{"title":"The Identity of Joseon Interpreters in the Qing Empire","authors":"Liu Runze","doi":"10.1353/seo.2024.a932070","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Abstract:</p><p>Joseon interpreters in the Qing Empire were chosen from Korean bannermen and their descendants, who took the initiative to join the Qing Empire or were captured by Qing armies during war. They were a group of “transfrontiersmen” who were able to greatly influence the Qing-Joseon relationship. They maintained extensive interpersonal relationships in Korea and especially kept a good relationship with the Korean interpreters at the Bureau of Interpreters. Joseon interpreters in the early Qing even had family members in Korea. Joseon interpreters were Koreans by ethnicity but were significantly Manchurized, so they maintained a dual identity of both Koreans and Qing bannermen at least until the Qinglong era. The Joseon court was also well aware of this. It always utilized the Joseon interpreters’ interpersonal relationships and identity to gather Qing intelligence and request their assistance in various matters. Still, it could never fully trust these “Koreans” who were serving another country, especially when confidential matters were involved.</p></p>","PeriodicalId":41678,"journal":{"name":"Seoul Journal of Korean Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.2000,"publicationDate":"2024-07-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Seoul Journal of Korean Studies","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1353/seo.2024.a932070","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"AREA STUDIES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Abstract:
Joseon interpreters in the Qing Empire were chosen from Korean bannermen and their descendants, who took the initiative to join the Qing Empire or were captured by Qing armies during war. They were a group of “transfrontiersmen” who were able to greatly influence the Qing-Joseon relationship. They maintained extensive interpersonal relationships in Korea and especially kept a good relationship with the Korean interpreters at the Bureau of Interpreters. Joseon interpreters in the early Qing even had family members in Korea. Joseon interpreters were Koreans by ethnicity but were significantly Manchurized, so they maintained a dual identity of both Koreans and Qing bannermen at least until the Qinglong era. The Joseon court was also well aware of this. It always utilized the Joseon interpreters’ interpersonal relationships and identity to gather Qing intelligence and request their assistance in various matters. Still, it could never fully trust these “Koreans” who were serving another country, especially when confidential matters were involved.
期刊介绍:
Published twice a year under the auspices of the Kyujanggak Institute for Korean Studies at Seoul National University, the Seoul Journal of Korean Studies (SJKS) publishes original, state of the field research on Korea''s past and present. A peer-refereed journal, the Seoul Journal of Korean Studies is distributed to institutions and scholars both internationally and domestically. Work published by SJKS comprise in-depth research on established topics as well as new areas of concern, including transnational studies, that reconfigure scholarship devoted to Korean culture, history, literature, religion, and the arts. Unique features of this journal include the explicit aim of providing an English language forum to shape the field of Korean studies both in and outside of Korea. In addition to articles that represent state of the field research, the Seoul Journal of Korean Studies publishes an extensive "Book Notes" section that places particular emphasis on introducing the very best in Korean language scholarship to scholars around the world.