Old Chosŏn

There are three different main founding myths concerning Old Chosŏn, which revolve around Tan'gun, Gija, or Wi Man. Tan'gun myth of Baekdu Mountain, where Dangun's father is said to have descended from heaven|alt= The myths revolving around Tan'gun were recorded in the later Korean work Samguk yusa of the 13th century. This work states that Tan'gun, the offspring of a heavenly prince and a bear-woman, founded Old Chosŏn in 2333 BC, and was succeeded by Gija (Jizi) after King Wu of Zhou had placed him onto the throne in 1122 BC. While the Tan'gun story is considered to be a myth, it is believed it is a mythical synthesis of a series of historical events relating to the founding of Old Chosŏn. There are various theories on the origin of this myth. Seo and Kang (2002) believe the Tan'gun myth is based on integration of two different tribes, an invasive sky-worshipping Bronze Age tribe and a native bear-worshipping neolithic tribe, that led to the foundation of Old Chosŏn. Lee K. B. (1984) believes 'Tan'gun-wanggeom' was a title borne by successive leaders of Old Chosŏn. Tan'gun is said to have founded Old Chosŏn around 2333 BC, based on the descriptions of the Samguk yusa, Jewang Ungi, ''Tongguk t'onggam and the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty''. The date differs among historical sources, although all of them put it during the mythical Emperor Yao's reign (traditional dates: 2357 BC? – 2256 BC?). Samguk yusa says Tan'gun ascended to the throne in the 50th year of the legendary Yao's reign, Annals of the King Sejong says the first year, and ''Tongguk t'onggam'' says the 25th year. In the 7th century BC, the Yan pioneered the Northeast regions. According to The Growth of Yan and The Context of Guanzi, it can be presumed that Old Chosŏn grew through trade in this era. It is estimated that Old Chosŏn developed so far as to be able to wage war against the Yan in the 4th century BC. Gija myth Gija, a man from the period of the Shang dynasty, allegedly fled to the Korean peninsula in 1122 BCduring the fall of the Shang to the Zhou dynasty and founded Gija Joseon. Gija Joseon is recognized and mentioned in the earliest surviving Chinese record, Records of the Three Kingdoms. No contemporary Korean sources existed for Kija Chosŏn, and the oldest sources produced in Korea were from the Goryeo dynasty. The earliest Korean record about Kija Chosŏn can be seen from Samguk Yusa. By the middle of Goryeo dynasty, a state cult had developed around Gija. Many modern experts have denied Gija Joseon's existence for various reasons, mainly due to contradicting archaeological evidence and anachronistic historical evidence. Gija Joseon might have just existed as a symbol of the pre-Qin dynasty migrants who escaped the chaos of the Warring States period. Wi Man Wi Man was a military officer of the Yan of northeastern China who fled to the northern Korean peninsula in 195 BCfrom the encroaching Han dynasty. Academic perspectives Old Chosŏn mythology and history can be divided into three phases, Tan'gun, Gija Joseon, and Wi Man Joseon. • Kim C.W. (1966), Han W.K. (1970), Choi M.L. (1983, 1984, 1985, 1992), Han W.K. (1984), Kim J.B. (1987), Lee K.B. (1984) accepted Wi Man as a historical figure. Controversies The first extant Korean text to mention Kija (the Korean pronunciation of Jizi) was Kim Pusik's Samguk sagi (completed in 1145), which claimed that Kija had been enfeoffed in Haedong (: Korea) by the Zhou court, but commented that this account was uncertain because of the brevity of the sources. Only in the thirteenth century did Korean texts start to integrate Kija more fully into Korean history. The Samguk yusa (1281) explained that after being enfeoffed by King Wu of Zhou, Kija replaced Dangun's descendants as the ruler of Old Chosŏn, whereas Jewang Ungi (1287) identified Tan'gun and Kija as the first rulers of former and latter Joseon respectively.Sadang for Kija called Kijasa () was also built in Pyongyang. The mausoleum was rebuilt in 1324 and was repaired in 1355, but the cult of Kija spread most widely after the establishment of the Joseon Dynasty in 1392. Because Joseon's state ideology was Neo-Confucianism borrowed from China, Joseon intellectuals promoted Kija as a culture hero who had raised Korean civilization to the same level as China. By the mid-Joseon dynasty, the established view among historians traced Korean origins to Chinese refugees, considering Korean history that of a long series of kingdoms connected with China. As such, the Gija Joseon and Silla states were valorized, while the Old Chosŏn and Goguryeo states were not considered as important. According to this view, the first state in Korea, Gija Joseon, was founded by Jizi in 1122 BC, who was a