[KS] inquiry of Koryo period during the Yuan period
gkl1 at columbia.edu
gkl1 at columbia.edu
Sun Dec 19 21:56:29 EST 2010
Junghee Lee asks a good question: Why does the name "Koryo" not appear
on the Korean peninsula map displayed in the NY Metropolitan Museum's
exhibition and accompanying book on the art and culture of the Mongol
period in China? Its absence galled me too.
No doubt the Mongols probably had the general idea that Korea was
theirs. From 1231 to 1259 they struggled without success to overthrow
the Koryo state, which, with its governing institutions secure from
assault on Kanghwa Island, maintained its weakened hold on the
peninsula. In 1259 the Mongols succeeded in forcing the capitulation
of King Kojong, and sending his eldest son and heir to Peking, where
he was married to a Mongol princess and made to establish his
household in Peking. Within two months Kojong had died, and the heir
then returned to take the Koryo throne as King Wonjong (r. 1269-1274),
while leaving his own son and heir in Peking in his own princely
household with HIS brand new Mongol princess-wife. For almost a
hundred years this process repeated itself. The uxorilocal matrimonial
institution was a widely used strategy by the Mongols to keep control
of conquered territories by keeping the heirs of their various rulers
hostage in Peking, where they would grow up speaking both Mongolian
and Korean and even assuming Mongol names. But in Korea, on the
record, they kept the royal Koryo surname, Wang. As each king died or
abdicated, his Mongolized heir and his Mongol queen would replace the
preceeding royal couple. This situation continued until 1356, when
King Kongmin militarily succeeded in expelling the Mongols from Korea.
By that time they were a weak and dying regime.
So during all that time and through all those sucessions, the Koryo
dynasty, through the suceeding male heirs to the throne, maintained
its existence, and also the laws, institutions, and the Korean-staffed
bureaucracy that governed Koryo. For a few decades in the late 1200s
the northwestern area of the Korean peninsula had been formally
annexed to the Yuan dynasty, but that was discontinued before the
century ended. Cheju, earlier declared a direct Mongol holding, was
also restored to Koryo around that time. Finally the Hamgyong coastal
area was also Mongol territory throughout most the occupation, but
those lands were recouped by King Kongmin in 1356. But from 1259 to
1356, the Koryo dynasty existed and governed, and retained the key
populated areas of the nation, though with Mongols watching the
situation. Though the Mongols had the capability to seize the whole
country, in fact they never did.
Even if Khubilai Khan, who after all was Emperor of Yuan dynasty
China, had resorted to the Chinese tributary system to maintain a
controlled relationsip with the Korean kingdom, that institution would
still not have dissolved the Koryo state. For all of its embarrasing
elements of superior-to-inferior relationships, its general purpose
was to recognize such outlying countries and to relate to them using
its power and prestige rather than its military to run them as Chinese
colonies, while offering them peaceful access to China's markets and
culture. From China's point of view, this offered much more stability
than if they had tried to rule the smaller states themselves. And it
was certainly cheaper than having to support armies to conquer and
repress unhappy neighbors. Thus Korea, which for the Chinese dynasties
of the last thousand years was considered the most important and
highest ranking tributary in the system, actually had a practical
interest in maintaining this relationship, with Korea remaining a
Korean kingdom with a Korean king, governed by Korean laws and a
Korean bureaucracy.
The relationship of China to Korea was very different than its
relationship to some other nearby ethnicities. During the Qing
dynasty, for instance, administration of the Korea relationship, and
the tributary system in general, was the responsibility of the Board
of Rites, while its relationship with many of its ethnic minorities
and/or neighbors, such as the Uighurs, Mongols, and Tibetans, was
administered by the Lifanyuan, an entirely different institution with
different goals.
When one talks with ordinary Chinese people, one finds that they often
have the idea that because Korea was a tributary state of China it was
also a part of China. The fact that Korea in the dynastic days was a
paragon of Chinese culture, Confucian values, and a master of its
classical language might explain such impressions. But one wonders if
they have not unconsciously assumed that all near neighbors are in the
same category. But today China recognizes two Koreas and deals with
them in terms of international protocol, while the situation with the
Uighurs, Inner Mongolians, and Tibetans is still pretty much a
continuation of the Qing dynasty.
Somehow, I imagine that someone, whether Chinese or an American
specialist in Chinese art on the curatorial staff of the Metropolitan
Museum, innocently enough, believes that Korea was once part of China.
Although the Khubilai Khan show has only a couple of weeks to run, it
might be nice if someone at the Met could put Koryo on that map. But
in spite of the Met's gaffe, let me say that that show is a great one,
and anyone in New York or close to it should visit it if at all
possible.
I might add that the State Department still seems to think that North
Korea is a tributary state of China and can tell it what to do and
where to get off. It misunderstands China, North Korea, and the
tributary system all three.
Gari Ledyard
Quoting "Dr. Junghee Lee" <dilj at pdx.edu>:
> Dear members,
> I visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art yesterday and saw the Kubhlai
> Khan exhibition. The map of Yuan dynasty in the exhibition shows that
> there was no Koryo dynasty and Yuan dynasty territory extends to the
> Korean peninsula. Koryo was no where seen. Is this correct? Best
> wishes,
> Junghee Lee
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