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Sankankiryaku (三韓紀畧) is the first ethnography of Korea published in Japan. It was compiled by Ito Togai (伊藤東涯, 1670～1736), who was the second head of the Kogidou (古義堂), at Kyoto in 1704. The book narrates the history and system of Korea from the Old Chosŏn to the mid-Chosŏn period(the reign of King Sŏnjo) in encyclopedia format. Particularly, the book is noteworthy that the history of Parhae is written in the clause between the three kingdoms period and Koryŏ dynasty. Ito Togai paid attention to the history of Parhae earlier than Yu Tŭkkong (柳得恭)’s Parhaego (渤海考, written in 1784). Apart from Sankankiryaku, he wrote Chosenjonozu (朝鮮壤墜之圖), Chosenkokukankaihanrokuzu (朝鮮國官階頒祿圖), Chosenkokukansei (朝鮮國官制), and etc.. Later, these materials became the basic sources for compilation of Sankankiryaku. As Togai continued to proofread the book until his latter years, Sankankiryaku was never published as a block book, but distributed as a format of manuscript. Still, among “Shokuhinryaku (the outline of officials ranks; 職品略)” in the book, the officials in the Chosŏn period was published under the title of Chosenkanshokukou (朝鮮官職考) in 1711. Sankankiryaku has been circulated as a manuscript, but it seems to have been widely used as it was used as the base source of Sankanseihyou (三韓世表) made in 1747.

The purpose of this study is to analyze how Ito Togai’s Samhangiryak(Sankankiryaku) describes ancient history and examine how he recognized the history of relationship between Korea and Japan. Noticeable characteristics can be summed up as below: First of all, Gunjangryak (君長畧) lists such things as the genealogy of kings, period of reign, and particulars. Ito Togai does not simply state the career of kings in the ancient Korean Peninsula but compares it with Japanese literatures to describe historical records that do not match as a form of historical essay in detail. What is interesting here is that while he arranges things comparing the Korean Peninsula’s historical records like Samguksagi or Dongguktonggam with Japanese ones, for example, Ilbonseogi(Nihonshoki), he eventually takes a stand to respect (or value) Silla or Baekje’s historical records that are the Korean Peninsula’s ones. This is ‘the dominant principle’ that Togai adopts while compiling historical records. Next, it is also observed that considering the Korean Peninsula’s records, he corrects inconsistency between the years of origin (紀年) in Ilbonseogi(Nihonshoki). This may be referred to as Ito Togai’s unique ‘Ilbonseogi(Nihonshoki) Ginyeon-ron(Kinen-ron)’. It is why Samhangiryak(Sankankiryaku) is regarded valuable in the history of historical studies. It is noteworthy that in Jikpumryak (職品畧), while the names of Balhae’s public posts are listed, the article about Balhae’s envoys visiting Japan contained in Sokilbongi(Shokunihongi) appears abruptly in the last part. It is hard to figure out why the article about the fact that in 776, 187 Balhae’s envoys including Sa-Domong visited Japan in 187 is included in Jikpumryak clearly; however, we can assume that it may be associated with the fact that the public office of Sa Domong, the representative of that delegation, was ‘Heongadaebu Sabinsoryeong’. Analyzing Munjeokhwi (文籍彙), we can see that it is hard to conclude that Togai read all the literatures contained in it or Munjeokhwi includes only the things that he saw. Also, it should be explained why the names of major literatures including Sokilbongi(Shokunihongi) are omitted. Lastly, we can point out that in Samhangiryak(Sankankiryaku), the history of Balhae is understood within the system of ‘Samhan’s history (Korea’s history)’. Though it is a tentative conclusion, most of the records related to Balhae may have been from the records of Sindangseo. Yet, the fact that the history of Balhae is understood within the context of ‘Samhan’s history’ may be the result of Sokilbongi(Shokunihongi)’s awareness that ‘Balhae is the successor state of Goguryeo’.