disgruntled Chinese advisor to the Shang dynasty. The story of how he brought poetry, music, medicine, trade, and a political system to the Korean peninsula was conceived similarly to the proposed Founding of Rome by the Trojan refugee Aeneas. But by the 1930s, under the influence of Shin Chaeho's histories, the Jizi Korean founding story became less popular than that of Tan'gun, the son of a tiger and a bear – the latter being common in Japanese folklore – who brought civilization to the Korean peninsula. but attacked pre-annexation textbook narratives of Tan'gun which portrayed him as the brother of the Japanese god Susanoo. To Shin, Tan'gun was both the founder of the Korean minjok and the first Korean state (kuk), and thus the necessary starting point for Korean history. In response to a challenge by the Japanese scholars Shiratori Kurakichi and Imanishi Ryū of Tan'gun as a fabrication by the author of the Samguk yusa, nationalist historian Choe Nam-seon attacked Japanese mythology as being built upon fabrications. By focusing on a mythological god which founded a "sacred race" (shinsŏng chongjok), Korean nationalist historiography aims to portray ancient Korea as a golden age of "gods and heroes" where Korea's cultural achievements rivaled those of China and Japan. Accordingly, Shin Chaeho elevated Tan'gun to play a similar role as did the Yellow Emperor in China and which Amaterasu does in Japan. Choe Nam-seon, according to his , places Tan'gun even above the Chinese and Japanese emperors, because those rulers were supposedly Shamanistic rulers of the ancient Korean "Părk" tradition. The Tan'gun story also lends credence to claims that Korean heritage is over 5000 years old. According to Hyung Il Pai, the popularity of Tan'gun studies can be said to "reflect the progressively ultra-nationalistic trend in Korean historical and archaeological scholarship today". Shin Chaeho named Mount Paektu in the Changbai Mountains on the Sino-Korean border as a part of Korean heritage, by virtue of connection with the mythical Tan'gun. The mountain, however, was also claimed by the Manchus of the Qing dynasty as part of their origin myth at least since the 17th century, and the mountain range is considered sacred in Han Chinese culture as well. This nationalist identification of Baekdu with Koreans was cemented by the operation of Korean independence movement partisans operating from the Chinese border and legitimized with associations to the history of the Old Chosŏn and Balhae states. The Chinese civilizational connection to ancient Korea continues to be attacked by North Korean historians, who allege that the history of Gija Joseon was "viciously distorted by the feudal ruling class, the sadaejuui followers, and the big-power chauvinists". ==State formation==

The first mentions of Old Chosŏn are found in historical records of Guanzi. It locates Old Chosŏn around Bohai Bay and mentions the state trading with Qi (齊) of China. The Zhanguoce, Shanhaijing, and Shiji—containing some of its earliest records—refers to Joseon as a region, until the text Shiji began referring it as a country from 195 BCE onwards. By the 4th century BC, other states with defined political structures developed in the areas of the earlier Bronze Age "walled-town states"; Old Chosŏn was the most advanced of them in the peninsular region. Records of that time mention the hostility between the feudal state in Northern China and the "confederated" kingdom of Old Chosŏn. Notably, a plan to attack the Yan beyond the Liao River frontier is recorded. This confrontation led to the decline and eventual downfall of Old Chosŏn, described in Yan records as "arrogant" and "cruel". But the ancient kingdom also appears as a prosperous Bronze Age civilization with a complex social structure, including a class of horse-riding warriors who contributed to the development of Old Chosŏn and its northern expansion into most of the Liaodong basin. Around 300 BC, Old Chosŏn lost significant western territory after a war with the Yan state, but this indicates Old Chosŏn was already a large enough state that it could wage war against the Yan and survive the loss of 2000 li (800 kilometers) of territory. Old Chosŏn is thought to have relocated its capital to the Pyongyang region around this time. Wi Man later rebelled in 194 BCE and usurped the throne of Old Chosŏn. King Jun fled to Jin in the south of the Korean Peninsula. In 109 BC, Emperor Wu of Han invaded near the Liao River. In response, Emperor Wu commissioned a two-pronged attack, one by land and one by sea, against Old Chosŏn. Old Chosŏn disintegrated by the 1st century BCas it gradually lost the control of its former fiefs. Many successor states sprang from its former territory, such as Buyeo, Okjeo, Dongye. Goguryeo and Baekje arose out from Buyeo. ==Culture==

