An Study on Hungarian Bishop Count Vay Péter Representations of Korea: ‘Emperors and Emperoresses of the East’ and ‘In the Eastern Hemisphere’

Abstract

This paper analyses the perception and image of Korea by Hungarian count and Catholic bishop Vay Péter, based on his books ‘Emperors and Emperoresses of the East(Kelet császárai és császárságai, Ázsiai útja Szibérián át Kínába, Koreába és Japánba, Budapest, 1906) and ‘In the Heart of the Orient’(A keleti féltekén, Budapest, Franklin-Társulat, 1918). All of these books reveal the erudition and wisdom of their authors, who were among the leading European nobles, clergy, and intellectuals of their time. Emperors and Empires of the East was so popular that German and French translations appeared within a year or two of its Hungarian first edition in 1906. Few writers of the time were as knowledgeable and experienced in traveling and writing about Korea and Japan, and he strived to write about them fairly and objectively, without prejudice or preconceptions. In this book, Vay appears to have had a positive vision for the future of Korea and its people. The book was so authoritative that it attracted the attention of the European upper class and intellectuals, and it can be assumed that it helped to shape their views of the Orient and Korea. When Emperors and Empires of the East was published in 1906, the publication of the book was announced in Hungarian newspapers and book reviews, and many favourable book reviews were published. His other book, In the Eastern Hemisphere, published in 1918, deals specifically with the Catholic situation in Korea at the time, and it is significant in the history of Korean Catholicism that the Benedictines’ decision to enter the Korean mission stemmed from Bishop Vay’s lecture on Korea at the Berlin Missionary Conference in 1905.