Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Troll_Bait]

http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200810/200810170007.html

[bluelake]

I suppose it depends upon how you look at it. Balhae, which was really a continuation of Koguryo, was, like its predecessor, an independent kingdom and was neither part of Korea nor China. However, when the Khitans took over the region (early 10th century), the citizens of Balhae headed mostly to the south to join with the Koryo kingdom, thus essentially making what was left of Balhae Korean.

[SeoulFinn]

Bluelake, I thought the same way after reading about this finding for the 1st time. My sin is that I've never really incorporated Goguryeo (and therefore Balhae) into the Korean history. A fact that has caused some friction between me and few Korean professors and friends.

[endo]

Perhaps a stupid question: but during Koguryo, did the people there even speak Korean?


I mean how long have they been speaking Korean in this part of the world?


And later on di the Kingdoms of Baekjae, Shilla, and the other ones all consider themselves part of a greater Korean nationhood, just divided geopolitically?

Did the people of the 3 (4) kingdoms period all speak Korean?

[SeoulFinn]

Here's something written by Vladimir Tikhonov (LINK):

"[...]The linguistic situation in the Three Kingdoms period (usually refers to the period before 668, when most of Korean peninsula was unified by Silla Kingdom) has several important characteristics. First, although certain unification of various proto-Korean tongues spoken by the populace seems to have taken place in each of the Kingdoms in the process of general strengthening of the administrative institutes, the languages of each Kingdom remained notably different from each other. As the Kingdoms were keen political rivals, and engaged in almost permanent warfare with each other, no standardization on all-peninsular scale could be thought about. In this aspect, it seems to be even more correct to refer to the various variants of proto-Korean spoken in the Three Kingdoms as �Koguryŏ language�, �Paekche language�, and �Silla language� respectively.[...]"

Who is Mr. Tikhonov?

[bluelake]

To expound upon what Seoul Finn noted, from what I know, the modern Korean language is an offshoot of the Silla language. During the Three Kingdoms period, each kingdom had its own language.

[Adventurer]

Now, the Chinese try to claim the Koguryo Kingdom for reason. Why is that? Now, are the Baekje, Silla, and Goryo peoples of the same basic ethnicity, though they had different languages? Was it like the difference between say Spanish and Italian? I am not sure what to compare it all to...

[Troll_Bait]

Welcome to Jack Sparrow's Cafe! (Reference to the two avatars above)

@ BlueLake & SeoulFinn:

As far as is known, were Shillan, Baekjese, and Koguryan all members of the same language family (like Italian, Spanish, and French), or were they members of different language families that were made more similar through conquest (in the way that the Battle of Hastings made English more French-like and less Saxon-like)?

@ BlueLake

Have you written, or will you write, a book on Korean history? If so, I think I'd like to read it.

I think that the Koreans should be mindful of what they say, or the Russians might join the Chinese in saying that Koreans are laying claim to their territory.

[bluelake]

[Troll_Bait]

From my understanding, there used to be Lolang (Lelang) and Taebang (Daifang?) Commanderies (Chinese prefectures) in Korea, around the border between Paekchae and Koguryo, around the year 200 CE, until they were conquered and absorbed by Koguryo around the year 300 CE. So what happened to them? So did their language/culture completely disappear, or did it influence Korea?

And Paekchae and Kaya maintained colonies in Japan. So did their languages influence Japanese?

[bluelake]

There were four Chinese commanderies: Xuantu (around north central NK), Lolang (the western side of NK), Lintun (north eastern part of SK, into the south eastern part of NK), Zhenfan (between Lolang and Lintun, along the west coast and extending down to around modern-day Daejeon).

Here is from one source about the commanderies:

[NoExplode]

[Troll_Bait]

[bluelake]

Some years ago, there was a Korean scholar who was researching the Korean-Japanese royal line idea; he wrote a book on it (although I cannot remember his name or that of the book). His research led to Japanese royal tombs in Nara, Japan (Koreans would point to the name "Nara", which means "nation" in Korean). From what I recall, Japanese archaeologists opened up a royal tomb and, when it was found that the occupants were dressed in Korean royal garb, the tomb was sealed up and it was then forbidden to open other tombs.

Another good book is Paekche of Korea and the Origin of Yamato Japan by Wontack Hong. You can read it at http://gias.snu.ac.kr/wthong/publication/paekche/eng/paekch_e.html

[Troll_Bait]

I had heard about those tombs. A friend who had taught in Japan told me that the Japanese had determined never to excavate them for fear of what they might find. Thanks for clarifying, and for the link.