뉴스레터

A framework for Interpreting Northern Dynasty, Conquest Dynasty

In 1949, the American scholar Karl August Wittfogel presented the concept of conquest dynasty to academia. He called the dynasty built by the northern people after Khitan ‘the conquest dynasty’, and Khitan, Jin Dynasty, Yuan Dynasty, Qing Dynasty were representative. Conquest dysnasty used force to make Han Areas theirs in a very short time. They thought that the area with the root of the ancestor was an important factor in forming the territory. And they wanted to maintain their specificity to the end.

In the past, the northern dynasty was seen as 'the barbaric conquerors are conquered by them and conquered by developed civilizations'. The disappearance of the Northern Dynasty, which was the conqueror, began to accept Jungwon's political system and Confucianism. It is believed that the Han Chinese civilization was more advanced. Therefore, the core of the conquest dynasty can be said to deny Han Chinese centeredness.

Wittfogel's argument is based on the theoretical background of the 'accultation' raised by anthropologists Redfield, Linton and Herskovits in 1936. Acculturation means the process of changing culture through continuous and direct contact between groups with different cultural backgrounds. This is a phenomenon in which culture is newly reconstructed or created in a new sense in the process of contacting and accepting the other culture. The nomadic culture of the north and the agricultural culture of the south were transformed through contact and exchange, and a third culture was born in this process. Wittfogel said that the conquering dynasty is the third cultural form in which the two civilizations coexist.

After Wittfogel's writing was published in 1949, Japanese scholars said, “Wittfogel did not analyze the conquest dynasty from the perspective of the northern people, the main agent of conquest.” They succeeded the views of Shiratori Kurakichi and Inaba Iwakichi. Overall, Japanese academia emphasizes the difference between the South and the North in China and the confrontation between the Han and the non-Han.

Chinese Academic Response

In general, Chinese academia tends to avoid and deny the theory of conquest dynasty. Some researchers strongly criticized the argument for the conquest dynasty as a theory that encourages the division of China and supports the invasion of imperialism. The theory of the West and Japan differs from the specific content. Wittfogel did not separate the Northern ethnic society from the Chinese political system, but said that the Khitan, Jin, Yuan, Qing were part of the Chinese monarchy. Western academia was interested in the transformation of northern culture and Han Chinese culture in cultural aspects, Japan tended to emphasize the ethnic and cultural differences between the northern and Han Chinese in political aspects.

So, Chinese academia tries to cover the northern and southern, northern nomad and Han people with the concept of One Chinese, that is, Chinese people, in response to the West and Japan. However, they all emphasize that 56 ethnic groups in China have various origins, but they have been integrated into Chinese people through exchanges. Currently, Chinese academics are conducting research on the conquest dynasty based on 'plurality and unity in the configuration of the chinese nation', and the conquest dynasty are only a process of integration into Chinese people.

In 1986 Zhang Bo-quan argued for 'China Integrated', and in 1988 Fei Xiao-tong claimed 'plurality and unity in the configuration of the Chinese nation'. The former is a historical approach, and the latter is an anthropological approach. However, they emphasize that 56 ethnic groups in China have various origins, but they have been integrated into Chinese people through exchanges. Currently, Chinese academics are conducting research on the conquest dynasty based on 'plurality and unity in the configuration of the Chinese nation', and the conquest dynasty are only a process of integration into Chinese people. This means that the Northern people and the Han people have interacted and become 'you are in me, I am in you', that is, 'we are Chinese people'.

Why are we discussing the Conquest Dynasty again?

China has a view that all the history made in Chinese territory is Chinese history. China incorporated the history of the nation built by the peoples of the northern region into Chinese history. The Northeastern region describes Gojoseon and Goguryeo as local regimes in China, and recently it is trying to reorganize into a Han Chinese-centered history. Therefore, it is necessary to overcome the view of history centered on Jungwon and to form the independent national history of the Northern people.

Historically, China's inland and northern peoples did not have a significant impact on the West and Japan. Japan has interacted with China since the Wu-Yue period, but they have not been directly affected by changes in China. They did not interact directly with China and the northern people until modern times. However, since Korea was bordered by the northern peoples, the change of international order in the northern and Chinese countries had an effect on the Korean peninsula.

However, there is a lack of studies on the Conquest Dynasty of the Northern Dynasty in Korean academia. In order to establish the argument about the conquest dynasty from the Korean perspective, Institute on European History of NAHF is conducting research and publication of books on Khitan, Jin, Yuan, Qing Dynasty. The first step is publishing 『The Khitan, Continuously Changing Country』(NAHF, 2020). NAHF conducted various studies and concluded that the Han Chineseization process alone could not understand Khitan. And as of November 2020, a study of the 2nd conquered dynasty(Jin Dynasty) is underway. In the future, NAHF will strive to establish the theory of the conquest dynasty, which contains Korean perspectives.