뉴스레터

What country was Gojoseon, Goguryeo, and Balhae? Although their history is Korean history, today's Chinese and Japanese academics and history textbooks describe Chinese history, countries belonging to Japan, and countries dedicated to tribute. This book is the result of a study that reviewed and criticized the history distortions of China and Japan, along with how Gojoseon, Goguryeo, and Balhae were inherited and recognized during the premodern and modern periods.

Gojoseon, Goguryeo, Balhae in Korean History

The debate over history is accessible from various aspects, but it is most important to look at the cognition of history succession. Thus, the co-researchers who participated in this project examined how they described and recognized the history of Gojoseon, Goguryeo, and Balhae through major writings and characters of each period. The contents of the study were discussed and coordinated through presentations and meetings. In particular, we explored the sites of Gojoseon, Goguryeo, and Balhae history together and tried to understand the meaning of the data and the character of the person.

The Cognition of Succession in the Premodern Period

In the 『The Cognition of Succession : The Ancient History of Korea』 I (Pre-modern times), the historical awareness and cognition of succession to Gojoseon, Goguryeo, and Balhae appeared in the writings of Goryeo and Joseon Dynasty after the fall of Gojoseon, Goguryeo and Balhae were examined. The Ancient History of Korea is generally targeted at Gojoseon, and the Three Kingdoms period of Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla and Northern and Southern state period. Among them, Gojoseon, Goguryeo, and Balhae, which were located in the northern part of Korea and Manchuria, have a very important meaning in establishing the spatial range of Ancient History of Korea.

Manchuria and northern part of Korea are connected to Gojoseon, Goguryeo and Balhae in the order of time. The residents of Gojoseon became residents of Goguryeo, and residents of Goguryeo became residents of Balhae. After Balhae's fall, migrants had a self-consciousness of 'Balhae', not assimilated within the Georan, and many people moved to Goryeo. Goryeo advocated the succession of Goguryeo, and actively accepted the Balhae people. Joseon recognized Gojoseon as the beginning of our history and began to organize the history of Goguryeo and Balhae. And in the 18th and 19th centuries, Balhae was recognized as 'Northern and Southern State' like Silla.

Cognition of Succession in Modern and Contemporary Period

In the 『The Cognition of Succession : The Ancient History of Korea』 II (modern and contemporary), We reviewed how the history of Gojoseon, Goguryeo, and Balhae continued to the End of Joseon, the Japanese colonial period, and the post-liberation period, and how it was succeeded against the claim that Sik-Min Sagwan(the Historical Perspectives of Japanese Imperialism in order to secure the invasion and colonial rule of Joseon) and Man-Seon Sagwan(the Perspective of Perceiving Manchuria and Joseon History as the same historical unit).

Joseon suffered as it could not prevent the invasion of imperialism and was deprived of its country by Japanese imperialism. The Japanese imperialism came to claim the colonial view that 'Joseon has not developed independently, has always been influenced by foreign powers, society has been stagnant, there is no movement of modernization, and there is no unique culture of Korea because it has imitated Chinese culture.'

There has also been a widespread awareness that the history of Goguryeo and Balhae is not regarded as Korean history. When Japan excluded Manchuria from Chinese history, Chinese history academia historically tried to prove that Manchuria is part of China. In this process, they argued that the history of Gojoseon, Goguryeo, and Balhae was part of Chinese history, not Korean history.

The Japanese imperialists denied our history through Sik-Min Sagwan and Man-Seon Sagwan, and Chinese researchers denied the activities of our people in Manchuria. Then nationalist historians in Korea began to refute their claims head on. Their study of the Ancient History of Korea was like an independence struggle. They logically criticized the behavior of Japanese imperialism and China distorting the history of Gojoseon, Goguryeo and Balhae, and studied history to protect the national spirit.

Conclusion of Research and Perception of History in the Future

Gojoseon, Goguryeo, and Balhae are the core of Korean history and Korean history itself. This is not only the Goryeo, Joseon Dynasty, but also the End of Joson, Japanese imperialism, and to this day. On the other hand, the Chinese dynasty of Zhōngyuán area did not regard Gojoseon, Goguryeo, and Balhae as their history, and the south of Great Wall(長城) was called Hua(華), and the outside was divided into Yi(夷). Even the Chinese academics claimed Balhae as their history, it happened after the first half of the 20th century when Japan occupied Manchuria.

In addition, the Chinese dynasty centered on the Han Chinese and the Yo, Geum, Won, and Qing Dynasty included in the 25 historical records of Chinese authentic history were excluded from Chinese history by considering Goguryeo, Balhae and Northern peoples as orangkae. In this situation, it is less likely that the previous dynasty of Zhōngyuán recognized Goguryeo, which was destroyed in the 7th century, and Balhae, which was destroyed in the 10th century, as their history.

One of the main research topics of Korean historical researchers during the Japanese colonial period was the issue of 'Minjok(people)'. For example, Park Eun-sik is a descendant of Dangun in both Ethnic Korean living in China and Manchus, which is called Daedong-Minjok. Shin Chae-ho called the Sunbi, Buyeo, Gina, Malgal, Yeojin, and Tǔzú as Dongkuk-Minjok, and the history of Dongkuk in 4,000 years was the history of the rise and fall of the Buyeo. And An-Hwak said that all of the people living in Manchuria and the Korean peninsula are Joseon people, and that they are Sookshin, Okjeo, Megin, Jinin, Sunbi, Yo, Geum and Manchus.

Today, more than a hundred years after the Japanese colonial rule deprived the country, 75 years after the liberation. What does the perception of Gojoseon, Goguryeo, and Balhae in Korean history mean to us? The Sik-Min Sagwan of imperial Japan and the Northeast Project of China are consistent in that they exclude Goguryeo and Balhae from Korean history. There is a difference in the historical perception of Japan and China for more than 100 years in time, and there is a difference in the subject of recognition between imperial Japan and modern China. Nevertheless, it can be said that it is the same in that it exaggerates the influence of the outside world in Korean history and limits the scope of Korean history to the Korean peninsula.

If all ideas and disciplines should consider the situation of the times, ancient history should be in line with it. Today, Korean historical academia has two tasks. China and Japan are distorting Korea's ancient history to rationalize their own history, and the difference in historical interpretation between the two Koreas in a divided state. In addition, we need to think and prepare for what is the proper historical awareness we should take in the relationship between East Asia and the world after the unification of the two Koreas.