Chinese commanderies set up to control the populace in the former Gojoseon area
The
Four Commanderies of Han
(
Chinese
:
漢四郡
;
pinyin
:
Han-sijun
;
Korean
:
漢四郡
;
Hanja
:
漢四郡
;
RR
:
Han-sagun
) were Chinese
commanderies
located in the north of the
Korean Peninsula
and part of the
Liaodong Peninsula
from around the end of the second century BC through the early 4th AD, for the longest lasting.
[1]
[2]
The commanderies were set up to control the populace in the former
Gojoseon
area as far south as the
Han River
, with a core area at Lelang near present-day
Pyongyang
[3]
by
Emperor Wu
of the
Han dynasty
in early 2nd century BC after his conquest of
Wiman Joseon
. As such, these commanderies are seen as Chinese colonies by some scholars. Though disputed by North Korean scholars, Western sources generally describe the Lelang Commandery as existing within the Korean peninsula, and extend the rule of the four commanderies as far south as the
Han River
.
[3]
[4]
However, South Korean scholars assumed its administrative areas to
Pyongan
and
Hwanghae
provinces.
[5]
Three of the commanderies fell or retreated westward within a few decades, but the
Lelang commandery
remained as a center of cultural and economic exchange with successive Chinese dynasties for four centuries. At its administrative center in Lelang, the Chinese built what was in essence a Chinese city where the governor, officials, and merchants, and Chinese colonists lived. Their administration had considerable impact on the life of the native population and ultimately the very fabric of Gojoseon society became eroded.
[6]
Later,
Goguryeo
, founded in 37 BCE, began conquering the commanderies and eventually absorbed them into its own territory by the early 4th century AD.
[7]
Commanderies
[
edit
]
Precedents
[
edit
]
Before the fall of Gojoseon a single commandery, called
Canghai Commandery
, covered an area in northern
Korean peninsula
to southern
Manchuria
. Nan Lu (
Hanja
: 南閭), who was a monarch of
Dongye
and a subject of
Wiman Joseon
, revolted against
Ugeo of Gojoseon
and then surrendered to the
Han dynasty
with 280,000 people.
[a]
The commandery was established following this revolt, however in two years, it was abolished by
Gongsun Hong
.
[8]
Four commanderies
[
edit
]
- Lelang Commandery
(樂浪郡, 樂浪郡/樂랑群, BC 108 ~ AD 313):
[9]
25
prefectures
, 62,812 households, population of 406,748 in 2 CE.
- Lintun Commandery
(臨屯郡, 臨屯郡, BC 107 ~ BC 82): absorbed into Xuantu
- Xuantu Commandery
(玄?郡, 玄菟郡, BC 107 ~ AD 319):
[12]
3 prefectures, 45,006 households, population of 221,845 in 2 CE.
- Zhenfan Commandery
(眞番郡, 眞番郡, BC 107 ~ BC 82): absorbed into Lelang
Daifang commandery
[
edit
]
A commandery that was separated out of Lelang Commandery in the later years of its history was named the
Daifang Commandery
(帶方郡, 帶方郡, AD 204-220/210 ~ AD 315).
[14]
History
[
edit
]
Han dynasty
[
edit
]
When
Gojoseon
was defeated in 108 BC, three commanderies were established in its place:
Lelang
,
Lintun
, and
Zhenfan
. In 107 BC,
Xuantu Commandery
was also established in the place of Gojoseon's ally,
Yemaek
. In 82 BC, Lintun was absorbed into Xuantu and Zhenfan absorbed into Lelang. In 75 BC, Xuantu moved its capital to
Liaodong
due to resistance from the native people. Lintun was transferred to Lelang.
Although often depicted as special administrative units within the Han dynasty, excavated records suggest that these commanderies were governed no differently than those in the core regions of the Han.
Neighboring Korean powers such as the
Jinhan confederacy
and
Byeonhan confederacy
imported goods from Lelang such as mirrors.
As indigenous groups started to assume Han culture, a hybrid Lelang culture developed in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD.
Gongsun Du, Kang, Gong, and Yuan
[
edit
]
Gongsun Du
was born in
Xiangping
(
Liaoyang
,
Liaoning
). In his early years, Du's father fled to
Xuantu Commandery
, where Du became an office runner. Du attracted the support of the governor Gongsun Yu, whose daughter he eventually married. He rose up the ranks of officialdom in
Ji Province
until he became regional inspector.
