earticle

영어

This study inquired into the role of the sea in the process of transformation of the view of the world, which occurred by the rupture of the tribute system and penetration into the Elements of the International Law system of the treaty system, from “Sinocentrism” to “Nation-State” of the modern system, and clarified the correlation with propagation of the notion of “Sea Power” in particular. In the change of perception regarding the international relations, the greatest attributes can be found in the diverse maritime disputes happened in many sea areas. During this process, the revolutionary group aiming at building a modern nation-state in China required a new form of view of the world. Various incidents and diplomatic disputes that had been slowing shaking the system of the late Qing Dynasty were closely related to the maritime disputes as in the cases of the Taiwan Expedition or the Ganghwa Island incident. In effect, most of incidents that led to changes in international relations during this period corresponded to international disputes arisen in many sea areas. The concept of territory of a modern nation-state including the land and the ocean awoke the importance of the sea in them. From the perspective of China, they started to realize, in a natural manner, that varied rights and interests that they lose the sea areas are connected to the national existence. In particular, the intellectuals began to recognize that the basic role of a state consists in keeping and controlling the sea and waters with autonomy, and exercising sovereign power even toward the sea. Based on the case of Sun Yat-sen, this study inquired into the process of which the intellectuals accepted awareness of the sea power. Sun Yat-sen had strong cognition of the importance of acquiring and exerting sea power, in other words, the sea rights to promote industrial development of the Republic of China, by exercising sovereignty based on evident recognition of the territorial waters of one’s country, and developing harbors by the coasts and rivers. The traditional Chinese society was obsessed with the tribute order among the intraregional countries focused on the inland areas. On the contrary, Sun Yat-sen from the revolutionary group was already planning the industrial development of which the foreign capital is drawn through the openness of the sea and the capital can spread into China through many harbors of each region. Historically, Sun Yat-sen is considered a leader who designed the implementation of industrialization by taking advantage of the ocean in the most active manner. Thus, the vision of Sun Yat-sen intending to transform China that fell behind in modernization into a new modern nation-state system based on the concept of a wealthy country though the sea, in other words, the openness possessed by the value of “a state with prosperous ocean” can be considered a symbol of the first modern intellectual figure capable of identifying the maritime values as the flow of wealth.