''Hwandan Gogi'' (
Hangul
The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The let ...
: 환단고기;
Hanja
Hanja (Hangul: ; Hanja: , ), alternatively known as Hancha, are Chinese characters () used in the writing of Korean. Hanja was used as early as the Gojoseon period, the first ever Korean kingdom.
(, ) refers to Sino-Korean vocabulary, wh ...
: 桓檀古記), also called ''Handan Gogi'', is a compilation of texts on ancient
Korea
Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...
n history. It is a bound volume of four supposedly historical records: ''Samseonggi'', ''Dangun Segi'', Bukbuyeogi and Taebaek Ilsa.
According to its introduction, the text was compiled in 1911 by Gye Yeon-su (계연수, 桂延壽; ? – 1920) and supervised by Yi Gi (이기, 李沂; 1848 –1909). The entire set of texts, of which the only extant version is a modern transcription by Yi Yu-rip published in 1979, is widely regarded as a forgery among academics.
Contents
The four books comprising the ''Hwandan Gogi'' are:
*''Samseonggi'' (two volumes), describing ancient kingdoms called
Hwan-guk that lasted for 3301 years, and
Hwanung
Hwanung (Korean for the "Supreme Divine Regent") is an important figure in the mythological origins of Korea. He plays a central role in the story of Dangun Wanggeom (단군왕검/), the legendary founder of Gojoseon, the first kingdom of Korea. ...
's 1565-year rule of
Baedalguk(倍達國).
*''Dangun Segi'' (Hangul: 단군세기; Hanja: 檀君世紀), chronicling the history of
Gojoseon
Gojoseon () also called Joseon (), was the first kingdom on the Korean Peninsula. According to Korean mythology, the kingdom was established by the legendary founder named Dangun. Gojoseon possessed the most advanced culture in the Korean Pen ...
with 47 generations of
Dangun
Dangun (; ) or Dangun Wanggeom (; ) was the legendary founder and god-king of Gojoseon, the first Korean kingdom, around present-day Liaoning province in Northeast China and the northern part of the Korean Peninsula. He is said to be the "gran ...
rulers.
*''Bukbuyeogi'', describing the six kings of Bukbuyeo (North
Buyeo
Buyeo or Puyŏ (Korean: 부여; Korean pronunciation: u.jʌ or 扶餘 ''Fúyú''), also rendered as Fuyu, was an ancient kingdom that was centered in northern Manchuria in modern-day northeast China. It is sometimes considered a Korean ki ...
).
*''Taebaek Ilsa'', describing the histories of
Hwan-guk,
Baedalguk,
Samjoseon,
Goguryeo
Goguryeo (37 BC–668 AD) ( ) also called Goryeo (), was a Korean kingdom located in the northern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula and the southern and central parts of Northeast China. At its peak of power, Goguryeo controlled most ...
,
Balhae
Balhae ( ko, 발해, zh, c=渤海, p=Bóhǎi, russian: Бохай, translit=Bokhay, ), also rendered as Bohai, was a multi-ethnic kingdom whose land extends to what is today Northeast China, the Korean Peninsula and the Russian Far East. It wa ...
, and
Goryeo
Goryeo (; ) was a Korean kingdom founded in 918, during a time of national division called the Later Three Kingdoms period, that unified and ruled the Korean Peninsula until 1392. Goryeo achieved what has been called a "true national unificati ...
; also includes the text of
Cheonbu-gyeong.
Dispute regarding authenticity
Support
Some historians view the ''Hwandan Gogi'' as worthy of further scholarly scrutiny, believing that it is at least partly based on historically valuable, ancient (if not literally accurate) texts.
* The record that five stars were arranged in straight line at 1733 BCE (오성취루, 五星聚婁). This astronomical record in ''Hwandan Gogi'' was proven by Professor Park Changbeom, who published his findings in a journal. They show that the five stars were arranged in straight line at 1734 BCE with the assumption that
Gojoseon
Gojoseon () also called Joseon (), was the first kingdom on the Korean Peninsula. According to Korean mythology, the kingdom was established by the legendary founder named Dangun. Gojoseon possessed the most advanced culture in the Korean Pen ...
was established at 2333 BCE.
* Law Professor Junhwan Go asserts several reasons why the ''Hwandan Gogi'' is considerable.
