Jizi
Encyclopedia
Jizi was a semi-legendary Chinese
sage who is said to have ruled Gojoseon
in the 11th century BCE. Early Chinese documents like the Book of Documents and the Bamboo Annals
described him as a virtuous relative of the last king
of the Shang dynasty
who was punished for remonstrating the king. After Shang was overthrown by Zhou
in the 1040s BCE, he allegedly gave political advice to King Wu
, the first Zhou king. Chinese texts from the Han dynasty
(206 BCE – 220 CE) onwards claimed that King Wu enfeoffed Jizi as ruler of Chaoxian (朝鮮, pronounced "Joseon" in Korean
). According to the Book of Han
(1st century CE), Jizi brought agriculture
, sericulture
, and many other facets of Chinese civilization to Joseon.
Gija (the Korean pronunciation of "Jizi") may have been the object of a state cult in sixth-century Koguryeo, and a mausoleum to him was established in Goryeo
in 1102, but the first extant Korean text to mention Gija was the Samguk Sagi
(1145). Starting in the late thirteenth century, Gija was fully integrated into Korean history, being described as a successor to the descendants of Dangun
in the state of Old Joseon. Following the spread of Neo-Confucianism
in Korea in the fourteenth century, scholars of the Joseon Dynasty
(est. 1392) promoted Gija as a culture hero
who had raised Korean civilization to the same level as China, and Gija became an integral part of Korean cultural identity.
Following the rise of Korean nationalism
in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, however, Korean intellectuals lost their pride in association with Gija and started to doubt the traditional account of his enfeoffment as ruler of Gojoseon
. Shin Chaeho (1880–1936) questioned the extent of Gija's cultural contributions, in part because Gija, a Chinese, did not fit into Shin's view of Korean history as the history of the Korean minjok, or "race-nation." Postwar Korean scholars in both North
and South Korea
have also strongly criticized the story of Gija's migration to Korea in the eleventh century BCE.
His family name was Zi/Ja (子) and given name was Xuyu/Suyu (胥餘/서여 xūyú/seoyeo, or 須臾/수유 xūyú/suyu).
, Jizi was a relative of King Zhou
, the last ruler of the Shang Dynasty
, and one of the three wise men of Shang, along with Weizi (微子) and Bigan. Some identify him as Grand Tutor of the king. Jizi was either imprisoned or enslaved for remonstrating against King Zhou's misrule. (One later version states that he pretended to be mad after Bigan had been killed by King Zhou.) After Shang was overthrown by the Zhou dynasty
in the mid eleventh century BC, Jizi was released by King Wu
, to whom he gave advice on how to rule the new polity.
These texts mention neither Joseon nor Jizi's descendants; they simply describe Jizi as a virtuous man who was trusted by King Wu of Zhou
after having been mistreated by the last Shang
king.
. The earliest known source stating that Jizi went to Joseon is the Shangshu dazhuan (尚書大傳), a commentary on the Book of Documents attributed to Fu Sheng (伏勝) of the second century BC. In that account, King Wu enfeoffed Jizi as the ruler of Joseon and Jizi became the subject of King Wu. In a similar story recorded in Sima Qian
's Records of the Grand Historian
(or Shiji, compiled between 109 and 91 BC), Jizi was enfeoffed by King Wu but did not become his subject. Sima Qian did not mention Jizi in his section on contemporary Joseon (i.e. northwestern Korea), where Wei Man's kingdom had flourished since about 194 BC until it was conquered by the Han Dynasty
in 108 BC. Thus the location of Joseon as in these earlier sources is not clear. Among Han-Dynasty sources, the Hanshi waizhuan mentions to Jizi but not to Jizi's migration to Joseon.
The "Monograph on Geography" (Dili zhi 地理志) of the Book of Han
(1st century AD) claimed that Jizi had taught the people of Joseon agriculture
, sericulture
, and weaving
, as well as proper ceremony
. Jae-hoon Shim interprets the following sentence in that section of the Hanshu as claiming that Jizi also introduced the law of "Eight Prohibitions" (犯禁八條) in Joseon. The Records of Three Kingdoms
(first published in the early fifth century) claim that the descendants of Jizi reigned as kings of Joseon for forty generations until they were overthrown by Wei Man, a man from the state of Yan, in 194 BC.
