20세기 중국 ‘봉건(封建)’개념의 의미변천에 대한 역사적 고찰

Abstract

The word 'Fengjian(封建)‘ was originally used since ancient times in China and means 'to give land and title'. Since late modern period (after 1850) in Asia, ‘封建’ has been borrowed as a translation of Feudalism in European history since its form is similar to that of ancient Chinese or pre-modern Japanese government system. Then, under the influence of Marxist history theory, Chinese Communist theorists gave a new meaning to ‘封建’ by defining the time of about 2000 years from the Qin-Han era to the Qing Dynasty in Chinese history as 'feudal society'. And this concept played a key role in the revolutionary movement of the Communist Party of China. After the victory of the Communist Party and the establishment of New China(PRC), the term '封建' in modern Chinese has become a metaphor that has negative meanings such as 'pre-modernity, oppression, backwardness'. Since the 1990s, controversy has arisen over the concept of '封建(feudalism)' in Chinese academic circles. The core of the controversy can be concentrated to the "classical" school that claim to use it in a classical sense, and to the "modern" school who argue that it should be used as Marxist concept. And behind these controversy, we can see different viewpoints on Marxist and Communist ideology, and through this we can observe the attitudes of Chinese intellectuals to Communist Party rule. (Jeju National University)