Nakrang Kingdom
Nakrang Kingdom (Korean: 낙랑국; Hanja: 樂浪國) was a country in the northwestern part of the Korean Peninsula which the North Korean academic society claims to be around modern day Pyongyang.[1]
Nakrang Kingdom | |||||||
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Chinese name | |||||||
Chinese | 樂浪國 | ||||||
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Korean name | |||||||
Hangul | 낙랑국 | ||||||
Hanja | 樂浪國 |
Lelang Commandery Dispute
The Nakrang Kingdom is often disputed whether it was part of the Chinese Lelang Commandery or it was an independent Korean nation. The North Korean academic perspective often asserts that the Lelang Commandery did not hold land in the Korean Peninsula but rather held land in the Liaodong Peninsula around the Liao River. They claim it was a self governing country that lasted from the 2nd to 3rd Century BC which may have been one of the countries composing the Mahan confederacy.[2][3] The Chinese-style ruins and relics found in the area are claimed to have been introduced by trade or international relations and "it should not be interpreted as a basis for negating Korean characteristics of ruins and relics found there”.[4] The Chinese and Japanese perspectives state that the Nakrang Kingdom was just another name used to refer to the Lelang Commandery. This perspective claims that it was referred to with the name of a kingdom because the residents were autonomous but still were controlled by the commandery. The king of the Nakrang kingdom was also interpreted to be the same title as the governor of the commanery.[5][6]
Academic Opinions
Kenji Takahisa (Professor of Korean History at Senshu University) mentions “In that theory, there were Nakrang Kingdom which founded by old Korean ethnic group in Pyongyang, not Lelang Commandery of Han. However, it is difficult to prove this theory because there are many tombs influenced by Han culture found in Pyongyang, while there were not related archaeological and historical resources related to Lelang Commandery in Liaoning area.”[7]
Shouei Mishina, criticized that the claim that Nakrang Kingdom is not same as Lelang Commandery and said that it ignored the situation of Lelang Commandery in the later Han dynasty.[8]
References
- 崔泰永、張泰煥 (1993). 韓國上古史. 三志社. p. 54.
- Ch'oe, Yŏng-ho (1980), "An Outline History of Korean Historiography", Korean Studies, 4: 23–25, doi:10.1353/ks.1980.0003
- Armstrong, Charles K. (1995), "Centering the Periphery: Manchurian Exile(s) and the North Korean State", Korean Studies, University of Hawaii Press, 19: 11–12, doi:10.1353/ks.1995.0017
- Ch'oe, Yŏng-ho (1980), "An Outline History of Korean Historiography", Korean Studies, 4: 1–27, doi:10.1353/ks.1980.0003
- Mason, David A. (2016). Solitary Sage: The Profound Life, Wisdom and Legacy of Korea's "Go-un" Choi Chi-won. lulu.com. p. 150. ISBN 978-1329565937.
- Mason, David A. (2016). Solitary Sage: The Profound Life, Wisdom and Legacy of Korea's "Go-un" Choi Chi-won. lulu.com. p. 151. ISBN 978-1329565937.
- 高久健二 (2012). "楽浪郡と三韓の交易システムの形成". Senshu University社会知性開発研究センター東アジア世界史研究センター年報6. p. 8. Retrieved 2017-03-30.
- 旗田巍 (1979). 朝鮮歴史論集第1巻. 龍渓書舎. p. 82.