According to a commentary to the Shiji, Du Yu
(first half of the 3rd century) stated that the tomb of Jizi was located in Meng Prefecture of the State of Liang (modern-day Henan). This suggests that the story of Jizi's association with Joseon was not necessarily prevailing although the narrative seen in the Hanshu later became common.
As historian Jae-hoon Shim concludes, only during the Han dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD) did Jizi begin to be associated with Joseon, and only after the Han were his descendants identified as the Joseon royal family.
(completed in 1145), which claimed that Gija had been enfeoffed in Haedong (海東: Korea) by the Zhou court, but commented that this account was uncertain because of the brevity of the sources. Only in the thirteenth century did Korean texts start to integrate Gija more fully into Korean history. The Samguk Yusa
(1281) explained that after being enfeoffed by King Wu of Zhou
, Gija replaced Dangun
's descendants as the ruler of Joseon
, whereas Jewang Ungi
(1287) identified Dangun and Gija as the first rulers of former and latter Joseon respectively. Most premodern Korean historians after that accepted that Gija had replaced another indigenous power (represented by Dangun) in Old Joseon
.
In 1102, during the Goryeo Dynasty, Emperor Sukjong
built a mausoleum
to Gija in a place near Pyongyang
that had been identified as Gija's tomb. The mausoleum was rebuilt in 1324 and repaired in 1355, but the cult of Gija spread most widely after the establishment of the Joseon Dynasty
in 1392. Because Joseon's state ideology was Neo-Confucianism
borrowed from China, Joseon intellectuals promoted Gija as a culture hero
who had raised Korean civilization to the same level as China.
From the second half of the sixteenth century to the eighteenth century, Joseon scholars published a number of books on Gija. In 1580, Yun Dusu (尹斗壽) collated all available material on him and published his research as the Gijaji (箕子志; "Record of Gija"). On the same year, eminent scholar Yi I
used Yun's book to compile the Gija Silgi (箕子實記), or True Account of Gija. Yi praised Gija for introducing agriculture, sericulture
, decorum, the well-field system
, and the Eight Prohibitions. Though he emphasized Gija's independence from King Wu of Zhou
, Yi believed that Kija's teachings helped Korea to reach the same level of civilization as China.
Although Korean scholars became more critical of Kija's role in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, this account of Gija as the "bearer of civilization from China" became widely accepted, so much that by the late Joseon, the worship of Kija "had become an integral part of Korean cultural identity." Some Korean clans proudly claimed descent from Gija.
in the early twentieth century, Korean intellectuals no longer took pride in their association with the Chinese Gija, and thus started to doubt the authenticity of his traditional story. Shin Chaeho (1880–1936) was the first to question the extent of Gija's contributions. In an essay titled Doksa Sillon
("New Reading of History"; 1908), he argued that Korean history was the history of the Korean minjok, a race-nation descended from Dangun
, the mythical founder of the state of Gojoseon
. Gija, a foreigner, did not belong in Shin's racially defined view of Korean history. Shin argued instead that Gija had become a vassal of the Kings of Buyeo
and was only given control of a small territory.
Going further than Shin, Choe Nam-seon (1890–1957) and Lee Byeong-do (1896–1989) started to notice discrepancies between pre-Qin
Chinese records of Jizi/Gija, and later accounts (both Chinese and Korean) of his role in Joseon. In 1973, archeologist Kim Cheong-bae (金貞培) denied Chinese influence on Korea because no ancient Chinese bronzes had been found on the peninsula.
After the end of Japanese colonial rule
in 1945, nationalist historians in both North
and South Korea
targeted Gija. Ri Chirin, a leading North Korean historian of ancient Korea, argued that the Gija legend had been forged in Han times when the Chinese started to occupy part of Joseon. Most North Korean scholars have followed Ri in doubting the authenticity of Gija's migration to Joseon.
In South Korea
, whether Gija and his state actually existed is a matter of controversy. Korean scholars deny its existence for various reasons. These scholars point to the Bamboo Annals
and the Confucian Analects, which were among the first works to mention Gija, but do not mention his migration to Gojoseon. Detractors of the Gija Joseon theory also point out that the cultural artifacts found in the region do not appear to have Chinese origins. An example of such an artifact is found in a Gojoseon mandolin-shaped bronze dagger. Its shape and bronze composition are different from similar artifacts found in China.
