Hamel ui Chosonp'yoryu wa Kangjin saenghwal ui hamch'ukhanun uimi

Abstract

Readingbetween the Lines of Hendrik Hamel’s Report

--with a focus on the seven years in Gangjin --

The stranding of Dutch sailors on the coast of JejuIsland in 1653 may be thought of as a dramatic incident of little historicalimportance, as it did not lead to the establishment of lasting relationsbetween Korea and the Netherlands. But knowledge about Korea in Europe wasgreatly advanced thanks to the publication of Hendrik Hamel (1630-1692)’s reportabout his adventures with its account of the geographical and political conditionsand culture of Korea, which was soon translated into English, French andGerman. These translations remained constantly in print in the 18thand 19th centuries. Unfortunately, they contained quite a fewerrors, but it is important to note that the original report was highlyaccurate. A careful reading of the report of the Dutchmen’s thirteen-yearexperiences in Korea is also of interest from a current point of view, now thatKorea is developing into a multicultural nation. It suggests that at the timethe concept of race, which became popular in Europe only in the eighteenthcentury, played no role, not on the Korean side and not on the Dutch side, andthat the presence of the Dutchmen may have led to an early, though necessarilylimited, form of a multicultural society.