[DeCal] *Edited* Review - Korean History: 2333 BCE to 1876 CE

As promised, Leah Yi and Tori Bazz's presentation and review of Korean History: 2333 BCE to 1876 CE can be found here. And, all presentations that are available online can be found by scrolling down on the right hand side.

Remember, the point of this course is not to dwell on history, but to use it as a tool to better understand contemporary events. With this in mind, names of figures or even names of kingdoms become rather irrelevant then. Naturally, then what is clear from our understanding of Korean history is this:

The borders of Korea have more or less remain unchanged since the unification of Korea by Silla in the 7th century CE and there have been no significant movement or immigration to the peninsula (until perhaps the last decade or so) since the fall of the last Han commandery called Lolang in 313 CE. Thus, Korea has had a single group of people - more or less (for more, I mentioned the Korean Haplogroup - O2b, which is present in a significant number of males on the Korean peninsula and the Japanese peninsula, but absent among China's population), who have come to speak the same language over the course of 1,300 years.

Note that France was united around the first decade of the sixteenth century (I believe), Spain - 1492, Germany & Italy - 1870, Russia - I believe some time in between - I think most of what is Russia today was occupied by remnants of the Golden Horde (or Mongols) until the 16th or 17th centuries... So, you can imagine why Korea could be so nationalistic and so xenophobic (not a single minority ethnic group). I believe Korea and Japan are the only two countries, where you'll find almost no ethnic Chinese communities in significant numbers in all of East Asia. Up until recently, I believe there were 50,000 ethnic Chinese out of a population of almost 50 million (about 0.1%).

In this context, the issue of whether these kingdoms, such as Goguryeo (高句麗) or Balhae (渤海) were "Korean" are rather unimportant and, perhaps, even irrelevant next to how it is the merger of the separate kingdoms' people and culture (for more: check out Samhan/Buyeo, 三韓/夫餘 - in Sino-Korean/扶餘 - in traditional Chinese script) that gave rise to the singular identity of a Korean people. This is probably the most important theme to take from ancient Korean history (along with the geography of the Korean peninsula and the geographical location of the Korean peninsula). Also, I mentioned the Gangnido Map (and how it has a really long name. Wikipedia cites the term, "Honil Gangni Yeokdae Gukdo Jido ("Map of Integrated Lands and Regions of Historical Countries and Capitals", 혼일강리역대국도지도, 混一疆理歷代國都之圖) for the map. Nonetheless, it is an easy and quick way to visualize how Koreans saw themselves in relation to the outside world during the Joseon dynasty.  

Also, as discussed in class, I claimed that the North South States Period (남북국시대, 南北國時代) is a recent construct as it refers to a time when Silla (then Goryeo) controlled the bottom two thirds of the peninsula, but the rest was controlled by first Goguryeo (then Balhae) and the origins of the theory come from works during the mid Joseon period about a millenia later in the book Samguk Yusa (三國遺事). I also mentioned how this is used by modern (South) Korean scholars to justify the division of the Korean Peninsula.

Also, the name of the last Korean kingdom was touched upon and how it refers to North Koreans today in both the Koreas, all the Chinese languages and Japan. Perhaps, it's best understood by the Sino-Korean characters (or traditional -- classical? -- Chinese script): North Korean (Joseon Person (朝鮮人)) vs South Korean (Hanguk Person (韓國人)). Actually on second though, In South Korea, 朝鮮人 would probably refer to somebody from the Joseon Dynasty and the term 朝鮮族 would refer to ethnic Korean-Chinese (that have lived in China since around 1880. For more, See A Comparison of the Korean Minorities in China and Japan by Pyong, Gap Min). In both North and South Korea, they would just add the term South or North in front of their word for Korea. So, the term for North Korean would just be North (Hanguk Person) in South  Korea, while the term for South Koreans would just be South (Joseon Person) in North Korea.
 
Interestingly, in China the latter term was not used until after normalization of ties with South Korea. The term Hanguk actually derives from the period 1897-1905, when the Joseon dynasty fully joined the Westphalian (Western/Modern) International Order and which we have not yet discussed -- when it was no longer considered a vassal state after the first Sino-Japanese War (Became, the Great Empire of the Han People (not to be confused with the term Han used for Han Chinese (漢) vs Han (韓) Koreans)). On a side note, this is precisely the reason why classical Chinese characters are important as in both the Korean and Japanese languages there are a large number of homonyms that can't be described by words constructed from an alphabet (this is precisely why Kanji (literally Chinese Script or Sino-Japanese characters) are still in heavy usage in Japan and many (should) be in usage in the Koreas today...I believe -- there are 5 vowels in the Japanese language and no differences made through pitch. Korean is much the same except with a larger number of vowels and for the most part a single pitch as well).

 The historical connection between the Joseon Dynasty (the Hermit Kingdom, Land of the Morning Calm) and North Korea becomes very straight forward when thought in this light (and as we shall see over the rest of the semester).

A surprising discovery. Of a Heating System and Balhae

Well, I was writing about the embassy, when I stumbled upon an article reporting the discovery of Ondol heated houses during the Balhae period. It made me stop and write abut this much more interesting topic. I'll return to the embassy later.