The national-history textbook
of high school education drove Gija's description out of the main text and he was marginally mentioned in a note. The textbook of the latest 7th Curriculum completely eliminates Gija.
On the contrary, some South Korean historians believes that Gija Joseon coexisted with Dangun, and Gija Joseon was established at the west end of Gojoseon.
onwards, the Jizi described in pre-Qin sources is generally considered a real character. Cultural material evidences suggest that a small city state in Liaoning
was ruled by Jihou (㠱侯) or Lord Ji under the Yan
Kingdom. Jihou may be the model of Jizi.
As for post-Qin sources, the story in the Weilüe is controversial because it contains information that cannot be found in preceding materials. Japanese scholar Imanishi Ryū presumed that this story had spread to China because of Chinese direct rule of the northwestern part of the Korean peninsula during the Han dynasty and that the source of information would have been the influential Chinese Han clan of the Lelang Commandery
, who might have claimed themselves as descendants of Jizi.
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
sage who is said to have ruled Gojoseon
Gojoseon
Gojoseon was an ancient Korean kingdom. Go , meaning "ancient," distinguishes it from the later Joseon Dynasty; Joseon, as it is called in contemporaneous writings, is also romanized as Chosŏn....
in the 11th century BCE. Early Chinese documents like the Book of Documents and the Bamboo Annals
Bamboo Annals
The Bamboo Annals is a chronicle of ancient China. It begins at the earliest legendary times and extends to the Warring States Period , particularly the history of the Wei state...
described him as a virtuous relative of the last king
King Zhou of Shang
Emperor Xin of Shang was the last king of the Shang Dynasty. He was later given the pejorative posthumous name Zhòu . He is also called Zhou Xin or King Zhou . He may also be referred to by adding "Shang" in front of any of his names...
of the Shang dynasty
Shang Dynasty
The Shang Dynasty or Yin Dynasty was, according to traditional sources, the second Chinese dynasty, after the Xia. They ruled in the northeastern regions of the area known as "China proper" in the Yellow River valley...
who was punished for remonstrating the king. After Shang was overthrown by Zhou
Zhou Dynasty
The Zhou Dynasty was a Chinese dynasty that followed the Shang Dynasty and preceded the Qin Dynasty. Although the Zhou Dynasty lasted longer than any other dynasty in Chinese history, the actual political and military control of China by the Ji family lasted only until 771 BC, a period known as...
in the 1040s BCE, he allegedly gave political advice to King Wu
King Wu of Zhou
King Wu of Zhōu or King Wu of Chou was the first sovereign, or ruler of the Chinese Zhou Dynasty. The dates of his reign are 1046-1043 BCE or 1049/45-1043. Various sources quoted that he died at the age of 93, 54 or 43. He was considered a just and able leader. Zhou Gong Dan was one of his...
, the first Zhou king. Chinese texts from the Han dynasty
Han Dynasty
The Han Dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms . It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang...
(206 BCE – 220 CE) onwards claimed that King Wu enfeoffed Jizi as ruler of Chaoxian (朝鮮, pronounced "Joseon" in Korean
Korean language
Korean is the official language of the country Korea, in both South and North. It is also one of the two official languages in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in People's Republic of China. There are about 78 million Korean speakers worldwide. In the 15th century, a national writing...
). According to the Book of Han
Book of Han
The Book of Han, Hanshu or History of the Former Han Dynasty |Fan Ye]] . Various scholars have estimated that the earliest material covered in the book dates back to between 206 and 202 BCE...
(1st century CE), Jizi brought agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
, sericulture
Sericulture
Sericulture, or silk farming, is the rearing of silkworms for the production of raw silk.Although there are several commercial species of silkworms, Bombyx mori is the most widely used and intensively studied. According to Confucian texts, the discovery of silk production by B...
, and many other facets of Chinese civilization to Joseon.
