Gojoseon

Gojoseon
고조선 (古朝鮮)
?–108 BC →
 
→
 
→
Gojoseon at its decline in 108 BC
Capital Wanggeom
Languages Proto-Korean
Religion Korean shamanism
Government Monarchy
King
 •  ? - 194 BC Jun
 • 194 BC - ? Wi Man
 • ? - 108 BC Wi Ugeo (last)
Historical era Ancient
 •  Legendarily established 2333 BCE ?
 • First mentioned in the Chinese text c. 700 BC
 • Coup of Wi Man 194 BC
 • Gojoseon-Han War 109 BC - 108 BC
 •  Fall of Wanggeom 108 BC
Today part of  North Korea
 South Korea
 China
Part of a series on the
History of Manchuria

Gojoseon (Korean pronunciation: [kodʑosʰʌn]) was an ancient Korean kingdom. The addition of Go (고, 古), meaning "ancient", distinguishes it from the other kingdoms called Joseon.

The founding legend of Gojoseon, which is recorded in the Samguk Yusa (1281) and other medieval Korean books,[1] states that the country was established in 2333 BC by Dangun, said to be descended from heaven.[2] While no evidence has been found that supports whatever facts may lie beneath this,[3] the account has played an important role in developing Korean national identity.

In the 12th century BC Gija, a prince from the Shang dynasty of China, purportedly founded Gija Joseon. However, due to the lack of archaeological evidence, its existence has been challenged since the 20th century, and today no longer forms the mainstream understanding of this period.

The historical Gojoseon kingdom was first mentioned in Chinese records in the early 7th century BC.[4] During its early phase, the capital of Gojoseon was located in Liaoning; around 400 BC, and was moved to Pyongyang, while in the south of the peninsula, the Jin state arose by the 3rd century BC.[5]

In 108 BC, the Han dynasty of China invaded and conquered Wiman Joseon. The Han established four commanderies to administer the Gojoseon territory. The area was later conquered by Goguryeo in 313 AD.

Their language was probably a predecessor of the equally prehistoric Buyeo languages, and perhaps a form of Proto-Korean.[6]

Founding myth

Dangun myth

Heaven Lake of Baekdu Mountain, where Dangun's father is said to have descended from heaven

Dangun is the legendary founder of Korea. While there are variations among different texts and oral traditions, the most popular account is from the written record of the founding myth in the Samgungnyusa,a 13th-century collection of legends and stories, which was written by a person named Il-yeon(1206- 1289) . A similar account is found in Jewang Ungi. According to the legend, the Lord of Heaven, Hwanin had a son, Hwanung, who descended to Baekdu Mountain and founded the city of Shinsi. Then a bear and a tiger came to Hwanung and said that they wanted to become people. Hwuanung said to them that if they went in a cave and lived there for 100 days while only eating mugwort and garlic he will change them into human beings. However, about halfway through the 100 days the tiger gave up and ran out of the cave. On the other hand, the bear successfully restrained herself and became a beautiful woman called Ungnyeo (웅녀, 熊女). Hwanung later married Ugnyeo, and she gave birth to Dangun.

While the Dangun story is considered to be a myth,[7] it is believed it is a mythical synthesis of a series of historical events relating to the founding of Gojoseon.[8] There are various theories on the origin of this myth.[9] Seo and Kang (2002) believe the Dangun myth is based on integration of two different tribes, an invasive sky-worshipping Bronze Age tribe and a native bear-worshipping neolithic tribe, that led to the foundation of Gojoseon.[10] Lee K. B. (1984) believes 'Dangun-wanggeom' was a title borne by successive leaders of Gojoseon.[11]

Dangun is said to have founded Gojoseon around 2333 BC, based on the descriptions of the Samgungnyusa, Jewang Ungi, Dongguk Tonggam and the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty.[12] The date differs among historical sources, although all of them put it during the mythical Emperor Yao's reign (traditional dates: 2357 BCE? – 2256 BCE?). Samgungnyusa says Dangun ascended to the throne in the 50th year of the legendary Yao's reign, Annals of the King Sejong says the first year, and Dongguk Tonggam says the 25th year.[13]