Ito Togai compares the history of Choseon with his own country, Japan, in the prologue of his Sankankiiryaku. He describes that Choseon enlarged its territory after successful unification of Shilla and achieved a powerful state through Goryeo dynasty; on the other hand he viewed that Japanese people had to have gone through hard times due to the fall of ruling system and incompetent rulers. Togai collected information on Goryeo from reading diverse accounts on Choseon such as Yongjae-chonghwa (慵齋叢話, Collective Stories Complied by Yongje (Seong Hyeon(成俔)), Gosachalyo (攷事撮要, Guide to Miscellaneous Facts), but the main source was Dongguktonggam (東國通鑑, Comprehensive Mirror of Choseon History). He compiled the history of Goryeo with much discretion. He hardly voiced up even when he stands on the different side with the Choseon monographs on Goryeo history. That made his opinions very valuable, which we could find in the accounts on Wokou (倭寇) and Jeong Mong-ju. Interestingly the Mongol Invasion, often designated as 'Genkō' (元寇), was not mentioned in his book. It seems that Togai did not link the Mongol invasion with Goryeo. One could not simply conclude on how Togai understood the incident and why he remained silent; that remains another assignment to pursue. Comprehensive analysis on the various versions of hand-copied manuscripts of Sankankiryaku which reserved in Korea an Japan is also an urgent task.

Informations on the Joseon dynasty is the largest in Sankakilyak. In order to write the contents related to the Joseon Dynasty, Togai used as much materials as possible not only from Joseon, but also from China and Japan. If the description of the data conflicts with each other, he trusted materials of the Joseon dynasty. The most widely used materials among materials of the Joseon Dynasty were Gosachwaryo, Gyeonggukdaejeon, Dongguktonggam, Yongjaechonghwa, Hunmongjahoe, Sinjeungdonggukyeojiseungnam, Jibongyuseol, Gukjoyuseonrok. As for the Chinese materials Wubeizhi, Daminghuidian, Guangyutu were used. It seems that he had partially referenced the Isoonyhonden of Japan. Other materials may had been used, but it is difficult to know exactly. Needless to say, there is some errors in the informations related to the Joseon Dynasty in the Sankakilyak. However, we can recognize the value of Sankakilyak in that he made an effort to check the exact informations of the Joseon Dynasty with all his best efforts.

This article examined the foreign relations between Old Joseon and Qin (秦), focusing on the relations between the two nation, reasons behind the war, and changes in boundary. Old Joseon (古朝鮮=王儉朝鮮) during King Fou’s generation starts its full-scale relations with Qin as Qin unifies China in 221 BC. After unification, Qin crosses Beishui (沛水) and attacks Old Joseon, installing ‘遼東外徼’ (outer Liaodong fortification of Qin). Beishui (沛水), which appears as 西界 (west boundary) of pre-war Old Joseon, is understood as the present-day 渾河 (Hun River), the same river as Beishui (浿水) which became the boundary between Old Joseon and Han later on. Old Joseon, due to the invasion of Yan’s Qin Kai (秦開) in early 3rd century BC, retreated to the east of the Qianshan mountain range, but it shows a possibility of recovering the territory on the east side of the Beishui (浿水) during the collapse of Yan. The reasons for Qin’s invasion of Old Joseon are assumed to be twofold: first, to reclaim the Liaodong region which was Yan’s territory during its glory days; and second, because the wandering people who had lost their state to Qin sought asylum in the Joseon area. Bronze daggers and spears related with Qin were excavated from the area from Liaodong to northwestern Korea. These seem to be the traces of the war between Old Joseon and Qin and brought by the wandering people. In particular, the fact that relics concerned with Zhao (趙) are excavated near the Yalu River seems related with Zhao’s collapse. Following the war, the boundary between Old Joseon and Qin is understood as the Qianshan mountain range considering the circumstances. The outer Liaodong fortification installed by Qin was located in the area from the Hun River to Tian Shan. The Liaodong Commandery seems to have been systematically installed by Qin, at last. There is no resource with the information about the Liaodong Commandery’s specific scope or the number of troops. However, considering the circumstances, it is possible that the Liaodong Commandery installed by Qin was 15 troops in the western part of the Qianshan mountain range. After Qin’s invasion, King Fou of Old Joseon promised to subjugate; however, he eventually did not agree to visit. This shows that Old Joseon’s subjugation was temporary or superficial. The promise King Fou of Old Joseon made to Qin was a means to uphold a diplomatic cause to stop the war and to maintain its appearance as an independent state. Old Joseon seems to have temporarily stopped using the royal title externally; however, the royal title was continued to be used internally and Old Joseon maintained its status as an independent state. Old Joseon carries out diplomatic activities flexibly according to the international situation; as Qin becomes chaotic with the death of Qinshihuang, Old Joseon immediately counterattacks to reclaim its lost territory.

