고려의 건국과 고구려계승의식 -‘弓裔의 高麗’에 대한 인식을 중심으로-

Abstract

Examined in this article is the Goryeo people’s consciousness of succeeding Goguryeo. It had a dual aspect to it, as such consciousness contained two separate notions: the sentiment of inheriting Gung Ye(弓裔)’s Goryeo, and the sentiment of breaking free from that. ‘Goryeo(高麗),’ the title of the dynasty was actually a reenactment of Gung Ye’s first choice for his own dynasty(which was later renamed to Taebong(泰封)), and the newborn Goryeo dynasty’s policies including the restoration of the Pyeongyang(平壤) city were all based upon philosophies that had been demonstrated by Gung Ye himself. Gung Ye was actually considered as the ‘Former Lord(前主),’ who, compared to the dynasty founder Wang Geon(王建), laid out the basis for the newborn dynasty. But there was an exactly opposite kind of sentiment as well, as it also was a historical fact that Wang Geon subverted Gung Ye because of all his unjustified use of force and brutality. Naturally there was a stance exhibited by the Goryeo people that tried to set oneself apart from Gung Ye’s legacy. At first, Gung Ye’s Goryeo was considered as the ‘Later Goryeo(後高麗),’ as opposed to Goguryeo(高句麗) which was considered as ‘Former Goreyo(前高麗),’ but the Goryeo government made it its own official stance to consider all the things that came before Wang Geon’s enthronement as part of Former Goryeo’s history, including the days of Gung Ye. This kind of dual perception of the Gung Ye period was reflected in the Chinese historical texts as well, as while they were recording the discontinuation of the Go House line(“高氏”), they also wrote that the line of Go was restored before the time of Wang Geon’s enthronement. Such documentation could also be construed as an act of intention to erase ‘Gung Ye’s Goryeo,’ and directly connect Goguryeo and Goryeo.