Chinese Magazine Claims Korea Was Tributary State to China During Ming and Qing Dynasties

Amid the brewing fury over China’s distortion of the history of the Goguryeo dynasty, one of China’s weekly magazines announced that Korea was a tributary state to China during the Ming and Qing dynasties, which may spark serious repercussions from Korea.

Soho.Com in China quoted a report of the weekly magazine Samryeonsaenghwal (三聯生活周刊) and delivered a story titled, “Two Governments Agree to Deal With Controversies regarding Goguryeo’s History Within Academia.” However, far removed from the title, the article lashed out that Korea’s argument is absurd and, even more, underlined Korea as a tributary state to China.

The magazine, dealing with the 28 World Heritage Site Committee, opened in Suzhou on July 1, and reported that “it is quite emotional that the South Korean deputy to the committee handed out booklets containing the story, “The Goguryeo dynasty held an independent cultural block at that time, and they are ancestors of Korea,” and that the press in South Korea claimed that the Northeastern area of China was original territory of the Korean people.”

On top of that, the magazine rebuked South Korean academia’s position that regards Balhae Bay, the northern part of the Korean peninsula, including the Liaotung peninsula, Liaoning fortress, Hubei fortress, and Shantung peninsula, as the origin of Korean culture. The article also refuted the claims of do-or-die battles of Goguryeo’s general Ulji Mun-deok and general Yang Man-chun against the Sui dynasty and the Tang dynasty of China and the claims that the Sui and Tang dynasties did not rule the Goguryeo dynasty, by saying their arguments are merely the result of deep nationalistic sentiment.

In addition, responding to professor Sin Yong-ha, who had criticized China’s argument as historical imperialism, it said that the Joseon dynasty, after receiving help from the Ming dynasty during the Japanese invasion of Korea declared its allegiance and even used Ming’s chronological era. It also reinforced the idea that that “the Joseon dynasty was a tributary state to the Mingg and Qing dynasties.”

Yoo-Seong Hwang yshwang@donga.com