The Goguryeo Controversy, and Korea-China Relations

Not long ago, I visited the city of GyeongJu (경주), the capital of the Silla (신라) dynasty.  During my visit, I learned a lot about Korean history, mostly about the 신라 kingdom.  But to my surprise, I also obtained information about the relationship between Korea and China.

As I wrote earlier, the 신라 kingdom existed from about 57 BC until about 1000 AD, and it is credited with unifying the three kingdoms of the Korean peninsula, thus creating the first unified kingdom of Korea.  To do this, the 신라 kingdom had to conquer both the 백제 kingdom and the 고구려  kingdom, both of which controlled territories much larger than those originally controlled by the 신라 kingdom.  Interestingly, the 신라 kingdom did not conquer the 백제 and the 고구려 kingdoms alone.  They were helped by the Tang dynasty of China.

War between Chinese and Korean kingdoms had occurred often before.  Both the Tang dynasty and the previous Sui dynasty of China had gone to war against 고구려.  고구려 is located immediately to the north-east of China, and Chinese rulers wanted to conquer it.  However, China never successfully conquered 고구려 alone.

Near the year 660, 고구려 was finally defeated by an allied force of 신라 and Tang dynasty forces.  I don't know if there was a formal alliance between the Tang emperor and the 신라 king, or if both the Tang dynasty and the 신라 kingdom simply found themselves launching military assaults against 고구려 at the same time.  Probably both the Chinese and the 신라 people saw themselves as "in charge" of the military assault on 고구려.  But after the defeat of 고구려, the Tang kingdom attempted to take control of both 고구려 and 신라.  So, 신라 went to war with the Tang kingdom, and successfully maintained control of the Korean peninsula.

After the 신라-Tang wars, 신라 unified all territories of the Korean peninsula under one kingdom, but it failed to maintain control of the northern territories of the 고구려 kingdom, those territories located to the north of the Korean peninsula.  As a result, a new kingdom called Balhae (발해) was established there by a former general of 고구려.  Balhae was annexed by the Liao dynasty of China in the mid 900's.  However, as the former 고구려 territories are located at the easternmost frontier of all former Chinese empires, how much influence the Chinese governors actually exercised over them is unclear to me.

Today, the majority of the former territories of 고구려 are within the borders of modern China, in Manchuria.  But some Koreans that I have spoken to have told me that they consider that these territories should be returned to Korea.  In addition, some Koreans believe that the modern Chinese state gained control of the former 고구려 territories at the turn of the 20th century, via some sort of unofficial land-for-peace agreement between Chinese authorities and the former Japanese colonists of Korea.  This matter, known as the Goguryeo controversy, is of some importance in modern China-Korea relations.  Though there does not appear to be any serious efforts on the part of the Korean government to regain any territories from China, there are important disagreements about the interpretation of the history of this region.  For China, the region has always been a part of the historical Chinese kingdoms.  On the other hand, Korea sees the region as a former Korean territory that was conquered by China.  And apparently, Koreans often travel to sites in north-east China, like Ji'an, that are of importance in the history of 고구려.  Also, many Koreans worry that China, in claiming the 고구려 kingdom as a long-standing part of China's territory, is building a historical narrative to ultimately justify the taking over North Korea, if not all of the Korean peninsula.

Last Korean Independence Fighter Dies

In the news last week...
It was reported that Kim Jun-Yeop has died.  He was the last living Korean to have fought against the Japanese colonizers of Korea.

Last year, John Babcock died.  He was the last living Canadian to have fought in World War I.

What does it mean, that the last living people to have fought in these painful conflicts has died?
Are our societies at peace now, finally letting go of painful memories of times long past?
Or are we losing the memory of something that we should be remembering?

경주, Capital of the 신라 Kingdom

A short distance north of Busan lies the city of GyeongJu (경주), sometimes known as KyeongJu.

경주 is a very interesting city, as it is a former capital of Korea.  More specifically, 경주 was the capital city of the Silla (신라) dynasty, the first kingdom to unify all people living on the Korean peninsula under one king.  The 신라 dynasty existed from about 57 BC until about 1000 AD.

Still today, there are many relics of the 신라 dynasty in 경주.  Most of them are the tombs of the 신라 royal family.  Members of the 신라 royal family were buried under rather large burial mounds, often shaped like the hills that surround 경주, called tumuli.  One tumulus, located in the city's tumuli park, has been partially excavated and turned into a museum.  It is known as the "heavenly horse tomb", and the public can enter it and view its structure, as well as replicas of the artifacts that were discovered within it.  The original artifacts are probably at the GyeongJu national museum.

A tumulus in "tumuli park".

The tomb of General Kim YuShin.

A tumulus in 경주, with a small hill in the background.

More tumuli in 경주, with small hills in the background.

A few other relics from the 신라 era still remain in 경주, like the astronomical observatory called Cheomseongdae (첨성대) and the Gyerim forest (계림).

The 첨성대 observatory.

계림 forest.

And another impressive 경주 site is the Bulguk temple (불국사).  The temple's name can roughly be  translated as "temple of Buddha's country", or "temple of Buddha's people", and may date back to the year 528.  It is the home of many historical treasures of the Korean nation, including two large stone pagodas.  Behind it, on mount Tohamsan (토함산), is the Seokguram grotto (석굴암), within which is located a large stone statue that is a UNESCO world heritage treasure.

Bulguk temple (불국사).

and one of its pagodas...

and the other of its pagodas.

More modern sites of interest in 경주 include traditionally styled homes, as well as a shrine called Tongiljeon Hall built by Korea's most infamous dictator, Park Chung-hee.  This hall honours three of the most important 신라 dynasty figures, King Muyeol, King Munmu, and general Kim YuShin.  It also features a number of paintings depicting the unification of the Korean peninsula by the 신라 kings.

A traditionally styled home in 경주.

One of the buildings of Teongiljeon hall.

Today, modern 경주 is a peaceful town.   Like most Korean cities, it does have a few high-rise apartment buildings, but most of its buildings are not very tall.  And there is much agricultural land around the city.

Some high-rise apartment buildings in 경주.

A rice field in 경주.

A view of 경주 from 토함산.

경주 is definitely worth a visit.