코리족(弓族) 유목태반 기원사 연구-한국몽골학회의 창립과 몽ㆍ한수교

Abstract

We set out to investigate a very compelling hypothesis about the birth of the two nations when diplomatic relations were established between Mongolia and Korea in 1990. At the time, our hypothesis was that Mongolia and Korea had originated from the nomadic Kingdom of Goolikhan (or Goguryeo) founded by nomads who also embraced farming, and that it later became divided with one group heading southwest and the other northeast. This hypothesis was conceived based on the findings of the joint exploration of the Hulunbuir Mongol steppe and the Nun River Plain effectuated by a group of North Korean and Chinese archeologists in the 1960s as well as on the enlightened views of B. Sumiyabaatar, who was studying in North Korea at the time. Extensive research led the researchers to conclude that the Goolikhan Kingdom was established across Hulunbuir and the Nun River Plain as the nomads shifted from reindeer herding to sheep herding on horseback. It was then divided into an empire of sheep herders on horseback on the one hand, and an empire based on nomadic agriculture on the other. We also explored the historical evolution of Chosǒn (Joseon), Buyeǒ, and Goguryeǒ in connection to this hypothesis. In carrying out this research we have come to comparatively explore the two kinds of nomadism in the greater Xiao Xing’anling Mountains area and the area outside of it between the one focused on reindeer herding and the other consisting mainly of sheep herding on horseback. We have further compared the latter form of nomadism with the non-nomadic life in the T-shaped BaekduDaegan area, which drew our attention to the agricultural adaptation of nomadism and the nomadic adaptation of agriculture. In conducting this study, we discovered that very little research has been done in the Korean academia about the major livestock—such as reindeer and sheep—and their primary source of nutrition, lichen—called ‘niokq’ in the local language and written ‘蘚’, which is pronounced ‘xian’ in Chinese and ‘sǒn(seon)’ in Korean—the grazing pasture called ‘sopka’ in Russian—written ‘鮮’ which is also pronounced ‘sǒn(seon)’ in Korean—the grass preferred by sheep and the steppe on which they feasted. We have worked to fill this vacuum and come to the conclusion that the Cho-Chao[Jo] Tribe (朝族) and the Sǒn-Xian(Seon) Tribe (鮮族) united to form Chosǒn[Joseon] (朝鮮 pronounced ‘Chao Xian’ in Chinese) in the expanses of Hulunbuir and the Nun River Plain, an area reachable by the Pacific ocean winds and inhabitable for both tigers and turtles. This took place as nomads evolved from reindeer to sheep herding. This group of nomads, we argue, had spread into the Mongolian steppes around the time they came in contact with the Scythian iron civilization, and founded the Gooli Empire, an empire of horse-riding sheep herders. Furthermore, we argue that the core elites in adapting to their natural environment and building on their historical legacy evolved over time and divided themselves into nomads and herding farmers. Scythia, Saxa, and the Sǒn-Xian[Seon] (鮮: Soyon) all originate from the word for female reindeer—‘Сагаион’ in Turkish and ‘Sugan’ in Dagur. We argue that these groups embraced iron-making, which helped them venture into sheep herding on horseback. Based on over 20 years of field research and critical reviews of literature such as QindingManzhouyuanliukao(欽定滿洲原流考, Studies in the Detailed History of the Manchus)as well as Qian Ding’s Di li kaozhengshu(地理攷證書, Book of Geography and History), our team of researchers dedicated to the history of Mongolian nomadism has as such refined the theory that nomadism was the Qori(弓: Bow) Tribe’s womb from which the Mongolian and Korean empires were born [Chu Chae Hyok(Excecutive Committee member on the Korean side of the International Association for Mongol Study)].