Under the auspices of new Western concepts such as statism and individualism, Physical Education in Modern Korea developed with the stream of the times such as statism. In the earliest stages of Korean physical education theory, the individual was alw... Under the auspices of new Western concepts such as statism and individualism, Physical Education in Modern Korea developed with the stream of the times such as statism. In the earliest stages of Korean physical education theory, the individual was always considered as a subordinate to the state. With the lack of a "state" after the annexation to Japan, however, the Korean intellectuals who lead most of the physical education discourse of the day, began to search the innovative force in Korean history and society, and the "Korean nation" was to be found in the process. In this understanding, the role of an individual was redefined from a mere subordinate to the state to an "organic" component to the Korean nation. It is no surprise, therefore, that theory of physical education also reflects the change of views throughout the course of formation on Korean nationalism and related ideology. On the other hand, there was a considerable amount of emphasis on the individualistic aspect of physical education, largely because of the "discovery" of a modern definition of the individual during the colonial period as well as the new emphasis on personal desires of each individuals. The theory of physical education in early 20th century Korea was largely focused on the main goal of establishing the modern nation-state, and there were little concerns about the physical education itself in the course of its development. It reflected much awareness of the Korean society at that time, especially about the course and the method of creating a modern society in Korea. The physical education was thought to be an effective "tool" for the anti-imperialism and anti-feudalism movements. During its course of development, the theory of physical education in Korea had largely based on the Western counterparts, with several acculturation process in the sociocultural peculiarities of the Korean modernity. The modern physical education was first introduced in Korea mainly by the government around the time of the proclamation of the Korean Empire in 1897. The early theory on physical education was heavily influenced by the modern sense of patriotism, which was the dominant feature of the Western physical education theory of the day. With the sense of crisis and the threats from Western imperialism, the ruling power of the Korean Empire tried to combine the disciplinal aspects of the physical education with the motto of "National prosperity and military power" (富國强兵). The physical education in the Korean Empire period was largely meant to create a loyal subject to the state. There were two stages of development in the theory of physical education during the Korean Empire period. The first stage was the early stage when most theory about physical education was about the mixture of modern physical education and the “loyalty to the sovereign” (忠君). In this earliest theory of the Korean physical education, the "healthy" individual was thought to be subordinate to the Korean sovereign, by combining the Confucian concept of loyalty (忠) and modern physical education. The second stage was during the heyday of the mass-education movement in the mid-1900s, when the sovereign and the state began to be considered as separate entities and the theory of physical education began to shift its focus to the state, which was more of a patriotic meaning into it. This patriotic aspects of the early theory of physical education, however, was cut short with Korea's forced annexation to Japan in 1910. As Japan was serving as a "ruling state" for the Koreans, it was impossible to retain the "patriotic" aspect in the theory of physical education. With the lack of a Korean nation-state, the "Korean Nation" was on the rise in the sociocultural discourses among the Koreans, and the theory of physical education also took more nationalistic overtone, mainly focusing on the matters of the "Korean Nation" or the "Korean people". In the early Colonial period, particularly most of the 1910s, the physical education itself was mostly under control by the Japanese authorities, as well as few small groups with religious background. On the other hand, some of the most remarkable discourse on Korean physical education came from foreign territories outside Korea. First, many independence movement activists in Manchuria and Primorsky emphasized the importance of physical education in preparation of the possible independence war. On the other hand, the Korean students studying in Japan began to argue about the "organic" aspects of a society and began to redefine the "organic" relations among the healthy individual, the society, and the state. With such a background, the theory of nationalistic physical education was formed． By the 1920s, the newly-formed Korean bourgeois class began to take lead in the theory of physical education as a part of the Korean cultural movement. This theory of nationalistic physical education was developing itself in the constant competition against the theory of colonialistic physical education which was mainly encouraged by the Japanese authorities. Most of the people involved in public discourse on Korean physical education had received modern education in Japan in the 1910s, and their critical awareness was in the question of the Korean nation, just as most of them showed the similar discourse in the 1910s. In order to engage the capabilities of the Korean nation for competing against the Japanese authorities, the Korean bourgeois nationalists began to emphasize the “sportsmanship” (運動道德), of which they believed would help each individual to mature their morality, therefore manifesting the sound moral and physical values for the Korean people. In the mid-1920s, the Korean bourgeois-nationalists and their theory of nationalistic physical education began to compete against the discourse of the Japanese authorities, particularly the Government-general of Korea and its "culture politics" policy. The Japanese authorities used physical education as a tool to subordinate the Koreans to the Japanese Empire. With the heavy entanglement between the Korean nationalistic discourse and the Japanese authorities discourse, the aspect of confilct between them panned out intricately． This entanglement and competition of two different discourses over Korean physical education also helped the nationalistic side to better define their own concepts and ideas over the issue. In conclusion, it is safe to say that the entangling of the colonial modernity in Korean physical education and its theory, and the change on the basic ideology on the Korean physical education, well reflect the expression of peculiarities and distinctiveness in the history Colonial Korea, and its embracement of the new Western ideologies such as statism and individualism. ，韩语论文网站，韩语论文 |