[19]
Gongsun Du was appointed Administrator of
Liaodong Commandery
by
Dong Zhuo
in 189 on the recommendation of
Xu Rong
. As a result of his lowly origins, Du harbored an intense hatred for the elite landowning class. Once he became administrator, Du carried out his vendetta against the wealthy by publicly flogging to death the Magistrate of Xiangping and extirpating the gentry. Du dominated the northeast and expanded into the territory of
Goguryeo
and the
Wuhuan
. When Cao Cao attempted to bestow titles upon Du, he rejected them and proclaimed himself king. Du died in 204 and was succeeded by his son,
Gongsun Kang
.
[19]
In 204 Kang expanded into Goguryeo and created
Daifang Commandery
. When the Wuhuan were defeated by
Cao Cao
in 207,
Yuan Shang
,
Yuan Xi
, and the Wuhuan leaders Louban and Supuyan fled to Kang. Kang killed them and sent their heads to Cao Cao.
In 208, Kang sent aid to Balgi in support of his claim to the
Goguryeo
throne.
According to the 12th century chronicle
Samguk Sagi
, the invasion was defeated by Gyesu, younger brother of
Sansang of Goguryeo
.
[23]
However this is not reported in the Chinese records, which state that the invasion was a success and Balgi was settled in conquered territory. K.H.J. Gardiner says that this is because the
Samguk Sagi
sought to reverse the reality of defeat in a number of instances and questioned both the existence of Gyesu and his victory.
Gongsun Kang took some territory in 209 and Goguryeo was forced to move its capital further east to the
Yalu
rivery valley near
Hwando
.
[26]
Kang died in 220 when his children were too young to rule, so his brother
Gongsun Gong
succeeded him. Gong maintained his independence, albeit while accepting titles issued by
Cao Pi
. Gong became ill and was replaced by his nephew
Gongsun Yuan
in 228.
Yuan ruled independently until
Sima Yi
invaded in 238 and annexed his territory.
Goguryeo re-established in its former territory and established dominance over the tribes at the mouth of the Yalu River sometime before 233. In 238, Goguryeo allied with
Cao Wei
to overthrow the Liaodong regime.
[30]
Cao Wei, Jin, and Xianbei
[
edit
]
Goguryeo raided the
Xuantu Commandery
in 242. In retaliation, Cao Wei
invaded Goguryeo
from 244 to 245. The Wei general
Guanqiu Jian
sacked the Goguryeo capital of
Hwando
, sent its king fleeing, and broke the tributary relationships between Goguryeo and the other tribes of Korea that formed much of Goguryeo's economy. Although the king evaded capture and eventually settled in a new capital, Goguryeo was reduced to such insignificance that for half a century there was no mention of the state in Chinese historical texts.
[30]
Afterwards, the Lelang, Daifang, and Xuantu commanderies were ruled by Cao Wei, the Jin dynasty, and the
Murong
Xianbei
until they were conquered by Goguryeo in the early 300s.
Goguryeo
[
edit
]
Lelang Commandery was ruled by the
Jin dynasty (266?420)
until 313. Due to civil war, the Jin dynasty was unable to send officials to govern its territory in northern Korea. The leaders of Liaodong and Lelang led over one thousand households to break away from Jin and submitted to the
Xianbei
warlord of
Former Yan
Murong Hui
. Murong Hui relocated the remnants of the commandery to the west within Liaodong. Goguryeo attacked and annexed the commandery in 313.
[32]
Daifang was conquered in 314-315 and Xuantu in 319.
[14]
After the collapse of the Han commanderies, Goguryeo accepted emigres of Chinese origin to strengthen their control over the region.
K.H.J. Gardiner argues that even though the commanderies had been conquered by Goguryeo, it did not rule Lelang directly until after the death of
Dong Shou
in 357.
Dong Shou was a general from
Former Yan
who fled to Goguryeo in 336 and was given a position in the former territory of Lelang.
[34]
Revisionism
[
edit
]
In the
North Korean
academic community and some parts of the
South Korean
academic community, the Han dynasty's annexation of parts of the Korean peninsula have been denied. Proponents of this revisionist theory claim that the Han Commanderies (and Gojoseon) actually existed outside of the Korean peninsula, and place them somewhere in
Liaodong Peninsula
, in modern-day China, instead.
[35]
[36]
[37]
The stigmatization of colonial Japanese historical and archaeological findings in Korea as imperialist forgeries owes in part to those scholars' discovery and promotion of the Lelang Commandery—by which the
Han dynasty
administered territory near Pyongyang—and insistence that this Chinese commandery had an impact on the development of Korean civilization.
