• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.131-140
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• 2024

In this study, the scientific description of Earth was analyzed by targeting the item titled '1. Introduction to the Earth World', which is part of the 'first section' of SeoYuGyeonMun(西遊見聞) written by Yu Giljun(俞吉濬). This part served as an introduction to the entirety of SeoYuGyeonMun. It was also one of the earliest documents in Korean literature to mention 'the earth as a celestial body', rather than solely focusing on it as land which was a departure from traditional thinking. Yu Giljun made deliberate efforts to translate the concept of Earth's rotation into "Jashinjeon(自身轉)" and Neptune as "Haeryongseong(海龍星)". He included the latest scientific debates and facts in SeoYuGyeonMun, such as the theories of Western scholars explaining the types of seismic waves and discussions at international conferences related to the establishment of the original meridian. Yu Giljun, who was not a science major, would have used HunMongGungRiDoHae(訓蒙窮理図解, 1868) written by Fukuzawa(福澤諭吉) and GeokmulJiji(格物地誌, 1876) which was translated by Matsumoto(松本駒次郎) as references to describe scientific descriptions. The contents described in 'Introduction to the Earth World' cover the foundational composition and subject matter that are typically found in modern-day Earth science textbooks.