Tears Of Blood Book Review

Before the 19th century, Korea was a Hermit Kingdom – unknown and isolated from the rest of the world. However, in the mid 1800s, many countries came knocking on Korea’s door to open up the country for international trade. Although Korea was determined not to submit to external pressures, after the Japanese threat in Incheon Port in 1875, the Chosun government decided to sign the Kanghwa Treaty in 1876. The treaty not only allowed Korea to finally form commercial and diplomatic relations with the outside world but also to be faced with two major challenges – political and intellectual. Near the end of the 19th century, many different foreign influences such as China, Japan, and Russia dominated Korea. Korea often served as the battlefield between …show more content…
Yi Injik, the author of Tears of Blood, shows in his work why it is necessary to turn to Westernization to improve Korea. In the novel, Yi Injik represents the influence of the Western world through a character named Ongnyon. Although forced, Westernization helped Ongnyon become educated and intelligent with the vision of improving Korea. Yi Injik speaks his own thoughts through the novel when he writes “People like us, who’ve been born in a civilized world, come so far from home to learn to be useful to our country” (Yi, p. 206). This further portrays Yi’s stance on the importance of Western ideas and education on the improvement of Korea. Sin Chaeho was also another a firm believer of how “new institutions and ideas from the West held the key to the creation of national strength” (Robinson, p. 126). Sin Chaeho was an extremist in building nationalism and national identity that he even rewrote history to create a “new” history that would help instill national identity in Korea. Yi Injik and Sin Chaeho are prime examples of those who believed that Korea could become modernized and stand on its own through Western