|
|
|
|
|
| July 27, 2001 | atimes.com | ||
|
|
The Koreas
A handbook for good Koreans By Yi Taehui It might be useful to begin an article on Korea's conception of the nation by looking at how this idea is depicted in its history textbooks.(1) Koreans share a particular view about their nation, which is rooted in their past. Later we will see how textbooks in South Korea depict the essential characteristics of the nation and the Korean state.(2) The Nation According to Koreans Textbooks used in Korean middle and high schools make it clear from the very first line in the preface that the history of Korea is to be identified with the civilization generated by the Korean nation, and they are quite open about their nationalist aims. First of all, when speaking about the peculiar features and universal aspects of Korean history in relation to world history, they tend to make much of the specific characteristics that the Korean nation managed to preserve throughout its history.(3) There are chapters with titles like "The Origins of the Korean Nation" or "The Formation of the Korean Nation".(4) The very title of the textbook "National History" is in keeping with this kind of approach(5) and helps us understand why the meaning of "nation" as it is used in Korea has different nuances from how the word is generally understood in the West.(6) Theories about the nation are introduced in high school civic texts. Here we may read that nations and nationalism began in Europe during the 17th Century with the absolutist states, that later these concepts became associated with the nation-state based on capitalism (national economy) and democracy (sovereignty of the people). To emphasize the differences with European history, the texts go on to say that in Korea centralized states based on the nation were already in existence at the dawn of antiquity. Within the cultural context of Korean civilization such objective elements like language, race, history, and subjective elements (nationalist feelings) disappeared over time. The text explains that, while in Europe the state constructed the nation, in Korea just the opposite occurred: here it was the nation which gave rise to the state.(7) So what is the nation in Korea's history? We can find the answer in a high school geography textbook. Here it is stated that humanity may be divided up into races which, in turn, are divided into nations: in other words, nations are groups of men which share common cultural characteristics like language, religion and customs. Hence, a nation is a human community based on ties of blood and culture. Given this conception the political organization of a nation is of secondary importance. As the texts like to stress, Koreans are proud of their state which was founded by a single nation, an absolute rarity in the world. Origins of the Nation and the State Koreans are fond of boasting that they are one of the few nations in the world with a history dating back thousands of years. They are able to do so because they trace their origins to pre-history. As far as 700,000 years ago, during the Paleolithic Age, human settlements could already be found in Korea and Manchuria. The textbooks do not say whether these early inhabitants were the ancestors of present-day Koreans. They are, however, certain that somewhere between the Neolithic Age and the Bronze Age their ancestors began settling in Southern Manchuria and the Korean peninsula where they established a civilization which was distinct from that of China. At that time, more precisely in the year 2333 BC, these people founded their first state known as "Ancient Choson".(8) According to tradition, this state was founded by the king Tan'gun, who was the offspring of a marriage between the son of a solar deity and a she-bear who had been transformed into a woman after overcoming a series of trials. A tiger also aspired to marriage with the son of the god but failed to pass the tests. The textbooks explain that this myth refers to events surrounding the foundation of Ancient Choson in which a solar tribe expelled a tribe whose totem was the tiger after forming an alliance with a tribe which worshipped bears. Ancient Choson was a confederate state(9) controlling a vast territory which stretched from Southern Manchuria to the north of the Korean peninsula. For some time it has been subject of a heated debate between Korean and Chinese historians: the Koreans attempt to show that Ancient Choson was independent of China, while according to the Chinese it was a only a vassal state. This conflict is reflected in the history textbooks which go to great lengths to refute the Chinese theories, according to which a certain Wiman arrived in Ancient Choson from China with a thousand of his followers. Wiman is thought to have overthrown the king and taken the throne for himself in 194 BC.