Goguryeo controversies

The Goguryeo controversies are disputes between China and Korea (North and South) on the history of Goguryeo, an ancient kingdom (37 BC – 668 AD) 1/3 located in present-day Northeast China and 2/3 in the Korean Peninsula. At the heart of the Goguryeo controversy is which part of history the kingdom belongs to. Korean scholars have the viewpoint that Goguryeo is part of Korean history alone.[1]

Overview

In 2002, the Northeast Project conducted by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), claimed Goguryeo as a Tungusic ethnic state since it was founded by the Tungusic Yemaek and populated by Tungusic Mohe people. Further, the Chinese scholars claimed Goguryeo was part of Chinese regional history since Tungusic ethnicities like Manchus, Xibe, Oroqen, and Nanai are citizens of China. This sparked a major academic and diplomatic controversy, as Korean experts on Goguryeo history accused the Chinese government of using history for political purposes. In response, in 2004 South Korea established the Goguryeo Research Foundation (renamed the Northeast Asian History Foundation in 2006), and summoned its Chinese ambassador. In 2007, the Northeast Project ended, and the study of Goguryeo history in China has dramatically declined. The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences continues to hold its historical perspective on its homepage.

Various analyses of the controversy have focused on external motivations for the reevaluation of history, including Korean irredentism towards adjacent Chinese territory, the possibility of North Korean collapse, and the challenge to China from transnational separatism. Nationalist historiography has inflamed both sides of the debate, as Korean nationalism treats the themes of a powerful Korean Goguryeo and independence from China as central (see: Korean nationalist historiography), while Chinese nationalism stresses the inviolability of its territory and the unity of its ethnic groups. Some scholars have also criticized the projection of modern-day national identities onto ancient peoples.

History of the dispute

Background

As neighboring areas, northeast China and North Korea have both laid claim to the history of ancient kingdoms that occupied the region. The interpretation of history in this region has implications for contemporary territorial sovereignty.[2] During the heyday of Maoism, the Chinese government line was that the history of Goguryeo (Gaogouli in Chinese) was Korean history.[2] However, there was almost no research published in Goguryeo from China at the time, and China had a motivation to say so, because of its good relations with North Korea.[3] Since the 1980s, government control over scholarship liberalized, and more than 500 books about Goguryeo-related topics were published since then, comprising 90% of China's research since 1949.[2][3] During this time, some scholars such as Tan Qixiang questioned the state's old interpretation of history, arguing for the study of all polities within China's territory as part of Chinese history. Jiang Mengshan proposed a "one history, dual use" (一史两用, yīshǐ liǎngyòng) system whereby Goguryeo would also be considered part of China's history,[4] arguing that the kingdom's capital, for 460 out of 706 years, lay in modern northeast China, and that three-quarters of its population were not ethnic Korean.[2][3][5] He related ancient identities to modern-day peoples by suggesting that "the people of Buyeo and Goguryeo had the same lineage as the Chinese in the Northeast region, while the Korean people were a part of the Silla lineage."[6]

2002–03

Another faction of historians, led by Sun Jinji (孙进己, Sūn Jìnjǐ) and Zhang Bibo (张碧波, Zhāng Bìbō), of the Heilongjiang Academy of Sciences, criticized Tan and put forth the thesis that Goguryeo should be regarded as a regional subset of Chinese history ("local Chinese history") rather than purely Korean history. They cited the traditional view in Chinese historiography that Korea was founded by the Chinese prince Jizi, as well as Goguryeo's status as a tributary to ancient China. In 2002 these scholars, mostly from northeast China themselves, established the Northeast Project of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences to investigate this view.[2]

The establishment of the Northeast Project marks the beginning of the modern Goguryeo controversy. However, the Northeast Project cannot be equated with the study of Goguryeo, because it studied more topics than Goguryeo, including the history of the Russian Far East, the Bohai Kingdom, economic history, and local histories in ancient China and Korea.[3]

China states that Goguryeo was an ethnic Tungusic state and in modern-day China, Tungusic ethnicities like Manchus, Xibe, Oroqen, and Nanai are citizens of China and viewed as part of China's multi-ethnic historical civilization. The Tungusic Yemaek founded Goguryeo and it was also populated by Tungusic Mohe people.

