뉴스레터

JANG Bo-go Memorial Monument
in Yeongseong City, Shandong
Province, China

You will probably know a TV drama titled 'Haesin' aired with great popularity several years ago. Haesin means 'God of the Sea'. Inspired by the deification of JANG Bo-go (?~841) in Japan, a novel was written about him which was then adapted for the drama. What then was JANG Bo-go that made him deified in Japan?

JANG Bo-go's life remains in his names. JANG Bo-go was referred to as four names. In our histories《Samguksagi (A history of the three kingdoms)》and 《Samgukyusa (Memoirs of Three Kingdoms》 JANG Bo-go was called 'Hwalbo' – which means Gungbok or Gungpa – and JANG Bo-go while Chinese records 《Beoncheonmunjip》 and 《Shindangseo》 call him JANG Bo-go, and Japanese record 《Ipdang-gubeop-sunrye-haenggi》 and Japanese official histories 《Later Historical Records of Japan》•《Historical Records of Japan, a supplementary volume》•《Later Historical Records of Japan, a supplementary volume》 all call him JANG Bo-go.

According to the then customs in Silla, ordinary people could not have a surname. If JANG Bo-go was called 'Gungbok' or 'Gungpa', it means that he was a commoner. 'Gungbok' or 'Gungpa' is 'Hwalbo' in the Korean language meaning 'a child who is good at archery'. A boy called 'Gungbok' or 'Gungpa' in Silla went to Tang (China) with a big ambition.

JANG Bo-go was presumably from an island presently called Wando in Jeollanam-do. He was very good at swimming and had a large skeleton with great strength even when he was a little boy. He was a very faithful man with a deep sense of justice. His mind was so broad that many people in his own and foreign countries respected and followed him. His hometown friend JEONG Nyeon, who shared sorrows and joys together with him for his entire life, was also excellent in martial arts with extraordinary talents that he was not short of breath even after swimming 20 kilometers according to a record. JANG Bo-go and JEONG Nyeon went to Tang (China) together where he finally rose to the position of a minor general in Muryeong Corps in Seoju(徐州), Gangso Province of today. When JANG Bo-go went to Tang, Chinese commoners could have their own surname. So, JANG Bo-go chose to have 'JANG' – whose Chinese letter incorporates part of his Korean name – as his surname for help his activities in China. His given name 'Bo-go' seems to convey the sound of the remaining part of his Korean name.

The most successful person in the eastern country

After returning from Tang, JANG Bo-go established Cheonghaejin (Camp Cheonghae) in Wando and began his vigorous activities. His name appeared in a then Japanese document as張寶高 – including the letters meaning 'wealth' and 'high' – perhaps because he accumulated an enormous amount of wealth through international trade. In other words, the name meant a person similar to a very rich businessman of today. Therefore, his magnificent names recorded in historical documents well explain his life in just a few words.

The first assessment of JANG Bo-go was made by Dumok (杜牧, 803~852), a Chinese person during Tang Dynasty who wrote 《Beoncheon Munjip (樊川文集, Buncheon's Collection of Works)》. This assessment is regarded as closest to the facts because it was written at a time when JANG Bo-go was still living. Dumok compared JANG Bo-go to Gwak Bun-yang (郭汾陽) who took an active part in An Noksan(An Lu-shan)'s Rebellion. The author also says that JANG Bo-go was an intelligent man with wisdom who was the most successful person in the eastern country. This means that the man from Silla was widely known and respected in China.

In his 《Samguksagi (A history of the three kingdoms)》, KIM Bu-sik during Goryeo Dynasty in Korea assessed him as a great person compared to Gihae(祈奚) of Jin(晉) Dynasty or Gwak Bun-yang (郭汾陽) during Tang Dynasty. The author also says in the biography of KIM Yu-sin that 'Even though Eulzimundeok was wise and JANG Bo-go was faithful and brave, their greatness would not have been known without historical records of China'. This tells that the assessment of JANG Bo-go was based on an objective perspective that had already been established during Goryeo Dynasty.

However, JANG Bo-go could hardly receive fair assessment during Joseon Dynasty when the centralized state governing system had been gradually strengthened and loyalty to the dynasty was stressed.

The modern history of the world saw the advancement of the western forces to the east. In this movement, the main characters on the stage of the world history were those powerful nations on the sea capable of controlling the five oceans. Experiencing the opening of our ports and Japan's forceful occupation of our country, our pioneers dreamed of a Korea shining in the world. In their eyes, JANG Bo-go was a very person who had shown the path that our nation had to follow to achieve the dream. For example, in his 《Haesang-Dahansa (海上大韓史, Korean History on the Sea)》, CHOI Nam-seon stressed that Korea would be able to play a major role in the world only when we had restored our forgotten spirit toward sea and ocean

The pioneer in our marine transport industry and international trade

The current picture of Wando
where Cheonghaejin's headquarters
was located

According to Professor KIM Sang-gi who wrote a research paper about JANG Bo-go's achievements for the first time in Korea, JANG Bo-go was a very person in our history who lived by the principle that 'Those who govern the sea govern the world', and he was 'the person who built the kingdom on the sea'. The late Edwin O. Reischauer, US ambassador to Japan and a professor at Harvard University, assessed JANG Bo-go as 'The Trade Prince of the Maritime Commercial Empire'. After this, re-illumination of JANG Bo-go has been continued by some scholars in Korea.

JANG Bo-go, who has been assessed like this, cultivated the seas of China, Korea and Japan into workplaces of Silla and controlled the Shandong Peninsula and the southern part of the Korean Peninsula in an independent way as if they were self-governed areas. JANG Bo-go's maritime activities came about 700 years before Yi Sun-sin. From the current standpoint, he was not only the first person demonstrating his powerful naval forces that ruled the seas of the eastern world but also a pioneer in Korea's sea transport industry and international trade.

Located in the center of Northeast Asia for transport, geography and economy, the Korean Peninsula is connecting the continent and the ocean. The southwestern coast of the peninsula, in particular, is expected to play an important role in forming and developing the Northeast Asian economic zone as it is located in a crucial point on the rim of the Yellow Sea. While the southwestern coast was the main stage of JANG Bo-go's activities, his spirit of challenge, pioneer spirit and broad-mindedness in his sea management must be learnt as lessons in order to reconstruct and recreate a sea management model for the 21st century.

Also, behind JANG Bo-go's success in the 9th century was the concentration of our national capabilities. There are about 70 million Korean people living in Northeast Asia including 2 millions in China, 500 thousands in Russia's east coast, 700 thousands in Japan and 67 millions in South and North Korea. The current situation is very similar to that of the 9th century when former citizens of Koguryo and Baekje and citizens of Silla were widely scattered in China and Japan. Therefore, collecting these human resources is another problem waiting for our solution.