‘고조선’조와 ‘전조선기’로 본 고조선의 역사적 실체 재인식

Abstract

Historic view is borne from historic records. Historic records from Old Joseon demand re-classification of the ancient history. Looking at the two records from Old Joseon including 『Samgukyusa』 ‘Old Joseon Article’ and 『Epic of Emperors and Kings』 ‘Epic of Early Joseon,’ the name of the country founded by Dangun is always described as 'Joseon.’ However, titles of the records use ‘Old Joseon’ and ‘Early Joseon.’ According to such titles, the country founded by Dangun is referred to as ‘Old Joseon.’ In the records, Dangun is the progenitor of the ethnic group and Old Joseon is described as the very first country. ‘Old Joseon’ and ‘Early Joseon’ are not the names of country but merely concepts of time created from 'Joseon,’ which is the actual name of country. ‘Old Joseon Article’ has records on Shinshi of Hwan-ung, Joseon of Dangun, and Joseon of Gija. ‘Epic of Early Joseon’ has records on Shindansu of Hwan-ung and Joseon of Dangun. ‘Old Joseon’ is a relative reference to Wiman Joseon and ‘Early Joseon’ is a relative reference to Gija Joseon, which is also known as Late Joseon. Therefore, the term ‘Old Joseon’ originates from 『Samgukyusa』 but has its meaning limited to Joseon of Dangun. While historic record on ‘Old Joseon’ describes ‘Shinshi of Hwan-ung’ and ‘Joseon of Dangun,’ historic material, quantitative weight, and qualitative meaning are all concentrated on Shinshi of Hwan-ung. The concept of humanitarianism, three divine treasures, 360 duties, and ruler of the world based on reason are the traces of Hwan-ung instead of Dangun. Speaking in terms of country name, contents focus on ‘Shinshi’ instead of ‘Joseon.’ Accordingly, historic significance of ‘Old Joseon’ with consideration on the weight of records and country name of ‘Joseon’ can be seen as Shinshi of Hwan-ung, not Dangun Joseon. Hence, ‘Old Joseon’ is more inclined to Shinshi of Hwan-ung than Joseon of Dangun. Diachronically, Joseon of Dangun was made possible by Shinshi of Hwan-ung. Logically, ‘Old Joseon’ can only exist because of ‘Joseon.’ However in the ancient history, there is no era of ‘Joseon’ founded by Dangun. While substituting ‘Joseon’ by ‘Old Joseon,’ Shinshi of Hwan-ung is even excluded from historic descriptions. Therefore, referring to 'Joseon’ of Dangun as ‘Old Joseon’ is not only a historic and logical contradiction but also a historic distortion that eliminates the history of Old Joseon that existed prior to Dangun Joseon, or Shinshi of Hwan-ung. It is desirable to clearly distinguish Shinshi Era of Hwan-ung as ‘Old Joseon’ from later Joseon of Dangun.