Korean Job Discussion Forums

[semi-fly]

[Guri Guy]

Yeah, I am a history nerd too. Korean history is quite interesting to me.

Well, any history is interesting to me. Right now I am reading a book on the history of Thailand and Cambodia.

[semi-fly]

[LuckyNomad]

[blaseblasphemener]

[nateium]

[kiwiduncan]

[nateium]

[bluelake]

As one who teaches Korean history, I'll briefly say what I tell my students (over the course of a semester). There have been people (not necessarily "Koreans" per se) on the Korean peninsula for thousands and thousands of years. Until the last two millennia, the borders were very fluid and nomadic tribes traveled in and out as they followed their food.

Around three thousand years ago, proto-states began and eventually there were walled cities, which then turned into city-states. There was an Old Choson (고조선), but the word "old" was not added until the Yi Choson dynasty to differentiate it. However, Old Choson had elements that are historically controversial.

The peninsula was still not "Korea", but elements were taking shape. Up to the point talked about above, few people inhabited the southern half. Then there were tribes, such as Yemaek and breakaways from Old Choson, and others who came south to make up the Samhan (Three Han). They eventually made up two of the Three Kingdoms: Baekje and Silla (and the confederation of tribes called Kaya, which eventually was absorbed by the other two).

The Three Kingdoms fought back and forth and occasionally two kingdoms would team up with each other to fight the third, only to have one side change and have a different two against one war. Eventually, the weaker Silla became the stronger (with Tang Chinese help) and the stronger sides weakened. When �Unified� Silla came into being (around 668 A.D.), the peninsula was pretty much divided as it is today, with Silla controlling up to a bit more than Pyongyang. Some Koguryo people joined Silla, but a great number of them formed the Palhae kingdom. It wasn�t until the Koryo dynasty (935 A.D.) that Korea was truly unified. A huge part of the Palhae population went south as they fled the Khitan invasion. From that time, we could comfortably call the people �Korean�.

As for Tangun, that myth wasn�t even popularized until the Yi Choson dynasty when the people were looking for common roots. Before that time, each kingdom tended to hold on to its own creation myth, with their people at the center.

Again, it is a greatly simplified historical overview, but covers most aspects.

[The Grumpy Senator]

Thanks, Bluelake.

I am currently reading Lee Ki-baik's "A New History of Korea" and you pretty much summed up the first 100 or so pages. It is the first Korean history book I have looked and I am glad to have some conformation of the information in the book.

Can you reccomend any other good reads? I also picked up the Yi Sun-sin biography and will start on that after Mr. Lee's book.

[bluelake]

[kiwiduncan]

Thanks for the information Bluelake. You also have the advantage that if any of your students disagree with you in class you can shoot an arrow through their hand

[bluelake]