『通典』「邊防門」東夷篇의 구조 및 찬술 목적

Abstract

《Tongdian(通典)》 is a history book written by Duyou during Tang dynasty and the book describes law system from the ancient times to Tianbao(天寶) period. Among nine chapters, the last section <Part of frontier defence> covers four ethnic groups. In this part, it keeps a perception ‘sinocentrism’ rather than an objective approach. It is because that the book was dedicated to supporting Tang’s feudalistic rule. Chapter of Dong-yi(東夷) is included in the volume 185 and 186 of 《Tongdian》 and as other history books in earlier times, the section covers most of east nations. Most importantly, this book has a considerable historic significance in that it is a contemporary account of Three Kingdoms. Based on a strong similarity between preface of <Part of Frontier Defence〉Chapter of Dong-yi and that of 《Houhanshu(後漢書)》, it is observed that Duyou was greatly influenced by Fanye(范曄)’s China-centered mentality. Unlike 《Houhanshu》, Duyou did not distinguish Dong-yi along with the change of the times. It appears that the writer focused on point of compass so Minyue(閩越) is also included in <Part of frontier defence>. Features of this section are summaries, contemporary historic record of Tang dynasty, description with sinocentrism, and exclusion of describing on specific contents. Although it put an importance on friendly relations with China, description of war occupies a relatively small part. The earlier records on Dong-yi were based on indirect information through envoy of diplomacy. However, the writer of 《Tongdian》 directly gathered materials for the book in the field. The historical context distorted the fact in the way that Kimchunchu(金春秋) was the king of the mission to Tang. Moreover, it does not include Balhae and Silla-Tang War on purpose. As chapter of Dong-yi of 《Tongdian》 greatly cover East area during Tang dynasty, it is obvious that it has a considerable importance as a historic record. However, careful attention is required in that the purpose of this section was supporting sinocentrism which leads to a deliberate distortion and exclusion.