동아시아 해양문화와 무역

Abstract

Flow of people and cultural products through the oceans is absolutely critical in shaping the cultural sphere in East Asia. In this sense, studies and research on true nature of maritime culture in East Asia from the perspective of trade are key to understanding East Asia in the world. This paper takes a comprehensive look into how the maritime culture unfolded historically on the Korean Peninsula through trade, keeping in mind the theme of the international academic seminar, <the Base Ports of East Asia and Maritime Culture>. The ancient Korean Peninsula served as a geographical foothold for expanding maritime exchanges and the world of the oceans in East Asia, connecting China to Japan. The role that Baekje (百濟; one of the three ancient kingdoms) played in further spreading its culture continued through trading activities of Jang Bo-go(張保皐) in the 9th century, for which geopolitical factors that the Korean Peninsula had become the main driving force. After the 11th century, increased activities of merchants from the Song Dynasty(松商) helped expand the economic sphere of East Asia. With this, an intermediary role that the Korean Peninsula played decreased significantly, which means expansion and diversification of the waters in East Asia. In the 15th and 16th century, trading activities in Ryukyu(琉球) were booming, which acted as an intermediary between the south and the north of East Asia, in other words, between Year 2023 marks the 700th anniversary of sailing and sinking of the Sinan ship, which presented a great opportunity for research into Korean underwater cultural heritage. It is also the year that marks the 900th anniversary of the visit to Goryeo of Seogeung, an envoy from the Song Dynasty. I think it is necessary to designate 2023 as the “Year of Research into Maritime History in East Asia” and start preparing for it in order to put together historic nature of the ocean in East Asia and create a new driving force for future research.