View source for Goguryeo controversies

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{{Short description|China–Korea historiography disputes}}
The '''Goguryeo controversies''' are disputes between [[China]] and [[Korea]] ([[North Korea|North]] and [[South Korea|South]]) on the history of [[Goguryeo]], an ancient kingdom (37 BC – 668 AD) located in present-day [[Northeast China]] and the Korean Peninsula. At the heart of the Goguryeo controversy is which part of history the kingdom belongs to. Korean scholars have the viewpoint that Goguryeo is part of Korean history alone.<ref name=":0" />

== Overview ==
{{more citations needed section|date=September 2022}}
In 2002, the [[Northeast Project]] conducted by the [[Chinese Academy of Social Sciences]] (CASS) claimed Goguryeo as a local [[Ethnic minorities in China|ethnic minority]] state in [[Northeast China]]. This sparked a major academic and diplomatic controversy, as Korean experts on Goguryeo history accused the Chinese government of using history for political purposes. In response, South Korea established the Goguryeo Research Foundation in 2004 (renamed the Northeast Asian History Foundation in 2006) and summoned the [[List of ambassadors of China to South Korea|Chinese ambassador]]. In 2007, the Northeast Project ended, causing the study of Goguryeo history in China to decline dramatically.<ref name="Chen"/>

Various analyses of the controversy have focused on external motivations for the reevaluation of history, including Korean [[irredentism]] towards adjacent Chinese territory, the possibility of [[North Korea]]n collapse, and the challenge to China from [[Separatism|transnational separatism]]. [[Nationalist historiography]] has inflamed both sides of the debate, as [[Korean nationalism]] treats the themes of a powerful Korean Goguryeo and independence from China as central (see: [[Korean nationalist historiography]]), while [[Chinese nationalism]] stresses the inviolability of its territory and the unity of its ethnic groups. Some scholars have also criticized the projection of modern-day national identities onto ancient peoples.

==History of the dispute==

===Background===
<!-- Speculation on how nationalist historiographical frames, such as Zhonghua minzu, contributed to the development are treated in a separate section dedicated to that. This is purely for describing the facts of how the scholarship unfolded. -->
As neighboring areas, northeast China and North Korea have both laid claim to the history of ancient kingdoms that occupied the region. The interpretation of history in this region has implications for contemporary territorial sovereignty.<ref name="Chung"/> During the heyday of [[Maoism]], the Chinese government line was that the history of [[Goguryeo]] (''Gaogouli'' in Chinese) was Korean history.<ref name="Chung"/> Notable statements on Goguryeo being Korean included those by Chinese Prime Minister Zhou Enlai, who said in 1963 that Korean people have lived in the northeastern region of China since ancient times and excavated relics prove that Balhae, considered a successor state of Goguryeo, is a branch of ancient Korea. The former Chinese premier's remarks have been made public through a document entitled "Premier Zhou Enlai's Dialogue on Sino-Korean Relations.<ref>周恩来总理谈中朝关系（摘自《外事工作通报》1963年第十期）1963年6月28日，周恩来总理接见朝鲜科学院代表团时，谈中朝关系 “朝鲜民族进驻朝鲜半岛和东北大陆以来，长期生活在那里。这是发掘于辽河和松花江流域及图们江和鸭绿江流域的许多遗物和碑文等史料所证明的，在许多朝鲜文献中也遗留了那些历史痕迹。”, “镜泊湖附近留有渤海遗迹，曾是渤海的首府。在这里出土的文物也证明那里也曾是朝鲜民族的一个支派。”</ref> During this time, the Chinese position was in part motivated by its good relationship with one of its key allies, [[North Korea]].<ref name="Chen"/> Since the 1980s, government control over scholarship liberalized, and more than 500 books about Goguryeo-related topics were published since then, comprising 90% of China's research since 1949.<ref name="Chung"/><ref name="Chen"/> During this time, some scholars such as [[Tan Qixiang]] questioned the state's old interpretation of history, arguing for the study of all polities within China's territory as part of Chinese history. Jiang Mengshan proposed a "one history, dual use" ({{lang|zh-Hans-CN|一史两用}}, ''yīshǐ liǎngyòng'') system whereby Goguryeo would also be considered part of China's history,<ref>Sun, Jinji 2004-a, "Zhongguo Gaogoulishi yanjiu kaifang fanrong de liunian (Six Years of Opening and Prosperity of Koguryo History Research)", paper presented at the conference titled Koguryo yoksawa munhwa yusan (History and Cultural Heritage of Koguryo), March 26–27, 2004</ref> arguing that the kingdom's capital, for 460 out of 706 years, lay in modern northeast China, and that three-quarters of its population were not [[Koreans|ethnic Korean]].<ref name="Chung">{{Cite journal|title=China's "Soft" Clash with South Korea: The History War and Beyond|first=Jae Ho|last=Chung|journal=Asian Survey|volume=49|number=3|date=May–June 2009|pages=468–483|doi=10.1525/as.2009.49.3.468}}{{page needed|date=September 2022}}</ref><ref name="Chen"/><ref>Byington, Mark. "The Creation of an Ancient Minority Nationality: Koguryo in Chinese Historiography.” In Embracing the Other: The Interaction of Korean and Foreign Cultures: Proceedings of the 1st World Congress of Korean Studies, III. Songnam, Republic of Korea: The Academy of Korean Studies, 2002.</ref>{{page needed|date=September 2022}} He related ancient identities to modern-day peoples by suggesting that "the people of [[Buyeo kingdom|Buyeo]] and Goguryeo had the same lineage as the Chinese in the Northeast region, while the Korean people were a part of the [[Silla]] lineage."<ref>Sun, Jinji 1986, ''Dongbei minzu yuanliu'' (The Ethnic Origin of the Northeast), Harbin: Heilongjiang Renmin Chubanshe.</ref>{{page needed|date=September 2022}}

