Old Chinese Dynasties Acknowledged Goguryo’s Existence

Many old Chinese maps showing that successive Chinese dynasties recognized “Goryo succeeded Goguryo,” have been made available to the public.

As they could be interpreted as China’s acknowledgment of Goguryo’s existence, it seems possible for them to be used as materials to refute China’s distortion of Goguryo history.

Politics and Diplomacy Professor Kim Woo-jun at the Institute of East and West Studies of Yonsei University said in a press interview on August 9, “Names such as Gochosun, Goryo, Dongi, Baekje, and Shilla are written on part of the Korean peninsula on a map called Ugonggujukeumjudo (1209), in which successive dynasty names of both Korea and China are recorded.”

He said, “If Goguryo history belongs to Chinese history as China claims, the name of ‘Goguryo’ would be marked separately on northeastern China, considering the map’s peculiarity that all successive dynasty names in Chinese territories are recorded there.”

Only the name of Goryo is marked near Ap-rok River that was old territory of Goguryo, while the name of Goguryo is not found.

According to Professor Kim, it is a well-known fact among scholars that China referred to Goguryo as Goryo.

He said, “It can be confirmed through the Jungwon-Goguryo monument that Goguryo changed its name to Goryo under the rule of King Jangsu in the fifth century, and it can also be known through Chinese history books such as Suseo and Singudangseo that old Chinese dynasties called Goguryo as Goryo.”

Today, Professor Kim opened six maps to the public that are excerpted from the third volume of “The Old Chinese Map Collection,” published by the Munmul publishing company and the Harbin Map publishing company in China.

In these maps, nations all over the area of Korean peninsula are marked in such ways as “Goryo Shilla Baekje, Goryo Shilla Yeojin Balhae, and Goryo Baekje Shilla Okjeo.”

Professor Kim said, “These maps show that China included Goguryo among the ‘old three nations’ on the Korean peninsula. Such historical remains prove the fact that Goguryo is included in our history as the country Goryo succeeded.” He continued, “Even Dr. X in the Institute for Research in Collaborationist Activities, an affiliated organization of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, which participated in a history project on China’s northeastern area performed by the Chinese government, agrees with the fact that Goguryo history belongs to Korean history,” and added, “The Korean government should have international community alert against China’s tendency of holding supremacy by informing them of China’s history distortion.”

Soo-Jung Shin crystal@donga.com