Hwandan Gogi
Hwandan Gogi, also called Handan Gogi, is a pseudohistorical compilation of texts on ancient Korean history. It is a bound volume of four supposedly historical records.
According to its introduction, the text was compiled in 1911 by Gye Yeon-su and supervised by Yi Gi. The entire set of texts, of which the only extant version is a modern transcription by published in 1979, is widely regarded as a forgery among academics.
Contents
The Hwandan Gogi comprises the following four books:- Samseonggi, a two-volume book which describes an ancient kingdom called Hwan-guk that lasted for 3301 years and Hwanung's 1565-year rule of Baedalguk.
- Dangun Segi, a chronicle of Gojoseon through 47 generations of Dangun rulers.
- Bukbuyeogi, a book about the six kings of Bukbuyeo.
- Taebaek Ilsa, a book about the histories of Hwan-guk, Baedalguk, Samjoseon, Goguryeo, Balhae, and Goryeo; also includes the text of Cheonbu-gyeong.
Dispute regarding authenticity
Support
Some historians view the Hwandan Gogi as worthy of further scholarly scrutiny, believing that it is at least partly based on historically valuable, ancient texts.- The astronomical record alleging five stars had been arranged in a straight line in 1733 BCE was confirmed by Professor Park Changbeom, who published his findings in a journal. He showed that the five stars would have been arranged in straight line in 1734 BCE, under the assumption that Gojoseon had been established in 2333 BCE.
- Law professor Junhwan Go offered several reasons as to why he found Hwandan Gogi worthy of consideration.
- The territory of Gojoseon described in Hwandan Gogi corresponds to the distribution area of the mandolin-shaped dagger culture in Korea. The distribution area of mandolin shaped daggers are advocated by Yoon et al. and Yi Pyong-do.
Criticism
Most historians in South Korea, North Korea and Japan consider the text to have been created in recent times due to the following reasons:- The document contains modern phrases and concepts. For example, it includes references to gender equality and patriarchy.
- The manner in which Hwandan Gogi was first published is unclear:
- * There are no historical records which support the existence of Samseonggi's two alleged authors, An Ham-ro and Won Dong-jung. It is believed that a group of three people by the name of An Ham, Ro Won, and Dong Jung were mistaken as two individuals.
- * Yi Gi could not have supervised the compilation of Hwandan Gogi in 1911, as he had already died in 1909.
- * The contents of Cheonbu-gyeong could not have been included in Taebaek Ilsa before 1911, because the Cheonbu-gyeong was first discovered and known to the Daejonggyo in 1916.
- * Gye Yeon-su, the person who is said to have compiled the Hwandan Gogi, may not have existed. No reliable historical records support his existence.
- * The 1911 first edition of the Hwandan Gogi has never been found. Yi Yu-rip claimed that the 1911 edition was burned during the Korean War or had been lost by flood, and asserted he had "restored the Hwandan Gogi through memory."
- When calculated with modern measures, the alleged territory of Hwan-guk spans from the North Pole to the South Pole.
- The rulers of Baedalguk are said to have lived for an average of 120–150 years.
- Hwan-guk is said to have had intricate bureaucratic systems during the Stone Age.
- Some records in Hwandan Gogi contradict each other.