[KS] Spelling of "P'yǒngyang" in 1897-1905 English-language sources

[sung oak]

Dr. Dr. Park,
The most common usage by Protestant missionaries was "Pyeng Yang" around 1895-1905.
Some variations were first Hping yang, then Pingyang, moved to Pyengyang or Pyeng yang, and finally "Pyong Yang" around 1905.
The province name was spelled as "Pyeng An" or "Ping An" and then settled down as "Pyong An" around 1905.
Best,
Sung-Deuk Oak
UCLA 



 



Date: Thu, 17 Nov 2011 00:03:44 -0500
From: epa at sas.upenn.edu
To: koreanstudies at koreaweb.ws
Subject: [KS] Spelling of "P'yǒngyang" in 1897-1905 English-language sources


Dear all,

I would like to know various ways the U.S., British, Canadian, and other English-language sources during the 1897-1905 era spelled the city name, P'yǒngyang. For some time, I have been working on a project looking at how Imperial Korea (Taehan Cheguk, 1897-1910) formally designated the city as the Empire's "Western Capital" (Sǒgyǒng) in 1902 and began constructing a royal palace and other edifices befitting a secondary capital. So far, my research has focused on the project in the context of the Kwangmu emperor's modernizing reform geared toward tapping into the talent and resources of a broader social base, including specialist chungin, Northwesterners, and Protestants. For sure, official rhetoric stressed the illustrious history of P'yǒngyang as the epicenter of early Korean civilization and the capital of Koguryǒ, Chinese historical precedents of a dynasty having 2 capitals, and some geomantic concepts providing official justifications. 

It is not difficult to detect that underneath such a rhetoric is a strategic planning geared toward shifting Korea's center closer to Russia. Not surprisingly, the Japanese ascendancy upon the commencement of the Russo-Japanese War nipped the project in the bud. Given all this, I am trying to find out if any American, British, and other foreign countries took note of the Korean government's intention as they perceived through the Western Capital project. Thank you in advance for your help.

Best,

Gene 
-- 
Eugene Y. Park
Korea Foundation Associate Professor of History
Director, James Joo-Jin Kim Program in Korean Studies
University of Pennsylvania 		 	   		  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://koreanstudies.com/pipermail/koreanstudies_koreanstudies.com/attachments/20111117/44813a8e/attachment.html>