Around 2000 BC, a new pottery culture of painted and chiseled design was developed. These people practiced agriculture in a settled communal life, probably organized into familial clans. Rectangular huts and increasingly larger dolmen burial sites were found throughout the peninsula. Bronze daggers and mirrors have been excavated, and there is archaeological evidence of small walled-town states in this period. Dolmens and bronze daggers found in the area are uniquely Korean and cannot be found in China. A few dolmens are found in China, mostly in the Shandong province. Mumun pottery In the Mumun pottery period (1500 – 300 BC), plain coarse pottery replaced earlier comb-pattern wares, possibly as a result of the influence of new populations migrating to Korea from Manchuria and Siberia. This type of pottery typically has thicker walls and displays a wider variety of shapes, indicating improvements in kiln technology. Although the Korean Bronze Age culture derives from the Liaoning and Manchuria, it exhibits unique typology and styles, especially in ritual objects. By the 7th century BC, a Bronze Age material culture with influences from Manchuria, eastern Mongolia, as well as Siberia and Scythian bronze styles, flourished on the peninsula. Korean bronzes contain a higher percentage of zinc than those of the neighboring bronze cultures. Bronze artifacts, found most frequently in burial sites, consist mainly of swords, spears, daggers, small bells, and mirrors decorated with geometric patterns. Gojoseon's development seems linked to the adoption of bronze technology. Its singularity finds its most notable expression in the idiosyncratic type of bronze swords, or "mandolin-shaped daggers" (). The mandolin-shape dagger is found in the regions of Liaoning, Hebei, and Manchuria down to the Korean Peninsula. It suggests the existence of Old Chosŏn dominions. Remarkably, the shape of the "mandolin" dagger of Old Chosŏn differs significantly from the sword artifacts found in China. Tombs Dolmen tombs Megalithic dolmens appear in Korean peninsula and Manchuria around 2000 BCto 400 BC. Around 900 BC, burial practices become more elaborate, a reflection of increasing social stratification. Goindol, the dolmen tombs in Korea and Manchuria, comprising upright stones supporting a horizontal slab, are more numerous in Korea than in other parts of East Asia. Other new forms of burial are stone cists (underground burial chambers lined with stone) and earthenware jar coffins. The bronze objects, pottery, and jade ornaments recovered from dolmens and stone cists indicate that such tombs were reserved for the elite class. Around the 6th century BC, burnished red wares, made of a fine iron-rich clay and characterized by a smooth, lustrous surface, appear in dolmen tombs, as well as in domestic bowls and cups. Gangsang and Nusang tombs are considered to be burial cairn tombs of local nobilities of Old Chosŏn. Some consider the tombs as the evidences of the slavery that could have existed, but others find that the evidences are inadequate and lacking to deduce such conclusion. Iron culture Around this time, the state of Jin occupied the southern part of the Korean peninsula. Very little is known about this state except that it was the apparent predecessor to the Samhan confederacies. Around 300 BC, iron technology was introduced into Korea from Yan state. Iron was produced locally in the southern part of the peninsula by the 2nd century BC. According to Chinese accounts, iron from the lower Nakdong River in the southeast was valued throughout the peninsula and Japan. The poetry is as follows: 公無渡河 "Don't cross the river, my love." 公竟渡河 "My love eventually crossed the river.' 墮河而死 "Now that my love is drowned," 當奈公何 "There's nothing that I can do." ==Proto–Three Kingdoms of Korea==

Numerous small states and confederations arose from the remnants of Old Chosŏn, including Goguryeo, the Buyeo kingdom, Okjeo, and Dongye. Three of the Chinese commanderies fell to local resistance within a few decades, but the last, Nakrang, remained an important commercial and cultural outpost until it was destroyed by the expanding Goguryeo in 313 AD. Jun of Gojoseon is said to have fled to the state of Jin in the southern Korean Peninsula. Jin developed into the Samhan confederacies, the beginnings of Baekje and Silla, continuing to absorb migration from the north. The Samhan confederacies were Mahan, Jinhan, and Byeonhan. King Jun ruled Mahan, which was eventually annexed by Baekje. Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla gradually grew into the Three Kingdoms of Korea that dominated the entire peninsula by around the 4th century. ==See also==