2014-02-24 17:01
Study of Korea’s ancient history put on back burner
Mainstream scholars ignore ‘Hwandan Gogi’ for lacking historical truth
By Chung Min-uck
The historical mindset of present Koreans is confined to the era of the three kingdoms (BC 57-AD 676) ― Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla ― that dominated the Korean peninsula until Silla set up a unified kingdom.
However, the study of ancient history has long been put on the back burner.
“Hwandan Gogi,” a compilation of texts on ancient Korean history published in 1979 written in ancient Chinese characters, has failed to attract attention, despite the history of Korea stretching out to as far as B.C. 8000 and covering not only the mainland China but some of the Middle Eastern region.
Notwithstanding the record’s value of redefining Korea’s ancient history, mainstream historians here have been neglecting “Hwandan Gogi,” thinking the book has been created in recent times to merely restore Korea’s nationalism.
“Hwandan Gogi” writes in its introduction that the book was “compiled by a historian named Gye Yeon-su in 1911,” which is a time when Korea was suffering under Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule.
“The critics of the book refuse to even make public any discussions regarding the truth about its contents,” said Professor Lee Kang-sik of Gyeongju University in a recent lecture given to the public. “They are deliberately remaining in silence to avoid engaging in debate.”
Lee is one of the few historians here who view “Hwandan Gogi” as worthy of further study, believing that it is based on true historical facts.
Lee claims that former historians have misinterpreted the five organs, mentioned euphemistically using Chinese characters in the texts, as verbs, not nouns, which ruined the whole interpretation of its contents.
“When the words in the texts ― jugok, jumyung, juhyung, jubyung and jusunak ― are interpreted as nouns, it makes sense that they were the names for five government bodies back then and that they are based on Korea’s ancient religion of Heavenly Gods (Chunsingyo),” he said.
Chunsingyo is an indigenous religion of Korea that believes in the doctrine of Samsinoje, interpreted as the three creators and five rulers of heaven and Earth.
In an interview with The Korea Times, Lee further said, “None of the scholars have questioned my claims as of now.”
“But the mainstream academic circles have yet to support my theory,” he added. “However, I can see that they are unofficially showing interest to my work and hoping that they express their opinions in the near future.”
Besides Lee’s claims, there have been several pieces of evidence that prove the authenticity of the controversial book.
An astronomical record of BC 1733 recorded in the book that five stars were arranged in straight line back then was scientifically proven to be true, according to scientists.
Also, according to findings, the territory of one of Korea’s ancient kingdoms, Gojoseon, described in “Hwandan Gogi,” accords with the distribution area of the mandolin-shaped dagger of the kingdom, which further provided a basis for supporters of the book.
“The mainstreamers are denying the book illogically just because the book’s contents run counter to their religious or scholarly beliefs,” said an expert asking not to be named.
However, historians from mainstream academic circles and state-funded institutes have their own say.
“Words from modern Korean language are used in the texts of ‘Hwandan Gogi,’ the authenticity of the authors is unclear and the original 1911 edition of the book is missing,” said a scholar, on condition of anonymity. “Phrases have also been directly stolen from other history books and, moreover, include many unrealistic and religious descriptions.”
“Thus, it is difficult to take ‘Hwandan Gogi’ into consideration as Korea’s official history,” the scholar added. “I believe some of the non-mainstreamers are using the book to accuse the mainstreamers as having a colonial view of our history as opposed to their alleged nationalistic viewpoint.”
Academic papers on “Hwandan Gogi” are rarely found and state-run organizations barely touch on the subject, data shows.
Asked recently whether it plans to conduct research on “Hwadan Gogi” in the near future, one of the country’s biggest state-run history-related institutes said “no,” for some of the same reasons as mainstream historians.
In-depth research needed
Meanwhile, setting aside the ongoing strife between mainstreamers and non-mainstreamers over “Hwandan Gogi,” experts generally agree that it is still important to conduct in-depth research of the book not only because the strife must end, but for national interest as Korea faces historical warfare with two great neighboring powers, China and Japan.
Japan, during its colonization of the Korean peninsula, annihilated Korea’s ancient history by destroying over 200,000 history books in 1910.
Historians say the move led Koreans to consider Dangun, the founding king of Gojoseon, as a mythological figure until now. Dangun was always viewed as a true historical figure throughout Korean history, according to historians.
Japan, as of today, still tries to downplay Korean history by making unjustified claims that a southern part of the Korean territory was ruled by Japan during the Three Kingdoms era.
China has also been trying to distort Korean history by including Korea’s northeastern kingdoms of Goguryeo and Balhae as part of its history.
“We have no other choice but to study ‘Hwandan Gogi’ to know correctly about our ancient history,” said Lee.
“Just because some portion of the book has problems, it does not mean that the entire material of the book must be discarded,” stated Woo Dae-suk, a director of traditional Korean cultural studies, or Kookhakwon, in his research paper. “By studying ‘Hwandan Gogi’ in a sincere manner, our distorted history instigated by China and Japan can be adjusted.”
“China and Japan invest heavily in their mythologies,” said a professor, asking not to be named. “Why don’t we do it as well?”
What is ‘Hwandan Gogi’?
“Hwandan Gogi,” translated as the “old records of bright heaven and Earth,” is a compilation of texts on ancient Korean history. It has five volumes of historical records, namely, Samseonggi (1 and 2), Dangunsegi, Bukbuyeogi and Taebaekilsa, with different authors for the Silla, Goryeo and Joseon eras.
The book writes that it was compiled in 1911 by historian Gye Yeon-su and supervised by Yi Gi, an enlightenment thinker during the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910). The only available copy now is activist Yi Yu-rip’s transcription, released in 1979.
The book describes Korea’s ancient kingdoms called Hwanguk that lasted for 3,301 years; and then Baedalguk that lasted 1,565 years; and the history of Gojoseon which had 47 generations of Dangun rulers, before the Three Kingdoms era began.
It also partially includes Korean history of the northeastern kingdoms of Goguryeo, Balhae and up until the Goryeo Kingdom (918-1392).
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