[KS] Koguryo part of China?

Andrei Lankov andrei.lankov at anu.edu.au
Thu Dec 25 23:17:54 EST 2003


 >  attention to this, as I imagine there is considerable pressure
 >  on academics in China to toe the official line of an
 >  indivisible China, which forces them to see everything what
 >  happened on what is now Chinese territory as part of Chinese history.

I suspect that they are quite willing to comply to these pressures... I
would not blame only elite and/or establishment for the support of ethnic
nationalism - a position quite common among the progressive intellectuals
since it allows to expurgate the "masses" from the responsibility for the
ethnic nationalism's unsavoury consequences. Alas, nationalism is used for
the political ends by the establishment, but it often reflects the
grassroots' feelings.

 >  However, an article I read today on AsiaTimes online
 >  (http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/EL23Dg01.html0) made me
 >  realize how far these attempts at rewriting history are going.
 >  According to the article, the Koguryo tombs in Ji'an are
 >  scheduled to be designated a Unesco World Heritage site next
 >  June. While this is a good thing, the article suggests that
 >  they will be declared part of the Chinese cultural heritage.

The correctness of such a definition depends how you define "China". After
all, the Chinese government describes its country as 'multi-ethnic' even if
this 'multi-ethnicity' is presented as secondary to the allegedly eternal
domination of the country and its culture by the Han Chinese.

 >  Koguryo tombs in China? What is written about Koguryo history
 >  in China is one thing, but if this view somehow gets endorsed
 >  by a respected international body, it will be difficult to undo
 >  the damage...

There is another important irony of the situation. While Chinese attempts to
claim the Koguryo heritage are unfounded, the similar Korean claims are also
not without serious flaws. The few dozen known Koguryo words, including
numerals, do not indicate close relations between Koguryo and Silla
languages (the latter being a direct ancestor of modern Korean). However,
these words are remarkably similar to that of Early Japanese...

Best regards,

Dr. Andrei Lankov,
China and Korea Centre,
Faculty of Asian Studies,
ANU






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