『사군지(四郡志)』 '사실(事實)’조를 통해 본 유득공의 한국고대사 인식 = Yu Deuk-gong’s View on the Ancient past of the Korean peninsula, displayed in the “Facts(事實)” chapter of Sagun-ji

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Sagun-ji is a book trailing the history of the four Chinese Han(漢) Commandery units. Its author Yu Deuk-gong believed that the dismantled Commanderies were directly succeeded by the Ancient Kingdoms of the Korean peninsula. That is why there were so many references to all the three kingdoms (Goguryeo, Baekje and Shilla) inserted in the “Facts(事實)” chapter of Sagun-ji.
All these various references listed in Sagun-ji’s “Facts” chapter are quoted from either Chinese official histories or Korea’s Samguk Sagi. Quotes from the same book are listed in chronological order, and repetitive accounts over the same historical event seemed to have been sorted out and removed. All the references are also quoted in their original forms.
In Sagun-ji, there are a number of ‘Anseol(按說)’ remarks, which means “the author’s thoughts.” These were inserted in the book to allow Yu Deuk-gong himself to express his opinion over the matters at hand, and most of them were used to provide the readers with information or knowledge pertaining to the Three Ancient Kingdoms, such as names of regions, titles of facilities or other kinds of historical facts. Also can be found here is some criticism against Kim Bu-shik(author of Samguk Sagi), and Yu’s own argument that “The Four Commanderies[四郡] merged into two[二郡], became three[三郡], and then turned into the Three Kingdoms[三國].” Sagun-ji was a study of ancient historical geography, inspired by the scholars’ general interest in the Northern region of the Korean peninsula. It also displays the author’s belief in the aforementioned ‘successive relationship,’ which supposedly existed between the four Han Commandery units and the Three Ancient Korean Kingdoms. Such belief was a crucial part in people’s perception of Korean ancient history at the time. To them the legitimate line of succession was a very important matter, so perceiving the past in this manner was quite popular. Yu Deuk-gong himself was highly interested in the legacy of the Goguryeo dynasty, and considered Baekje and Shilla as entitles that had been founded later than Goguryeo, providing them with lesser historical meanings. This suggests he had a very Goguryeo-centric historical view, which we can also see from the fact that he believed the Goguryeo territory went beyond the Korean peninsula and reached into the Manchu region. That was why he got interested in the peninsula’s Northern regions in the first place, and the four Han Commandery units located there as well. The objective of Sagun-ji was essentially to quench Yu’s thirst and curiosity in the North.