Gija myth

Main article: Gija Joseon

Gija, a man from Shang China, allegedly fled to the Korean peninsula in 1122 BC during the fall of the Shang to the Zhou dynasty and founded Gija Joseon.[14] In South Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States, most scholars believe Gija's relation to Gojoseon is a Chinese fabrication and Gija has nothing to do with Gojoseon.[9] In the past, the earliest surviving Korean record, Records of the Three Kingdoms, admitted Gija Joseon. The Dongsa Gangmok of 1778 described Gija's activities and contributions in Gojoseon. The records of Gija refer to eight laws (Hangul: 범금팔조; hanja: 犯禁八條), that are recorded by the Book of Han and evidence a hierarchical society and legal protection of private property.[15]

In pre-modern Korea, Gija represented the authenticating presence of Chinese civilization, and until the 12th century Koreans commonly believed that Danjun bestowed upon Korea its people and basic culture, while Gija gave Korea its high culture—and presumably, standing as a legitimate civilization.[16]

However, in the modern era Gija's place has diminished to the point of near extinction.[16] Many Korean scholars deny its existence for various reasons, mainly due to contradicting archaeological evidence.[17] They also point to the Bamboo Annals and the Analects of Confucius, which were among the first works to mention Gija, but do not mention his migration to Gojoseon.[18]

Regardless the controversy on Gija, the archaeological discoveries connect the culture of inhabitants with Chinese origins. The crescent-shaped stone knives and grooved stones in the Bronze Age of Korea (around 800–400 BC) evidence rice cultivation, which was transmitted to Korea from China, while other artifacts such as Bronze daggers speak the distinctive features of Korea.[19]:10 The artifacts from the Iron Age in Korea such as Chinese coins and Scytho-Siberian style animal-shaped belt buckles present that the iron culture of China and a bronze culture of Scytho-Siberian origin were transmitted into Korea in the 4th century BC.[19]:12

State formation

Gojoseon is first found in contemporaneous historical records of early 7th century BC, as located around Bohai Bay and trading with Qi (齊) of China.[20] The Zhan Guo Ce, Classic of Mountains and Seas, and Records of the Grand Historian refers to Joseon as a region until the Records of the Grand Historian began referring it as a country from 195 BCE onwards.[14]

By the 4th century BCE, other states with defined political structures developed in the areas of the earlier Bronze Age "walled-town states"; Gojoseon was the most advanced of them in the peninsular region.[5] The city-state expanded by incorporating other neighboring city-states by alliance or military conquest. Thus, a vast confederation of political entities between the Taedong and Liao rivers was formed. As Gojoseon evolved, so did the title and function of the leader, who came to be designated as "king" (Han), in the tradition of the Zhou dynasty, around the same time as the Yan (燕) leader.[21] Records of that time mention the hostility between the feudal state in Northern China and the "confederated" kingdom of Gojoseon, and notably, a plan to attack the Yan beyond the Liao River frontier. The confrontation led to the decline and eventual downfall of Gojoseon, described in Yan records as "arrogant" and "cruel". But the ancient kingdom also appears as a prosperous Bronze Age civilization, with a complex social structure, including a class of horse-riding warriors who contributed to the development of Gojoseon, particularly the northern expansion[22] into most of the Liaodong basin.

Around 300 BC, Gojoseon lost significant western territory after a war with the Yan state, but this indicates Gojoseon was already a large enough state that it could wage war against Yan and survive the loss of 2000 li (800 kilometers) of territory.[15] Gojoseon is thought to have relocated its capital to the Pyongyang region around this time.[21]

Wiman Joseon and fall

Han Dynasty destroys Wiman Joseon, establishing Four Commanderies of Han in northern Korean Peninsula.[23]

In 195 BCE, Jun of Gojoseon appointed a refugee from Yan, Wiman.[24] Wiman later rebelled in 194 BCE, and Jun fled to the south of the Korean Peninsula.[25]

In 109 BCE, Emperor Wu of Han invaded near the Liao River.[25] A conflict would erupt in 109 BCE, when Wiman's grandson King Ugeo (우거왕, hanja: 右渠王 ) refused to permit Jin's ambassadors to reach China through his territories. When Emperor Wei sent an ambassador She He (涉何) to Wanggeom-seong to negotiate right of passage with King Ugeo, King Ugeo refused and had a general escort She back to Han territory—but when they got close to Han borders, She assassinated the general and claimed to Emperor Wu that he had defeated Joseon in battle, and Emperor Wu, unaware of his deception, made him the military commander of the Commandery of Liaodong. King Ugeo, offended, made a raid on Liaodong and killed She He.

