Dokdo-or-Takeshima?: 1882 - "The Joseon Situation" (朝鮮事情), by Enomoto Takeaki(榎本武揚) excludes Takeshima/Dokdo from Joseon territory

17.5.08

1882 - "The Joseon Situation" (朝鮮事情), by Enomoto Takeaki(榎本武揚) excludes Takeshima/Dokdo from Joseon territory

"The Joseon Situation" (朝鮮事情) is a partial translation of Charles Dallet's "Histoire de L'Eglise de Corée"(1874). Enomoto Takeaki (榎本武揚), who was the first Japanese ambassador to Russian capital of Saint Petersburg, had the original book sent from Paris to Saint-Petersburg in December 1875 in order to collect information on Joseon. He translated it into Japanese with a help of his science mentor, Dutch Doctor Pompe van Meerdervoot, Johannes Lydius Catherinus (1829-1908). He finished the translation and sent it to Japan by January 15, 1876. It is believed the first edition was published in 1876-77.

This book is said to have had a great influence on the Meiji government's political plannning in regard to Joseon. Since it was a translation of "Histoire de L'Eglise de Corée," it naturally excluded Takeshima/Dokdo from Joseon territory.

The following is an excerpt from the book:

王国高麗ハ狭長キ半島及其附属ノ郡島ヨリ成リ而シテ北緯三十三度十五分ヨリ四十二度二十五分東経（巴里ヨリ）百二十二度十五分ヨリ百二十八度三十分ノ位置ヲ占ム
The kingdom of Korea (Corea) consists of an oblong peninsula and it's neighbouring islands. It is located between 33° 15' N. to 42° 25' N. ( from Paris) and 122° 15’ E. to 128° 30’ E [ + 2°20’, which is the eastern longitude of Paris, would be 130° 50’ E （Greenwich Meridian)]

Enomoto Takeaki (榎本武揚, 1836-1908)

Viscount Enomoto Takeaki was a Japanese Navy admiral faithful to the Tokugawa Shogunate. He started his navy career by entering the newly formed Naval Training School in Nagasaki. He was then sent for five years to the Netherlands to study Western naval techniques. He fought against the new Meiji government(明治政府) until the end of the Boshin War (戊辰戦争), but after 3 years of imprisonment, he was forgiven for his crime of high treason in 1872. The Meiji government needed Enomoto, who was educated in Europe and had knowledge of international laws.

In 1874, Enomoto was given the rank of vice-admiral in the newly established Imperial Japanese Navy and the first Japanese ambassador to Russia. The following year, he was sent as a special envoy, or Minister Plenipotentiary, to Russia to negotiate the Treaty of Saint Petersburg (1875). He successively held several ministry positions in the government, and was especially active in promoting Japanese expansionism through settler colonies in the Pacific Ocean and South- and Central America.

2008 marks the first centennial of Enomoto Takeaki's death.

6 comments:

Gerry Bevers17/5/08 12:27
Kaneganese,

I have made a few minor corrections to your post, so please recheck it for mistakes.

By the way, I appreciate these kinds of posts on Japanese documents because they give me information that is hard for me to find since I cannot read Japanese.
ReplyDelete
Replies
Kaneganese17/5/08 13:25
Beautiful. Thank you, Gerry

I'm working on translating "竹島考証" in 1881 a bit by bit along with those documents. It is important to understand whole situation around that period.
ReplyDelete
Replies
Gerry Bevers17/5/08 14:47
Kaneganese,

I am looking forward to seeing your translation.

By the way, wouldn't "The Joseon Situation" be a better translation for 朝鮮事情?
ReplyDelete
Replies
Kaneganese17/5/08 14:50
"wouldn't "The Joseon Situation" be a better translation for 朝鮮事情?"