(10) There would appear to be indisputable evidence that Chinese colonization did take place in Ancient Choson. But Korean history texts do not accept this version of the story. In their view, Wiman was originally from Ancient Choson as is shown by the clothes he wore and his hairstyle which were typical of the region. In addition to this, Wiman kept the name Choson for the state, and many of his highest officials were natives. Thus, according to Korean textbooks, even during the Wiman dynasty Ancient Choson was not a vassal of China but an independent state. Under the Wiman dynasty Choson became a regional power which later clashed violently with the Chinese Han dynasty for control of Northeast Asia. For Koreans, it is very important to defend the claim that Choson was an independent state. Without it their history would be shortened by many hundreds of years. And, what is even more important, if it could be shown that Ancient Choson was not independent, Koreans would be forced to admit that their history started with a period of domination by the Chinese. But in 108 BC, despite a "heroic" resistance, the state of Ancient Choson was annihilated following an invasion by the Chinese Han dynasty which installed four garrisons(11) over part of the territory. Both before and after the fall of Ancient Choson, ancient Koreans founded a number of states in Manchuria and the Korean peninsula: Puyo, Koguryo, Okcho, East Ye and the three Hans. One by one the Chinese garrisons fell to violent counterattacks by the natives, especially in the state of Koguryo. In the 1st Century AD, from these confederated states three kingdoms arose: Koguryo, Paekche, and Silla.(12) Although they had started out small enough, from the 2nd Century on they were able to form centralized kingdoms after progressively subduing their neighbors. This was the beginning of the phase known as "the period of the Three Kingdoms". According to the textbooks, the Koreans were mainly engaged in fighting off the Chinese although this did not preclude frequent internal rivalries as well. This was mainly true for Koguryo which bordered directly on China. The most advanced of the three kingdoms, Koguryo, developed as a result of continuous conflict with China. Koguryo was finally able to oust the Chinese garrisons, and at its height (5th Century) it assembled an empire which occupied most of the Manchu region. The most important episodes in the struggle between Koguryo and China were two wars fought in the 7th Century after a Chinese invasion. In both these wars Koguryo turned back the Chinese invaders who had initially descended on the country with more than 1 million soldiers. The history textbooks emphasize the significance of these events in the destiny of Korea in that Koguryo, by defending its own territory, was also protecting the other Korean kingdoms from foreign invasion; and it became a kind of national bulwark against external enemies. This is the reason why even today the warriors of Koguryo are considered to be the highest examples of valor and patriotism.(13) In the 4th Century, the kingdom of Paekche emerged on the scene as a geopolitical player when it sent expeditions overseas to China and Japan. In the region of Kyushu in Japan, immigrants from Paekche contributed to the foundation of a state. The kingdom of Silla's unfavorable geographic location, in the southeast of the Korean peninsula, did not allow regular contacts with the more advanced outside world. This is why, unlike the other kingdoms, immigrants in Silla were few and easily assimilated by local society, so that they exerted much less power than natives, which meant that Silla remained outside the sphere of Chinese influence. But despite its initial delay in forming a centralized state, it was Silla which in 668 AD brought about the unification of the three kingdoms. Korean textbooks point out that the three kingdoms had never been completely isolated from each other either culturally or ethnically, nor were they perennially at war, and that their populations had some awareness, albeit a vague one, of belonging to the same ethnic group (or nation). The unification of 668 AD is the key event in Korean history. The textbooks make much of the fact that this was the first time Koreans were able to live together under a unified state, the necessary basis for the creation of a national culture - the product of the cultures of the Three Kingdoms each with its own peculiar characteristics. The textbooks do, however, point out that this unification had certain limitations because it had been brought about with the help of foreigners, and because it concerned a limited area which did not include most of Koguryo whose Northern borders had originally touched the 39th parallel. In any case, the connecting thread in the formation of the national state begins in Ancient Choson passing through the Three Kingdoms all the way to Silla. The Territorial Formation of Korea The kingdom of Koryo (918-1392)(14) "completed the reunification of the nation",(15) not just because it joined together three states that after the demise of Silla had once again found themselves divided, but also because it gave refuge to exiles from the defunct state of Parhae, which in its turn had been founded by natives of Koguryo.