[Book Sip] "Yang Manchun, Hero of the Battle of Ansi Fortress, Is a Fictional Character"

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As the fourth volume in the ‘Gukhak Series’ compiled by the Foundation for Korean History Research, this book examines the history of our nation through China’s “official histories (正史).” It introduces the appearances of Goryeo, Baekje, and Silla through the “Dongyi” and “Beojeok” chapters included in the Old Book of Tang (Jiu Tang Shu), and covers the chronology, geography, customs, diplomatic exchanges, and wars involving Balhae and Malgal in the “Beoyi” chapter. Additionally, it verifies historical sites that have been subjects of debate in ancient Korean-Chinese history, such as Goguryeo’s Liaodong Fortress and Ansi Fortress, Baekje’s Churisan and Ongsan Fortress, Silla’s Deokmuldo, and Balhae’s Dongmosan. The location of Liaodong, the battleground of the Goguryeo-Tang wars, is newly explained as the border area between Hebei Province and Liaoning Province, rather than the central Liao River basin in Liaoning Province as previously thought. All 25 official Chinese histories will be introduced sequentially.

“East of the Yalu River,” that is Liaodong (遼東), referred to the area east of Shanhaiguan Pass (山海關) during the Ming and Qing dynasties! The historical perception that the Liaodong Peninsula, located much further east, was Liaodong is a fabricated illusion that suddenly emerged only about 100 years ago. (p. 147)

The hero of the Ansi Fortress (安市城) battle, Yang Manchun (楊萬春), was a fictional character created by later generations! He first appeared under the name “Liang Manchun (梁萬春)” in the 16th-century Ming dynasty historical novel Tang Shu Zhi Zhuan Tong Su Yan Yi (唐書志傳通俗演義), and transcending time and space, he was eventually ingrained as a real war hero of the 7th-century Ansi Fortress. (p. 140)

According to a secret pact between Tang Taizong Li Shimin (李世民) and Silla’s King Muyeol Kim Chunchu (金春秋), the Goguryeo territory “south of the Paegang River (浿江以南)” acquired by Silla was land south of the Liaodong Peninsula! Previous interpretations that located it south of Pyongyang City in Pyongan Province are incorrect. (p. 304)

The Magyars who founded Hungary in Eastern Europe were a branch of the Malgal (靺鞨), who were part of Goguryeo! American scholar Zhu Xueyuan (朱學淵) argued in Qin Shi Huang Was a Jurchen Who Spoke Mongolian that the Magyars were descendants of the Goguryeo Malgal who migrated westward after Goguryeo’s fall. (p. 363)

According to the epitaph of Yeon Nam-saeng, son of Yeon Gaesomun, discovered in 1922, Cheon Nam-saeng Epitaph (泉男生墓誌銘) (7th century), the Yeon clan’s ancestral land and Goguryeo’s capital Pyongyang Fortress (平壤城) were located in “Liaodong Commandery (遼東郡)”! This means that present-day Pyongyang City in Pyongan Province was not Goguryeo’s Pyongyang Fortress. (p. 153)

The claim by Chinese and Japanese scholars that Balhae (渤海), founded by Dae Joyeong (大祚榮), was a state established by the Malgal tribe is incorrect! Both Dae Joyeong himself and the Tang dynasty at the time clearly stated that the Dae family Balhae inherited Goguryeo’s identity. (p. 373)

Deokmuldo (德物島), where Silla’s King Munmu Kim Beopmin (金法敏) welcomed Tang general Su Dingfang’s (蘇定方) Tang army, was an island located in present-day Liaodong Bay (遼東灣), China! The meeting place of the Silla-Tang allied forces was not Deokjeokdo (德積島) in Ongjin County, Gyeonggi Province, as commonly believed. (p. 663)

The fact that the Dae family Balhae’s national name was “Balhae (渤海)” suggests that its territory bordered the Bohai Sea, a Chinese sea! This means that previous verifications placing Balhae skewed eastward on the Liaodong Peninsula were incorrect. (p. 397)

Jieshi Mountain (碣石山) in Lelang, the eastern end of the Great Wall of China during the Qin and Han dynasties, was located in the northeast of Hebei Province, China. The existing claims by Korean, Japanese, and Chinese scholars that the Great Wall extended as far as Suan County (遂安郡) in Hwanghae Province are incorrect. (p. 488)

Dae Joyeong, who founded Balhae, received the 5th rank title of Daeachan (大阿?) from Silla in the early days of the kingdom! Although later the relationship shifted to competition due to national power strengthening and territorial expansion, in the early days of the kingdom, Balhae maintained friendly and allied relations with Silla and the Turkic peoples to counter the Tang dynasty. (p. 376)

Jeongyeok Chinese Official Histories Joseon-Dongyi 4 (Old Book of Tang Volume) | Edited by Moon Seongjae | Foundation for Korean History Research | 803 pages | 38,000 KRW