조선후기 압록강 하안의 신도(薪島) 범월과 신도진(薪島鎭)의 설치

Abstract

The Shindo island of Joseon was located on the Abrok-gang riverline which faced Chinese dynasties, first Ming and later Qing. Fishery was good in the area and there was also ample land that could be cultivated. So the Chinese people would frequently cross the border to come here, and engage in illegal activities. The Joseon government recognized Shindo as part of its territory, but was unable to actually move some Joseon people there and establish administrative control over the island. As a result, the island became a hotbed for illegal fishery and trades, and an island frequently violated by the Chinese via illegal trespassing.<BR> In order to put an end to all these illegal activities continuing on the Shindo island, the Joseon government decided to initiate a Suto(搜討) search and investigation. Such investigation seems to have begun around the latter half of 17th century when the Qing government’s ban on the sea was lifted, and was to be conducted ‘three times a month(月三搜討).’ Yet such plan was not successfully implemented, and the Joseon government finally decided in 1808–with the Qing’s approval- to establish a Naval headquarters (“Jin”) on Shindo, which was located near one of the farthest positions of the northern part of the Korean peninsula.<BR> The “Shindo-jin” office was a reestablishment of the Yongcheon area’s Migot-jin office, which had originally been maintained as an on-land facility. An administrative office was built on Shindo, and people were ordered to live there. The office itself was established not to defend the area from external enemies, but to monitor and minimize all the illegal trespassing and smuggling, so not a lot of soldiers were required. Unlike other naval facilities, only around a hundred soldiers were stationed at Shindo-jin.<BR> Meanwhile, the functions of the original Migot-jin also needed to be maintained. So the Joseon government had the Shindo Cheomsa official to man Shindo from March to September, and then regulate the Migot-jin area from October to February. In other words, the Shindo Cheomsa had to regulate the late Migot-jin on land and the new Shindo-jin on an island, and as a result the Shindo-jin in the 19th century had to be operated with two centers: one on the island(Dojin, 島鎭) and one on the land(Yukjin, 陸鎭). Shindo-jin served as an important checkpoint on the farthest North region of the West sea throughout the 19th century, and in the early 20th century actually enabled Joseon to have an upper hand in a series of territorial disputes with China over areas such as Hwangchopyeong and Shindo.