東濱, 東洋, 東方 - ‘한국사’를 바라본 金庠基의 시야 -

초록

Sang-ki Kim(Dongbin, 1901–1977), one of the core members of the Chintan Society, is widely regarded as a pioneer of modern Korean ‘Oriental history’(東洋史) scholarship. He went to Japan in the late 1920s and graduated from Waseda University’s Department of History, majoring in ‘Oriental history’. At the time ‘Oriental history’ in Japan was defined as a field that excluded Japanese history while encompassing ‘Korean/Chosŏn history,’ and Kim’s graduation thesis dealt with the Donghak Rebellion. His major studies published in the 1930s in the Chintan-Hakbo likewise demonstrated a broad perspective extending beyond the Korean Peninsula, yet they remained fundamentally grounded in ‘Korean history’. Because ‘Korean history’ was then subsumed under the rubric of ‘Oriental history’, a sustained reflection on the relationship between the two had not yet begun. After liberation in 1945, Kim served as a professor in the Department of History at Seoul National University, where he was responsible for the ‘Oriental history’ track. In this new institutional setting, however, ‘Oriental history’ was redefined as a field that excluded ‘Korean history’ as the nation’s own history (自國史), making it different from the earlier ‘Oriental history’ that had included ‘Korean history’ as part of its scope. While Kim did not hesitate to use the term ‘the Orient(東洋)’ when addressing this Korean-history-excluding field, he employed the term ‘Eastern history’(東方史) for writings that dealt with ‘Korean history’. In doing so, he conceptualized an “Oriental history” that still encompassed Korean history through the keyword ‘the East’(東方). Furthermore, by understanding Goryeo as a microcosm in which ‘the East’ was reflected—going beyond a simple Korea–China relations framework—he ultimately advanced a perspective in which Goryeo history could be seen as “Eastern history” itself.

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