In response, Emperor Wu commissioned a two-pronged attack, one by land and one by sea, against Joseon.[25] The two forces attacking Joseon were unable to coordinate well with each other and eventually suffered large losses. Eventually the commands were merged, and Wanggeom fell in 108 BC. Han took over the Joseon lands and established Four Commanderies of Han in the western part of former Gojoseon area.[26]

The Gojoseon disintegrated by 1st century BC as it gradually lost the control of its former fiefs. As Gojoseon lost control of its confederacy, many successor states sprang from its former territory, such as Buyeo, Okjeo, Dongye. Goguryeo and Baekje evolved from Buyeo.

Culture

Around 2000 BCE, a new pottery culture of painted and chiseled design is found. These people practiced agriculture in a settled communal life, probably organized into familial clans. Rectangular huts and increasingly larger dolmen burial sites are found throughout the peninsula. Bronze daggers and mirrors have been excavated, and there is archaeological evidence of small walled-town states in this period.[22][27] Dolmens and bronze daggers found in the area are uniquely Korean and cannot be found in China.

Mumun pottery

In the Mumun pottery period (1500–300 BCE), plain coarse pottery replaced earlier comb-pattern wares, possibly as a result of the influence of new populations migrating to Korea from Manchuria and Siberia. This type of pottery typically has thicker walls and displays a wider variety of shapes, indicating improvements in kiln technology.[5] This period is sometimes called the "Korean bronze age", but bronze artifacts are relatively rare and regionalized until the 7th century BCE.

Rice cultivation

Sometime around 1200 to 900 BCE, rice cultivation spread to Korea from China and Manchuria. The people also farmed native grains such as millet and barley, and domesticated livestock.[28]

Bronze tools

The beginning of the Bronze Age on the peninsula is usually said to be 1000 BCE, but estimates range from the 13th to 8th centuries.[29] Although the Korean Bronze Age culture derives from the Liaoning and Manchuria, it exhibits unique typology and styles, especially in ritual objects.

By the 7th century BCE, a Bronze Age material culture with influences from Manchuria, eastern Mongolia as well as Siberia and Scythian bronze styles, flourished on the peninsula. Korean bronzes contain a higher percentage of zinc than those of the neighboring bronze cultures. Bronze artifacts, found most frequently in burial sites, consist mainly of swords, spears, daggers, small bells, and mirrors decorated with geometric patterns.[5][30]

Gojoseon's development seems linked to the adoption of bronze technology. Its singularity finds its most notable expression in the idiosyncratic type of bronze swords, or "mandolin-shaped daggers" (비파형동검, 琵琶形銅劍). The mandolin-shape dagger is found in the regions of Liaoning, Hebei, and Manchuria down to the Korean Peninsula. It suggests the existence of Gojoseon dominions. Remarkably, the shape of the "mandolin" dagger of Gojoseon differs significantly from the sword artifacts found in China.

Dolmen tombs

Megalithic dolmens appear in Korean peninsula and Manchuria around 2000 to 400 BCE.[31][32] Around 900 BC, burial practices become more elaborate, a reflection of increasing social stratification. Goindol, the dolmen tombs in Korea and Manchuria, formed of upright stones supporting a horizontal slab, are more numerous in Korea than in other parts of East Asia. Other new forms of burial are stone cists (underground burial chambers lined with stone) and earthenware jar coffins. The bronze objects, pottery, and jade ornaments recovered from dolmens and stone cists indicate that such tombs were reserved for the elite class.[5][33]

Around the 6th century BCE, burnished red wares, made of a fine iron-rich clay and characterized by a smooth, lustrous surface, appear in dolmen tombs, as well as in domestic bowls and cups.[5]

Iron culture

Main article: Jin (Korean state)

Around this time, the state of Jin occupied the southern part of the Korean peninsula. Very little is known about this state except it was the apparent predecessor to the Samhan confederacies.

Around 300 BCE, iron technology was introduced into Korea from Yan state. Iron was produced locally in the southern part of the peninsula by the 2nd century BCE. According to Chinese accounts, iron from the lower Nakdong River in the southeast was valued throughout the peninsula and Japan.[5]

Proto–Three Kingdoms

Numerous small states and confederations arose from the remnants of Gojoseon, including Goguryeo, the Buyeo kingdom, Jeon-Joseon, Okjeo, and Dongye. Three of the Chinese commanderies fell to local resistance within a few decades, but the last, Nakrang, remained an important commercial and cultural outpost until it was destroyed by the expanding Goguryeo in 313.

