평양 읍지를 어떻게 읽을 것인가

Abstract

As the town gazetteer is officially published by the local government office and is produced based on existing data, it is recognized as accurate and reliable evidence. However, in reality, we can see that when a new town gazetteer is published, not all of its contents reflect as much as possible the situation at the time, but rather a large part of it is brought back from the existing gazetteer. Sometimes, it is not just objective information, but it also contains stories that have no basis but are told. It cannot be denied that the intention of the compiler is deeply involved, especially at the point of setting, adding, or deleting items at the planning stage. The Pyongyang gazetteer is a data that should be noted in this regard. As Pyongyang was located on a transport route to and from China, it became a place for the messengers to stay. So Pyongyang gazetteer contains a number of Pyongyang-related poems. Since the publication of Yoon Doo-Soo's Pyongyangji in 1590, the tendency to add only the changed content has been revealed since it was produced in a sequel form. However, the added content is not an accurate fact, but because the compiler's current understanding or the comprehension practitioners' multiple interests are working in combination. In this article, we compiled the history of the compilation of Pyongyang gazetteer and discussed the characteristics of each gazetteer. In addition, individual characteristics of each gazetteer were derived under the name of 'features of a period'. It should be noted that if the town gazetteer's compiler took the process of choosing and selecting all the information related to the area, the users who read the town gazetteer should also be aware that the this is a material that needs to be discerned from the times, situations, and interests. If so, the true nature of Pyongyang will not be of constant value, but will always be the result of a screening process to determine whether it is meaningful information from the current point of view.