Recently, the popularity of "Chosin Lake" has made the Korean War a hot topic again. Before and after the Korean War, the status quo of North and South Korea did not change, and the dividing line between the two countries was maintained at the "38th Line". Many times, people see the "38th Line" as a symbol of the division between the two Koreas, but from another point of view, the existence of the "38th Line" is also a symbol of North Korea's renewed independence.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="3" >, North Korea was originally the national power of China</h1>
Many now think that North and South Korea were originally one country, but the roots of history are more complicated. North Korea and South Korea, in English, are one word, that is, "Korea", which is a transliteration of the word "Goryeo". In Chinese, North Korea and South Korea are different words, indicating that China is able to distinguish the difference between North Korea and South Korea.
North Korea originally referred to the northern part of the peninsula. After the fall of the Shang Dynasty, its remnants returned to the northeast under the leadership of Miko and established a new state in the northern part of the peninsula, known in history as "Mizi Korea", which was the beginning of the founding of Korea. The Shangshu Biography records that Jizi accepted the canonization of King Wu of Zhou, and formally, Joseon was also one of the princes of the Zhou Dynasty.
North Korea means "asahi", that is, a place facing the sun. Zhang Yan of the Three Kingdoms period commented: "Korea has wet water, water, and shan water, and the three waters are combined into water, and the name of the Korean song is also here." "The water here is also known as the Datong River, which is located in the northern part of the peninsula. The Classic of Mountains and Seas also records the location of Korea, the Hai Nei Jing has: "Within the East Sea, the corner of the North Sea, there is a country name known as Joseon", and the Hai Nei North Classic has: "Korea is in the east of Lieyang, south of Haibei Mountain, and Lieyang belongs to Yan." ”
Three dynasties have emerged in the history of Korea. In the early western Han Dynasty, many Yandi people poured into Korea. In 195 BC, Liu Bei attacked the Yan king Lu Xie, who fled to the Xiongnu, and his general Wei Man also defected to Korea. The following year, Wei Manchu staged a coup d'état, overthrowing Miko Joseon and establishing a new dynasty, known in history as "Wei Joseon". After the establishment of the Wei Dynasty, it befriended the Han Dynasty and became a vassal state of the Han Dynasty.
During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, there were contradictions between Korea and the Han Dynasty. In 107 BC, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent troops to destroy Korea, and set up Lelang County, Xuanyu County, Zhenfan County, and Lintun County, collectively known as the "Four Counties of Han". I believe that "Han Four Counties" should be changed to "Four Counties of Korea" to clarify its geographical location. This was the first time in history that Korea was incorporated into the territory of the Central Plains Dynasty.
In the late Western Han Dynasty, the Buyeo people in the northeast established the Goguryeo state, which continued to expand in liaodong and Korea. By the time of the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Goguryeo had completely occupied Liaodong and Korea. Goguryeo was also renamed "Goryeo" during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, becoming its official national name. Goryeo, the third dynasty in Korean history.
From Miko Joseon to Wei Joseon to the Goryeo Kingdom, the three dynasties of Joseon were founded Chinese. Therefore, North Korea is the national power in China's history, and this statement is not problematic.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="52" > two, South Korea originated south of the 38th Line</h1>
The origins of South korea and North Korea are completely different. In ancient times, the southern part of the peninsula lived three tribes of Mahan, Chenhan and Benhan, collectively known as the "Three Koreas", which are the origin of the Korean nation and Korea. After Mizi Korea was destroyed by Wei Man, Wang Zhun led the remnants of his forces to flee south to the Mahan region, proclaiming himself "King of Han". After that, it entered the Samhan region, bringing advanced culture and technology, and accelerating the development of the Samhan region.
After the demise of the quasi-established Korea, the Mahan people established themselves as the King of Chen, and began the history of the founding of the Korean people. In the early days, the Three Han and Han Dynasties maintained a tributary trade and were nominally under the jurisdiction of Lelang and other counties. After the fall of the Buyeo state in northeastern China, its remnants entered the Mahan region and established the "Baekje State".
The first Korean dynasty in history was Silla. Silla is derived from Tatsuhan in the "Three Koreas". According to the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, Tatsuhan was divided into twelve "kingdoms", one of which was called "Sulu Kingdom", which was the predecessor of Silla. In 57 BC, Park Hyuk-ju-ju-seokhan established the Hsu Navar Tribal Alliance, the predecessor of Silla. The three clans of Pu, Xi, and Kim took turns as chiefs, and these three surnames are still very numerous in Korea. In the 4th century, the kingdom of Sulu unified Tatsuhan and officially named it Silla.
The first three kingdoms
After the establishment of Silla, it clashed with Goryeo and Baekje. In order to deal with Goryeo and Baekje, Silla and Tang formed an alliance. In 668, Goryeo was conquered by the Tang Dynasty and Silla, and its land was divided between the two countries. However, Silla was not satisfied with occupying the southern part of the peninsula, and after the Tang Dynasty established the Andong Protectorate, Silla secretly united with the restoration forces in Goryeo and launched a war against the Tang Dynasty, which eventually forced the Tang Dynasty to withdraw from Korea, and the Andong Protectorate also moved inland to Liaodong. Since then, the Tang Dynasty and Silla have been bounded by the Taedong River, and Silla has also become a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty.