In 2003, China applied with UNESCO to register the Capital Cities and Tombs of the Ancient Koguryo Kingdom within its territory as a World Heritage Site. In December, the South Korean government published a report denying that Goguryeo could be considered part of Chinese history, and giving directions to Korean civil society groups on how to counter Chinese claims.[3] Korean nationalists groups and the South Korean popular press in South Korea expressed outrage over the Northeast Project,[3][7] and some commentators suspected, that because the CASS receives government funding, the Chinese government might support the Northeast Project.[2]

However, the CASS's Center for Borderland History and Geography Research is underfunded, understaffed (containing only 21 researchers), and not self-sufficient; government subsidies came in response to the extremely low salaries in CASS's history and philosophy departments, in contrast to the more lucrative fields of economics and law, and the money given does not match the high strategic value of borderland research.[3] Historically, the CASS has produced research that disagreed with or is critical of government policies.[3]

Other, still more moderate voices in Korea pointed out that several official publications in China refer to Goguryeo simply as Korea's history.[2] Chinese scholars who disagreed with Sun and Zhang's "Chinese local history" view were interviewed by South Korean newspapers.[8] The negative press coverage over the Goguryeo issues increased the incidence of Sinophobia in South Korea,[3][9] and has possibly influenced South Korea's security strategy to become more pro-American and anti-China.[10]

2004–2007

In March 2004, the South Korean government established the Goguryeo Research Foundation to publish research conducive to its view of Goguryeo as part of Korean history.[11] In April, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs deleted references to Korea's premodern history on its website, prompting South Korea to summon its Chinese ambassador.[3] In August 2004, China sent its Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Wu Dawei to Seoul to defuse tensions.[3] China recognized Korea's concerns and pledged not to place the Northeast Project's conclusions in its history textbooks, and both South Korea and China expressed the desire not to see the issue damage relations.[12]

However, China's expressed concerns that Korean irredentism towards northeast China were not addressed by the South Korean side.[3] In September, the South Korean government declared that the 1909 Jiandao Convention, which ceded Korean claims to northeast Chinese territory, was invalid. In 2005, South Korea conducted joint research projects with North Korea on Goguryeo relics near Pyongyang. Meanwhile, Chinese social scientists continued to publish research articles on the ancient Northeast Asian polities, including Guchaoxian (Gija Chosun), Fuyu (Puyo), Goguryeo, and Bohai, which Koreans exclusively considered their own.[3]

In 2006, South Korean president Roh Moo-hyun protested this research at the 2006 Asia–Europe Meeting. That year, his government renamed the Goguryeo Research Foundation to the Northeast Asian History Foundation, expanding its mandate. In 2007, the Northeast Project concluded, but neither China nor South Korea has changed their view of Goguryeo history after the dispute. In China, the diplomatic imbroglio meant that research on Goguryeo has become taboo, and former Chinese Goguryeo researchers have diverted their time and resources to other areas.[3]

Japanese and North Korean views

During the 19th and 20th centuries, the Japanese Empire differentiated Goguryeo from the other Three Kingdoms of Korea to claim Japanese (Wa) influence in the non-Goguryeo kingdoms of Baekje and Silla in order to justify its colonization of Korea. In order to demonstrate their theories, they moved a stone monument (棕蟬縣神祠碑), which was originally located at Liaodong, into Pyongyang.[13]

Meanwhile, North Korea has glorified Goguryeo's independent qualities as part of their Juche ("self-reliance") ideology, identifying itself with Goguryeo, while equating South Korea with Silla, and the United States with the Tang dynasty. North Korea narrates their national history to conform to Juche, by denying any indication of foreign occupation of the Korean peninsula, such as the existence of any Chinese commanderies there.[14] North Korea's state run media has denounced Chinese claims as “a pathetic attempt to manipulate history for its own interests” or “intentionally distorting historical facts through biased perspectives” in North Korean media.[15]

Speculative motives

Much of the scholarship on the Goguryeo controversy has focused on China's strategic intentions towards the Koreas, and presumptively overlooked the validity of Chinese scholars' historical claims.[3]

