Jeong Duwon (.1581), also known as Chong Tuwon,[.] was a Joseon Korea Yangban and diplomat. His chance encounter with a generous member of the Jesuit China missions greatly expanded Korean knowledge of western science, technology, geographical knowledge, and European culture centuries before Ganghwa Treaty.
Life
During a diplomatic mission to the
Ming dynasty in
Beijing in early 1631, Jeong stopped at Dengzhou (now Penglai) on the northern coast of
Shandong. The normal route was overland, but the Koreans were obliged to travel directly across the
Yellow Sea owing to the northern war zones created by the initial phases of the Manchu conquest of China. There, he met with the province's Christian governor under the Ming
Sun Yuanhua, who introduced him to the Jesuit interpreter João Rodrigues. Rodrigues was working with Gonçalo Teixeira-Correa to train Sun's forces in the use of
hongyipao. He made a personal gift of his
telescope to Jeong,
[ which became the first such device known in Korea. He also laded Jeong down with Jesuit texts on astronomy and other sciences][ including Giulio Alenio's Zhifang Waiji (, Chikpang Oegi); a treatise on artillery and its use; and a guide to European customs and manners, as well as works on Christianity. Despite also receiving some European firearm, Jeong praised the telescope most highly, as he understood reconnaissance.][ He also had his assistants Yi Yeonghu (이영후, ) and Colonel Jeong Hyogil (정효길, ) speak with Rodrigues in greater detail, Yi about geography and Col. Jeong about Western firearms and cannon. A record survives of Yi's conversation. He was most curious about whether or not China—whose native name Zhōngguó () literally means "The Central Realm"—did in fact occupy the middle of the Earth. Rodrigues replied that, since the Earth was a sphere, every country could truthfully claim their land as its center.
]
Legacy
Yi Sugwang had accumulated enough material from the Jesuits during his own diplomatic visits in the 1590s that he was able to compile the encyclopedic Jibong Yuseol. Another diplomat returned with a copy of Matteo Ricci's world map in 1603. Nonetheless, the additional material provided to Jeong has still been credited with the full-scale introduction of Western astronomical methods and jurisprudence to Korea. Jeong's mission is still taught to Korean schoolchildren as the country's introduction to Western science, religion, and culture.
See also
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Christianity in Korea
-
Jesuit China mission
Notes
Citations
Bibliography
