十九世紀末朝鮮代韓國對「中國」的認識可分為三：「作為地區霸權的中國」（清朝）、「作為政權正當性的基礎之中國」（明朝）、以及「作為文化體系的中國」（小中華意識）。甲午戰爭結束後，朝鮮雖然「脫離清朝的朝貢體系」，卻脫離不了明朝的遺產與小中華意識。即，在受到文明論影響之下，朝鮮社會對於「脫中」問題上引起分歧。首先，激進開化派依據進化論的文明觀念，正面質疑華夷觀念，並沒有把清朝與「作為文化體系的中國」之間劃清界線，並將清朝（以及中國文化）視為阻礙朝鮮文明開化之傳統象徵，從而主張全面脫離「中國」。其次，穩健開化派在西方文明和東洋文明的價值觀之間儘量保持中立，在「小中華意識」的歷史經驗上添加了「文明論」，從而指出「東洋」概念。也就是說，當代朝鮮儒教菁英將中華傳統文明和西方近代文明劃等號，從而主張保存中華文明的朝鮮能與近代西方文明國並肩而立。在此立基點上，朝鮮改國號為「大韓帝國」，毫無猶豫地採用中國傳統象徵符號，以展現自主獨立國家的姿態。這些認識及思路，在今日仍有助於我們對當代問題，進行深刻而有新意的省思。作者希望透過本研究的成果，讓學界可以從不同的角度，再一次認識到儒教思想在韓半島的發展軌跡。

The Korean perception of China in the Late 19th century can be divided into three categories. The first is ‘China as a regional hegemon.’ The second is China as the basis of the legitimacy of political power. The third is ‘China as a cultural system.’ After the Sino-Japanese War, Korea tried to modernize itself as it escaped from the China-centered tributary system, and it externally became an independent nation. However, there were different opinions on the issue of the ‘de-chinization’ process among the Korean society of the age, and how they accepted the civilizational discourse. Firstly, the radical reformists argued for total and complete de-chinization, pointing out that they identified China as a regional hegemon as being tied to China as a cultural system, and they argued that these factors disturbed Korean civilization and enlightenment. On the contrary, the Confucian elites of the moderate reformists completely separated the China that is a regional hegemon from the China that is the cultural system, and they argued that Chinese traditional civilization and Western civilization belong to a universal civilization. Furthermore, the Joseon Dynasty (朝鮮王朝) changed the name of the country to the Korean Empire (大韓帝國) and tried to show that it’s a universal civilized country and an independent nation internally and externally based on this awareness. This article will provide a deeper understanding of the Korean perception of China and the de-chinization of issues in the 19th century.