Jun of Gojoseon is said to have fled to the state of Jin in the southern Korean Peninsula. Jin developed into the Samhan confederacies, the beginnings of Baekje and Silla, continuing to absorb migration from the north. The Samhan confederacies were Mahan, Jinhan, and Byeonhan. King Jun ruled Mahan, which was eventually annexed by Baekje. Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla gradually grew into the Three Kingdoms of Korea that dominated the entire peninsula by around the 4th century.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ See also Jewang Ungi (1287) and Dongguk Tonggam (1485).
  2. ↑ Hwang 2010, p. 2.
  3. ↑ Connor 2002, p. 10.
  4. ↑ Peterson & Margulies 2009, p. 6.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Timeline of Art and History, Korea, 1000 BC – 1 AD". Metropolitan Museum of Art.
  6. ↑ Jaehoon Lee (2004). "The Relatedness Between The Origin of Japanese and Korean Ethnicity" (PDF). The Florida State University. p. 31. Retrieved 2007-04-11.
  7. ↑ Seth, Michael J. (2010) History of Korea: From Antiquity to the Present, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. ISBN 978-0-7425-6717-7.
  8. ↑ 고조선(古朝鮮). Encylopaedia Britannica( Korean) (in Korean).
  9. 1 2 Barnes 2001, pp. 9–14.
  10. ↑ 서 2002.
  11. ↑ Lee 1984.
  12. ↑ 국학원 제24회 학술회의 - 단기 연호 어떻게 볼 것인가 - 단기가 최초로 산정된 것은 《동국통감》으로 요임금 즉위 25년 무진년을 기준으로 삼았다. 《동국통감》〈외기〉 의 주석에는 다음과 같은 해석이 실려있다. - 古記云, 檀君與堯竝立於戊辰, 虞夏至商武丁八年乙未, 入阿斯達山爲神, 享壽千四百十八年. 此說可疑今按, 堯之立在上元甲子甲辰之歲, 而檀君之立在後二十五年戊辰, 則曰與堯竝立者非也. 이에 대한 한글 해석은 네이버 지식백과 국역 동국통감(국역:세종대왕기념사업회) 에서 확인할 수 있다.
  13. ↑ Yoon, N.-H. (윤내현), The Location and Transfer of Go-Chosun's Capital (고조선의 도읍 위치와 그 이동), 단군학연구, 7, 207–38 (2002)
  14. 1 2 Barnes 2001, pp. 9–10.
  15. 1 2 (Korean) Daum 백과사전 : 고조선
  16. 1 2 Kyung Moon hwang, "A History of Korea, An Episodic Narrative", 2010, p. 4
  17. ↑ http://www.dbpia.co.kr/view/ar_view.asp?pid=694&isid=30674&arid=657709&topMenu=&topMenu1=
  18. ↑ 네이버 백과사전
  19. 1 2 Eckert, Carter J. (1990). Korea, Old and New: A History. Korea Institute, Harvard University. ISBN 978-0-9627713-0-9.
  20. ↑ 고조선 (in Korean). Naver/Doosan Encyclopedia.
  21. 1 2 (Korean) http://100.naver.com/100.php?id=14543
  22. 1 2 "Korea's Place in the Sun". The New York Times.
  23. ↑ http://www.shsu.edu/~his_ncp/Korea.html
  24. ↑ Academy of Korean Studies, The Review of Korean Studies, vol. 10권,3–4, 2007, p. 222
  25. 1 2 3 Lee Injae, Owen Miller, Park Jinhoon, Yi Hyun-Hae, Korean History in Maps, Cambridge University Press, 2014, p. 20
  26. ↑ Jae-eun Kang, The Land of Scholars: Two Thousand Years of Korean Confucianism, Homa & Sekey Books, 2006, pp. 28–31
  27. ↑ North Korea - The Origins Of The Korean Nation
  28. ↑ "Timeline of Art and History". Metropolitan Museum of Art.
  29. ↑ (Korean) 청동기문화 靑銅器文化 (고고학사전, 2001.12, 국립문화재연구소)
  30. ↑ The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Arts of Korea, Bronze Age Objects
  31. ↑ http://www.wontackhong.com/homepage1/data/1061.pdf
  32. ↑ https://books.google.com/books?id=rHeb7wQu0xIC&pg=PA79&dq=dolmen+in+korea+2000+BCE&hl=en&sa=X&ei=zfVAVbf-BIq8sAWEy4DABw&ved=0CB0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=dolmen%20in%20korea%202000%20BCE&f=false
  33. ↑ Unesco.

Bibliography

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