China Keeps Distorting History
China Keeps Distorting History

[Korea Times 2004-08-01 17:46]

By Moon Gwang-lip Staff Reporter

China seems to be impatient to match its growing economic and political power with credit by manipulating historical material, however absurd or short of facts. In the wake of claims by the Chinese state-run media that Koguryo was a country subordinate to ancient China, China has been making various efforts to incorporate Koguryo into its own history. Koguryo (B.

C. 37 _ A.D. 668) is an ancient Korean kingdom with a territory ranging from the northern part of the peninsula to Manchuria.

A tourism event named the ``Koguryo Culture Trip���� hosted by JilinProvince and Ji��an city has been planned for July 20 through Oct. 15. Some may claim it is nothing more than a sightseeing venture, buta closer look may reveal more specific motives.

Every program of the ``Koguryo culture trip���� seems designed to inculcate visitors that Koguryo was one of the minority ethnic regimesin northeast China that deeply impacted the development of old civilizations.

The curators emphasize Koguryo relics as subordinate to Chinese culture. For example, explanations are given: ``This tile bears the marks of the Buddhist culture, which proves Koguryo was under the influence of Chinese culture,���� or ``Coins used in China were found in this grave. This is proof Koguryo was a part of China��s mainland.����In addition, the Chinese magazine ``Lifeweek���� recently said in an article, ``in an era of the Ming and Qing dynasty, ancient dynasties of China, the China-Korea relationship was one of principal and subordinate, according to www.sohu.com, one of the famous Chinese portal sites.����The magazine claimed Choson had allied with the Ming when they accepted an offer to help repel the Japanese invasion of Korea in 1592, adate based on Chinese chronology.It also said the claim of the Korean delegates to the 28th World Cultural Heritage Committee that Koguryo history is Korean history is based mostly on emotion. On July 1, the 28th UNESCO World Heritage Committee decided to list several Koguryo sitesas World Cultural Heritage and China made continuous claims that Koguryo was a part of China.

Some scholars denounced China, calling it``historical imperialism���� for the purpose of incorporating Koguryo��s history into its own. Park Sung-rae is one of the scholars whourge the Korean government to put efforts into correcting all historical distortions made by the Chinese government.

The professor at the Seoul University of Foreign Studies urged the government Saturdayto correct China��s claim that the first rain gauge in the world, called by the Korean name Chuk-u-ki, was invented by Korea, not China.

China has been claiming for a long time that the first rain gauge in the world, made by Choson officials in 1441, was invented by China. The supporting fact is very simple: Chuk-u-ki had Qing��s chronological era on the cover. ``Choson traditionally used the Chinese chronological era instead of its own, a fact which the Chinese government is using to try and convince the world the invention was their own,���� he said. ``There are no history books which have records aboutrain gauge inventions and usage, and there are no remaining relics today,���� he said.

Choson Moon Chung-rhyang, a researcher at the Academy of Korea Researches, said ``the distortion ofChuk-u-ki history is not a new issue but from now, we have to demandChina correct it.���� ``The problem could be worse than the historical distortion of Koguryo,���� he added. Back in February 2002, the Chinese government launched the ``Northeast Asian Project���� to study the history of the area northeast of ancient China, including Koguryo. ``With the project, China seems intent on incorporating Koguryointo its history,���� said Kim Woo-jun, professor at Yonsei University��s Institute of East and West Studies.The project is also getting the support of media. On July 2, China��s official Xinhua News Agency called Koguryo a ``subordinate state under the rule of Chinese dynasties,���� in its report.

A foreign ministry official said Seoul is checking through diplomatic channels as to whether media reports reflect the official stance of the Beijing government. However, Choe Kwang-shik, a history professor at Korea University, slammed the Korean government for only taking belated stopgap measures against the Chinese move.

``The government reaction was too late, it should have instantly protested because the reports of the state-run news services are the main source of information for all media companies in China and have enormous influence on the Chinese people,���� he said.

The VANK stressed that Korea will have to introduce more fundamentalmeasures to counter the Northeast Asian Project.``The important thing is how much effort Korea will make to inform the world of the truth about Koguryo,���� Park of the VANK said. ``The government should more actively inform the world of the facts about Korea��s history so that people can reject absurd claims made by other countries,���� Park said, urging both the Korean people and thegovernment to take immediate action.Meanwhile, local Internet users undertook a cyber rally on July 29,in an effort to protest China��s distortion of Koguryo history. Theytried to connect simultaneously to the Web sites of the Chinese government official agencies and Chinese state-run media and some Web sites including the Web site of the Chinese foreign ministry

Summary

China has been making various efforts to incorporate Koguryo into its own history.

A tourism event named the ``Koguryo Culture Trip" hosted by Jilin Province and Ji'an city has been planned for July 20 through Oct. 15. Some may claim it is nothing more than a sightseeing venture, but a closer look may reveal more specific motives.

Every program of the ``Koguryo culture trip���� seems designed to inculcate visitors that Koguryo was one of the minority ethnic regimesin northeast China that deeply impacted the development of old civilizations. The curators emphasize Koguryo relics as subordinate to Chinese culture.

Park of the VANK said about this. "`The government should more actively inform the world of the facts about Korea��s history so that people can reject absurd claims made by other countries."
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