Nationalism and the Net: Online discussion of Goguryeo history in China and South Korea
Abstract
This study investigates the growing volume of online discussion of Goguryeo history in both China and South Korea. While first analysing how nationalism and national identity underpin this historical dispute, this article then critiques common arguments that emerge within online Chinese and South Korean commentary on Goguryeo. The findings of this study show that while the Internet has facilitated a broadening of participation in the discussion of Goguryeo, this has not led to a more objective or rigorous treatment of this history, nor a more critical evaluation of its relationship to national identity. This study’s findings also indicate that national identity is neither static nor monolithic, and that online discussion of Goguryeo history is part of a dynamic process contributing to the gradual change and evolution of national identity in both countries.
1.
The author gratefully acknowledges the suggestions provided by the anonymous reviewers of this article.
2.
1. Known in Chinese as (Gaogouli), the Korean romanization of Goguryeo will be used here.
3.
2. Terence Roehrig, History as a strategic weapon: The Korean and Chinese struggle over Koguryo, in Seung Ham Yang, Yeon Sik Choi and Jong Kun Choi (eds) Korean Studies in the World: Democracy, Peace, Prosperity and Culture, Seoul: Jimoondang, 2008, 95; Hee-Ok Lee, China’s Northeast Asia Project: Political background and implications, East Asian Review 18(4), 2006: 88.
4.
3. While the dispute has piqued interest in Goguryeo history in both countries, this is particularly so in South Korea, where a large amount of Goguryeo-related popular culture has flourished. For example, Jumong, a historical drama produced by Korean television company MBC which told the story of the founder of the Goguryeo Kingdom, was the highest-rating Korean television programme in 2006. KBS Television has also screened the dramas Kingdom of the Winds ( Baram ui nara), based on the story of Jumong’s grandson, and Empress Cheonchu (Cheonchu taehu), about the third ruler of the Goguryeo Kingdom and the battles she waged in Manchuria to reclaim Goguryeo territory. According to the KBS website, the production of Empress Cheonchu is a direct response to Chinese revisionist history and the Chinese government’s Northeast Project, Cheonchu taehu ui giheok uido (Empress Cheonchu’s plan), http:// www.kbs.co.kr/drama/cheonchutaehu/plan.html, accessed 12 December 2009.
5.
The threat that this type of popular culture presents has not gone unnoticed in China. See Sohu News, Hanguo rebo dianshiju waiqu Gaogouli shishi cheng zhendui Zhongguo wuqi (Popular Korean historical drama distorts Goguryeo history, becomes a weapon directed against China), http://news.sohu.com/20070426/n249696271.shtml, accessed 7 November 2009.
6.
4. Prasenjit Duara, Nationalism in East Asia, History Compass 4(3), 2006: 424.
7.
5. Lucian W. Pye, How China’s nationalism was shanghaied, in Jonathan Unger (ed.) Chinese Nationalism, Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 1996, 88; Yingjie Guo and Baoguang He, Reimagining the Chinese nation: The ‘Zeng Guofan phenomenon’, Modern China 25(2), 1999: 168; John Powers, History as Propaganda: Tibetan Exiles Versus the People’s Republic of China, New York: Oxford University Press, 2004, 73.
8.
6. Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism, London: Verso, 2006, 46.
9.
7. See Hanguo you yao qiang womende zhongyi le (Now Korea wants to steal our Chinese medicine), http://ks.cn.yahoo.com/question/1408100805634.html, accessed 18 February 2009; Dongbuk Gongjeong e madseo yeoksa reul suho haja. Daehan ui nurikkundul i yeo! (Let’s face the North-East Project and defend history — Korean netizens!), http://www.cyworld.com/ aviento2/2388728, accessed 11 March 2009.
10.
8. These observations are the product of a qualitative analysis conducted on Chinese and Korean language materials related to the Goguryeo dispute, primarily in the form of blog entries and online discussion threads. In total, 35 Chinese and 35 Korean resources were extensively analysed. The blogs and discussion threads selected were primarily hosted by popular Internet companies in China and Korea such as Sohu, Yahoo, Naver, QQ.com, 163.com, Cyworld, and Daum. Sources chosen for the study were selected at random from the archives of these sites with inclusion based solely upon their perceived relevance to the topic. No material was excluded because of the expression of a particular view. Sources analysed varied in length from several paragraphs to many pages and were dated from between 2004 and early 2009.
11.