Yonson Ahn, a Korean scholar who has studied Korean comfort women and historical debates in Korea and Japan,[16] writes that historians such as Quan Zhezhu, Sun Jinji, Kim Hui-kyo, and Mark Byington "perceive the launching of the Project as a defensive reaction to preserve China's own territorial integrity and stability."[16]

Various explanations advanced for China's interest in northeastern history include: South Korean irredentism over Jiandao (Gando in Korean),[2] privileges granted by South Korea to Koreans in China,[2] and the possible collapse of North Korea.[17][18][19]

Modern Chinese nationalism, which in contrast to Korean nationalism, is not based on a "pure blood line" and instead stresses unity in diversity and a supraethnic "Chinese people" or Zhonghua minzu. China also has an interest in promoting stability and the territorial status quo in its border territories, in order to tackle the advanced cross-border problems of drug trafficking, fundamentalist religious proselytism, ethnic separatism, and illegal immigration.[3] An interpretation which suspects aggressive Chinese motivations is inconsistent with China's own "peaceful rise" rhetoric and with its record of peacefully settling 17 of 23 of its territorial disputes with substantial compromises.[3]

On the other hand, some Chinese scholars perceive the Korean nationalistic sentiments of some Koreans (both North and South) as threatening to its territorial integrity. In fact, there are proponents in both the Korean liberal and conservative camps advocating for the “restoration of the lost former territories.”[20] Chinese scholars are afraid of border changes when the North Korean government collapses. Because there are more than 2 million ethnic Koreans living in China's Jilin province, China fears that they might secede from China and join a newly unified Korea.[21]

On the whole, the Goguryeo controversy is more significant to Koreans than Chinese. Reasons for this imbalance include the fact that in modern Korean nationalism, Goguryeo's history is presented as a contrast to Korean history in the 19th and 20th century, where it was a "feminine and helpless victim of imperialism". Another founding tenet of Korean nationalism is to establish cultural independence from China. For example, in the 20th century, Koreans switched the central figure in their founding myth from Jizi, a Chinese human sage, to Tangun, a god.[3]

Arguments for Goguryeo as a part of Chinese history

Among the arguments that some Chinese scholars use for its claims on Goguryeo:

  • Goguryeo was founded from Han Chinese commandaries such as Xuantu (in Chinese territory).[22]
  • Goguryeo kings actively sought and accepted a tributary relation with Chinese dynasties.[23]
  • Goguryeo was founded by the Tungusic Yemaek peoples and was also populated by the Tungusic Mohe (Malgal) peoples, an ancestor of modern-day Tungusic Manchus, who are citizens of China, and ruled China's latest dynasty, the Qing dynasty;[24]
  • Goguryeo was established in Northeast China, the homeland of Tungusic ethnicities. Two-thirds of its territory was in present-day China, and Tungusic people like Manchus, Evenks, and Oroqen are Chinese citizens.
  • There are no connections between Goryeo and Goguryeo. The only identical points are the names, with the Goryeo founded by Wang Geon being a different state that has no relevance with the one preceding it two centuries ago.
  • The Founder of the Goryeo Dynasty, Wang Geon, is of Chinese descent as evidenced by the surname Wang and the legends depicting the royal family of Goryeo.
  • After the end of Goguryeo, some of its people were assimilated into Han and other ethnicities of China;[25]
  • Some remains of the tombs purported to be of Goguryeo in Ji’an are not Goguryeo's but are those of the Han or Xianbei (Sonbi) ethnicities of China.[26]

Arguments for Goguryeo as a part of Korean history

Korean historians generally make these arguments:[1]

Arguments regarding the history of Goguryeo

Goguryeo is a country founded by Buyeo (Yemaek) people, one of the major ancestors of modern-day Koreans alongside the natives of Samhan. Both Goguryeo and Baekje were successors of Buyeo. The fact that a portion of Goguryeo people were assimilated into China does not necessarily make it Chinese, not to mention that the majority were assimilated into other Koreanic dynasties such as Silla and Balhae at the time of its fall and afterwards.[27] Additionally, significant numbers of dispersed Goguryeo people taken into Tang custody would break free and escape to these neighboring states during the Khitan rebellion of 696 led by Li Jinzhong. Many would later be subjugated by Balhae in its conquest of Little Goguryeo during the era of King Seon.[28] Certain amounts of dispersed population having been assimilated into foreign polities also took place with other Korean dynasties like Goryeo (Mongol Invasions of Korea) and Joseon (Manchu Invasions of Korea) during times of war. This does not make them a part of Mongolian or Manchurian history.