*The territory of
Gojoseon
Gojoseon () also called Joseon (), was the first kingdom on the Korean Peninsula. According to Korean mythology, the kingdom was established by the legendary founder named Dangun. Gojoseon possessed the most advanced culture in the Korean Pen ...
described in ''Hwandan Gogi'' accords with the distribution area of
the mandolin-shaped dagger of Gojoseon. Moreover, this territory as advocated by Yoon et al. and
Yi Byeongdo
Yi Pyong-do (April 28, 1896 – August 14, 1989) was one of the influential Korean historians but he was also associated with the Japanese view of Korean history.
Japanese collaboration controversy
After the South Korean liberation from the ...
coincides with the territory described in ''Hwandan Gogi''.
Criticism
Most historians in
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
,
North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...
and
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
generally consider the text to have been created in recent times, because of the following reasons:
* There are words from modern language. (for example, '男女平權; the equality of man and woman', '父權; paternal rights')
* The route through which ''Hwandangogi'' was first published is not clear.
** An Ham-ro and Won Dong-jung, the writers of Samsseonggi, are not actual people.
** Yi Gi could not have supervised the ''Hwandangogi'' which was first compiled in 1911, because he was already dead by 1909.
** The contents of ''Cheonbu Gyeong'' could not be included in ''Taebaek Ilsa'' before 1911 because the ''Cheonbu Gyeong'' was first discovered and known to the Daejonggyo in 1916 by Gae Yeonsu, the person who compiled ''Hwandan Gogi''.
** Gae Yeonsu, the person who compiled Hwandan Gogi may not exist. None of reliable historical records support his existence.
** The 1911 edition (or any edition before 1979) has not been found. Yi Yu-rip announced that the 1911 edition was burned during
Korean War
, date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
or the edition was lost by flood. Yi Yu-rip announced that he have restored Hwandan Gogi with his own memory. There is no proof that Yi Yu-rip's memory is perfect.
Other criticisms made on a South Korean television show include unrealistic descriptions found in the texts, for example:
* When calculating with modern measures, Hwan-guk is said to have spanned
north pole
The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distinguish from the Mag ...
to
south pole
The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole, Terrestrial South Pole or 90th Parallel South, is one of the two points where Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on Earth and lies antipod ...
* Rulers of Baedal are said to have lived regularly for 120–150 years
Am-Ro Ahn ed., Handan Gogi
/ref>
* Hwan-guk is said to had several bureaucratic systems during stone age
* Some articles in Hwandan Gogi contradicts each other
See also
* '' Gyuwon Sahwa''
References
* 계연수(이유립 복원본), 환단고기, 한뿌리 출판사, 2005
*
환단고기(桓檀古記)』에 대한 새로운 이해
, Land Portal
* 정영훈(The Academy of Korean Studies 한국학중앙연구원)
'환단고기' 토대로 상고사 연구 보류해야 - 검증안 된 내용 왜곡 우려
The Cheju National University Press 제주대 신문, 2004-03-31
* 김정배, 한국사 권4 - 초기국가 – 고조선.부여.삼한, National Institute of Korean History 국사편찬위원회, 1997. pp. 53
* 안창범(제주대 명예교수)
桓檀古記 僞書論 批判, 한국종교사연구 통권 제10호 (2002. 2)
* 이도학(한양대 강사), 桓檀古記, 민족지성 9('86.11), 民族知性社
* 조인성, 韓末 檀君關係史書의 再檢討 :《神檀實記》·《檀奇古史》·《桓檀古記》를 中心으로, 국사관논총 제3집, National Institute of Korean History 국사편찬위원회, 1969.10
* 한영우(서울대 국사학과 교수) 외, 행촌 이암의 생애와 사상, 일지사, 2002
* 이상시(변호사), 檀君實史에 관한 文獻考證, 고려원, 1990
* 송호수(Baylor Univ. a professor emeritus), 韓民族의 뿌리思想, 가나출판사, 1985
* 金庠基, 李海鶴의 生涯와 思想에 대하여, 李瑄根華甲紀念論叢, 1965
* 전병훈, 정신철학 통편(精神哲學 通編), 1919
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Pseudohistory
History books about Korea
1979 books
Dangun
Identity politics in Korea
Korean false documents