Joseon and Her People Shown in the Travel Report of Campbell in the Late 19th Century

The travel record on Joseon by the British diplomat Charles William Campbell was sent to the British prime minister together with a letter of then British Consul-General Hillier, which was published as a ‘travel report’ and submitted to the British parliament. This paper synthetically analyzes the characteristics of the travelogue and what Campbell felt about Joseon and her people after his travels to the north of Joseon in 1889. Campbell’s travelogue succeeded in the same writing style that was found in the travelogue of the Englishman William Richard Carles who had surveyed the northern area of Joseon some years earlier, and inspired the English captain A. E. Cavendish in his private journey when he visited Joseon two years later. Campbell traveled to both Geumgangsan (Mt. Geumgang) and Baekdusan (Mt. Baekdu) during this journey, a rare case for foreigners at that time. He confirmed that the religious mind of the Joseon people was strongly projected on these two mountains. While Campbell indicated that the conditions for trade with Western countries were not matured yet, he positively evaluated that there was a latent ability for the people of the lower classes to contribute to the vitalization of trade. He also grasped that the underground resources of Joseon were worth being noticed from the viewpoint of British trade. There is no doubt that Campbell’s travelogue was described for the benefit of Great Britain. Nevertheless, he described the then domestic situation of Joseon rather objectively according to what he had seen and felt. His travelogue is of significance as it provides a clue to a synthetic survey on what attitudes the common people of Joseon had during the turbulent period of the latter part of the nineteenth century. KCI Citation Count: 4