Four Commanderies of Han

The Four Commanderies of Han (Korean: 한사군; Hanja: 漢四郡) were Chinese commanderies located in the north of the Korean Peninsula and part of the Liaodong Peninsula from around the end of the second century BC through the early 4th AD, for the longest lasting.[1][2] The commanderies were set up to control the populace in the former Gojoseon area as far south as the Han River, with a core area at Lelang near present-day Pyongyang[3] by Emperor Wu of the Han dynasty in early 2nd century BC after his conquest of Wiman Joseon. As such, these commanderies are seen as Chinese colonies by some scholars. Though disputed by North Korean scholars, Western sources generally describe the Lelang Commandery as existing within the Korean peninsula, and extend the rule of the four commanderies as far south as the Han River.[3][4] However, South Korean scholars assumed its administrative areas to Pyongan and Hwanghae provinces.[5]

Four Commanderies of Han
Part of a series on the
History of Korea
Prehistoric period
Ancient period
Gojoseon 2333 BCE (?)–108 BCE
Jin
Proto–Three Kingdoms period
Three Kingdoms period
Goguryeo 37 BCE–668 CE
Baekje 18 BCE–660 CE
Silla 57 BCE–935 CE
Gaya confederacy 42–562
Northern and Southern States period
United Silla (Unified Silla) 668–935
Balhae 698–926
Later Three Kingdoms period
Later Baekje 892–936
Taebong (Later Goguryeo) 901–918
Unified Silla (Later Silla) 668–935
Dynastic period
Goryeo 918–1392
Joseon 1392–1897
Korean Empire 1897–1910
Colonial period
Japanese rule 1910–1945
Provisional Government 1919–1948
Modern period
Military governments 1945–1948
North-South division 1945-present
* North 1948–present
* South 1948–present
Topics
Timeline

Three of the commanderies fell or retreated westward within a few decades, but the Lelang commandery remained as a center of cultural and economic exchange with successive Chinese dynasties for four centuries. At its administrative center in Lelang, the Chinese built what was in essence a Chinese city where the governor, officials, and merchants, and Chinese colonists lived. Their administration had considerable impact on the life of the native population and ultimately the very fabric of Gojoseon society became eroded.[6] Goguryeo, a later founded, mixed Koreanic and Yemaek kingdom, slowly began conquering the commanderies and eventually absorbed them into its own territory.[7]

The commanderies

A commandery that was separated out of Lelang Commandery in the later years of its history is the Daifang Commandery (帶方郡, 대방군, AD 204 ~ AD 313)

Revisionism

In the North Korean academic community and some parts of the South Korean academic community, the Han dynasty's annexation of the Korean peninsula have been denied. Proponents of this revisionist theory claim that the Han Commanderies actually existed outside of the Korean peninsula, and place them somewhere in Liaodong Commandery, China, instead.[13][14][15]

The demonization of Japanese historical and archaeological findings in Korea as imperialist forgeries owes in part to those scholars' discovery of the Lelang Commandery—by which the Han dynasty administered territory near Pyongyang—and insistence that this Chinese commandery had a major impact on the development of Korean civilization.[16] Until the North Korean challenge, it was universally accepted that Lelang was a commandery established by Emperor Wu of Han after he defeated Gojoseon in 108 BCE.[17] To deal with the Han Dynasty tombs, North Korean scholars have reinterpreted them as the remains of Gojoseon or Goguryeo.[16] For those artifacts that bear undeniable similarities to those found in Han China, they propose that they were introduced through trade and international contact, or were forgeries, and "should not by any means be construed as a basis to deny the Korean characteristics of the artifacts".[18] The North Koreans also say that there were two Lelangs, and that the Han actually administered a Lelang on the Liao River on the Liaodong peninsula, while Pyongyang was an "independent Korean state" of Lelang, which existed between the 2nd century BCE until the 3rd century CE.[17][19] The traditional view of Lelang, according to them, was expanded by Chinese chauvinists and Japanese imperialists.[17]

While promoted by the academic community of North Korea, and supported by certain writers and historians in South Korea, this theory is not recognized in the mainstream academic circles of South Korea, the United States, China, and Japan.[16][20][21][22][23]

Maps
  • Dongyi countries around the 1st century BC
  • Korea in 108 BC. Wiman Joseon before destroyed by Han dynasty
  • Han Dynasty destroys Wiman Joseon, and establishing the Four Commanderies.
  • Korea in 315. Goguryeo recovered the former Gojoseon territory.
  • Four Commanderies of Han in 1st century AD
  • Daifang Commandery in 3rd century AD