9. Geremie Barmé, History for the masses, in Jonathan Unger (ed.) Using the Past to Serve the Present: Historiography and Politics in Contemporary China, Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 1993, 260.
12.
10. The political imperatives supporting the project are apparent from its official introduction where, apart from addressing what it considers the historical fallacies being perpetuated by some countries’ politicians and scholars, the project is tasked with, ‘further enhancing the stability of the north-east border region’. See Dongbei Gongcheng jianjie (An introduction to the North-East Project), http://chinaborderland.cass.cn/show_News.asp?id=1787, accessed 12 October 2009.
13.
11. Maria Hsia Chang, Return of the Dragon: China’s Wounded Nationalism, Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2001, 206.
14.
12. Jungmin Seo, The politics of historiography in China: Contextualizing the Koguryo controversy, Asian Perspective 32(3), 2008: 41.
15.
13. James Townsend, Chinese nationalism, in Jonathan Unger (ed.) Chinese Nationalism, Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 1996, 18; Dru C. Gladney, Dislocating China: Reflections on Muslims, Minorities, and Other Subaltern Subjects, London: Hurst and Company, 2004, 26.
16.
14. Chan-Seung Park, Should Korean historians abandon nationalism?, Korea Journal 39(2), 1999: 318.
17.
15. Panjak N. Mohan, China’s nationalist historiography of the ‘Northeast Project’ and the Australian response to its challenge, Journal of Inner and East Asian Studies 3(1), 2006: 35; Sarah M. Nelson, Archaeology in the two Koreas, in Miriam T. Stark (ed.) Archaeology of Asia, Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2006, 41.
18.
16. Henry H. Em, Nationalism, post-nationalism and Shin Ch’ae-ho, Korea Journal 39(2), 1999: 283.
19.
17. Andre Schmid, Looking north toward Manchuria, South Atlantic Quarterly 99(1), 2000: 233; Hyung Il Pai, Constructing ‘Korean’ Origins: A Critical Review of Archaeology, Historiography and Racial Myth in Korean State-Formation Theories, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2000, 219.
20.
18. William A. Callahan, Contingent States — Greater China and Transnational Relations, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2004, 103.
21.
19. Pai, Constructing ‘Korean’ Origins, 258.
22.
20. Mohan, China’s nationalist historiography, 37; Daniel Goma, The Chinese—Korean border issue: An analysis of a contested frontier, Asian Survey 46(6), 2006: 868.
23.
21. Andre Schmid, Rediscovering Manchuria: Sin Ch’aeho and the politics of territorial history in Korea, Journal of Asian Studies 56(1), 1997: 29.
24.
22. Schmid, Looking north toward Manchuria, 234.
25.
23. A good example of this irredentism is the ‘Damul’ Movement, the name of which incorporates the meaning of ‘restoring ancient lands’ (goto hoebok). See Damul Net sogae (Introduction to Damul Net), http://www.damool.net/damoolnet/intro.asp, accessed 12 January 2010.
26.
24. Schmid, Looking north toward Manchuria, 238.
27.
25. Anderson, Imagined Communities, 6.
28.
26. Edward W. Said, Orientalism, New York: Vintage Books, 1979, 7.
29.
27. Peter Hays Gries, Narratives to live by: The century of humiliation and Chinese national identity today, in Lionel M. Jensen and Timothy B. Weston (eds) China’s Transformations: the Stories Beyond the Headlines, Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2007, 124.
30.
28. Goguryeoneun Hanguk ddang? Jungguk ddang? (Is Goguryeo Korean land or Chinese land?), http://kin.naver.com/detail/detail.php?d1id=11&dir_id=110101&eid=YljuXkfcId9I1YARXj zeR/UXK3uqNz+k&qb=s02xuLfBIMHfsbk=, accessed 16 February 2009.
31.
29. See, for example, Wei lishi zhengming: Gaogouli yu Gaoli de qubie. Gaoli he chaoxian Hanguo de guanxi (Establishing history: The difference between Goguryeo and Goryeo and the relationship between Goryeo and Korea), http://liuyt1113.blog.163.com/blog/ static/325205532008975343994/, accessed 9 March 2009. Here the author writes, ‘National humiliation should not be forgotten. Nor should the fact that 40 per cent of the Japanese Army that committed the Rape of Nanking were Koreans. Three-hundred thousand Chinese … how many of them cruelly died under Korean blades?’
32.