  • Korean scholars believe that the people of the Three Kingdoms of Korea shared a common ancestor; the Yemaek tribe, which was distinct to nearby Tungusic (Mohe), Mongolic (Xianbei) and Turkic (Göktürks) tribes in terms of genetics, culture and language. Because of this common ancestry, Goguryeo is distinctly Korean.[16]
  • Along with its other counterparts, Silla and Baekje, Goguryeo was traditionally considered as one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea since ancient times and was perceived as a state considered to be one of the predecessors of the Korean nation. Hence, the inclusion of its history in historical records such as Samguk Sagi and Samguk Yusa. Meanwhile, classical Chinese records have excluded Northern Korean kingdoms including Goguryeo in being as one of their own and categorized it as the history of the Joseon people throughout the ages. The recent movement to incorporate ancient Korean kingdoms that held presence in Manchuria (Gojoseon, Buyeo, Balhae, Goguryeo, etc) as Chinese history is only recent following the Northeast Project with political motives behind it.
  • Goguryeo lasted about 700 years while no Chinese dynasty concurrent with Goguryeo's rule lasted for more than 500 years. It was Imperial China's tributary only during some of its existence. More importantly, being a tributary of Imperial China doesn't make the state a Chinese one nor does it symbolizes the total subjugation of the state. The tributary system applied by Chinese dynasties was a practice conducted by both parties in which the tributary would profit from political/diplomatic recognition, products of civilization bestowed by the host whilst the host would honor the tributary hence the strengthened legitimacy of their own imperial status and hegemony. Many East Asia dynasties and kingdoms, like Silla, Goryeo, Japan, Ryukyu etc., maintained tributary relationships with Chinese Dynasties. Such misunderstandings are attributed to the lack of understanding from Chinese counterparts regarding the difference between tributaries and vassals; and the tributary system adopted in East Asia overall back then.
  • Goguryeo has fought many wars with Chinese dynasties such as the Goguryeo-Wei War, Goguryeo–Sui War and Gorguryeo-Tang War, making the argument that Goguryeo is part of Chinese history invalid.
  • Modern Koreans are direct descendants of the Yemaek tribes that originally come from outside the boundaries of Samhan (Manchuria), i.e. Goguryeo,[29] while the Korean language is suggested to be descended from the Goguryeo Language by linguistics such as Alexander Vovin and James Marshall Unger.[30] Despite Silla being the one to unite the Korean Peninsula under a single polity after the Silla-Tang Wars, it eventually failed to assimilate the Goguryeo and Baekje populace by instilling a shared identity amongst them. The role of uniting the Koreanic people under a single agenda would befall upon the Goryeo Dynasty, founded by the Goguryeoic populace led by Wang Geon.
  • Legacy of names. Joseon ("Gojoseon") is considered the first Korean kingdom. After the collapse of Goguryeo, the Tang emperor gave to the last ruler of Goguryeo Bojang of Goguryeo the title "King of Joseon" named after the original Joseon kingdom showing that the Chinese themselves considered Goguryeo and Joseon the same lineage. Goguryeo was succeeded by Goryeo ("Later Goguryeo") which was succeeded again by "Joseon".
  • The places that the Four Commanderies of Han occupied were originally places of the native Koreanic people since Gojoseon. The Chinese commanderies were later conquered by Goguryeo.
  • The view that Goguryeo is Chinese contradicts with Chinese history records of the past Chinese dynasties, which considered it a part of the cultural Sinosphere, but was a separate and foreign political entity.

Arguments regarding the succession of Goguryeo

Goryeo was founded by Wang Geon, whom himself descended from Goguryeo nobility. The Kingdom considered itself to be the continuation (successor state) of Goguryeo, and had ambitions to reclaim former Goguryeo territories. As evidenced by the 'Northward Policy (Korean: 북진 정책)' conducted by Wang Geon and his successors, Goryeo launched several major military campaigns to reclaim territories that they deemed rightfully theirs as ancestral inheritance lost to them. The Jurchen Expeditions (1104~1109) lead by Yun Gwan, Anti-Yuan Campaigns and Liaodong Expeditions (1356~1370) lead by Gongmin of Goryeo and Lee Seong Gye were all extensions of the Northward Policy first implemented by Wang Geon.