See also

Notes

    References
    1. Dane Alston. "Contested domains: The Poetic Dialogue between a Ming Emperor and a Chosŏn Envoy". Retrieved 2 April 2012.
    2. Lim Jie-Hyun. "The Antagonistic Complicity of Nationalisms". Retrieved 2 April 2012.
    3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-06-25. Retrieved 2015-06-15.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
    4. Carter J. Eckert, el., "Korea, Old and New: History", 1990, pp. 13
    5. Yi Pyong-do, 《The studies of the Korean history》 Part 2, Researches of problems of the Han commanderies, PYbook, 1976, 148 p
    6. Eckert, Carter J.; el. (1990). Korea, Old and New: A History. p. 14. ISBN 978-0962771309.
    7. 'Ki-Baik Lee', "A New History of Korea", 1984 Harvard University Press, page 24'
    8. 《前漢書》卷二十八〈地理志〉第八：“樂浪郡，武帝元封三年開。莽曰樂鮮。屬幽州。戶六萬二千八百一十二，口四十萬六千七百四十八。有雲鄣。縣二十五：朝鮮；□邯；浿水，水西至增地入海，莽曰樂鮮亭；含資，帶水西至帶方入海；黏蟬；遂成；增地，莽曰增土；帶方；駟望；海冥，莽曰海桓；列口；長岑；屯有；昭明，高部都尉治；鏤方；提奚；渾彌；吞列，分黎山，列水所出，西至黏蟬入海，行八百二十里；東暆；不而，東部都尉治；蠶台；華麗；邪頭昧；前莫；夫租。”Wikisource: the Book of Han, volume 28-2
    9. 玄菟郡，武帝元封四年開。高句驪，莽曰下句驪。屬幽州。戶四萬五千六。口二十二萬一千八百四十五。縣三：高句驪，遼山，遼水所出，西南至遼隊入大遼水。又有南蘇水，西北經塞外。上殷台，莽曰下殷。西蓋馬。馬訾水西北入鹽難水，西南至西安平入海，過郡二，行二千一百里。莽曰玄菟亭。Wikisource: the Book of Han, volume 28-2
    10. 通典 邊防 朝鮮 武帝元封三年、遣樓船將軍楊僕從齊浮渤海、兵五萬、左將軍荀彘出遼東、討之。朝鮮人相與殺王右渠来降。遂以朝鮮為真蕃、臨屯、楽浪、玄菟四郡。今悉為東夷之地。昭帝時罷臨屯、真蕃以并楽浪、玄菟。
    11. 《三國志》卷30 魏書 烏丸鮮卑東夷傳 穢 自單單大山領以西屬樂浪、自領以東七縣、都尉主之、皆以濊為民。後省都尉、封其渠帥為侯、今不耐濊皆其種也。漢末更屬句麗。Wikisource: the Records of Three Kingdoms, volume 30
    12. 《後漢書》卷85 東夷列傳 濊 至元封三年、滅朝鮮、分置樂浪・臨屯・玄菟・真番四郡。至昭帝始元五年、罷臨屯・真番、以并樂浪・玄菟。玄菟復徙居句驪、自單單大領已東、沃沮・濊貊悉屬樂浪。後以境土廣遠、復分領東七縣、置樂浪東部都尉。the Book of Later Han, volume 85
    13. "매국사학의 몸통들아, 공개토론장으로 나와라!". ngonews. 2015-12-24. Archived from the original on 2016-09-19.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
    14. "요서 vs 평양… 한무제가 세운 낙랑군 위치 놓고 열띤 토론". Segye Ilbo. 2016-08-21. Archived from the original on 2017-04-13.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
    15. ""갈석산 동쪽 요서도 고조선 땅" vs "고고학 증거와 불일치"". The Dong-a Ilbo. 2016-08-22. Retrieved 2017-04-14.
    16. Pai, Hyung Il (2000), Constructing "Korean" Origins: A Critical Review of Archaeology, Historiography, and Racial Myth in Korean State Formation Theories, Harvard University Asia Center, pp. 127–129, ISBN 9780674002449
    17. Ch'oe, Yŏng-ho (1980), "An Outline History of Korean Historiography", Korean Studies, 4: 23–25, doi:10.1353/ks.1980.0003, S2CID 162859304
    18. Ch'oe (1980), p. 509
    19. Armstrong, Charles K. (1995), "Centering the Periphery: Manchurian Exile(s) and the North Korean State", Korean Studies, 19: 11–12, doi:10.1353/ks.1995.0017, S2CID 154659765
    20. United States Congress (2016). North Korea: A Country Study. Nova Science Publishers. p. 6. ISBN 978-1590334430.
    21. Connor, Edgar V. (2003). Korea: Current Issues and Historical Background. Nova Science Publishers. p. 112. ISBN 978-1590334430.
    22. Kim, Jinwung (2012). A History of Korea: From "Land of the Morning Calm" to States in Conflict. Indiana University Press. p. 18. ISBN 978-0253000248.
    23. Lee, Peter H. (1993). Sourcebook of Korean Civilization. Columbia University Press. p. 227. ISBN 978-0231079129.
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