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Balhae and China in International Relations

At the beginning of the 21st century, the perception of Korean history that Chinese scholars had had shocked Korea. 『The Cambridge History of China』 approaches Korean history on a different level from China. This book shows the perception of Western academia about Chinese history and Korean history. The West does not see the relationship between China and Balhae as a national relationship in China; they recognize it as an international relationship, such as Japan, Silla, Goryeo, and Southeast Asia.

Balhae, a country with a high civilization comparable to China

Western academia points out that there is a problem with Chinese traditional history dealing with foreign ethnicities. They criticize the unchanging theory, and the fact that the continuing evolving reality does not coincide. For example, Obokje(五服制) is a Chinese concept that lived in Pre-Qin Period, which symbolically shows the relationship between China and neighboring countries. This is a system that defines five concentric circles according to the distance from the city, and the number of visits to the king and the tributes are differentiated by each zone. There are many countries around the city where the king ruled, and foreign nations that need edification reside outside. This is the product of the Chinese-centered world view.

This book sees Obokje as somewhat valid for the old Chinese system, which has a low level of culture and irrational political organization. But by the Tang Dynasty, everything had changed completely. At the time, Goguryeo was the only neighboring country with people living in certain places and a stable system. And the level of Silla and Balhae peoples in the mid-8th century was not lower than that of China. It was not a nomadic empire with a heterogeneous lifestyle and social organization. Like China, it was a society organized as a centralized bureaucracy kingdom. Therefore, the Tang Dynasty had to devise a new relationship with them to accept greater levels of equality and common culture than in the past. But as a result they didn’t. The traditional imaginary world that divided Chinese and barbarians has worsened relations with China and its surrounding peoples.

Western academia also appreciates the level of ancient Korean countries among the neighboring countries of China. In fact, the establishment of an ancient countries on the Korean Peninsula is early. By the 4th century, most of them entered or completed ancient countries. Balhae was a high-level civilized country comparable to China. However, this was different from traditional China, which regarded the surrounding people as a barbarian.

The history of Balhae belongs to the history of Korea

The book says that history of Balhae belongs to the history of Korea; these claims differ from those of Chinese academia. The book also stated that Daejoyeong, the founder of Balhae, was a former general of Goguryeo, and that his country was founded by the remaining herds of Goguryeo. And they used the Korean pronunciation 'parhae' while marking Balhae in English. According to the author, 'parhae' was written first, and the Chinese pronunciation of 'po-hai' was later written. In general, it puts Korea's views first on Balhae, but it seems that it does not ignore China's views. However, it is the basic tone of this book that ties the history of Balhae with Korea. This is more evident in the part explaining the relationship with Goryeo after the fall of Balhae.

““In 926, Korea was divided into three countries, and they could not do so even if they wanted to defend Balhae. ... Balhae was established by the remaining Goguryeo ruling elite. Therefore, the Goryeo dynasty, which is aimed at the north, was regarded as a distant relative, a potential alliance."

This means that Balhae is a country established by the elite of Goguryeo and is closely related to Goryeo. 'They could not do so even if they wanted to defend Balhae' is an expression that implies the necessity of Balhae and the countries of the Korean peninsula to cooperate. This seems to be a subtle expression of the tone of this book that Balhae belongs to Korean history. This seems to be a subtle expression of the tone of this book that Balhae belongs to Korean history.