Gija (the Korean pronunciation of "Jizi") may have been the object of a state cult in sixth-century Koguryeo, and a mausoleum to him was established in Goryeo
Goryeo
The Goryeo Dynasty or Koryŏ was a Korean dynasty established in 918 by Emperor Taejo. Korea gets its name from this kingdom which came to be pronounced Korea. It united the Later Three Kingdoms in 936 and ruled most of the Korean peninsula until it was removed by the Joseon dynasty in 1392...
in 1102, but the first extant Korean text to mention Gija was the Samguk Sagi
Samguk Sagi
Samguk Sagi is a historical record of the Three Kingdoms of Korea: Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla. The Samguk Sagi is written in Classical Chinese and its compilation was ordered by Goryeo's King Injong Samguk Sagi (History of the Three Kingdoms) is a historical record of the Three Kingdoms of...
(1145). Starting in the late thirteenth century, Gija was fully integrated into Korean history, being described as a successor to the descendants of Dangun
Dangun
Dangun Wanggeom was the legendary founder of Gojoseon, the first Korean kingdom, around present-day Liaoning, Manchuria, and the Korean Peninsula. He is said to be the "grandson of heaven", and to have founded the kingdom in 2333 BC...
in the state of Old Joseon. Following the spread of Neo-Confucianism
Neo-Confucianism
Neo-Confucianism is an ethical and metaphysical Chinese philosophy influenced by Confucianism, that was primarily developed during the Song Dynasty and Ming Dynasty, but which can be traced back to Han Yu and Li Ao in the Tang Dynasty....
in Korea in the fourteenth century, scholars of the Joseon Dynasty
Joseon Dynasty
Joseon , was a Korean state founded by Taejo Yi Seong-gye that lasted for approximately five centuries. It was founded in the aftermath of the overthrow of the Goryeo at what is today the city of Kaesong. Early on, Korea was retitled and the capital was relocated to modern-day Seoul...
(est. 1392) promoted Gija as a culture hero
Culture hero
A culture hero is a mythological hero specific to some group who changes the world through invention or discovery...
who had raised Korean civilization to the same level as China, and Gija became an integral part of Korean cultural identity.
Following the rise of Korean nationalism
Korean nationalism
Korean nationalism refers to nationalism among the Korean people. In the Korean context, this encompasses various of movements throughout history to maintain the Korean cultural identity, history, and ethnicity.-History:...
in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, however, Korean intellectuals lost their pride in association with Gija and started to doubt the traditional account of his enfeoffment as ruler of Gojoseon
Gojoseon
Gojoseon was an ancient Korean kingdom. Go , meaning "ancient," distinguishes it from the later Joseon Dynasty; Joseon, as it is called in contemporaneous writings, is also romanized as Chosŏn....
. Shin Chaeho (1880–1936) questioned the extent of Gija's cultural contributions, in part because Gija, a Chinese, did not fit into Shin's view of Korean history as the history of the Korean minjok, or "race-nation." Postwar Korean scholars in both North
North Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
and South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
have also strongly criticized the story of Gija's migration to Korea in the eleventh century BCE.
His family name was Zi/Ja (子) and given name was Xuyu/Suyu (胥餘/서여 xūyú/seoyeo, or 須臾/수유 xūyú/suyu).
Pre-Qin sources
The earliest known mention of Jizi is in the "Mingyi" 明夷 hexagram of the Book of Change. According to other ancient Chinese texts like the Book of Documents, the Analects, and the Bamboo AnnalsBamboo Annals
The Bamboo Annals is a chronicle of ancient China. It begins at the earliest legendary times and extends to the Warring States Period , particularly the history of the Wei state...
, Jizi was a relative of King Zhou
King Zhou of Shang
Emperor Xin of Shang was the last king of the Shang Dynasty. He was later given the pejorative posthumous name Zhòu . He is also called Zhou Xin or King Zhou . He may also be referred to by adding "Shang" in front of any of his names...
, the last ruler of the Shang Dynasty
Shang Dynasty
The Shang Dynasty or Yin Dynasty was, according to traditional sources, the second Chinese dynasty, after the Xia. They ruled in the northeastern regions of the area known as "China proper" in the Yellow River valley...
