뉴스레터

The 12-character-long posthumous epithet engraved on the Gwanggaeto Stele sums up the life and campaigns of King Gwanggaeto, who lived through a turbulent century. Erected in 414, the Gwanggaeto Stele is a monument carved out of a natural stone inscribed with up to 1775 characters which describe Koguryo's foundation, political thought, society and economy, law, and international relations, among other elements unique to Koguryo's history. At the same time, it is also a testament to the falsehood of China's Northeast Project.

Awoken from a long sleep in history when discovered circa 1880, the Gwanggaeto Stele came under international spotlight overnight, and became a cornerstone for the study of Koguryo's history and the history of 4th- to 5th-century East Asia. In 2012, on the occasion of the 1600th year since the death of King Gwanggaeto, an academic conference was held to review the results of studies done thus far and the controversy of the Gwanggaeto Stele to search for the direction of future studies. And the results of that conference have been compiled into this book.

Examination and Study of the Raw Stone Rubbed Copies

The study of the Gwanggaeto Stele begins with a close scrutiny and deciphering of the texts in the rubbed copies. About forty years ago, the Korean-Japanese historian Lee Jin-hui proposed a controversial theory that the Gwanggaeto Stele's inscription had been fabricated. And some historians in Korea today are still influenced by his theory, and spread crazy ideas driven by nationalist sentiment.

Professor Yukio Takeda (武田幸男), the keynote speaker, drawing on his extensive studies, divided the rubbed copies into three periods: hand-ink copy, raw stone rubbed copy, and lime rubbed copy. And then he subdivided them based on their use of paper and ink conditions to determine the years in which they had been made. Consequently, the rubbed copies were divided into four types. In Type A1 rubbed copies, made immediately after the stele's discovery, the characters may have been rubbed on small pieces of paper with the later application of ink. But there is no known example of Type A1 rubbed copies. Type A2 rubbed copies are characterized by 150 to 160 pieces of paper applied with ink, 11 to 12 columns on each side, and some identified parts applied with no ink, and slightly thick characters. There are four identified rubbed copies of this type. Type A3 rubbed copies are characterized by around 60 pieces of paper and 8 to 9 columns with quite delicately applied ink. Type A4 rubbed copies are handmade by the Chinese expert (李雲従) in rubbing, characterized by 12 pieces of paper and 3 columns with very delicately applied ink. There are seven existing rubbed copies of this type, and they are considered the oldest high-quality ink copies. The study of the Gwanggaeto Stele is already at the center of the age of raw stone subbed copies. And what is needed for the future, he suggested, is that materials related to Type A rubbed copies need to be made public for free discussion and exchange among scholars so as to resolve the controversy surrounding the interpretation of the stele's inscription texts and to advance the study of the hand-ink copies.

Interdisciplinary Research Is Needed

Part 1 covered the archeological, epigraphic, calligraphic, and linguistic aspects of the Gwanggaeto Stele. Professor Cho Beob-jong explored the possibility that the mausoleum of a great king in Ji'an might be that of King Gwanggaeto by examining the old and modern maps to track topographic changes in the historical and geographical space of the Ji'an area since modern times. Mr. Sohn In-geol presented the new findings from an archaeological survey of the royal mausoleums in the Ji'an area which identified the distribution range of relics and sites from the Koguryo era, the status of their preservation and structure, and speculated that the HM1 tomb might belong to King Dongcheon, the 11th monarch of Koguryo. Dr. Ko Gwang-ui insisted that from the background of cultural narrative, the font of the texts on the Gwanggaeto Stele was unique to Koguryo and should be named 'Gwanggaeto Stele Font.' Professor Lee Woo-tae argued that the Gwanggaeto Stele had served less as a tombstone than as a clarification to avoid confusion in the household names of grave keepers. And judging from the size of the characters, he speculated that the first readers of this stele may have been the grave keepers, and that the text may have been engraved on the original monolith. Professor Kwon In-han, who studied the Gwanggaeto Stele from the perspective of the history of the Korean language, speculated that the origin of the Beginning-Sound Rule of the Korean language could date back at the latest to this stele's period, and that the usage of '之' as an ending particle and '上' as a postpositional particle in this description might be an example of the Idu system (conveying Korean sounds by means of Chinese characters) in the early stage of development.

Part 2 discussed Koguryo's relationship with the southern empire. As for the controversial interpretation of the shinmyo (391 AD) passage, it was determined to be a fictional passage written and inserted in a style justifying Koguryo's military campaign against on the southern front. And as for "安羅人戍兵," the existing interpretation that the characters referred to the defence force of Anagaya was reconfirmed. As for the identity of Wa in the inscription, general consensus was reached that it referred to Japan's Yamato reign. Professor Hamada Kosaku (濱田耕策) noted that King Jangsu as successor to King Gwanggaeto had based his state administration on his deceased father's achievements, and that against the backdrop of foreign relations with the Southern and Northern Dynasties of China, he might have had a great influence on the state-building of empires in Korean peninsula, including Koguryo, and Wa.

Newly Discovered Materials and Comparative Studies

Part 3 is about Koguryo's expansion into the north. According to Dr. Lee Sung-se, Later Yan's investiture of King Gwanggaeto was part of its strategy to prepare against the counterattack of North Wei, and a diplomatic move to improve its relations with Koguryo, and this relationship allowed Koguryo to worry less about the north and focus on ruling the south. Professor Seo Young-su, who analyzed the passage about King Gwanggaeto's conquest of Paeryo in his 5th year as king, explained that this incident had set the stage for Koguryo to advance into to the Liaoxi region as well as Liaodong as the outpost of Later Yan, and that this passage had been written at the beginning of the inscription because it had been a significant turning point in Koguryo's expansion. Professor Yoon Myung-chul ascribed meaning to King Gwanggaeto's achievement as national development policy in modern sense, and presented it as a directional guide for the Korean people in the 21st century.

In Part 4, to better understand Koguryo's grave keeper system, Professor Kim Taek-min made a comparison with the case of China by analyzing China's grave keeping system for the royal mausoleums found in historical records, and the provisions of the Chinese laws governing grave-keeping. He noted that in China there was no provision prohibiting resale and grave keepers were not necessarily of the lowest class of people. Dr. Kim Hyun-sook asserted that the purpose of erecting the Gwanggaeto Stele had been for King Jangsu to announce his political ambition and determination building on the authority of his ancestor kings including his deceased father.

This book encompasses the results of almost all the previous studies; while reviewing those results, the book presented new knowledge and insight, and a direction for future studies. In Ji'an, which used to be the capital of Koguryo at the time of King Gwanggaeto, what is thought to be a stele from this period was discovered recently. This Ji'an Koguryo Stele is being scrutinized in comparison with the Gwanggaeto Stele in relation to the grave keeper system. I hope that new materials will be discovered and scrutinized through interdisciplinary joint research to reveal truths about Koguryo's history during the King Gwanggaeto era.