Map of Silla and bohai
The second dynasty in Korean history was the Goryeo Dynasty. In the 9th century, Silla went into decline, and gradually there was a confrontation between Silla, Later Goryeo and Later Baekje, known historically as the "Later Three Kingdoms". The founder of The Later Goryeo here was Wang Jian, who divided the original Korean region, that is, the Goryeo region, so he established the name of the country as "Goryeo". Xu Xi, the minister at the time, said: "Our country is the old name of Goguryeo, so it is called Goryeo." Later Goryeo later unified the peninsula and became the second dynasty of Korea.
After the unification of Goryeo, it continued to expand its territory, moving the territorial line north to the Area of the Cheongcheon River, and building the "Great Wall of a Thousand Miles" to resist liaojin. By the time of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty, Later Goryeo was conquered and reduced to a vassal state of the Yuan Dynasty, and even set up a province of Conquest of the East. However, at the turn of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, Later Goryeo got rid of the control of the Yuan Dynasty and continued to expand its territory northward, moving the border north to the Yalu River. Under the expansion of Later Goryeo, the Ming Dynasty's Tieling Wei was forced to move inward to Liaodong.
Post-Goryeo expansion
As a result, south Korea has been expanding northward since its founding, eventually annexing the entire Korean region. The result of South Korea's annexation of North Korea was the gradual Koreanization of the Korean nation, and at the same time, South Korean historians incorporated the historical and cultural system of Korea into South Korea. For example, Wang Jian of South Korea used "Goryeo" as the country name, which is a sign of acceptance of North Korean history. However, this behavior caused great misunderstanding for many people in later generations, making it difficult to understand the difference between South Korea and North Korea, and between pre-Goryeo and post-Goryeo.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="54" > why South Korea became "North Korea."</h1>
In 1392, the general Lee Sung-gyu replaced Goryeo and established a new dynasty, with its capital at Hanyang (Seoul). Li Chenggui was proclaimed queen and established diplomatic relations with the Ming Dynasty. At that time, Li Chenggui proposed that the country name be "Joseon" or "Hening", and asked Zhu Yuanzhang to decide. With a wave of his characters, Zhu Yuanzhang gave the word "Joseon" to Li Chenggui and wrote: "King Wang Of Goryeo, shishou Joseon...", from then on, this Lee dynasty was also known as "Joseon".
Zhu Yuanzhang's sending of his name reminds me of another similar thing. In 1802, the Nguyen Dynasty of Vietnam wrote to the Qing Dynasty, requesting that "South Vietnam" be used as the name of the country. The Jiaqing Emperor looked at it and thought that South Vietnam had been The land of China since ancient times, so how could he give this number to Vietnam? Therefore, with "Vietnam" as its name, meaning "South of South Vietnam", Vietnam became part of South Vietnam. It can be seen that in the matter of giving the name of the country, the Jiaqing Emperor was wiser than Zhu Yuanzhang.
Zhu Yuanzhang established the Lee Dynasty as "Korea", which caused confusion in the meaning of the names of Korea and North Korea, and had a great influence on modern China. Now, in order to distinguish between historical North Korea and South Korea, we tend to call North Korea "ancient Korea." After the establishment of the Li Dynasty, it continued to expand northward, occupying the land south of the Tumen River, and the Yongle Emperor of the Ming Dynasty could only admit it. Since then, China and South Korea have been bounded by the Yalu River and the Tumen River. Because South Korea inherited the Korean historical system, some people in South Korea claimed that the liaodong occupied by the former Goryeo in history, the upper reaches of the Songhua River, and even the entire northeast were Korean land.
In modern times, South Korea has encountered Japanese invasions and has begun to get rid of China's control. Under the influence of Western national consciousness, South Korea began to abandon the name of North Korea and re-adopt "Korea" as the name of the country. At that time, Emperor Gaozong of the Li Dynasty was very dissatisfied with the "King of Joseon" who was crowned by China and wanted to be proclaimed emperor. After the Sino-Japanese War, the king of the Lee Dynasty arrogantly claimed the title of Emperor of Joseon. In 1897, the Lee Dynasty officially changed the name of the country to "Korean Empire", but it was not long before the so-called "Korean Empire" was annexed by Japan.
Japan occupies Korea
During the Japanese occupation, Korean resistance forces established the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea in China, and later, with the help of the United States, occupied the south of the 38th Parallel, which is now South Korea, in 1948. Kim Il Sung, who was born in Pyongyang, North Korea, grew up and studied in China and later became a mid-level officer in the Anti-Japanese Coalition Army in northeast China. After the end of the War of Resistance, with the help of the Soviet Union, Kim Il Sung entered Korea and established the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Judging from Kim Il Sung's personal experience, he is more like a Chinese, but he is a single independent country later, which is more similar to the experience of Miko and Wei Man.
Many people think that the existence of North and South Korea is a divisive phenomenon. I believe that this is not a split, it is that South Korea has lost the land it invaded and North Korea has regained its independence. If we look at the map, we will find that the 38th Line seems to have existed since ancient times, and Korea and South Korea have been located in the north and south of the peninsula since ancient times.