Sounds good. Thanks !
ReplyDelete
Replies
pacifist17/5/08 18:14
Kaneganese,

Good job again!
It is apparent that the world recognised that the eastern limit of the Korean territory to be Ulleungdo.
ReplyDelete
Replies
싸울아비30/3/19 03:41
Trash and uncivilized Japs still cannot realise nor overcome. Ahaha, You Japs have got the country name in English as Japan since the defeat of the second WW in 1945. Should we teach monkeys our old letters? You Japs said 萬葉集 was harder to interpret than Davinchi code. You should thank 朝鮮人. We rule the whole world. Idiots.
ReplyDelete
Replies

Add comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

NE Shore of Ulleungdo (鬱陵島 - 울릉도)

This satellite photo shows Ulleungdo's neighboring islands of Gwaneumdo (觀音島) and Jukdo (竹島) off Ulleungdo's east shore. Gwaneumdo is only about 100 meters offshore and looks more like a cape than an island. Jukdo is about 2 km offshore. The old Korean name for Jukdo was "Usando" (于山島), as many of Korea's old maps show. Koreans claim that Usando was Korea's old name for "Dokdo" (Liancourt Rocks), but they have no documents or maps to prove it. Also, Liancourt Rocks is about ninety-two kilometers southeast of Ulleungdo and are essentially two islands, but all of Korea's old maps show it as one island just off shore of Ulleungdo.

"Cheonggudo" (靑邱圖) Atlas (1860 - 1872)

This Korean map of Ulleungdo (鬱陵島 - 울릉도) showed it with a small island off its eastern shore labeled as "Usan" (于山). Hash marks at the bottom of the map showed that Usan was less than 4 km off Ulleungdo's east shore. That would mean that it would be Ulleungdo's neighboring island of Jukdo, which is about 2.2 km off Ulleungdo's east shore. Koreans claim that Usando was the old name for Dokdo (Liancourt Rocks), but Dokdo is 92 km southeast of Ulleungdo and is essentially two islands, not one. The map is stored in the National Library of Korea.

"Cheonggudo" (靑邱圖) Atlas (1834)

This Korean map of Ulleungdo (鬱陵島 - 울릉도) showed Usan (于山 - 우산) as a neighboring island just off Ulleungdo's east shore. The hash marks at the bottom of the map showed the island to be about 4 km offshore. Usando was the old Korean name for Ulleungdo's neighboring island of Jukdo, which is about 2.2 km of Ulleungdo's east shore. Koreans claim that Usando was the old Korean name for "Dokdo" (Liancourt Rocks), which is 92 km southeast of Ulleungdo, but this map and many others prove that claim false. The map is stored in Seoul National University's Kyujanggak Center for Korean Studies.

"Dong Yeodo" (東輿圖) Atlas (1795 - 1800)

This map showed Ulleungdo (鬱陵島 - 울릉도) with a neighboring island labeled as "Usan" (于山 - 우산). Usando (于山島) was the old Korean name for Ulleungdo's neighboring island of Jukdo (竹島 - 죽도), which is about 2.2 km off Ulleungdo's east shore. Koreans claim that Usando was the old name for "Dokdo" (Liancourt Rocks), which is 92 km southeast of Ulleungdo, but this map and many others prove that claim wrong. The map is stored in Japan's "University of Tsukuba Library" (筑波大学附属図書館).

"Joseon-do" (朝鮮圖) - 1800 - 1822

This map of Ullelungdo (鬱陵島) is from the Korean atlas "Joseon-do" (朝鮮圖), which is believed to have been made sometime between 1800 and 1822. Ulleungdo is shown with a neighboring island labeled as Usan (于山). Koreans claim that Usando (于山島) was the old Korean name for Dokdo (Liancourt Rocks), but this map and many others show that it was Ulleungdo's neighboring island of Jukdo (竹島), which is Ulleungdo's largest neighboring island and only two kilometers off Ulleungdo's east shore. The map is stored in the Osaka Nakanoshima Library (中之島圖書館).

"Gwandong Bangyeo" (關東方輿) - late 1800s?)

This map of Ulleungdo comes from an atlas entitled "Gwandong Bangyeo" (關東方輿), which was probably made in the late 1800s since the map is very similarly to another map of Ulleungdo that was made between 1884 and 1894. The mapmaker used gridlines to help show relative size and distance. The map shows Ulleungdo with a small island off its east shore labeled as "Usan" (于山), which was the old Korean name for Ulleungdo's neighboring island of Jukdo (竹島 - 죽도). Jukdo is Ulleungdo's largest neighoring island and is about two kilometers off Ulleungdo's east shore. Koreans claim that Usando was the old Korean name for "Dokdo" (Liancourt Rocks), but they have no maps or documents to prove it. The map is stored in the Korean National Library.