, and one of the three wise men of Shang, along with Weizi (微子) and Bigan. Some identify him as Grand Tutor of the king. Jizi was either imprisoned or enslaved for remonstrating against King Zhou's misrule. (One later version states that he pretended to be mad after Bigan had been killed by King Zhou.) After Shang was overthrown by the Zhou dynasty
Zhou Dynasty
The Zhou Dynasty was a Chinese dynasty that followed the Shang Dynasty and preceded the Qin Dynasty. Although the Zhou Dynasty lasted longer than any other dynasty in Chinese history, the actual political and military control of China by the Ji family lasted only until 771 BC, a period known as...
in the mid eleventh century BC, Jizi was released by King Wu
King Wu of Zhou
King Wu of Zhōu or King Wu of Chou was the first sovereign, or ruler of the Chinese Zhou Dynasty. The dates of his reign are 1046-1043 BCE or 1049/45-1043. Various sources quoted that he died at the age of 93, 54 or 43. He was considered a just and able leader. Zhou Gong Dan was one of his...
, to whom he gave advice on how to rule the new polity.
These texts mention neither Joseon nor Jizi's descendants; they simply describe Jizi as a virtuous man who was trusted by King Wu of Zhou
Zhou Dynasty
The Zhou Dynasty was a Chinese dynasty that followed the Shang Dynasty and preceded the Qin Dynasty. Although the Zhou Dynasty lasted longer than any other dynasty in Chinese history, the actual political and military control of China by the Ji family lasted only until 771 BC, a period known as...
after having been mistreated by the last Shang
Shang Dynasty
The Shang Dynasty or Yin Dynasty was, according to traditional sources, the second Chinese dynasty, after the Xia. They ruled in the northeastern regions of the area known as "China proper" in the Yellow River valley...
king.
Han and later texts
The first texts that make an explicit connection between Jizi and Joseon date from the second century BC, under the Han dynastyHan Dynasty
The Han Dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms . It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang...
. The earliest known source stating that Jizi went to Joseon is the Shangshu dazhuan (尚書大傳), a commentary on the Book of Documents attributed to Fu Sheng (伏勝) of the second century BC. In that account, King Wu enfeoffed Jizi as the ruler of Joseon and Jizi became the subject of King Wu. In a similar story recorded in Sima Qian
Sima Qian
Sima Qian was a Prefect of the Grand Scribes of the Han Dynasty. He is regarded as the father of Chinese historiography for his highly praised work, Records of the Grand Historian , a "Jizhuanti"-style general history of China, covering more than two thousand years from the Yellow Emperor to...
's Records of the Grand Historian
Records of the Grand Historian
The Records of the Grand Historian, also known in English by the Chinese name Shiji , written from 109 BC to 91 BC, was the Magnum opus of Sima Qian, in which he recounted Chinese history from the time of the Yellow Emperor until his own time...
(or Shiji, compiled between 109 and 91 BC), Jizi was enfeoffed by King Wu but did not become his subject. Sima Qian did not mention Jizi in his section on contemporary Joseon (i.e. northwestern Korea), where Wei Man's kingdom had flourished since about 194 BC until it was conquered by the Han Dynasty
Han Dynasty
The Han Dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms . It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang...
in 108 BC. Thus the location of Joseon as in these earlier sources is not clear. Among Han-Dynasty sources, the Hanshi waizhuan mentions to Jizi but not to Jizi's migration to Joseon.
The "Monograph on Geography" (Dili zhi 地理志) of the Book of Han
Book of Han
The Book of Han, Hanshu or History of the Former Han Dynasty |Fan Ye]] . Various scholars have estimated that the earliest material covered in the book dates back to between 206 and 202 BCE...
(1st century AD) claimed that Jizi had taught the people of Joseon agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
, sericulture
Sericulture
Sericulture, or silk farming, is the rearing of silkworms for the production of raw silk.Although there are several commercial species of silkworms, Bombyx mori is the most widely used and intensively studied. According to Confucian texts, the discovery of silk production by B...
, and weaving
Weaving
Weaving is a method of fabric production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. The other methods are knitting, lace making and felting. The longitudinal threads are called the warp and the lateral threads are the weft or filling...
, as well as proper ceremony
Li (Confucian)
Li is a classical Chinese word which finds its most extensive use in Confucian and post-Confucian Chinese philosophy. Li encompasses not a definitive object but rather a somewhat abstract idea; as such, it is translated in a number of different ways...
