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Today on the Korean Atlas and History: Korean History. 고조선.

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The 고조선 period of Korean history marks the first kingdom on the Korean

peninsula. This period should not be confused with the Kingdom of 조선 period,

which came much later. The Joseon period is named from this period, however the

고 in 고조선 means ancient. It is unknown when this period began, but it is

considered to have ended around 108 BC. The kingdom of 고조선 ranged in size

with its northern extent being in what is now southern China, and its southern

extent enveloping Kaesong with the border moving northeast around Wonsan in

modern day North Korea. 고조선 history can be divided into three phases, 단군,

기자조선, and 위만조선.

According to Korean myth, the 고조선 empire was started by the figure

known as 단군. According to the 삼국유사, 단군’s father, 환웅, was the son of the

Lord of Heaven, 환인. 환웅 came down to earth to 백두 mountain where he founded

the city of 신씨. Then, a bear and tiger came to 환운 and asked him to become

human. He sent the two into a cave where they would eat only mugwort and garlic

for 100 days. The tiger gave up and left the cave, but the bear lasted the 100 days

and became a beautiful woman named 웅녀. 환웅 married 웅녀 and the two had a
son named 잔군. 단군 founded 고조선 in 2333 BC. 단군 ruled until 1122 BC, when he

was succeeded by Gija. Although this story is a myth, it is believed to be a synthesis

of a series of historical events. According to 서의식 and 강붕룡, in their book, Deep-

Rooted Korean History, the 단군 myth is based upon the integration of two tribes.

The tiger represents an invasive sky worshipping bronze age tribe, and the bear

represents a native neolithic tribe that worshipped bears. According to 이기벡 in A

New History of Korea, the length of 단군’s is long because the title 단군 왕검 was

borne by a succession of leaders in 고조선.

In 1122, the a man named 기자 came into power after 단군. He was the

alleged founder of 기자조선. His story has been developed in many texts, but

portions of his story are considered myth as well. 기자 came from the Shang

Dynasty of China and ruled 기자조선 after 단군 왕검. Historians believe that 기자

represents the influence of Chinese civilization on 고조선 Korea. Until the 12th

century, Koreans had a common belief that 단군 gave Koreans their people and

basic culture, whereas 기자 gave Korea its high culture and standing as a legitimate

civilization.

In 195 BC, the king of 기자고조선 was named 준. At the same time, in China,

king Lu Wan of Yan was defeated by the Han dynasty. A military leader of the

defeated Yan army named 위만 fled to 고조선 with his army of a thousand followers.
Initially, he fortified 고조선’s northwestern border to help King 준. Later, though, with

help from his followers, 기자 usurped the throne from King 준. 위만’s capital was

왕검성, which most modern scholars identify as modern day 평양. 위만 was

appointed as an outer subject to the Han dynasty. Later, a conflict would ensue

when King 우거, the grandson of 위만, refused to let ambassadors pass through his

territory to reach the Han dynasty. Emperor Wu sent an ambassador to negotiate

the right of passage, but 우거 sent the ambassador back to Han with one of his

generals. When they neared the Han border, the ambassador to Han assassinated

우거’s general. The ambassador then returned to Wu and deceived him, saying that

he had defeated all of 조선 in battle. Emperor Wu, made the ambassador the

commander of the Commandery of Liaodong. King 우거 then attacked this

commandery and killed the ambassador, in revenge for his general. In response,

Emperor Wu led a two pronged attack against 고조선, one by land and one by sea.

The attack suffered large losses, but eventually took the capital of 고조선 in 108BC.

The Han dynasty would then establish the Four Commanderies of Han in 고조선 in

order to control and subdue the region.

고조선 was considered to be one of the most advanced states of its time.

고조선 incorporated other neighboring states into its realm by alliance or military

conquest. Because of this, many records from the time called this the “confederated”

kingdom of 조선. The Yan dynasty described them as arrogant and cruel, but 고조선
appears to have a complex social structure, which included a class of horse-riding

warriors. The people of 고조선 were probably organized into family clans. They

practiced agriculture and settled in communal life. Bronze daggers and mirrors have

been excavated from 고조선, as well as dolmens. Dolmens are megalithic tombs that

comprise upright stones and a supporting horizontal slab. These dolmens are more

numerous in Korea than in other parts of East Asia. Towns excavated from 고조선

were walled, and pottery has plain coarse patterns. Pottery also had thicker walls

and a wider variety of shapes than in the 무문 pottery period, which indicates

improvements in kiln technology. In the southern part of 고조선 and into the Jin

region, iron has been discovered. Some poetry has been discovered from 고조선 as

well.

Numerous small states and confederations emerges from the ashes of 고조선.

These included 고구려, 부여, 옥저, and 동예.

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Thank You for listening to this episode of the Korean Atlas and History. Most

of today’s information was taken from the 나무 Wiki and Wikipedia. All of our

episodes can be found and downloaded from koreanatlasandhistory.com. Thank

you for listening and we’ll see you next time.