전근대 국사의 형성과 그 발전

Abstract

This paper has reviewed the process how the national history had been formed and developed in pre-modern Korea. The national history was viewed as the history of one’s own country, i.e. the history of a dynasty and as the history of a historical community, i.e. the history of a nation. This viewpoint was completed in Dongguktonggam(Comprehensive Mirror of the Eastern Kingdom) in the 15th century. This was the official history of a nation compiled by bureaucrats and the political history played a key role. In the latter half of the Joseon dynasty, there was a tendency even the historical record of an individual was included in the national history. A private recording of the present history of his kingdom was practiced during this period. The historical science of the East Asia including Korea was the “documentary-centered history” preserving the record thoroughly. The historical science focusing on the record had been developed from the history of a dynasty to the comprehensive history that had been enlarged to the historical concept of the records of both a nation and an individual were combined. Also, as a classified history, the whole history since Dangun(Legendary Founder of Korea) and all the contents of history up to the Joseon dynasty were treated and resulted in Donggukmunheonbigo(Reference Compilation of Documents on Korea) of all the official and personal records compiled and arranged. History came to be enlarged and developed from the political history of a nation to the history of system, economy, society and culture and contained not only the history of a nation but also the materials of civilian lives including personal or clan history. The national history of the West was a product of modern nationalism and a man-made one. However, in case of Korea, the national history had long been arranged before nationalism appeared. This is what distinguished the national history of Korea from the Western history of a nation. The new modification of the national history of Korea had developed was caused by the acceptance of Western historical science and the drastic change of the Korean society. Korean history has been changed from the historical science focusing on records to the historical science focusing on description and has also been developed as the learning to explain the present situation. In such process of the development, the modern Korean history was distorted as the exclusive nationalistic history owed to the Japanese colonial rule. The rise and the fall of the nation had once been the key problem of the historical science. This cannot be the right path of the historical science. At the present, it is thought that it is time the term of ‘nation’ to be duly deleted in history as our society has been rapidly changing into a multiracial society. The national history should be renamed as Korean history and take on universality and objectivity in respect of describing the history of human lives.