지겸진주사(冬至兼陳奏使)의 활동과 정보수집-

Abstract

Examined in this article are the actions of the Joseon Winter Solstice Celebratory Envoy, which was dispatched to Peijing to discuss the aftermath of Joseon’s Shin’yu-year(1801) persecution of the Catholic church(1801), and collect intelligence over relevant matters in Qing. This ‘Dongji(Winter Solstice)-gyeom(&)-jinju(Report)-sa’ emissary the Joseon government sent to Qing this particular year was sent in the first place to explain to the Qing government why Joseon had Chinese Catholic priest Ju Mun-mo executed during the said year’s Catholic persecution, and discuss measures such as border inspections to prevent the Catholic church’s further advance into Joseon with the Qing government. So the Joseon government sent Jo Yun-dae, Seo Mi-su and Yi Gi-heon, who were all directly involved in the Shin’yu-year persecution, as chief representative(Jeongsa), Busa(vice representative) and Seojang-gwan. The envoy was successful in carrying out its primary mission.<BR> Yet this envoy also gathered intelligence with regard to the Qing dynasty’s general affairs. They collected information on the Emperor(Gagyeong-je)’s reputation, the lives of the public, and various peasant revolts. All these data show us how things were in Qing at the time, but as collecting intelligence was not an easy task to begin with, information depicting Qing in a rather negative light ended up being more dominantly collected. Such intelligence, gathered in a fairly unbalanced fashion, was shared among the Joseon officials through occasions like the envoys’ meeting with the King upon their return, or their filing of official reports(Mun’gyeon Sageon), and ended up reinforcing the Joseon people’s negative view toward Qing. <BR> This shows us that the Joseon envoys to Qing dynasty’s Peijing capital maintained a preconception while gathering intelligence, rather than having an open mind and examine the Qing society as it really was. This may be considered as the legacy of the Joseon envoys sent to Peijing at the time. One may also say that this particular envoy sent to Peijing in 1801 tried to confirm what they had already been believing all along, instead of trying to first witness and then report how things in Qing actually were.