주몽고려, 궁예고려, 왕건고려, 코리아의 단절과 계승

Abstract

In current textbooks for Elementary, Middle and High school students, political entities (states, dynasties) like “Goguryeo,” “Later Goguryeo” and “Goryeo” are defined to have been founded by figures such as Jumong, Gung’ye and Wang Geon respectively. These states are also presented as in a relationship of predecessors and successors.BR After the 5SUPth/SUP century, however, Goguryeo is known to have changed its title to “Goryeo.” Some may disagree, but it is certain that the people of that state actually used the name “Goryeo” more dominantly than “Goguryeo.” The Buddhist statue created by the Goguryeo people (in the 7SUPth/SUP year of the Yeon’ga reign) shows a reference to itself saying “the Goryeo state,” and the Goguryeo monument in Chungju featured the title “The Great Goryeo King” as well. Su and Dang dynasties in China also called Goguryeo as “Goryeo,” and so did Japan and Balhae. The state was called “Goryeo” even in Ilyeon’s Samguk Yusa (The Remaining History of the Ancient Three Kingdoms), But Kim Bu-shik’s Samguk Sagi (The History of the Three Kingdoms) was exception, called “Goguryeo”.BR The dynasty Gung’ye built was also called “Goryeo,” as he wanted to argue that he was the successor to Jumong and the state that Jumong created. Then later, citizens of the Goryeo dynasty (918~1392, founded by Wang Geon), as well as the Joseon people, called Gung’ye’s Goryeo as “Later Goryeo (Hu-Goryeo)” in order to differentiate it from Jumong’s Goryeo (which we also know as ‘Goguryeo’). So Wang Geon’s Goryeo should be considered as a dynasty that inherited not only Jumong’s Goryeo but Gung’ye’s Goryeo as well, and the current English name for the Republic of Korea (“Korea”) might as well be regarded as a name that came not only from Wang Geon’s Goryeo but Jumong’s Goryeo as well.BR The people of Goryeo called Jumong’s Goryeo, Gung’ye’s Goryeo and Wang Geon’s Goryeo as “Former Goryeo,” “Later Goryeo” and “Goryeo” respectively. In the meantime, some other Goryeo people (and later the Joseon people) chose to call these three as “Goguryeo,” “Later Goryeo” and “Goryeo” instead. Both cases (and especially the latter) were essentially calling the Gung’ye Goryeo period which ‘preceded’ Wang Geon’s Goryeo(918~1392) as ‘Later Goryeo,’ so it was a bit confusing. Coming into the 20th century presented was a third option to call the three as “Goguryeo,” “Later Goguryeo” and “Goryeo,” but this kind of naming had its own problem too, as it chose to call Gung’ye’s state as “Later Goguryeo” when in fact the original name chosen by Gung’ye was “Goryeo.” In the end, it seems more reasonable to return to the previous ways (“Former Goryeo/Goguryeo,” “Later Goryeo” and “Goryeo”), of which the confusion could be mitigated through education. And there is also another fourth option. In the spirit of minimizing confusion, and clarifying the predecessor/successor relationship that existed among them, the name of the founders could be utilized to refer to the states themselves: “Jumong Goryeo,” “Gung’ye Goryeo” and “Wang Geon Goryeo.”BR Indeed, one can say the history of Korea featured the name ‘Goryeo’ all along. The time period that included Jumong’s Goryeo, Gung’ye’s Goryeo and Wang Geon’s Goryeo add up to more than 1,500 years, and most of all the term “Korea” -originated from “Goryeo”- is now used as the English name of the Korean Republic. In a world in which China is arguing -through its so-called “Northeast project”- that Jumong’s Goryeo was not part of the Korean peninsula’s history and instead belonged to the history of China, we shall respond by calling ‘Goguryeo’ as “Goryeo” (as the latter was more prominently used than the former at the time) and Gung’ye’s state as “Goryeo” too (as it was originally called). If we conceptualize the Korean history as a “History of Goryeos” (from Jumong to Gung’ye, and to Wang Geon and now Korea), it would be much easier for us to present Jumong Goryeo’s history as a legitimate part of the history of Korea.