Gija Joseon

Gija Joseon (around 323 BC–194 BC) describes the period of Beonjoseon after Gihu (기후, 箕詡) became the king of Beonjoseon in the west of Liaoning. Beonjoseon was one of the confederacies of the Gojoseon whose continuation period is 2333 BCE–108 BCE, and Gihu is the descendant of Gija. Previously, Gija joseon describes the period after the arrival of Jizi from Shang dynasty to the west of Liaoning (1126 BC–194 BC), which is generally rejected currently. Gija who is the ancestor of Gihu is a different person from Jizi who was previously insisted as the founder of Gija Joseon even though the Chinese characters of the two person are same. Among the Yan refugees, Wiman entered the service of Beonjoseon as military commander. He led a rebellion against King Jun in 194 BC, usurping the throne.

A coup By Gihu Beonjoseon

Based on Joseon Sango Sa written by Che Ho Shin, Gihu was enthrone of Beonjoseon around at 323 BCE, and this causes the disintegration of the entire Gojoseon. Before Gihu becaome the king of Beonjoseon, it is said that the previous king was killed by an assassin from Yan, and the Five Ministers in Beonjoseon arose competitively. Eventually, Gihu became the king of Beonjoseon against the competittors. During the period of Gija joseon, sovereign power was very strong.

Controversy of Gija Joseon

It is very interesting that the tomb of Jizi is found in Shandong province in China, which demonstrates that the records about Gija joseon in chinese history books are not true. ^[1]. If Jizi were sent to Gojoseon, the Shandong peninsula was the territory of Gojoseon, but Shandong has never been the territory of Gojoseon. Therefore, the Jizi who went to Gojoseon are different from the Gija who founded Gija Joseon.

Chinese records before the 3rd century BC describe Jizi as the paternal uncle (or brother in other records) of the last emperor of the Chinese Shang Dynasty, the tyrannical King Zhou, but does not describe that he went to Gojoseon. Jizi was imprisoned by the tyrant until the downfall of Shang Kingdom, when King Wu of Zhou released him.

Records written after the 3rd century BC, when China and Gojoseon were at war, were fabricated that Jizi went to east of current Beijing with 5,000 people, and became the king of Gija Joseon, which is written in the Geography of Hanshu from Han Dynasty. However, archeological evidence shows that Chinese bronze cultures were very different from Korean bronze cultures through this period, and Chinese writing system were not transmitted to Korea at this period.

Previously, it was widely believed that Gija Joseon was located in current Korea, replacing Gojoseon of Dangun. Some scholars today accept that Jizi settled west of Beonjoseon based on records from Geography of Hanshu and Korean record of Samguk Yusa. These records suggest that Gojoseon continued to coexist with Gija Joseon after the migration of Jizi. These scholars believe that Jizi's influence was limited to the Gija Joseon or the western part of Gojoseon, which corresponds to the west of Liao River.

Consequently, Jizi Joseon is generally negated in Korean history because of its lack of evidence.^[2] It is generally exaplained that, after Han dynasty unified China, Chinese historian fabricated that Jizi went to Gojoseon. which is demonstrated that the books titled Chu-shu chi-nien (竹書紀年) and Confucian Analects (論語), which firstly describes Jizi, do not say anything about going to Gojoseon.^[3]. This fabrication was caused from the existence of a Beonjoseon emperor whose name is Gihoo(箕詡), who is the descandant of Gija(箕子) of which Chinese pronunication is Jizi(箕子).

Wiman Joseon is said to begin with the usurpation of the throne from the line of kings descended from Gihoo.

See also

• History of Korea
• List of Korea-related topics

References

1. ^ The tomb of Jizi is currently found in China [[1]]
2. ^ http://www.dbpia.co.kr/view/ar_view.asp?pid=694&isid=30674&arid=657709&topMenu=&topMenu1=
3. ^ http://100.naver.com/100.nhn?docid=29466

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