  • Goryeo rebuilt Pyongyang, the capital of Goguryeo, and made it its second capital by naming it the 'West Capital (Korean: 서경, Hanja: 西京)', as a means to advocate the legitimacy of succeeding Goguryeo while utilizing it as a forward base to reclaim former territories and fend off potential invaders like the Khitans.[31] Many of the lands that were recovered by the Goryeo Dynasty during its early days were territories considered central to Goguryeo alongside the Paeseo Region (Korean: 패서, Hanja: 浿西, territories beneath the Taedong River) in which the founders of Goryeo were based on due to its concentrated population and fertile lands.
  • Goguryeo was also succeeded by Balhae. After being conquered by the Liao dynasty, the last crown prince of Balhae, Dae Gwang Hyeon, and the majority of the state's nobility who were also of Goguryeo descent took refuge in Goryeo, thus uniting the two successor dynasties of Goguryeo.[32] Exodus en masse towards Goryeo continued on until 1116, with Balhae people seeking refuge from political instability inside Liao. Bearers of Balhae's royal surname Tae (太) and Dae (大) still lives on to this day in North and South Korea.
  • Taejo of Goryeo viewed Balhae as a state constituted by his own kind, the Goguryeo people, and referred to them as 'relatives'. According to the Zizi Tongjian, Taejo sent emissaries accompanied by the Later Jin monk Waluo (襪囉) to Shi Jingtang in request of a joint attack on the Khitans to rescue the Balhae King as Balhae is considered a 'relative country' of Goryeo. (勃海本吾親戚之國, 其王爲契丹所虜, 吾欲爲朝廷攻而取之, 且欲平其舊怨. 師廻, 爲言於天子. 當定期兩襲之.)
  • Like Wang Geon, regional warlords and residents situated in today's Pyeong'an, Hwanghae, Gangwon, and northern parts of the Gyeonggi Province were for the most part Goguryeo refugees that founded the Goryeo Dynasty with Wang Geon.[33] Korean surnames such as Yun (尹), Kang (姜/康), Yoo (柳/庾/劉), Yeom (廉), Cha (車), Hwangbo (皇甫), etc., are known to have descended from these regional lords of Goguryeo descent. Aside from these surnames, other regional lords and contributors to the founding of the nation were also given Silla-style surnames such as Kim (金) , Park (朴), Choi (崔), and Jung (鄭).
  • A major portion of the existing Kim clans that place their roots in Silla royalty and nobility are also said to be descended from the Royal Family of Goryeo through their maternal line as marriage between the two royal families took place after Silla's fall in 935. The Gyeongju, Eonyang, Samcheok, Andong, Uiseong, Naju, Kangneung, Seonsan, Tongcheon, Buryeong Kims, etc., are offspring of these intermarriages between the two royal families.[34][35]
  • One of the reasons behind Goryeo's Jurchen Expeditions (1104~1109) was to reclaim former Goguryeo territories. According to the 'Biographies of Yun Gwan' written in the Goryeosa, the head of the commander whom spearheaded the invasions, Yun Gwan, quoted after claiming Jurchen-held territories, "These lands were originally owned by Goguryeo. The text of the old monument still remains. How would this not be the will of the heavens for our King (Yejong of Goryeo) has acquired what Goguryeo had lost before? (而本勾高麗之所有也. 其古碑遺跡 尙有存焉. 夫勾高麗失之於前 今上得之於後, 豈非天歟).[36]

Arguments regarding recognition from foreign dynasties

China, Japan, and other foreign states during medieval times acknowledged the legitimate succession by Korean dynasties such as Goryeo and Joseon of Goguryeo and viewed them as its rightful successors. Such is evidenced in records and scripts.[37][38]