. Jae-hoon Shim interprets the following sentence in that section of the Hanshu as claiming that Jizi also introduced the law of "Eight Prohibitions" (犯禁八條) in Joseon. The Records of Three Kingdoms
Records of Three Kingdoms
Records of Three Kingdoms , is regarded as the official and authoritative historical text on the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history covering the years 184-280 CE. Written by Chen Shou in the 3rd century, the work combines the smaller histories of the rival states of Cao Wei , Shu Han and...
(first published in the early fifth century) claim that the descendants of Jizi reigned as kings of Joseon for forty generations until they were overthrown by Wei Man, a man from the state of Yan, in 194 BC.
According to a commentary to the Shiji, Du Yu
Du Yu
Du Yu , style name Yuankai , was a military general of Cao Wei during the late Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. He served the Jin Dynasty after the end of the Three Kingdoms period. Also a prolific author, it is said that Du Yu read the Zuozhuan so often that he was addicted to the book...
(first half of the 3rd century) stated that the tomb of Jizi was located in Meng Prefecture of the State of Liang (modern-day Henan). This suggests that the story of Jizi's association with Joseon was not necessarily prevailing although the narrative seen in the Hanshu later became common.
As historian Jae-hoon Shim concludes, only during the Han dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD) did Jizi begin to be associated with Joseon, and only after the Han were his descendants identified as the Joseon royal family.
Traditional historiography
The first extant Korean text to mention Gija (the Korean pronunciation of Jizi) was Kim Busik's Samguk SagiSamguk Sagi
Samguk Sagi is a historical record of the Three Kingdoms of Korea: Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla. The Samguk Sagi is written in Classical Chinese and its compilation was ordered by Goryeo's King Injong Samguk Sagi (History of the Three Kingdoms) is a historical record of the Three Kingdoms of...
(completed in 1145), which claimed that Gija had been enfeoffed in Haedong (海東: Korea) by the Zhou court, but commented that this account was uncertain because of the brevity of the sources. Only in the thirteenth century did Korean texts start to integrate Gija more fully into Korean history. The Samguk Yusa
Samguk Yusa
Samguk Yusa, or Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms, is a collection of legends, folktales, and historical accounts relating to the Three Kingdoms of Korea , as well as to other periods and states before, during, and after the Three Kingdoms period.The text was written in Classical Chinese, which was...
(1281) explained that after being enfeoffed by King Wu of Zhou
King Wu of Zhou
King Wu of Zhōu or King Wu of Chou was the first sovereign, or ruler of the Chinese Zhou Dynasty. The dates of his reign are 1046-1043 BCE or 1049/45-1043. Various sources quoted that he died at the age of 93, 54 or 43. He was considered a just and able leader. Zhou Gong Dan was one of his...
, Gija replaced Dangun
Dangun
Dangun Wanggeom was the legendary founder of Gojoseon, the first Korean kingdom, around present-day Liaoning, Manchuria, and the Korean Peninsula. He is said to be the "grandson of heaven", and to have founded the kingdom in 2333 BC...
's descendants as the ruler of Joseon
Gojoseon
Gojoseon was an ancient Korean kingdom. Go , meaning "ancient," distinguishes it from the later Joseon Dynasty; Joseon, as it is called in contemporaneous writings, is also romanized as Chosŏn....
, whereas Jewang Ungi
Jewang ungi
The Jewang Ungi is a historical poem composed by Yi Seung-hyu in 1287, in the late Goryeo period. It depicts the history of Korea from Dangun to King Chungnyeol. A possible translation in English reads: "Rhymed Chronicles of Sovereigns"....
(1287) identified Dangun and Gija as the first rulers of former and latter Joseon respectively. Most premodern Korean historians after that accepted that Gija had replaced another indigenous power (represented by Dangun) in Old Joseon
Gojoseon
Gojoseon was an ancient Korean kingdom. Go , meaning "ancient," distinguishes it from the later Joseon Dynasty; Joseon, as it is called in contemporaneous writings, is also romanized as Chosŏn....
.
