뉴스레터

A Book Published in the Absence of Research on the Jin Dynasty

The Liao Dynasty(Georan), the Jin Dynasty(Jurchen) and the Yuan Dynasty(Mongolia) alternately occupied some or all of China; they had many exchanges with the Goryeo dynasty. Professional researchers continue to accumulate achievements in the history of Georan and Mongolia. However, no professional research books have been published on the history of the Jin Dynasty. As such, the Korean history academia is like a barren place for research on the Jin Dynasty. In this situation, 『The Golden Empire of Warriors, the Qin Dynasty』 was published. This book is the result of NAHF's 2020 project and research. Seven Korean researchers who studied Song Dynasty and Jin Dynasty participated in the writing. This study focused on the government strategies in each field. And this book said that Jurchen strongly expressed their aspect as a Conquest Dynasty, unlike Mongolians.

A Study on the History of the Jin Dynasty in China and Korea

In China, when referring to the past dynasty, it is called 'Tang·Song', 'Song·Yuan' or 'Song·Yuan·Ming'. This reflects the attitude of recognizing Song as a unified dynasty and recognizing Liao and the Jin as the local regime of Song. In this sense, the historical presence of Liao and Jin seems to be very low. Yuan compiled 『History of Song』, 『History of Liao』 and 『History of Jin』 and said that all three countries were qualified as Orthodox dynasties. The current China also has no disagreement in including the history of Liao or Jin in the scope of Chinese history.

However, when I explored the places related to George or Jurchen, I thought, "Would people have left it as it is now even if it was the remains of the Han dynasty?" (E.g., the tomb of Liao emperors, the tomb of Han Kuangsi in Jin Dynasty, Where Wanyan A Gu Da first won against Liao Dynasty, the tomb of Wanyan A Gu Da, the site of Shangjing during Jin Dynasty) Even so, there are hundreds of researchers studying the history of Liao and Jin Dynasty in China, and so many achievements are being announced.

Retrospection, Reflection and Direction to Go

Since the past, Korea has been interested in fragmentary issues in research on the Jin Dynasty. However, studies on the history of the Jin or Jurchen are still sluggish. Compared to the history of Liao and Yuan, there are few professional researchers. So, I thought that it would be better to expand the scope of awareness and conduct research including various fields such as region, nation, culture, religion, custom that comes into the scope of Korean history.

When I heard that NAHF was planning to publish 『The Golden Empire of Warriors, the Jin Dynasty』, I was very pleased and decided to participate without hesitation. The writers of this book are well-versed in the history of the Song Dynasty and the history of the Northern people. I hope other researchers will be more active in the study based on the contents of this book.

The history of the Jin Dynasty is not just the history of the nomadic people of neighboring countries who live in the meadows and raise cattle and sheep. The Jin built a dynasty twice in a wide area from the northern part of the Korean peninsula to Russia, and interacted with Korea a lot. They first issued money with a validity period of more than three years, and established a system in which managers retire at the age of 70. As such, they have had a profound impact on East Asian history and culture. Therefore, it is expected that various studies related to the Jin Dynasty will be conducted in depth.