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The history of East Asian countries after the encounter with the West in the mid- and late nineteenth century was first analysed using a discontinuity perspective supported by modernization theories, until it was supplanted by a continuity model in the 1970s. Since then, Confucian tradition has been re-conceived as compatible with modernity and coherent with certain aspects of Western political ideas. This currently predominant view was mainly elicited from the Chinese experiences, where Chinese reformists in the century still maintained confidence in their intellectual traditions, which they re-interpreted to adjust to the changing times. The Korean case however was slightly different from the Chinese one in that Korean reformists held an intensely antagonistic stance towards their traditions in general, while inheriting some aspects of Confucian political ideas and utilizing them for their modern re-building of politics. Thus, the Korean encounter with the West gave birth to both a strong repudiation of their tradition and the inheritance of certain aspects. This study explores this duality through Korean reformists' novel understanding of the legitimacy of rule by examining the enlightenment newspaper Tongnip sinmun and the Independence Club movement of the late 1890s.