In 1102, during the Goryeo Dynasty, Emperor Sukjong
Sukjong of Goryeo
Sukjong of Goryeo was the 15th ruler of the Goryeo dynasty of Korea. He was the younger brother of Sunjong. He married Myeongui, the daughter of Yu Hong....
built a mausoleum
Kija's Tomb
Kija's Tomb is a burial site located on Moran Hill in Pyongyang, North Korea. The tomb is said to be the burial place to the controversial, semi-legendary Shang sage Jizi , a member of the Shang imperial family and relative to the tyrannical King Zhou, last ruler of the Shang dynasty.Jizi allegedly...
to Gija in a place near Pyongyang
Pyongyang
Pyongyang is the capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, commonly known as North Korea, and the largest city in the country. Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River and, according to preliminary results from the 2008 population census, has a population of 3,255,388. The city was...
that had been identified as Gija's tomb. The mausoleum was rebuilt in 1324 and repaired in 1355, but the cult of Gija spread most widely after the establishment of the Joseon Dynasty
Joseon Dynasty
Joseon , was a Korean state founded by Taejo Yi Seong-gye that lasted for approximately five centuries. It was founded in the aftermath of the overthrow of the Goryeo at what is today the city of Kaesong. Early on, Korea was retitled and the capital was relocated to modern-day Seoul...
in 1392. Because Joseon's state ideology was Neo-Confucianism
Neo-Confucianism
Neo-Confucianism is an ethical and metaphysical Chinese philosophy influenced by Confucianism, that was primarily developed during the Song Dynasty and Ming Dynasty, but which can be traced back to Han Yu and Li Ao in the Tang Dynasty....
borrowed from China, Joseon intellectuals promoted Gija as a culture hero
Culture hero
A culture hero is a mythological hero specific to some group who changes the world through invention or discovery...
who had raised Korean civilization to the same level as China.
From the second half of the sixteenth century to the eighteenth century, Joseon scholars published a number of books on Gija. In 1580, Yun Dusu (尹斗壽) collated all available material on him and published his research as the Gijaji (箕子志; "Record of Gija"). On the same year, eminent scholar Yi I
Yi I
Yi I was one of the two most prominent Korean Confucian scholars of the Joseon Dynasty, the other being his older contemporary, Yi Hwang . Yi I is often referred to by his pen name Yulgok...
used Yun's book to compile the Gija Silgi (箕子實記), or True Account of Gija. Yi praised Gija for introducing agriculture, sericulture
Sericulture
Sericulture, or silk farming, is the rearing of silkworms for the production of raw silk.Although there are several commercial species of silkworms, Bombyx mori is the most widely used and intensively studied. According to Confucian texts, the discovery of silk production by B...
, decorum, the well-field system
Well-field system
The well-field system was a Chinese land distribution method existing between the ninth century BCE to around the end of the Warring States Period...
, and the Eight Prohibitions. Though he emphasized Gija's independence from King Wu of Zhou
King Wu of Zhou
King Wu of Zhōu or King Wu of Chou was the first sovereign, or ruler of the Chinese Zhou Dynasty. The dates of his reign are 1046-1043 BCE or 1049/45-1043. Various sources quoted that he died at the age of 93, 54 or 43. He was considered a just and able leader. Zhou Gong Dan was one of his...
, Yi believed that Kija's teachings helped Korea to reach the same level of civilization as China.
Although Korean scholars became more critical of Kija's role in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, this account of Gija as the "bearer of civilization from China" became widely accepted, so much that by the late Joseon, the worship of Kija "had become an integral part of Korean cultural identity." Some Korean clans proudly claimed descent from Gija.
Twentieth century
Following the decline of China's prestige and the rise of Korean nationalismKorean nationalism
Korean nationalism refers to nationalism among the Korean people. In the Korean context, this encompasses various of movements throughout history to maintain the Korean cultural identity, history, and ethnicity.-History:...
in the early twentieth century, Korean intellectuals no longer took pride in their association with the Chinese Gija, and thus started to doubt the authenticity of his traditional story. Shin Chaeho (1880–1936) was the first to question the extent of Gija's contributions. In an essay titled Doksa Sillon
Doksa Sillon
Doksa sillon or A New Reading of History is a book that discusses the history of Korea from the time of the mythical Dangun to the fall of the kingdom of Baekje in 926 CE...
("New Reading of History"; 1908), he argued that Korean history was the history of the Korean minjok, a race-nation descended from Dangun
Dangun
Dangun Wanggeom was the legendary founder of Gojoseon, the first Korean kingdom, around present-day Liaoning, Manchuria, and the Korean Peninsula. He is said to be the "grandson of heaven", and to have founded the kingdom in 2333 BC...
