발‧일 ‘國書’ 분쟁과 ‘中臺省牒’

Abstract

Diplomatic documents are important historical records in the study of Balhae's foreign policy toward Japan. Among all the diplomatic documents Balhae sent to Japan, there are 16 pieces of Gukseo(documents issued by the king's name) and seven pieces of Jungdaeseong-Cheob (documents released by the government office for foreign affairs) remaining today. This paper was motivated from a question on the reasons why the records of Jungdaeseong-Cheob first appeared in A.D. 759, disappeared for a while, and reappeared in 841 with detailed records on the chronicles. First, the issuing process and the form of Jungdaeseong-Cheob were analyzed and found out that they have the characteristics of ‘Chikcheop(勅牒)’ issued by the king's decree. A further question on whether ‘Cheopsang(牒上)’ and ‘Geuncheop(謹牒)’ used in Jungdaeseong-Cheob were actually in use was asked, and it was found that these terms could not conclude whether they were reporting documents. Considering the period when the forms of diplomatic documents and diplomatic protocol were the critical issues of diplomacy through the ‘sovereign's message’ dispute between Balhae and Japan since mid-8th century, an examination was made on the possibility of no detailed records of a working document like Jungdaeseong-Cheob since its importance was relatively low. During 820s, Balhae did not agree on the forms of diplomatic documents and protocols that Japan requested. When Japan's financial burden increased, Japan attempted to limit the dispatch periods of envoys and to enforce measures of prohibiting private trading. In 830s, Japan met their demands for foreign goods through Jangbogo's fleet while Balhae focused on trading with Tang dynasty. However, when Jangbogo passed away in 841, Japan became desperate to trade with Balhae again. After that, Balhae and Japan put aside the problem of rank order that continued for a century and reached a certain understanding in a way that does not damage each other's national polity. As the importance of Jungdaeseong-Cheob which was a working diplomatic document, became high along with such relationship changes, its record also seemed to leave more in detail.