A Herman Ottó Múzeum Évkönyve 32. Kunt Ernő emlékére. (1994)

TANULMÁNYOK - FENDLER Károly: A magyar-koreai kapcsolatok száz éve (1892-1992) (magyar és angol nyelven)

days. What road led from the almost accidental Korean visit of the first Hungarian travellers in the Far East to the successful participation of several hundreds of Hungarian sportsmen and sportswomen in the Olympic Games in Seoul. In the 19th century it became increasingly common in Hungary to publish vaious types of lexicons and encyclopedia running to several volumes that contained up-to-date scientific knowledge and were quite widely used. To our present knowledge, such works included the first reports on Korea. For example, Volume 7 of the Közhasznú Esmeretek Tára" (Collection of Useful Facts) published in 1833, which was based on the British "Conversations Lexicon," contained almost half a page about Korea. It gave a summary of facts of physical and economic geography, a description of the social and political system and government, the latter referred to as "rather despotic." It specifically mentioned "the famous library of the capital" which was headed by the royal prince. Although there was no special entry on Korea in the "Ujabb Kori Ismeretek Tára" (Collection of Facts of Modern Times) published in the early 1850s, Volume 10 of the "Egyetemes Magyar Encyclopedia" of 1872 (Universal Hungarian Encyclopedia) devoted again proper length to Korea, referring also to the country's isolation and the failure of the French expedition in 1866. Dr. László Toldy's "A Föld és népei" (The Earth and Its Peoples), an adaptation from the German author, Fr. Hell ward, was issued in 1880. Its third volume included a chapter of close to six pages on the "Korean peninsula." The work containing five volumes was published several times, last in the early years of the 20th century. It gave detailed account of Korea's geography, climate, major products, political and administrative situation and economy. We should note that this book was the first to publish an illustration of Korea, i.e., a Korean man with a pipe and a fan. That lifelike drawing of quite good quality set a new trend in a way: for about thirty years Hungarian publications and travel books about Korea contained a fairly large number of contemporary photographs and drawings which are useful as ethnographic sources even today. From then on, no lexicon or encyclopedia could have been published without an entry on Korea. For example, "Az Athenaeum Kézi Lexikona" (Athenaeum's Concise Lexikon) in 1892 (Volume 1, p. 939). The "PALLAS Nagy Lexikon" (PALLAS Great Lexikon) of 1895, which is still in wide use, published about two pages summarizing the country's geography, climate, products, facts on its population, industry, trade and administration. It was the first of its kind, giving a brief overview of the country's 19th century history, quoting the Korea King's manifesto of March 1895 and including an attached list of references to British, German, French, Russian and Hungarian literature. By the early 20th century, Korea was already included in the curricula of Hungarian universities. The famous Hungarian geographer, Dr Jenő Cholnoky, held six lectures on East Asia in November and December 1904, and the printed notes are still available, "On Korea's position in the world and the Korean people, Korea is extremely important, indeed the Italy of the East Asian Mediterranean sees," wrote Professor Cholnoky, who himself had been to the Far East. In addition to a number of less significant publications ("Franklin Kézi Lexikona" - Franklin's Concise Lexicon-of 1912; "A Napkelet Lexikona-Lexicon of the Orient-of 1927), outstanding importance is attached to a two-page entry on Korea that appeared in the RÉVAI Nagy Lexikon" (Révai's Great Lexicon) of 21 volumes 158