, the mythical founder of the state of Gojoseon
Gojoseon
Gojoseon was an ancient Korean kingdom. Go , meaning "ancient," distinguishes it from the later Joseon Dynasty; Joseon, as it is called in contemporaneous writings, is also romanized as Chosŏn....
. Gija, a foreigner, did not belong in Shin's racially defined view of Korean history. Shin argued instead that Gija had become a vassal of the Kings of Buyeo
Buyeo
Buyeo can mean:*Buyeo kingdom, a kingdom located in today's North Korea and southern Manchuria from around the 2nd century BC to 494 AD*Buyeo County, a county in South Chungcheong Province, South Korea, and one-time capital of the ancient kingdom of Baekje...
and was only given control of a small territory.
Going further than Shin, Choe Nam-seon (1890–1957) and Lee Byeong-do (1896–1989) started to notice discrepancies between pre-Qin
Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
Chinese records of Jizi/Gija, and later accounts (both Chinese and Korean) of his role in Joseon. In 1973, archeologist Kim Cheong-bae (金貞培) denied Chinese influence on Korea because no ancient Chinese bronzes had been found on the peninsula.
After the end of Japanese colonial rule
Korea under Japanese rule
Korea was under Japanese rule as part of Japan's 35-year imperialist expansion . Japanese rule ended in 1945 shortly after the Japanese defeat in World War II....
in 1945, nationalist historians in both North
North Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
and South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
targeted Gija. Ri Chirin, a leading North Korean historian of ancient Korea, argued that the Gija legend had been forged in Han times when the Chinese started to occupy part of Joseon. Most North Korean scholars have followed Ri in doubting the authenticity of Gija's migration to Joseon.
In South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
, whether Gija and his state actually existed is a matter of controversy. Korean scholars deny its existence for various reasons. These scholars point to the Bamboo Annals
Bamboo Annals
The Bamboo Annals is a chronicle of ancient China. It begins at the earliest legendary times and extends to the Warring States Period , particularly the history of the Wei state...
and the Confucian Analects, which were among the first works to mention Gija, but do not mention his migration to Gojoseon. Detractors of the Gija Joseon theory also point out that the cultural artifacts found in the region do not appear to have Chinese origins. An example of such an artifact is found in a Gojoseon mandolin-shaped bronze dagger. Its shape and bronze composition are different from similar artifacts found in China.
The national-history textbook
Textbook
A textbook or coursebook is a manual of instruction in any branch of study. Textbooks are produced according to the demands of educational institutions...
of high school education drove Gija's description out of the main text and he was marginally mentioned in a note. The textbook of the latest 7th Curriculum completely eliminates Gija.
On the contrary, some South Korean historians believes that Gija Joseon coexisted with Dangun, and Gija Joseon was established at the west end of Gojoseon.
Further analysis
Because it is confirmed that early Chinese history books reflect historical facts at least from the late Shang DynastyShang Dynasty
The Shang Dynasty or Yin Dynasty was, according to traditional sources, the second Chinese dynasty, after the Xia. They ruled in the northeastern regions of the area known as "China proper" in the Yellow River valley...
onwards, the Jizi described in pre-Qin sources is generally considered a real character. Cultural material evidences suggest that a small city state in Liaoning
Liaoning
' is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the northeast of the country. Its one-character abbreviation is "辽" , a name taken from the Liao River that flows through the province. "Níng" means "peace"...
was ruled by Jihou (㠱侯) or Lord Ji under the Yan
Yan (state)
Yān was a state during the Western Zhou, Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods of Chinese history. Its capital was Ji...
Kingdom. Jihou may be the model of Jizi.
As for post-Qin sources, the story in the Weilüe is controversial because it contains information that cannot be found in preceding materials. Japanese scholar Imanishi Ryū presumed that this story had spread to China because of Chinese direct rule of the northwestern part of the Korean peninsula during the Han dynasty and that the source of information would have been the influential Chinese Han clan of the Lelang Commandery
Lelang Commandery
Lelang was one of the Chinese commanderies which was established after the fall of Gojoseon in 108 BC until Goguryeo conquered it in 313. Lelang Commandery was located in the northern Korean peninsula with the administrative center near modern P'yongyang....
, who might have claimed themselves as descendants of Jizi.