Korean Job Discussion Forums

Guri Guy · Joined: 07 Sep 2003 Location: Bamboo Island

Wow! Korea apparently had the largest empire in human history and founded the first country ever for the human race. Check it out:

Wacky Historical Theories of Racial Superiority: Now on Korean TV
Published by Grom May 14th, 2007 in Korea and History Dispute. 2 Comments

The English subtitles say it was made by KBS, but the logo in the corner looks a lot like the History Channel:

�According to this viewpoint, the Sumerian tribe who established the Mesopotamiam civilization was the Korean race.�

http://www.asia-watch.com/

doggyji · Posted: Tue May 15, 2007 8:05 am Post subject:

Good ole 환단고기 on KBS 역사 스페셜. Have you ever heard of 환빠(a degrading term that refers to anyone who takes the book too seriously)? The translation on the video clip can be misleading. When it explains 'the book says we already had 5000 year history before Dangun Joseon"(~했다 한다 instead of ~했다), it just says "we already had 5000 year history before Dangun Joseon". It was an hour long show in total that explored various aspects of the book. Of course, it's not any accepted by the mainstream academia. Stop with your propaganda, Guri Guy. Wink

The Hierophant · Joined: 13 Sep 2005

Wow!

'Regardless of the facts', the 'Korean Race' truly are the progenitors of civilisation. I am in awe.

doggyji · Posted: Tue May 15, 2007 11:32 am Post subject:

The Hierophant · Joined: 13 Sep 2005

Thanks for the clarification Doggyji. I'll check out the full vid tomorrow.

doggyji · Posted: Tue May 15, 2007 1:26 pm Post subject:

jinju · Joined: 22 Jan 2006

Guri Guy up to his usual lying and falsifying? All to make Korea look bad, eh? Have you no shame?

Guri Guy · Joined: 07 Sep 2003 Location: Bamboo Island

How am I lying or propagandizing? I merely gave a link to a video clip on Asia Watch dealing with Korean History. I think it should be the obvious who should be ashamed here. Why does this make Korea look bad? I am sure there must be ample evidence to back up this prominent historian's claims.

I think some people are reading too much into this. Rolling Eyes

BTW Thanks for the links doggyji. I'll check them out tonight. If Koreans think this is total garbage too then that's cool. The less disinformation the better. Smile

Guri Guy · Joined: 07 Sep 2003 Location: Bamboo Island

I in fact do have training in the subject of history so I wanted to encourage a discussion about it. Naturally I am demonized for doing this. I didn't see a thread on the subject so that's why I posted it. All I got was a reply from a Korean with the attitude of "You should know better. How could you not know this is false?" Don't kill the messenger. Wink

Some interesting information on the subject. There are some favourable comments and some criticisms. I was hoping this would happen but maybe a frank discussion was asking for too much on this board. Dare to dream I guess...

Viewpoint of Hwandan Gogi

The favorable comment
Most of historian agree that Yi Yurip has revised the original version by Gye Yeonsu. Thus, some historians view the Hwandan gogi as worthy of further scholarly scrutiny, believing that it is at least partly based on historically valuable, ancient (if not literally accurate) texts, but avoiding direct citation.

The record that five stars were arranged in straight line at 1733BCE (오성취루, 五星聚婁). This astronomical record in Hwandan Gogi is proved by Professor Park Changbeom, and it is published in the journal[1]. They shows that the five stars was arraged in straight line at 1734 BCE with the assumption that Gojoseon was established at 2333BCE.
Hwandan Gogi proves why the Mausoleum of Dangun is located at in Kangdong near Pyongyang, North Korea[2]. Hwandan Gogi says that the fifth Dangun Gueul was dead when he traveled the south area of Gojoseon, and then he has been buried at Daebaksan. The Daebaksan is located at current Pyongyang.
Hwandan Gogi explains that the era name of Mun wang of Balhae was Daeheung(대흥, 大興) before when the era name of Mun wang has been discovered in the tombstone of princess Jeonghyo (정효공주묘비, 貞孝公主墓碑) at 1980 CE [3].
Hwandan Gogi says that era name of Jangsu Taewang of Goguryeo was Geonheung (건흥, 建興). This era name is used in a Buddhist statue in Chungju of Chungbuk. Before Hwandangogi is publihsed, the statue was considered as the statue of Baekje[4]
The territory of Gojoseon explained by Hwandan Gogi accords with the distribution area of the mandolin-shaped dagger of Gojoseon. Moreover, this territory advocated by Yoon et al.[5] and Yi Byeongdo[6] coincide with the territory explained by Hwandan Gogi.

The adverse criticism
Most of the historians in South, North Korea and Japan generally consider the Hwandangogi as a forgery created in recent times, because of the following reasons:

There are words from modern language in the book. (for example, '男女平權; the equality of man and woman', '父權; paternal rights')
The route on which Hwandangogi was first published is not clear.
Yi Gi could not supervise the Hwandangogi which first compiled in 1911, because he died then [7].
The contents of Cheonbu Gyeong could not be included in Taebaek Ilsa before 1911 because the Cheonbu Gyeong was first discovered and known to the Daejong Kyo (a korean spiritual corporation) in 1916 by GaeYeonSu, the person who compiled Hwandan Gogi.
The original version of Hwandan Gogi edited by Gye Yeonsu does not exist now. The Hwandan Gogi Yi Yurip kept was lost in 1975, and then restored by Yi Yurip before 1979.
To meet Wikipedia's quality standards, this section may require cleanup.
Please discuss this issue on the talk page, and/or replace this tag with a more specific message. Editing help is available.
This section has been tagged since January 2007.
The contents in Hwandan Gogi is beyond the historical facts generally accepted.
The population of gojoseon 4,000 years ago counts 180 Million.
The nation spread from east asia through the Sabaekyeok(斯白力), and to the Sumil Yiguk(須密爾國), Chi-aek-teuk(支伯特) in about 8000BCE.
According to the introductory remark(凡例), Hwandan Gogi was compiled in GwangMu 15th, but, the GwangMu reign syle was used only up to the 10th year.
Maybe all the uncertainties found in Hwandan Gogi is from the fact that the Hwandan Gogi spread now is a restored version, not the original.

http://www.answers.com/topic/hwandan-gogi

doggyji · Posted: Tue May 15, 2007 6:40 pm Post subject:

Hehe, sorry, Guri Guy, if I sounded too offensive.

Guri Guy · Joined: 07 Sep 2003 Location: Bamboo Island

Me too. I respect your opinion. I studied Ancient History and English in University so I am genuinely interested in the subject.

Specifically I am wondering where the idea of Koreans inventing Chinese characters come from. Is it from these sources?

Here are some discussions on the subject:

http://www.chinalanguage.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=293

Newbie · Joined: 07 Feb 2003

oops.

Guri Guy · Joined: 07 Sep 2003 Location: Bamboo Island

Agreed. Props to Doggyji.

Hater Depot · Joined: 29 Mar 2005

All of this stuff is well debunked. Koreans who buy into it are the equivalent of people in the west who think they've been visited by aliens, only even less numerous.

Guri Guy · Joined: 07 Sep 2003 Location: Bamboo Island

I am glad to hear that this history has been debunked. It seemed so far fetched.
I thought I had read somewhere that VANK or some other organization wanted to claim that Korea invented Chinese characters in retaliation for China claiming Gokuryeo was Chinese. I came across the video and figured maybe that was related to it. My apologies if it had been poste or debated before but I couldn't find anything when I looked.