In the 17th century, four Koreans lived in Europe. Even this number is amazing given that there was no interaction between the Choseon Dynasty (now the Republic of Korea) and Rome. How could this happen? At the end of the 15th century, a war between Choseon and Japan had broken out. Although Choseon would recover from this seven-year war, the problem of slavery the war brought with it still existed. Japanese sold Koreans in the slave markets, and one merchant from the Roman Empire, Francesco Carletti bought four Koreans in Nagasaki, Japan. They were then sent to the Roman Empire as slaves. This story is based on Francesco’s travel journal, My World Travel Log.
What happened to these four Koreans after they arrived in Rome? No records have ever been found. However, one theory is that an Italian named Antonio Corea who was known to be very rich in the Roman Empire, is one of the slaves from Choseon. His surname Corea well indicates that he was Korean. The name Corea (or Korea) is from the ancient dynasty of Koryo. Therefore, many historians infer that Antonio took the surname Corea because he was Korean. In reality, Antonio’s descendants still live in Albi, Italy. Among the population in Albi, a reported 33% has the surname Corea. When the Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) sent a documentary team to Albi to explore whether the surname Corea really came from Korea, people who had that surname insisted that they had an ancestor from Korea. However, many also claimed that the surname derived from the Latin word ‘chŏréa’ which means dance. Although these people assert that Corea did not originate from Korea, I think there is clear evidence to suggest that it did. Among the artworks that the Paul Getty art museum owns is ‘A man in Korean costume,’ which was drawn by Dutch artist Peter P. Rubens in 1606. That artwork portrays a man in a ‘chulik,’ which is a robe, and a 'mang-gun,’ which is a headdress. He has small eyes with double eyelids. With these features typical of Koreans, we cannot say that the man is just a European. Based on this artwork and the record called My World Travel Log which was written by Francesco Carletti at the same time, historians are assuming that the man in the portrait might be Antonio Corea. Regardless of this portrait and travel log, I think someone like Antonia Corea existed because history is not composed from records but from people. When Antonia Corea lived, the era was turbulent. Because people could be sold from place to place, I think records like My World Travel Log may tell their tale. Had I been the slave who was sold to somewhere far away, I would have been devastated. Although our ancestors might have been devastated, we should respect those who did not forget their home despite being sold and sent as far away as Europe. Even though the man may not have been Korean, the fact that Korea was not isolated on the globe is quite a fascinating historical fact.
1 Comment
11/20/2016 06:32:24 pm
Made me want to read about this more! found it very interesting ! well researched and an easy read!!! great job!
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Jacob (Chan Woo Kim)
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