(16) Koryo considered itself the heir of Koguryo. Even its name was suggestive of the old kingdom. Consequently, the first king of Koryo pursued a policy of expansion towards the north under the pretext of recovering the ancient territories of Koguryo. This became the abiding goal of subsequent monarchs as well. After gradually enlarging its territory, by the end of the 10th Century Koryo extended all the way to the mouth of the Yalu river, which to this day marks the border between China and North Korea. From that time until the mid-14th Century the borders of Koryo were set around the 40th parallel. Repeated invasions by Mongols of the Yuan dynasty in the 13th Century profoundly shook the organization of the country. The Mongols managed to place Koryo under their strict control for more than a century, and occupied parts of its northern territories beyond the island of Cheju, which is the largest Korean island in the Yellow Sea. At the end of the 13th Century, part of this territory was recovered by means of negotiations, and in the mid-14th Century Koryo was able to profit from the weakness of the Yuans: it not only recovered the remainder of the lost territories, but pushed northward(17) expanding to approximately the 41st parallel. The final phase of Korea's territorial formation took place under the kingdom of Choson (1392-1910) often referred to as the Yi dynasty. Like Koryo, Choson aimed to expand northward. It was the king Sejong (1418-1450), venerated as one of the great rulers in the history of Korea, who brought the borders of Choson to the banks of the Yalu and Tuman rivers, the northern boundaries of today's Korea. Later kings were engaged in transferring at least part of the population of the south to these new northern areas in order to consolidate their hold over these recent conquests. In 1712, Choson and the Qing dynasty in China agreed to set up a marker on Mount Paektu to designate the boundary between the two states. This did not, however, put an end to border conflicts between China and Korea. At the end of the 19th Century, faced with an increasing number of Korean settlements in southeast Manchuria, the Chinese once again raised the question of the border and attempted to expel the Koreans. But the two countries were unable to agree on how the inscription on the border marker should be interpreted. It was, paradoxically, Japan which "resolved" the issue in 1909 through an agreement with China recognizing Chinese rights in the region.(18) Korean textbooks say that this was an illegal accord; from what was written on the marker the region in question belonged to Korea. Can this mean that the territorial question of Manchuria still remains to be resolved, above all in the southeast where many people of Korean descent live? One final point emphasized by the textbooks with regard to territorial questions is the island of Tok-to (Takeshima in Japanese) in the Eastern Sea (or the Sea of Japan), and this is still a hotly contested issue between Japan and Korea. The island was illegally annexed by Japan in 1905 during the Russo-Japanese war, and returned to Korea after the Japanese defeat in 1945. Japan continues to make direct and indirect claims to the island. Tok-to had been Korean for some time, and at the end of the 17th Century a Korean representative visited Japan to assert Korea's rights over the island. The textbooks maintain that from both the legal and historical standpoint the island belongs to Korea. As is well known, the state of Korea disappeared entirely from the map when it was annexed by Japan in 1910. Korea only recovered its independence in 1945 after the Japanese defeat, but the nation was divided in two by the Russians and the Americans along the 38th parallel. The textbooks make it clear that this division was wanted by both great powers as being in their own interests, and despite the fact that the Koreans themselves had the desire and ability to govern an independent state. This division was later consolidated when two military governments were imposed by the Russians and the Americans north and south of the 38th parallel. It became definitive with the Korean War of 1950-53. Chauvinism and 'Independentism' If we look through textbooks on Korean history, we soon notice that the word "independence" recurs very frequently along with all its various synonyms and derivatives with which the Korean language abounds. The reason for this is that during the entire course of their history Koreans have had to contend with the problem of independence - above all in relation to China. A widespread image of Korea is that of a country which has long been a vassal to China, and it is an image shared by many Koreans