뉴스레터

From July 13 to 18, 2015, a joint group of the NAHF and the National Institute of Korean History (NIKH) was on a field trip to explore historic sites in China related to ancient Korean history, including Shanhai Pass, Jieshi Mountain, and a number of Neolithic and Bronze Age sites in Liaoning Province and Inner Mongolia. Specifically, Qinhuangdo (秦皇島) in Hebei Province (遼寧省), Lingyuan (凌源) and Chaoyang (朝陽) in Liaoning Province (遼寧省), and Chifeng (赤峰) in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (內蒙古自治區) were explored. The exploring party consisted of the presidents of the two institutes (President Kim Hakjoon of the NAHF and President Kim Jung-Bae of the NIKH) as joint leaders, and experts participating from the two institutes, including Ko, Kwang-eui (Department of Historical Research Team 2 Manager), myself, Kang Jeung-mi (Public Relations Team Manager) from the NAHF, and History Compilation Researcher Park Nam-su from the NIKH.

NAHF President Kim Hakjoon (Left)
and NIKH President Kim Jung-Bae
standing at Laolongtou,
he East End of the Great Wall

On June 13, a scorching hot day with the temperature above 40 degrees Celsius, the exploring party explored the sites in Hebei Province, including the Yongping County Fortress (永平府城) and the Luan River (灤河) in Lulong Country (盧龍縣), and Jieshi Mountain (碣石山) in Changli County (昌黎縣). This region is at the center of the controversy over Gojoseon's territory, the subject of a major debate among scholars. Currently, some scholars perceive the Luan River and Jieshi Mountain as the western boundary of Gojoseon, and position the office of Lelang Commandery (樂浪郡) in Suicheng County (遂城縣) at the location of none other than the Yongping County Fortress.

Traces of Gojoseon in Jieshi Mountain and the Luan River Basin, and the East End of the Great Wall

In particular, Jieshi Mountain, a majestic mountain standing tall and situated at an important passage into the Liaoxi region from the south, probably served as a major landmark indicating the boundary between Korea and China throughout history from ancient times. As for the Yongping County Fortress, on the other hand, the exploring party decided, judging from the structure and construction method of the remaining fortress walls, that the fortress walls in themselves were not sufficient evidence to link the Yongping Country Fortress directly to the center of Gojoseon. This issue might need to be reexamined later through a thorough survey of the fortress inside out and its surrounding sites.

From the 2000s onward, before stirring controversy with its sudden announcement of the 'Great Wall Protection Project' in 2012 claiming that the Great Wall was over four times longer than its known length, China has persistently claimed that the Hushan Mountain Fortress (positioned at the Bakjak Fortress during the era of Koguryo) located at the northern shore of the Abrok River was the east end of the Great Wall.

However, the logic of China's claims concerning the Great Wall is not persuasive, as we found out more than enough during our field trip on its second day on July 14. Shanhai Pass is located in a narrow flatland between the east end of the Yan Mountains and the Bohai Bay. Anyone with eyes can see that it is a perfect natural boundary between regions. The Shanhai Pass fortress and the Laolongtou relic, which remain to this day, were originally built as fortifications to block this passage, and they constitute the boundary between the inside and the outside of the Pass.

The exploring party posing in front of
Shanhai Pass

By contrast, the area surrounding the Hoshan Mountain Fortress on the northern shore of the Abrok River has a highly mountainous terrain unfit for the construction of the Great Wall. And there is no confirmed, clear archaeological evidence of Great Wall sites found in the area. The First Pass Under Heaven (天下第一關), which is the representative relic of Shanhai Pass, and the local sign explaining that the east end of the Great Wall was none other than Shanhai Pass, and tourists thronging the place were all telling us that this was indeed the east end of the Great Wall.

Neolithic and Bronze Culture in the Liaoxi Region

We spent the afternoon of July 14 and the 15th day of July exploring the sites located in Lingyuan and Chaoyang that are related to the Hongshan culture from the Neolithic Age, a period during which what they call the 'Liaohe Civilization' flourished. While China perceives the Hongshan culture as one branch of the original Chinese civilization, on the basis of so-called the 'Theory of Unified Multi-ethnic State,' some Korean scholars claim it to be the original culture of Gojoseon. In other words, these are among the historical sites that are the subjects of debate between Korea and China.

Stone mound tombs
within the Niuheliang site

After an extensive renovation project completed recently, the Niuheliang site, one that represents all the Hongshan culture sites, has been transformed into the Niuheliang National Relics Park, which is currently open to visitors. One goddess tomb site, the altar, and two stone mound tomb sites, which had been exposed outdoors the last time I had visited there, were enclosed with protection facilities. And there was also a large museum built on a separate site. It is said that this Park cost over 500 million yuan (equivalent to 100 billion won) to build, and there are efforts being made to have it inscribed on the World Heritage List by 2018. Using projects like this, China is showing off the Hongshan culture as a prelude to the civilization of China as a unified multi-ethnic state five thousand years ago. This represents China's historical hegemonism, and I felt that finding ways to deal with it was desperately needed.

Toward the end of the field trip, we visited the sites of the 'Lower Xiajiadian culture,' an early Bronze Age culture, in the Chifeng region in Inner Mongolia. The Lower Xiajiadian culture, which arose between 2,000 and 1,500 B.C, a period coinciding nearly with the establishment of Gojoseon, has things in common with a number of cultures on the Korean Peninsula. For this reason, some Korean scholars associate this culture with Gojoseon, or perceive it as the origin of Korean culture.

On July 16, we went up to the Chengzi Mountain Fortress, the largest of all the Lower Xiajiadian culture sites. On July 17, we explored the Sanzuodian stone fortress, which had been revealed in its entirety through a close excavation survey, and the Chijiayingzi stone fortress, which has well-preserved rock art. All of these fortresses had stone walls, which have well-preserved semicircular jutty on them. For this reason, some scholars perceive them as the origin of the stone fortresses of Koguryo. They also suggest that the rock art of the Sanzuodian stone fortress and the Chijiayingzi stone fortress is the origin of Korean rock art. We can see that these sites have features and characteristics that are definitely distinct from those of the Middle Plain culture. Therefore, studies to identify such distinction clearly are needed. Furthermore, further studies are needed to identify their features in more detail to find out if and what connection they might have with Korean history.