  • During diplomatic talks on the onset of the Goryeo-Khitan Wars, Seo Hui told the Liao commander Xiao Xunning (蕭遜寧, ? ~ 997): "Our country is in fact former Goguryeo. Which is why it is named Goryeo and Pyongyang as its capital. If you want to discuss territorial boundaries of old, the Eastern Capital of your country would be within our borders."[39]
  • The Liao Court through their state letters referred to Sukjong of Goryeo as the 'Ruler of the Five Tribes (五部) and Samhan (三韓)'. The 'Five Tribes' refers to the Goguryeo tribes of Biryubu, Hwannabu, Gwannabu, Yeonnabu, and Gyerubu. In other words, it can be said that foreign dynasties viewed Samhan and Goguryeo as different entities to one another but all under the reign of Korean Kings.
  • Xu Jing (徐兢, 1091-1153) of the Northern Song Dynasty makes it clear that Goryeo was the continuation and equivalent of Goguryeo through his texts written in the Gaoli-tujing (高麗圖經). He illustrates the history of the Royal Family of Goryeo and states that the people re-founded their nation once again after the decline of their predecessors.[40]
  • Kublai Khan regarded Goryeo as the same country as Goguryeo. By the end of the Mongol invasions of Korea, Kublai was in the middle of a power struggle with Ariq Böke whom was residing in Karakorum while Kublai himself was participating in the Chinese Campaign. Having the Goryeo crown prince come before him to concede after decades of fighting, Kublai Khan was jubilant and said "Goryeo is a country that long ago even Tang Taizong personally campaigned against but was unable to defeat. But now, its crown prince has come before me, and this be the will of heaven as it is!"[41][42][43]
  • The Japanese saying, "The Mongol ("Mukuri") and Goguryeo ("Kokuri") ghosts are coming! (むくりこくり)" has its origins back during the time of the Mongol Invasions of Japan. Kokuri is the name of Goguryeo in Japanese and was used as a reference towards Goryeo soldiers that accompanied the Mongols during the invasions.[44]
  • Choe Bu of Joseon in 1488 who was stranded in Ming China was asked by a Ming government official "What special skills does your country have that it was able to defeat the Sui and Tang dynasties armies?" Choe Bu replied "Goguryeo had strategic experts and powerful generals who were skilled in military and had soldiers who served their superiors to the death. Therefore, Goguryeo is a small country but defeated the Tianxia's one million soldiers two times. Now, Silla, Baekje, and Goguryeo have become one country, we have abundant products and large land, riches and powerful military, and immeasurable numbers of loyal and wise scholars."[45][46]

Ties with modern day Korea
  • Goguryeo traditions such as ondol,[47] Korean fortress,[48] Kimchi,[49] Bulgogi, fermented foods (e.g. doenjang, jeotgal, etc., as mentioned in Records of the Three Kingdoms),[50] onggi,[51] etc. are central mainstays of Korean culture.
  • Martial arts such as Korean Wrestling (Ssireum), traditional dancing, musical instruments (e.g. Janggu, Geomungo),[52] clothing (e.g. Hanbok, gat, etc),[53] are present in Korean culture. Ancient music from Goguryeo sung down to posterity such as the Song of the Yellow Bird (Korean: 황조가, Hanja: 黃鳥歌) still remains to this day.
  • Hanbok has its roots in the Goguryeo-style hanbok and its early forms are well depicted in the Goguryeo murals located across North Korea and Manchuria.
  • The word "Korea" comes from the word Goryeo, one of Goguryeo successor states and the shortened form of the word Goguryeo first used during the era of King Jangsu of Goguryeo in the 5th century AD.
  • Modern Korean is said to have its origins on the Kaesong dialect which later became the standard in Middle Korean after its spread throughout the Goryeo and Joseon Dynasties. It was initially spoken in central Korea by the native Goguryeo populace situated there when Kaesong was the capital of Goryeo.[54]
  • The affinity for dancing and singing amongst the commoners is a shared trait that continued on to later Korean dynasties.[55]

Perspectives by outsiders

Alexander Vovin believes Gorguyeo was Koreanic in origin. He pointed to Koreanic loanwords in Jurchen and Manchu, as well as Khitan and argued that the Goguryeo language was the ancestor of Koreanic people, and spread southwards to replace the Japonic languages of the Samhan.[56] James Unger has proposed a similar model on historical grounds.[57]

According to John B. Duncan of UCLA: "For the last 1,000 years, Goguryeo was an important factor in helping modern Korea find its identity. Goguryeo is part of Korean history."[58]

