[KS] Earliest European account of Korea?

[gkl1 at columbia.edu]

Hi Anthony,

Brother Anthony’s inquiries concerning the earliest European
descriptions of Korea have led to interesting exchanges. They have
made me think of the descriptions of the Silla kingdom by Arab
travelers, geographers, and others. These go back at least to the 9th
century and reach down to the late 16th. In 1948, the geographer
Shannon McCune (the brother of George of McCune-Reischauer), published
a series of short monographs, mainly on geographic topics, all of
which have long been out of print and unavailable. It occurred to me
to retype those on Silla for a new audience. I’m presenting the texts
in an ordinary MS Word attachment for the inspection of anyone who
might be curious.

In looking over these quaint and somewhat improbable descriptions
dating to the late Silla period and reaching down to 1595, one feels
the need for some commentary. The earliest descriptions emphasize the
wealth of Sillans in gold and health, asserting that Arabs who go
there are so taken by the place that they have no desire whatsoever to
leave or return to their own homes. In account after account, these
themes are repeated and elaborated by later Arab writers, treating
“Sila” life as if it were a heavenly existence. Negative or doubting
comments are almost completely absent. But I did appreciate the
exasperation of one Arab commentator who exclaimed, “God alone knows
the truth!”

Judging by the understandable sense that Silla would be defined
geographically in relation to the maritime coast of China, it would
seem that many of these comments could have been generated by Chinese
informants. And that makes me think that there may have been some
Daoist input into these discussions, whereby the myths of Penglai in
the islands to the east of China, where immortals enjoy abnormally
long lives, would have had a large role in informing Arab travelers.
There is no doubt that Arab seagoing vessels traveling China’s coastal
sea routes could have seen uncountable numbers of Korea’s islands, and
even occasionally its mainland. Although no literal reference to the
Arabs, known as “Taesik” (대식 or 大食) to Koreans of the middle
periods—say 8th to 14th centuries when Arab trade with China was
very active—can be found in the Samguk sagi or Koryŏ sa,
Korean historians believe that a number of ships arriving at Korean
ports in the 11th century were Arab ships, judging by the clearly
non-Chinese names of their captains.

One thing they do state clearly is that Silla is made up of islands,
which might be a possible source for a medieval view that that Korea
was an island.

However they may be interpreted, these Arab views of early Korea are
an odd curiosity. Check them out in the attachment.

Gari Ledyard


Quoting Brother Anthony <ansonjae at sogang.ac.kr>:

> I am sure I have seen pictures of old European maps which show Korea  
>   as an island and they might well have been the source of that  
> early   "mention" which can hardly qualify as an "account". The  
> Haklyut   Society edition,  The voyage of John Huyghen van  
> Linschoten to the   East Indies,  can be viewed online at      
> http://www.archive.org/details/voyagejohnhuygh02tielgoog   and since  
>   it dates from 1885, I suppose its mention of "the Catholic    
> mssionaries" might possibly be a reference to the  Du Halde volume,   
>  but I rather think it refers to Charles Dallet, Histoire de  
> l'Eglise   de Coree (1874).
>
> Brother Anthony
> Sogang University / Dankook University / RASKB
>
>
>
>
>
>
>



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