Wonmook Kang: A Historian of the Qing Empire

｢오해와 진실 사이 - 18세기 초 북경 예수회 내성(內城) 부동산 계약을 둘러싼 교황 특사 투르농(Charles-Thomas Maillard de Tournon)과 예수회의 충돌｣, 『인문사회과학연구』25-1, 2024, pp.43-73. https://drive.google.com/file/d/153PcoUlEPSSrKIdvni6yU3KFhL48LCT0/view?usp=drive_link This article examines a contract for a house in the Inner City of Beijing signed by the Jesuits in 1705 and the subsequent controversy between the Jesuits and the papal envoy Charles-Thomas Maillard de Tournon (1668–1710). The seller of the house was the son of the Governor-General of Guangdong-Guangxi Provinces, a Bordered Red bannerman, who lived in the southwest of the Inner City of Beijing, and the buyers were the Jesuit missionaries of the South Church (nantang), or College of St. Joseph, who were in the service of the Kangxi emperor in Peking. Tournon, who was in Peking at the time to re-investigate the Rites Controversy, denounced the contract as a loan disguised as a sales contract, and the Jesuits responded that Tournon’s understanding reflected his ignorance ...

 "Between Misunderstanding and Distortion: The European View on the First Ban on Christianity in Qing China." Journal of Asian History 57-1+2 (2023): 263-289. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iRwD0jftAKOJOwjBOMp2ITv419kluTQF/view?usp=drive_link This article deals with European missionaries' misunderstanding (or distortion) of the 1669 ban on Christianity, the first government-level measure of the Qing dynasty to address the European clergy. This misunderstanding is particularly evident in the missionaries' contrasting interpretations of the 1669 ban and the conclusion reached by the Council of Delib-erative Princes and Officials in the same year, the initial form of the ban before it was modifed by the Kangxi emperor. Whereas the latter was perceived as "hopeful, advantageous, just, and fair", the former was criticized as "unjust and unfair". However, the council's conclusion was not as favorable to Christianity as the missionaries thought. Mo...

 "‘Europeans’ in the Early Qing Empire." Central Asiatic Journal  65-1+2 (2022): 217–252. https://drive.google.com/file/d/147eTg2FC7m7IuLU5LGfcmlPTd7m2XBOW/view?usp=drive_link This article examines the status of the Xiyang 西洋 people (a people who mostly— but not entirely—came from the region that would be demarcated as modern Europe) in the context of the early Qing Empire, beyond the frameworks of East (China)-West (Europe) or foreign relations. The article focuses on the relationships between the Qing and Johann Adam Schall von Bell during the Shunzhi and the Kangxi periods to query the way in which the Qing Empire’s origin and experience in Inner Asia affected the status of Xiyang people within its territory. The Qing Empire was based in eastern Eurasia, and grew by incorporating peoples who had belonged to various other political entities. The Qing ruler granted them a new identity as ‘Qing people’ through the incorporation process, while at the same time allowing the...

 "Europeans’ Legal Struggle to Overturn the Verdicts on the Calendar Case."  CHUNGGUKSA YONGU (The Journal of Chinese Historical Researches) 14 (2022): 129–149 ｢曆獄의 飜案과 그 의미｣,『중국사연구』141, 2022, pp.129-149. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eTIgrQEfgbBKOy4Kch_Ell1YPK8SNkOi/view?usp=drive_link This present article examines the European missionaries’ legal struggle to overturn the verdicts that resulted from the Calendar Case (曆獄 liyu) and recover the legal status of their religion to that of the pre-Calendar Case. Although the case ended and Europeans and their churches were kept relatively safe, this ‘salvation’ was not the result of acquittal from the charges the missionaries had faced during the Case, but of the Manchu emperor’s interference instead. Thus, after the closure of the Calendar Case, Beijing missionaries had to make intense efforts to nullify the three confirmed charges and remove all vestige of the Calendar Case. By doing so, they expected the beginning of a new ...

"A Reinterpretation on The Calendar Case (1664-1665) : Focusing on the Analysis of narhūšaha bithe dangse." Myŏng Ch'ŏng sa yŏn'gu (Journal of Ming-Qing Historical Studies) 56 (2021): 119 –185. ｢ ‘曆獄’(1664.9-1665.9)에 대한 재고찰 ― 淸朝 機密 司法 文書 『祕本檔』(narhūšaha bithe dangse)에 대한 분석을 중심으로 ― ｣ , 『 明清史研究 』 56, 2021, pp. 119-185. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ECZpXfEPM39KxXKHktruz6SDKI3X9Qm3/view?usp=drive_link This article reexamined the so-called Calendar Case (liyu 曆獄, 1664.9–1665.9) by using narhūšaha bithe dangse [the secret Manchu document] and reconstructed the specific legal process, accusations against Xiyang individuals, legal grounds for those accusations, and the Qing government’s final judgement. This analysis reached the conclusion that although the final arbiter’s intervention such as the imperial amnesty (enshe 恩赦), which could override the regular judicial process, was able to save missionaries and Christians from severe punishment, the results of the judicia...

 "The Manchu Ruler, the Xiyangs, and the Han Elite — Focusing on the Kangxi Emperor’s Response to the Papal Legate’s Visit in 1705." Dongyang sahak yŏn’g u (Journal of Asian Historical Studies) 155 (2021): 275–359. 滿洲皇帝, 西洋人 그리고 漢人 ― 敎皇 特使 중국 방문(1705)에 대한 康熙帝의 대처를 중심으로 ―,  『東洋史學研究 』  155, 2021, pp.275-359 https://drive.google.com/file/d/18jY05w807OTRLqYbNP3r18nIhk1MgU-M/view?usp=sharing This article examines the Kangxi emperor’s response to the Rites Controversy in his late reign. When Xuanye was enthroned, one of the central issues he faced was consolidating the Qing rule over his diverse constituents. Towards the late 1690s to 1710s, the emperor’s focus was mainly on Han subjects, and the then relatively stable northern front enabled him to focus more on the ‘southern front’. At this juncture, Xuanye encountered an unexpected challenge, i.e., the Xiyangs’ denial of seminal Chinese rites. In 1707, at Nanjing, the symbolic place for the Han tradition, the Xiyang legate Ch...