Previously, I alluded to the Balhae(발해,渤海) topic or the North-South States Period:

By the way, on a tangent here, for those Koreans, who believe in this newly created North-South States Period Theory or 남북시대 (신라+발해 = Korea), let me tell you -- it's pure rubbish, which I would like to address in detail one day(The main question behind that issue comes down to who were the Mohe (말갈, 靺鞨) people (A Schizophrenic Han : Breaking Down Borders: Korea).

Well, I'm not sure if it's "pure rubbish" anymore. A lot of information that is available on this topic is the subject of debate between many nationalist historians (you'd be hard pressed to find a better oxymoron), so much of what is available on the topic is unreliable at best. But, first, let me try to go over what is generally accepted. By the way, the Mohe (말갈, 靺鞨) people were ancient Manchurians.

What is generally accepted is that up until the late Joseon dynasty Koreans felt that Silla unified Korea for the first time in 664 A.D., but beginning at this point in time, certain Koreans felt that many Koreans had forgotten that Silla had unified only part of the peninsula and that vast tracts of Manchuria, which had been controlled or contested by Goguryeo and Balhae up until the end of the first millenium, had been largely ignored when studying the history and legacy of Korea.

What happened in 664 was that Silla in an alliance with the Tang Dynasty, whose forces Silla also had to defeat for control of the Korean peninsula, finally controlled the Korean peninsula by herself. In that the the (Early) Three Kingdoms Period of Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla gave way to just Silla. But, sometime in the eighteenth century, certain Korean historians from the Joseon dynasty felt that the heritage left by Goguryeo had been ignored and that by ignoring vast tracts of Manchuria, which Goguryeo had controlled, but Silla couldn't, Koreans were indeed ignoring much of Korean history.

This is precisely where Balhae comes in. You see, those parts that Silla (or Tang) couldn't control ended up being part of a new state called Barhae(발해, 渤海). But, since most of Korean history from that point on comes from the Silla perspective or a Korea unified by Silla, studies of Barhae must come from either Chinese or Japanese sources. While much about Balhae remains controversial, I'd say the following statement is less so. This is from an old Japanese source that recorded a letter from a Balhae king:

'復高麗之舊居,有扶餘之遺俗' translated into "Balhae is the country that upholded the tradition and spirit of the Koguryo and Buyeo" (續日本紀; English translation found from The Chinese History Forum).

So, in other words, Balhae, according to those who lived in Balhae as the Japanese source reports, is the successor state to Goguryeo. But, what does this mean? Does this mean that the kings and people of Balhae are indeed of Goguryeo (or Korean) stock? And, what does it mean to be Korean? Does living under Goguryeo mean that you are indeed Korean? Or, no? This is where it gets complicated. For me, I was under the impression and still am under the impression that the kings of Balhae were probably of Goguryeo(Koguryo, Buyeo) stock, but it's people less so. I'll get into what Buyeo means in a second. But, first:

The largest "ondol" heating system dating from the Balhae Kingdom has been unearthed in a nearly intact state in Russia's Maritime Province, confirming the kingdom to have been a Korean settlement.

Ondol, literally "warm stone", is an under-floor heating system where flues carry hot gases below the living space. They were a distinct feature of Korean dwellings and are not found in the remains of Chinese, Khitan or Jurchen homes ("Heating System Confirms Ancient Kingdom Was Korean" : Chosun Ilbo).

This makes it seem as if not only the rulers were Korean, but that the people who lived under Balhae were also Korean (Khitan or Jurchen are names for Manchurians or ancient Manchurians). Ironically, what is interesting is that I would actually argue that from what I have read is that Japan should be seen as the natural successors to Goguryeo (haha, I might get shot here), but those that spoke a Buyeo language were Goguryeo rulers(and subjects), Baekje rulers (and possibly her subjects), and, yes, Wa (Japan). Notice the conspicuous absence of Silla here. As Silla unified the peninsula, Buyeo became an extinct language on the Korean peninsula.

There is actually a stone edifice found with Goguryeo inscriptions during the Japanese colonial period, which led Japanese scholars at that time to believe that Japan had colonized Korea before. This, of course, is preposterous as it is actually the case that "Korean" (or Buyeo-speaking) people from the peninsula were fleeing from Silla that colonized Japan and that those that had fled to the island had actually returned back to the motherland.

At any rate, I'm not yet sure how much this new discovery lends credence to the case that Balhae was a Korean kingdom, but if only Koreans used the Ondol heating system and those living under Goguryeo used it and those that lived under Balhae used it, but the people that lived under Jinthe Liao Dynasty and later Manchurian states did not in the same geographical area, I would be inclined to think that Balhae was indeed a "Korean" kingdom.

Of course, this gains additional traction today when you consider that Korea remains a divided country with there being a northern Korean state and a southern Korean state and that this would then resemble the period where there were two Korean states a millenia ago (Balhae and Silla). So, perhaps, (Silla + Balhae = Korea, 신라+발해 = 코리아) as much as (North Korea + South Korea = Korea).