30. Jungguk ui Goguryeosa waegok ui sumeun uidoneun mueosin ga? (What is China’s hidden intention behind its distortion of Goguryeo history?), http://blog.daum.net/kokkili/7002718, accessed 13 February 2009.
33.
31. Pai, Constructing ‘Korean’ Origins, 2.
34.
32. Hanguo you yao qiang womende zhongyi le.
35.
33. Yanbian gongtou ruhan naoju shimo — Hanguo dengdai lishi jihui fenlie Zhongguo (The real story behind the farcical Yanbian plebiscite to merge with Korea — Korea will wait for a historic opportunity to split China), http://mary19830409.blog.sohu.com/109011056.html, accessed 20 February 2009.
36.
34. Hanguk gwa Jungguk gan ui Goguryeosa nonjaeng ui maengjeomeul haebu handa (Analysing some of the blind spots in the Goguryeo history dispute between Korea and China), http:// kr.blog.yahoo.com/han1592/969522, accessed 23 February 2009.
37.
35. Junggukeun wae Goguryeoreul jagideul nararo injeong mot haeseo andallijyo? (Isn’t it annoying that China can’t admit Goguryeo is our land?), http://ask.nate.com/qna/view. html?n=3864609, accessed 3 March 2009.
38.
36. Goguryeoneun Hanguk ddang? Jungguk ddang?
39.
37. Kankan Zhongguo waiqu de Gaogouli lishi (Look at China’s distorted history of Goguryeo), http://gaojulilishi.blog.sohu.com/33332738.html, accessed 17 March 2009.
40.
38. Gaogouli yu Gaoli (Goguryeo and Goryeo), http://hi.baidu.com/kjseons/blog, accessed 9 March 2009.
41.
39. Qishi Gaogouli he Gaoli shi liangge gainian (In fact Goguryeo and Goryeo are two distinct concepts), http://hi.baidu.com/reylyn/blog/item/7def48f4d81ec8d8f3d385dd.html/cmtid/ c8a270a9cf4cc5f41f17a23e, accessed 9 February 2009.
42.
40. Prasenjit Duara, Rescuing History from the Nation: Questioning Narratives of Modern China, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995, 4, quoted in Philip Spencer and Howard Wollman, Nationalism: A Critical Introduction, London: Sage Publications, 2002, 50.
43.
41. Spencer and Wollman, Nationalism, 83.
44.
42. Jungguk ui Goguryeo yeoksa waegoke naseon iyu (The reasons for China’s distortion of Goguryeo history), http://blog.daum.net/gangseo/17953697, accessed 2 March 2009.
45.
43. Jikineun ja Baek Changgi (Defender Baek Changgi), http://blog.naver.com/dlatdgus/ 30028965151, accessed 10 February 2009; Yeoksa sokkeuro sarabeorin uri Goguryeo ttang (Our Goguryeo land vanishing into history), http://blog.daum.net/dn5049/14583123, accessed 11 February 2009.
46.
44. Tongil gwa Yurasia Hanguk sidae reul makko issneun ttongchadeul (The barriers obstructing unification and Korea’s Eurasian era), http://blog.daum.net/_blog/BlogView.do?blogid=0CvB 8&articleno=17461566&categoryId=#ajax_history_home, accessed 11 February 2009.
47.
45. Jungguk ui Goguryeo jibang jeongbu nolli e daehaeseo (Regarding China’s logic of treating Goguryeo as a local regime), http://blog.daum.net/rwprtigh/4244104, accessed 13 February 2009.
48.
46. Bukhan ui Goguryeosa insik gwa Jungguk ui Dongbuk Gongjeong (North Korea’s perception of Goguryeo history and China’s North-East Project), http://blog.joins.com/media/folderList-Slide.asp?uid=lyk3390&folder=28&list_id=9247936, accessed 28 February 2009.
49.
47. Jungguk ui Goguryeosa waegok Dongbuk Gongjeong ui baegyeong gwa daeeung mit naeyong (China’s distortion of Goguryeo history and background to the North-East Project: Content and countermeasures), http://blog.daum.net/yoonsy2kr/5651796, accessed 13 February 2009.
50.
48. Pye, How China’s nationalism was shanghaied, 109.
51.
49. Keguan er zhenshi de Hanguo (The real and objective Korea ), http://ks.cn.yahoo.com/question/1308050204627.html, accessed 17 February 2009.
52.
50. Park, Should Korean historians abandon nationalism?, 340.
53.
51. Townsend, Chinese nationalism, 14.
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