The history of Korea-China relationship at the period of opening the
port had paid attention to the political interference of Qing and the
movement of Joseon which tried to escape from it. Studies related to
this have revealed the conflictory aspect in the Korea-China relationship
in detail, but they ignored the aspect of traditional relationship. The
Joseon-Qing traditional relationship was mostly maintained by
accrediting envoys to keep the ritual order, which was kept until Qing
was defeated by Japan in 1895.
In 1887, the Joseon government received a message that the emperor
of Qing would rule his country by himself. So, according to the
previous practice, it was decided to accredit the mission to congratulate
it, and Lee Seung-oh who was a descendant of the influential family
was selected as an official envoy. However, the point Lee went to
Peking was the time Qing’s pressure over Joseon was severe because
of the rumor that Joseon tried to be in league with Russia. Therefore,
Lee’s visit to Peking in that political situation could be the endless
tensions to him. However, Lee was busy in meeting with Qing literary
men all the time of the period of visit. And most of the meetings were poetry meetings accompanied by parties. It means that there was a field
different from the political situation in the Joseon-Qing relationship in
the period of opening the port.
This study aims to investigate the exchanges of Lee Seung-oh in
detail. It will classify the objects of exchange into Chinese officials and
Manchurian officials. In addition, it will find out the meaning of the
Lee’s exchange in the stream of the Joseon-Qing literary men exchanges
in the 19th century, to investigate succession of history. This work will
show the aspect different from the conflict between Joseon and Qing
in the period of opening the port, and it will be the basis of viewing
the general appearance between them.