The theory that has been widely used for the royal city(王都) of Goguryeo is a combination theory of ‘flatland fortress and mountain fortress’ proposed by Japanese scholar Sekino Tadashi(關野貞) more than 100 years ago. This theory is that while inhabitants lived in a flatland fortress, they entered a mountain fortress and defended themselves when wars occurred. However, a detailed investigation of actual literature shows that this theory is not exactly correct. In Goguryeo, there were both the mountain fortress and the flatland fortress, but their functions were not the same as those in Sekino’s theory. Literature shows that Hwando seong(Hwando Fortress), which is a mountain fortress, was built earlier and was used as a royal castle(王城). Hwando Seong itself was a royal castle, not merely a fortress for refuge. In 244, this Hwando Seong was collapsed and destroyed by General Guanqiu Jian of Wei(魏). Therefore, in 247, a new fortress was built on a plain, which is Guknae Seong(Guknae Fortress). In the early days, the newly built flatland fortress was called ‘Pyeongyang Seong(Pyongyang Fortress)’, but it is considered to be called Guknae Seong(Guknae Fortress) since the reign of King Gogukwon. As Guknae Seong newly served as a royal castle, Hwando Seong was mainly used as a space for rituals. Large-scale ancient tombs were built in front of the entrance of Hwando Seong, and their landscape supported that Hwando Seong was used a space of rituals. The central village of the royal city was formed around Guknae Seong. It is highly likely that the city was expanded first in the northern region, which was connected to Hwando Seong. In fact, the largest number of gates in Guknae Seong was found around the north wall. Then, the eastward expansion of the city was achieved. Goguryeo was separated by four rivers: Dongcheon (East River, 東川), Jungcheon (Central River, 中川), Seocheon (West River, 西川), and Micheon (Beautiful River, 美川). Each river served as a boundary and divided into four subregions: Dongyang, Jungyang, Seoyang and Hoyang. Of them, central villages were Dongyang and Jungyang region. Outside of the central villages, huge royal tombs were built. The spatial range of the royal city known to Goguryeo people was probably bounded by Dongcheon in the east and by the range of mountains blocking the west of Hoyang, in the west.

The aim of this study is to identify traveling routes taken by Shin Chung il(申忠一) to travel between Joseon(朝鮮) and JianzhouJurchen(建州女眞) during the time of Imjinwaeran(壬辰倭亂). To do so, we closely examined Jianzhougichengtuji(建州紀程圖記) that Shin Chung il wrote after his visit to FeAla(佛阿拉), to reconstruct his traveling route and plot the route on the map. This would help to identify not only his traveling route but also the name of the surrounding areas, their relationship to Korean history, as well as how political influence of JianzhouJurchen was dispersed in the area. Further, we attempt to elucidate how the route is linked to transport routes of Goguryeo(高句麗) both in temporal and spatial aspects. This effort is expected to provide guidance to understanding the relationship between Joseon and Nurhachi(努爾哈赤) during the time of Imjinwaeran and to studying transport routes of Joseon beyond its border.

The idea of equality is a key concept of nation-state, which integrates people from different status and strata of premodern era into the modern nation. This study aims to analyze how the idea of equality became socially agreed epistemological structure during the Port Opening era, especially through series of Korean newspapers. During the Port Opening, Korean Newspapers represented the experience-space of equality through stimulating wordings such as shame and contempt, while constructed new horizon of expectations using the concepts of rights and Confucian reception. The idea of equality became a modern, dynamic concept by this gap between the experience-space and the horizon of expectation. The idea of equality was composed of international and domestic equality, and among them the international equality was more emphasized by the demand of independence of Korea. In order to mobilize nation for international equality, the nationalistic emotion must become a common sense by the achievement of domestic equality. By this the idea of domestic equality was expanded and strengthened. However its limit was also definite: the idea of domestic equality had a strong instrumentality for the international equality, and there were discriminative visions dividing world into civilization and savage among the idea of international equality.