[38]
Until the North Korean challenge, it was universally accepted that Lelang was a commandery established by
Emperor Wu of Han
after he
defeated Gojoseon
in 108 BCE.
[39]
To deal with the Han Dynasty archeological remnants such as tombs, jewelry and laquerware North Korean scholars have reinterpreted them as the remains of Gojoseon or Goguryeo.
[38]
For those artifacts, whose artistic style is undeniably originating in Han China and contrasts the previous Gojoseon Bronze dagger culture, they propose that they were introduced through trade and international contact, or were forgeries, and "should not by any means be construed as a basis to deny the Korean characteristics of the artifacts".
[40]
The North Koreans also say that there were two Lelangs, and that the Han actually administered a Lelang on the
Liao River
on the Liaodong Peninsula, while Pyongyang was ruled by an "independent Korean state" called
Nangnang
, which existed between the 2nd century BCE until the 3rd century CE.
[39]
[41]
The traditional view of Lelang, according to them, was expanded by Chinese chauvinists and Japanese imperialists.
[39]
While promoted by the academic community of North Korea, and supported by certain writers and historians in South Korea, this theory is not recognized in the mainstream academic circles of South Korea, the
United States
,
China
, and
Japan
.
[38]
[42]
[43]
[44]
[45]
Most Korean scholars in the
Goryeo
and
Joseon
dynasties considered the location of Lelang county somewhere around today's Pyongyang area based on the Korean history record
Samguk Yusa
. There were also scholars who believe that Lelang was in Liaodong, such as
Bak Ji-won
, a Joseon dynasty
silhak
scholar who had conducted field research in
Manchuria
during his visit to
Qing
in 1780. Bak claimed that the location of commandries were actually in the Liaodong area in
The Jehol Diary
.
[46]
[
better source needed
]
Ri Ji Rin (Lee Ji Rin), a respected North Korean historian who obtained his Ph.D. in history from China's top university
Peking University
in 1961, in his published
Research on Ancient Korea
suggests that based on the initial records of Chinese texts and archaeological findings in Liaodong, the Han commanderies were located in Liaodong Peninsula.
[47]
Another historian from South Korea, Yoon Nae-hyun also published a similar research in 1987, suggesting the Han commanderies were not in Korean peninsula.
[48]
Maps
[
edit
]
See also
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
Book of the Later Han
, Treatise on the Dongyi (元朔元年武帝年也. 濊君南閭等【集解】 惠棟曰, ??云, 南閭者, ?君之名.畔右渠, 率二十八萬口詣遼東內屬, 武帝以其地爲蒼海郡, 數年乃罷.)
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《前漢書》卷二十八〈地理志〉第八:"樂浪郡,武帝元封三年開。莽曰樂鮮。屬幽州。戶六萬二千八百一十二,口四十萬六千七百四十八。有雲?。縣二十五:朝鮮;□邯;浿水,水西至增地入海,莽曰樂鮮亭;含資,帶水西至帶方入海;?蟬;遂成;增地,莽曰增土;帶方;駟望;海冥,莽曰海桓;列口;長岑;屯有;昭明,高部都尉治;鏤方;提奚;渾彌;?列,分黎山,列水所出,西至?蟬入海,行八百二十里;東?;不而,東部都尉治;蠶台;華麗;邪頭昧;前莫;夫租。"
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通典 邊防 朝鮮 武帝元封三年、遣樓船將軍楊僕從齊浮渤海、兵五萬、左將軍荀?出遼東、討之。朝鮮人相與殺王右渠?降。遂以朝鮮??蕃、臨屯、?浪、玄?四郡。今悉?東夷之地。昭帝時罷臨屯、?蕃以??浪、玄?。
- ^
《三國志》卷30 魏書 烏丸鮮卑東夷傳 穢 自單單大山領以西屬樂浪、自領以東七縣、都尉主之、皆以濊?民。後省都尉、封其渠帥?侯、今不耐濊皆其種也。漢末更屬句麗。
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the Book of Later Han, volume 85
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Bibliography
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]
- Barnes, Gina L. (2001),
State Formation in Korea: Historical and Archaeological Perspectives
, Routledge
- de Crespigny, Rafe (2007),
A Biographical Dictionary of Later Han to the Three Kingdoms
, Brill
- Park, Jun-hyeong (2013),
The Han Commanderies in Early Korean History: A Reconsideration of the Han Commanderies from a Broader East Asian Perspective
Index of Korea-related articles
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