뉴스레터

Historical ruins of Goguryeo far away from home

 Finally, in 2021, the final volume of The Kingdom of Koguryo Ruins and Artifacts in China was published. The journey began in 2007, so it took 15 years to complete this long race. All of the co-researchers have become around 60 years of age, and research associates have acquired their Ph.D. and become mid-level researchers. I can say that our research team has spent at least half of their lives as a researcher on this project.

 Goguryeo ruins and relics dispersed in the northeast region of China are critical for studying the history of Goguryeo and systematizing Korean history. They are precious cultural assets that humanity must share together. Investigation and research on these ruins were led by Japanese scholars in the early 20th century and Chinese scholars since the 1950s. There was rarely a Korean scholar who academically studied these ruins in the early 20th century. After the national liberation, the division of the two Koreas and the cold war system have made it impossible for Korean scholars to even get to the northeast region.

 In 1992, with the establishment of diplomatic ties between Korea and China, the passage for Korean scholars to access Goguryeo ruins and relics opened, but carrying out a direct investigation was almost impossible due to China’s regulations. Subsequently, Korean scholars had no choice but to perform academic research based on investigations done by Japanese or Chinese scholars. However, many investigation reports and research papers were dispersed in different publications and sometimes out of print, so researchers or the public interested in history had difficulty accessing the materials they needed.

Compilation of basic data for establishing a database

 This book was published with the objective of drastically improving this situation. The Northeast Asian History Foundation has promoted the establishment of a database that compiles the ruins and relics of Goguryeo in China since 2007. Our research team was also a part of this project and compiled various investigation reports and research papers for a decade, providing the basic data required for creating a database. 

 The data of ruins and relics in the middle and upper reaches of the Yalu River, where Goguryeo was formed, were compiled from  2007 to 2008; those in Tonggu Tomb, where Gungnae was located, from 2009 to 2011; and those in the Liaodong Peninsula, Xiliao River, Songhua River, and Tumen River from 2012 to 2014. In 2015 and 2016, a retention project was carried out to organize the newly investigated ruins after 2007. This process created a compilation of 246 ancient tomb sites, 269 individual tombs, 301 fortress walls, 31 ancient civil engineering and construction sites, 40 other ruins, and 84 individual relics, making up a total of 971 ruins and relics. 

 However, after setting up a database based on the basic data, it was not simple to convert regional “overviews,” “historical characters” of ruins, and other descriptive contents into the database. There were also significant inconveniences for researchers or the public to clearly see the overall status of the ruins. For this reason, in 2018 and 2019, we performed another project for publishing a book that compiles the basic data.

Composition of the series

 Our team focused on compiling the existing archaeological achievements. For this purpose, we collected all sorts of reports, research papers, maps, geography books, and investigation data. Then, we organized the materials based on the investigation status, location and natural environment, overall status, status by ancient civil engineering and construction sites, excavated relics, historical characteristics, and references. We also conducted annual site investigations to confirm the contents of archaeological inspections and identify the status of the ruins. This resulted in 10,000 A4-size pages of basic data that were used for publishing a series of 10 volumes.

 Each volume starts with an overview that mentions the overall status by region as well as the status of ruins according to administrative regions or archeological sites to explore the historical characteristics of subjects. The locations of ruins have been marked on a topographic map with a scale of 1:10,000 and Google Maps to facilitate the understanding of geographical environments without personally visiting the sites. We have also categorized various drawings by type and modified them for use as professional academic materials.

Objective and proposal of publication

 This series is the first accomplishment that systematically compiled the ruins and relics of Goguryeo in the northeast region of China. We anticipate that it will significantly expand the foundation for the research of Goguryeo history and upgrade the national research capacity, as it is a compilation of the vast amount of archaeological achievements and related references. It is also expected to contribute to creating various historical content and raising the historical awareness of the general public. 

 This series is the fruit of the devotion of our research team for the past 15 years. I recall the moments we made site inspections, climbing up fortress walls with no trails and wandering in fields looking for tombs. There were dreadful moments when we were mistaken for helping North Korean defectors and were taken by Chinese police for investigation. I am grateful for the hard work of our team members, who went through all of these difficulties together and showed promising dedication to the compilation and publication of the series.

 Rather than marking this series the end, it will serve as the starting point of the compilation of “the ruins and artifacts of Goguryeo in China.” Recently, China has been showing changes in the investigation of Goguryeo ruins. Deviating from the routinized investigation near capital cities, it has been investigating provincial fortress walls and tombs since the 2010s. A significant amount of research is led by the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, whose performances are published from time to time. This series must function as a stepping stone for the continuous promotion of organization and compilation of Goguryeo ruins and relics.