According to Mark Byington of Harvard University, who has followed the debate since 1993, Goguryeo "was clearly not a Chinese state in any sense, as demonstrated abundantly by China's own dynastic histories". Byington says that the Chinese position is "historically indefensible" and "historically flawed", but at the same time has valid reasons, politically (e.g. territorial concerns), and is not as "sinister" as many Koreans believe (i.e., "a prelude to an active aggression against Korea").[37]

One Finnish linguist Juha Janhunen believes that it was likely that a "Tungusic-speaking elite" ruled Goguryeo and Balhae, describing them as "protohistorical Manchurian states" and that part of their population was Tungusic, and that the area of southern Manchuria was the origin of Tungusic peoples and inhabited continuously by them since ancient times, and Janhunen rejected opposing theories of Goguryeo and Balhae's ethnic composition.[59] Nonetheless, historical records showcase otherwise that conflicts with Janhunen's theory regarding Goguryeo as being 'Tungusic' in both natural and linguistic terms. Korean and Chinese records make it clear that the Goguryeo people spoke a language different from the Tungusic tribes. Southern Manchuria is also known to be the origins of both Proto-Koreanic and Japonic people as well.

According to scholar Andrei Lankov: "There is no doubt that the present-day dispute represents a case of retro-projection of modern identities. The real-life Koguryoans would have been surprised or even offended to learn that, in the future, they would be perceived by Koreans as members of the same community as their bitter enemies from Silla. Describing Koguryo as Chinese or Korean is as misleading as, say, describing medieval Brittany as French or English or Irish."[60] These claims made by Andrei Lankov are often criticized as invalid since the same can be said with the case of Sillans as they might have been equally bewildered by the fact that they have become subjects of the Goryeo Dynasty founded by the Goguryeo and Balhae people, as well as being called 'Koreans'; a term derived from 'Koguryoan'.

Validity of claims on ancient history

Some scholars analyze empirical evidence through the lens of nationalism and ethnocentrism. Yonson Ahn and Lim Jie-Hyun believe that projecting modern concepts of national territory and identity onto ancient nation states is self-serving.[16]

Yonson says that the Chinese claims on Goguryeo history tend to be centered on territory: because Goguryeo and Parhae shared territories with modern-day China, it is therefore Chinese. Korean arguments tend to stem from ancestry, a common bloodline.[16] Yonson argues both philosophies contradict the exclusivity claim that many scholars try to make for either Korea or China because Goguryeo possessed territories that now are within the borders of North Korea as well as China, and descendants of Goguryeo people live in both Korea and China. She also argues that the strong distinction between "self" and "other" drives many scholars to accept only exclusive possession of history and its artifacts. Disputes over such claims are often laden with terms like "stealing."[16]

Nevertheless, statements above regarding claims of exclusivity are criticized by the Korean public and some scholars from the academia as neither Yonson Ahn and Lim Jie-Hyun expertise on premodern Korean history, but Women's and Western Studies respectively. A Professor of Korean History Studies from Seoul National University, Song Ki-ho, openly criticized Lim Jie-Hyun, mentioning China sometimes puts forward the double standard of applying territorial theory and sometimes population movement to their taste with aims of affiliating Goguryeo as part of Chinese history. Criticizing that China's claim on the history of Goguryeo is inconsistent and arbitrarily changes depending on the situation, he stressed that "Goguryeo cannot be included in Chinese history", meanwhile explicating that traditional state/identity succession followed by ancestry is foremost when discussing a kingdom's historical affiliation, as such was how Goguryeo was traditionally perceived as Korean throughout history both within and outside Korea. Likewise, the fact that Prussia was in modern-day Poland and some of its people settled there does not make the country Polish due to its ties with Germany through state succession and other belying factors.[61]

Recent developments

The Chinese city of Ji'an has built a Goguryeo museum within walking distance of the Yalu River. One of the major Goguryeo steles is displayed there.[62]

See also

References

Citations
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  2. Chung, Jae Ho (May–June 2009). "China's "Soft" Clash with South Korea: The History War and Beyond". Asian Survey. 49 (3): 468–483. doi:10.1525/as.2009.49.3.468.
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