1876 年朝鮮與日本簽訂「朝日修好條規」對外開放門戶後，首爾成為朝鮮吸收近代文明的首要地區。但開放首爾成為通商據點的國家並非西方或日本，而是清朝。1882 年清廷與朝鮮簽訂「中朝商民水陸貿易章程」，限制首爾僅能對清朝開放，因此中國商人開始進入首爾從事商業活動，並成為首批居住於首爾的外國人，首爾城內也逐漸形成中國人居留地。其後，首爾陸續對日本及西方各國開放，各國僑民也各自形外國人居留地，進而重塑首爾的都市空間與景觀，改變首爾民眾的生活型態，例如：近代建築物開始出現於首爾，外國商人提供的近代化商品成為首爾人民主要的消費品。而中國商人是首爾城內最重要的外國人勢力。 本稿主要以19 世紀末首爾的中國人居留地為中心，探討外國人居留地的形成過程對首爾近代化造成的影響，並說明居留地內中國人的活動方式。甲午戰爭後，清朝在朝鮮的影響力下降，中國人在首爾的活動與中國人居留地的發展也大受影響。因此，本稿的研究時期為首爾開市的1882年至甲午戰爭爆發的1894年為止。

With the signing of Korean-Japanese Treaty of Amity in 1876, Seoul became the primary region of Korea exposed to modern civilization. However, it is the Qing government— rather than western countries or Japan— that set up a treaty port in Seoul accessible only to the Qing state in the Sino-Korean Land and Maritime Trade Regulations concluded between the Qing government and Korea in 1882. As a result, Chinese merchants start trading in Seoul and became the first of all foreigners living in the city. Following the establishment of the Chinese settlement, settlements of foreigners from different countries came into being one after another when Seoul was open to Japan and western countries. The development remodeled the urban space and landscape of Seoul and changed the lifestyle of its residents. For instance, modern buildings started to appear in Seoul and modern products provided by foreign merchants became the majority of consumer goods for people in the city. Meanwhile, Chinese merchants had always been the most influential foreign power in the city of Seoul over a long period of time. This study focuses on the Chinese settlement in Seoul by the end of the 19th Century with the aim to investigate the influence of foreigner settlements on Seoul’s modernization and reveal the activities of the Chinese people in the settlement. In view of the diminishment of the Qing power over Korea after the First Sino-Japanese War, which impacted the activities and development of the Chinese settlement, this study looks into the years between 1882 and 1894, i.e., from the opening of Seoul to the outbreak of the First Sino-Japanese War.