Draft Balhae: Shared History of Korea and China

Title	The History of Balhae: Which Country Does It Belong To?
Author	조윤정

1차 원고

In 676 the Korean Peninsula was unified by Silla. But Silla, unable to take the whole peninsula, occupied the southern half with the area around today's Pyeongyang as the northern border. Tang, which had allied with Silla to defeat Goguryeo, tried to bring the northern part under its territory but failed due to the resistance of Goguryeo refugees.

At the center of such resistance was Dae Joyeong, who founded a new state named Balhae. The royal family of Balhae hailed from the aristocracy of Goguryeo, and hence Balhae professed to be Goguryeo's successor.

Tang and Silla joined forces to repeatedly attack Balhae and stop it from growing. Balhae, seeking to recover Goguryeo land, strongly resisted and through these battles expanded its territory to cover part of today's North Korea, the northeastern part of China and the Maritime Province of Siberia in Russia. With Balhae territory straddling three countries in this way, each country lays claim to Balhae's history.

China sees Balhae as a province of the Tang Dynasty because part of Balhae territory lies in China and because Tang invested Balhae's kings. But if Balhae was indeed a part of Tang there would have been no need for territorial battles.

Russia is also trying to claim Balhae's history and Korea, of course, considers Balhae to be part of Korean history along with Silla. When Balhae and Silla fell, giving way to the new state of Goryeo, its founding monarch, Wang Geon, accepted the Balhae refugees as the descendants of Goguryeo.

Balhae was composed of various peoples including Goguryeo refugees, the Malgal tribe and people from Samarkant and Persia. Its culture was based on that of Goguryeo and assimilated Tang and various other influences. This is evident in the tombs of Balhae princesses Jeonghyo and Jeonghye, which feature unique Balhae tiles, while a five-story stone pagoda from Balhae discovered in China shows clear Tang influence.

The important thing, however, is not which country Balhae's history belongs to but to learn from the lives of the Balhae people, who incorporated various cultures and expanded their territory to cover a vast area.

감수본

In 676 the Korean Peninsula was unified by the Silla Kingdom; however, it was unable to take over the whole peninsula and Manchuria, which had been the territory of the Three Kingdoms. It occupied and governed the southern two thirds of the peninsula, with the area above today's Pyeongyang City as the northern border for more than two centuries.

China’s Tang Dynasty, which had allied with Silla to defeat the Goguryeo Kingdom, tried to bring the northern part under its rule but failed due to the resistance of Goguryeo refugees.

At the center of resistance was Dae Joyeong, who founded a new state named Balhae; its royal family hailed from the aristocracy of Goguryeo, and hence Balhae professed to be Goguryeo's successor.

Tang and Silla joined forces to repeatedly attack Balhae and stop it from expanding. Balhae strongly resisted, seeking to recover Goguryeo territory, and through these battles expanded its territory to cover the top part of today’s North Korea, the northeastern part of China and the Maritime Province of Siberia in Russia. With Balhae territory straddling three countries in this way, each country lays claim to Balhae's history.

China sees Balhae as a province of the Tang Dynasty because part of Balhae territory now lies within China, and because Tang invested some of Balhae's kings. But if Balhae was indeed a part of Tang there would have been no need for territorial battles.

Russia is also trying to claim Balhae's history and Korea, of course, considers Balhae to be part of Korean history along with Silla. When Balhae and Silla fell, giving way to the new state of Goryeo, its founding monarch, Wang Geon, accepted some Balhae refugees as the descendants of Goguryeo.

Balhae was composed of various peoples including Goguryeo refugees, the Malgal tribe and people from Samarkant and Persia. Its culture was based on that of Goguryeo and assimilated Tang and various other influences. This is evident in the tombs of princesses Jeonghyo and Jeonghye, which feature unique Balhae tiles, while a five-story stone pagoda from Balhae discovered in China shows clear Tang influence.

The most important thing, however, is not which country Balhae’s history belongs to but to learn from the lives of the Balhae people, who incorporated various cultures and expanded their territory to cover a vast area.

수정본

In 676 the Korean Peninsula was unified by the Silla kingdom; however, it was unable to take over the whole peninsula and Manchuria, which had been the territory of the Three Kingdoms. It occupied and governed the southern two thirds of the peninsula, with the area above today's Pyeongyang as the northern border for more than two centuries.

China’s Tang dynasty, which had allied with Silla to defeat the Goguryeo kingdom, tried to bring the northern part under its rule but failed due to the resistance of Goguryeo refugees.

At the center of resistance was Dae Joyeong, who founded a new state in 698 named Balhae; its royal family hailed from the aristocracy of Goguryeo, and hence Balhae professed to be Goguryeo's successor.

Tang and Silla joined forces to repeatedly attack Balhae and stop it from expanding. Balhae strongly resisted, seeking to recover Goguryeo territory, and through these battles expanded its territory to cover the top part of today’s North Korea, the northeastern part of China and the Maritime Province of Siberia in Russia. With Balhae territory straddling three countries in this way, each country lays claim to Balhae's history.

China sees Balhae as a province of the Tang dynasty because part of Balhae territory now lies within China, and because Tang invested some of Balhae's kings. But if Balhae was indeed a part of Tang, there would have been no need for territorial battles.

Russia is also trying to claim Balhae's history. Korea, of course, considers Balhae to be part of Korean history along with Silla. When Balhae and Silla fell, giving way to the new state of Goryeo, Goryeo's founding monarch, Wang Geon, accepted some Balhae refugees as the descendants of Goguryeo.

Balhae was composed of various peoples, including Goguryeo people and Malgal tribes. Its culture was based on that of Goguryeo, as evidenced by the tombs of princesses Jeonghyo and Jeonghye which are Goguryeo style, for example, but also assimilated influences from Tang and various other cultures.

It is clear that Balhae’s ruling class came from Goguryeo lineage. However, as Balhae was comprised of many cultures and peoples, it is important to properly understand its unique, multicultural nature.