"Joseon Jido" (朝鮮地圖) Atlas (1750 - 1768)

This Korean map of Ulleungdo (鬱陵島 - 울릉도) showed "Usan" (于山 - 우산) as a neighboring island. The grid lines on the map helped show the small island's relative distance from Ulleungdo. Usando (于山島 - 우산도) was the old Korean name for Ulleungdo's neighboring island of Jukdo (竹島 - 죽도), which is about 2.2 km off Ulleungdo's east shore. Korean's claim that Usando was the old name for "Dokdo" (Liancourt Rocks), but this map and many others prove that claim false.

Inspector's Map of Ulleungdo (1711)

The map is an inspector's map that showed Ulleungdo with an island off its east shore labeled as "the so-called Usando" (所謂于山島). The small island was also labeled as having "fields of haejang bamboo" (海長竹田). Koreans claim that Usando was Dokdo (Liancourt Rocks), but this map shows that it could not have been Dokdo since Dokdo is just rocks without the soil to grow haejang bamboo. Also, Usando was shown as a neighboring island of Ulleungdo, but Dokdo is 92 km southeast of Ulleungdo. Stored in Seoul Nat'l University's Kyujanggak Institute of Korean Studies.

"Haejwa Jeondo" (海左全圖) - mid 1800s

This old Korean map showed Ulleungdo (鬱陵島 - 울릉도) with a small neighboring island just off its east shore labeled as "Usan" (于山 - 우산). Koreans claim that Usando (于山島 - 우산도) was the old name for Dokdo (Liancourt Rocks), but this map is evidence against the Korean claim. Liancourt Rocks is essentially two islands 92 kilometers southeast of Ulleungdo, but the Usan on this map is just off Ulleungdo's east shore and is only one island. In fact, Usando was the old name for Ulleungdo's neighboring island of Jukdo (竹島 - 죽도), which is only two kilometers off Ulleungdo's east shore.

Carte de la Coree (1846)

This map was made iin 1846 by Kim Dae-geon (金大建), who was Korea's first Catholic priest. He made this map for the benefit of the French priest he works with. He was killed by the Joseon government the same year this map was made. The map shows Ulleungdo labeled in French as "Oulangto" and its neighboring island of Usando labeled as "Ousan." Koreans claim that Usando (于山島 - 우산도) was the old name for Dokdo (Liancourt Rock), but this map shows Usando as one island just of the east shore of Ulleungdo. That tells us that Usando was almost certainly Ulleungdo's neighboring island of Jukdo (竹島 - 죽도), which is only 2 kilometers off Ulleungdo's east shore. Also, this island could not have been Liancourt Rocks since Liancourt Rocks is essentially two islands not one. The original of this map is stored in the National Library of France.

Joseon Jeondo (朝鮮全圖) from the "Gakdo Jido" (各道地圖) Atlas (latter 18th c.)

This old Korean map showed an island labeled as "Usando" (于山島 - 우산도) just off the east shore of Ulleundo (鬱陵島 - 울릉도). Koreans claim that Usando was the old name for Dokdo (Liancourt Rocks), but this map is more evidence against that claim. Liancourt Rocks is essentially two islands ninety-two kilometers southeast of Ulleungdo, but this map shows Usando as one island just off Ulleungdo's east shore. Usando was, in fact, the old name for Ulleungdo's neighboring island of Jukdo (竹島 - 죽도), which is about two kilometers off Ulleungdo's east shore. This map is stored in Korea's Yeongnam University Museum.

"Joseon Jido" (朝鮮地圖) Atlas (1898)

"Donggyeong San Cheon - Paldo Jido (東京山川八道地圖) Atlas (date unknown)

"Jeongukdo" (全國圖) from the "Dongguk Daecheondo" (東國大全圖) - 1740

This old Korean map shows Ulleungdo (鬱陵島 - 울릉도) with a small neighboring island just off its east shore labeled as "Usando" (于山島 - 우산도). Koreans claim that Usando was the old name for Dokdo, but this map is evidence against that claim. Liancourt Rocks is essentially two islands ninety-two kilometers southeast of Ulleungdo, but the Usando on this map is one island just off the east shore of Ulleungdo. Usando was, in fact, the old name for Ulleungdo's neighboring island of Jukdo (竹島 - 죽도), which is about two kilometers off Ulleungdo's east shore. This map is stored in the Korean National Museum.

竹島問題の歴史

17.5.08

1882 - "The Joseon Situation" (朝鮮事情), by Enomoto Takeaki(榎本武揚) excludes Takeshima/Dokdo from Joseon territory

6 comments: