Victor Émile Marie Joseph Collin de Plancy (1853–1924) was a French diplomat, bibliophile and art collector. He was a career French diplomat who served most of his working life in Korea and whose private collection of Far Eastern art and antiquities went on to form the core of the Korean collection at the Musée Guimet in Paris. Collin de Plancy served for nearly a decade starting in 1884 as French Minister to Korea.Korean Mission ; excerpt, "Treaty and Diplomatic Relations Between Korea and France. Treaty of Friendship, Commerce, and Navigation dated June 4, 1886." He was the first French Minister to Korea and published three volumes of "Joseon Seoji" while working as a French diplomat in Joseon. He was the first foreigner to recognize the historical value of

Jikji ''Jikji'' () is the abbreviated title of a Korean Buddhist document whose title can be translated to "Anthology of Great Buddhist Priests' Zen Teachings".Exposition Universelle of 1900. At the suggestion of Victor Collin de Plancy,

Emperor Gojong Gojong (; 8 September 1852 – 21 January 1919) was the monarch of Korea from 1864 to 1907. He reigned as the last King of Joseon from 1864 to 1897, and as the first Emperor of Korea from 1897 until his forced abdication in 1907. He is known ...

of the Joseon Dynasty participated in the Exposition and made Joseon's history and culture known to the world. Victor Collin de Plancy set up an exhibition hall with hanok at the Paris International Exposition to display Korean traditional items and promote them to the world. At that time, one of the Korean books he displayed at the Korean Pavilion at the Paris International Exposition was

Jikji ''Jikji'' () is the abbreviated title of a Korean Buddhist document whose title can be translated to "Anthology of Great Buddhist Priests' Zen Teachings".Bibliothèque Nationale A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vi ...

, and his accumulated artworks became part of the core of the Musée Guimet in Paris.

Life

Collin de Plancy was born on November 22, 1853 in Plancy, a small town near Troyes in the

Champagne region The wine region within the historical province of Champagne in the northeast of France is best known for the production of champagne, the sparkling white wine that bears the region's name. EU law and the laws of most countries reserve the term " ...

of eastern France, the son of

Jacques Collin de Plancy Jacques Albin Simon Collin de Plancy (28 January 1793 in Plancy-l'Abbaye – 1881 in Paris) was a French occultist, demonologist and writer. He published several works on occultism and demonology. Biography He was born Jacques Albin Simon Colli ...

, a Jesuit priest and prolific writer on the occult whose name is still much more familiar in France than that of his son. Despite the name, Collin de Plancy was not of noble pedigree. Against the strict laws of lineage Victor's father had illicitly added the "de Plancy" to his family name of Collin in a move that would later bring accusations against the son. As a very young man Victor Collin de Plancy studied in Paris at the Ecole de l'Immaculée Conception before gaining entrance to the prestigious École des Langues Orientales Vivantes, where he trained in Chinese, graduating in 1877. Though he had ambitions for entering the diplomatic corps, he was posted instead to Peking as a junior interpreter, often a preliminary step to seeking consular duties. Prevented by his stationing in Peking from taking the requisite exam for consular assignment (administered only at Paris), it was 1883 before he finally received his coveted consular position, when he was named consul second class at Peking. In 1884 he was promoted to acting French consul at Shanghai, where he served during the Sino-French War, distinguishing himself by services rendered to a cholera-stricken French fleet harbored in Shanghai during the conflict for which he was made an

Officer of the Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon B ...

. It was during this posting that Collin de Plancy served briefly as the first French consul to Korea, when relations were opened with that country in 1887. He would go on to serve as French consul in Japan before returning to Korea in 1896 as the resident French consul in that country. Except for extended sick leaves in 1899–1900 and 1905–1906, Collin de Plancy would spend the years from 1896 to 1906 in Seoul, where he would eventually be promoted full minister. He would serve only briefly as French minister to Bangkok in 1906 before requesting full retirement 1907. The young Collin de Plancy was described alternately as laborious, impartial and instructed, while being lauded as well for his more social qualities — charm, elegance of manners, impeccable taste and perhaps most importantly, amiability. The introduction to his collected papers in the French Foreign Ministry notes the qualities for which Collin de Plancy seemed best known, "his tact, courtesy, and refined manners" and as one who excelled in "issues of etiquette... but who rarely ventured into the realm of general ideas". In Seoul he became known for his charming garden parties. Particularly well-received were his "chrysanthemum festivals" held every autumn in the gardens of the French legation, during which guest strolled the peaceful grounds in the midst of the budding capital, admiring the park with its greenhouses of flowers. In 1896 De Plancy had constructed an elegant European style compound for the French legation, filling it with antiques from the Château de Chenonceaux. He was himself a collector; his respectable assortment of Asian art and ceramics was eventually donated to the Musée Guimet in Paris where it forms a core part of the Korean collection. Victor Collin de Plancy never married. Collin de Plancy's diplomatic acumen proved a boon for French interests in Korea during the last decade or so of the 19th century. He became occupied in procuring the concession for of the

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...

Uiju Ŭiju County is a kun, or county, in North Pyongan Province, North Korea. The county has an area of 420 km², and a population of 110,018 (2008 data). Name Ŭiju appears as Uiju in South Korea's Revised Romanization and as Yizhou in Chinese ...

line for Five-Lilles, personally negotiating with the Korean foreign minister. Along with the above railway concession he also successfully petitioned for mining rights on behalf of French companies along the proposed railroad. However, other efforts spearheaded by Collin de Plancy to gain railway concessions to

Mokpo Mokpo (; ''Mokpo-si'') is a city in South Jeolla Province, South Korea, located at the southwestern tip of the Korean Peninsula, close to Yudal mountain. Mokpo has frequent high-speed train services to Seoul, and is the terminus for a number of f ...

and

Wonsan Wŏnsan (), previously known as Wŏnsanjin (), Port Lazarev, and Genzan (), is a port city and naval base located in Kangwŏn Province, North Korea, along the eastern side of the Korean Peninsula, on the Sea of Japan and the provincial capital. ...

were not so successful. Collin de Plancy was successful in raising the French visibility and prestige in other realms more successfully than in railroads and mining. As chief French diplomat in Korea, and enjoying a wide range of contacts, Collin de Plancy was the natural hinge for the expansion of French influence. Collin de Plancy helped a certain Mr. Saltarel establish official contacts in Seoul upon his arrival there as representative of several French companies in early 1898. Saltarel eventually gained a mining concession in Korea. In late 1899 a French military attaché in China, Commander Polyeucte Vidal, was also brought in through Collin de Plancy's efforts to assess the state of the Korean arsenal and make recommendations as to its improvement and the establishment of a Korean arms industry. Eventually the French, represented by Vidal, would join with the Russians in a mutual campaign to reorganize the Korean arsenal. Collin de Plancy also brought in an expert from the

Sèvres Sèvres (, ) is a commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris, in the Hauts-de-Seine department, Île-de-France region. The commune, which had a population of 23,251 as of 2018, is known for ...

Ceramic Works to recommend ways of modernizing and expanding the Korean porcelain industry. But France's most visible representative, behind Collin de Plancy himself, was undoubtedly E. Clemencet, who had been brought to Korea in 1898, shortly after Korea's entrance into the International Postal Union, to organize a modern Korean postal service. Upon the bureau's opening in January 1900 Clemencet sent the first international letter to Collin de Plancy (then on leave in France), as the "only fitting homage" to the man who had contributed so much to making the service a reality. The French consul also proved instrumental in paving the way for Korea's participation at the Paris Universal Exposition of 1900. In 1906, shortly after Korea became a protectorate of Japan, Collin de Plancy left Korea for a posting in Bangkok, Thailand. He went into retirement the following year. After his death in 1924, a large part of his art and book collection made its way into the possession of the Musée Guimet, the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, and the Collège de France. Collin de Plancy was also an amateur naturalist and authored several texts on the insects and reptiles of his native France.Roudaut, 87–88.

References

* Korean Mission to the Conference on the Limitation of Armament, Washington, D.C., 1921–1922. (1922). ''Korea's Appeal to the Conference on Limitation of Armament.'' Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office
OCLC 12923609
{{DEFAULTSORT:Collin de Plancy, Victor Emile Marie Joseph French diplomats Officiers of the Légion d'honneur 1853 births 1924 deaths

Life

See also

References