themselves, who tend to view their own history as that of a weak country which has been invaded many times and whose destiny is to submit to others. This representation is quite the opposite from what the textbooks would like to instill in pupils with the aim of strengthening their feelings of national pride and sense of belonging to an ancient and glorious nation. In the textbooks, concepts like nation and ethnic group are used indiscriminately because ties of blood and culture and central in the Korean view of the nation. Based on these principles Koreans can trace their history as far back as pre-history in an effort to find their collective origins. This accounts for the great emphasis on the essential characteristic of the Korean nation as a single body often in conflict with the external world. This is also why phenomena like regionalism are condemned as forms of collective egoism, and why pupils are being told that class conflicts will have to become less acute or disappear in the interests of the nation. Furthermore, the textbooks insist so much on the duties to be performed by the individual that nationalism appears to be taking on collectivist connotations, even if pupils' attentions are still drawn to the dangers inherent in nationalist egoism or chauvinism. These are dangers which will not just go away because new generations are urged to beware of them. NOTES 1. It should be pointed out that textbooks are published by the National Ministry of Education or authorized by it. The Ministry itself directly publishes texts on matters that might be subject to different interpretations as in the case of the social sciences or humanities. 2. We have omitted reference to the particular textbook used as a source given that all the books are almost identical except in the difficulty of the narrative flow, which varies according to which grade the book was designed for. 3. The textbook used in the middle schools lists a number of these: national independence, love of peace, flourishing culture. 4. It is interesting that a Korean author gave the title "Ethnic Formation" to part of his work written in French. 5. When speaking of their country's history, Koreans use "National History" or "Korean History" indiscriminately. Geography is divided into two separate disciplines "Korean Geography" and "World Geography". 6. According to one French history textbook, the idea of nation arose in France during the Hundred Years' War and it was incarnated by Joan of Arc. See P Restellini and I Yannakis, Histoire de France, Paris. 7. On different conceptions of nationalism, see J L Chabot, Le nationalisme, Paris 1993, PUF. 8. Originally this state was called Choson. But historians use the name "Ancient Choson" to distinguish it from the other Choson, Korea's last kingdom. 9. This state was not centralized but a kind of confederation of different tribes. 10. According to a Chinese historical source, a man by the name of Jizi (Kija in Korean) had been appointed King of Ancient Choson by the Emperor of China, perhaps in the 12th Century. The Koreans maintain that he was a warlord who established dominion over an area bordering on Ancient Choson. 11. According to the traditional view, the garrisons were installed in the North of the Korean peninsula. Others maintain that they were in Manchuria. 12. At the southern tip of the peninsula there was also another state which survived until the 6th Century and which was swallowed up by the kingdom of Silla. 13. In dealing with the deeds of the men of Koguryo, one text used in primary school explicitly exhorts pupils not to forget that their ancestors were brave men who reigned over a vast territory. 14. The name Korea comes from Koryo. Marco Polo mentions it in his Milione. 15. This phrase was taken from a history textbook and it repeats that the first unification had taken place under Silla. 16. Moreover, the text maintains that by extending favors to a prince from Parhae Koryo was clearing showing that it was aware that it belonged to the same ethnic group (or nation). 17. The textbooks clearly say that this was "the reconquest of ancient territories". 18. From 1905, when Korea was forced to sign a treaty in which it accepted to be a protectorate of Japan, Japan had the right to regulate diplomatic relations for Korea. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Previous articles in this Heartland series on the issues relating to the Korean peninsula include: ((c) Heartland. This version has been edited by Asia Times Online.) To subscribe to Heartland, please email cassanpress@sina.com |
|||||||||
|
|
|
|
Front | China | Southeast Asia | Japan | Koreas | India/Pakistan | Central Asia/Russia | Oceania | Business Briefs | Global Economy | Asian Crisis | Media/IT | Editorials | Letters | Search/Archive |
|
back to the top ©2001 Asia Times Online Co., Ltd. Building B - 5th Floor, 102/1 Phra Arthit Road, Chanasangkhram, Bangkok 10200, Thailand |