===2002–03===
Another faction of historians, led by Sun Jinji ({{lang|zh-Hans-CN|孙进己}}, ''Sūn Jìnjǐ'') and Zhang Bibo ({{lang|zh-Hans-CN|张碧波}}, ''Zhāng Bìbō''), of the Heilongjiang Academy of Sciences, criticized Tan and put forth the thesis that Goguryeo should be regarded as a regional subset of Chinese history ("local Chinese history") rather than purely Korean history. They cited the traditional view in [[Chinese historiography]] that Korea was founded by the Chinese prince [[Jizi]], as well as Goguryeo's status as a [[List of tributaries of Imperial China|tributary to ancient China]]. In 2002 these scholars, mostly from northeast China themselves, established the Northeast Project of the [[Chinese Academy of Social Sciences]] to investigate this view.<ref name="Chung"/>

The establishment of the [[Northeast Project of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences|Northeast Project]] marks the beginning of the modern Goguryeo controversy. However, the Northeast Project cannot be equated with the study of Goguryeo, because it studied more topics than Goguryeo, including the history of the [[Russian Far East]], the [[Bohai Kingdom]], economic history, and local histories in ancient China and Korea.<ref name="Chen">{{cite journal|title=Domestic Politics, National Identity, and International Conflict: the case of the Koguryo controversy|first=Dingding|last=Chen|date=February 2012|journal=Journal of Contemporary China|volume=21|issue=74|pages=227–241|doi=10.1080/10670564.2012.635928|s2cid=145079682}}{{page needed|date=September 2022}}</ref>

China states that Goguryeo was an ethnic [[Tungusic peoples|Tungusic]] state and in modern-day China, Tungusic ethnicities like Manchus, Xibe, Oroqen, and Nanai are citizens of China and viewed as part of China's multi-ethnic historical civilization. The Tungusic Yemaek founded Goguryeo and it was also populated by Tungusic Mohe people.{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}

In 2003, China applied with [[UNESCO]] to register the [[Capital Cities and Tombs of the Ancient Koguryo Kingdom]] within its territory as a [[World Heritage Site]]. In December, the South Korean government published a report denying that Goguryeo could be considered part of Chinese history, and giving directions to Korean civil society groups on how to counter Chinese claims.<ref name="Chen" /> [[Korean nationalism|Korean nationalists]] groups and the South Korean popular press in [[South Korea]] expressed outrage over the Northeast Project,<ref name="Chen" /><ref>
{{cite web
| url = http://news.naver.com/news/read.php?mode=LSD&office_id=078&article_id=0000026912&section_id=117&menu_id=117
| title = Korean-Russian academia jointly respond to Northeast Project
| access-date = 2007-03-06
| date = 2006-10-31
| publisher = [[Naver]]|language= ko
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20041015081851/http://news.naver.com/news/read.php?mode=LSD
| archive-date = 2004-10-15
| url-status = dead
}}
</ref> and some commentators suspected, that because the CASS receives government funding, the Chinese government might support the Northeast Project.<ref name="Chung" />

However, the CASS's Center for Borderland History and Geography Research is underfunded, understaffed (containing only 21 researchers), and not self-sufficient; government subsidies came in response to the extremely low salaries in CASS's history and philosophy departments, in contrast to the more lucrative fields of economics and law, and the money given does not match the high strategic value of borderland research.<ref name="Chen" /> Historically, the CASS has produced research that disagreed with or is critical of government policies.<ref name="Chen" />

Other, still more moderate voices in Korea pointed out that several official publications in China refer to Goguryeo simply as Korea's history.<ref name="Chung" /> Chinese scholars who disagreed with Sun and Zhang's "Chinese local history" view were interviewed by South Korean newspapers.<ref>{{cite news
 |title=Chinese Scholar Slams Co-opting Korean History 
 |url=http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200609/200609130027.html 
 |work=[[Chosun Ilbo]] 
 |date=2006-09-13 
 |access-date=2007-03-06 
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061019012559/http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200609/200609130027.html 
 |archive-date=2006-10-19 
 |url-status=dead 
}}</ref> The negative press coverage over the Goguryeo issues increased the incidence of [[Sinophobia]] in South Korea,<ref name="Chen" /><ref>{{cite news
 |title       = South Koreans believe China likely to be biggest security threat in 10 years
 |url         = http://english.ohmynews.com/ArticleView/article_view.asp?no=280522&rel_no=1
 |agency        = [[Associated Press]]
 |date        = 2006-03-20
 |access-date  = 2007-03-31
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20071128060009/http://english.ohmynews.com/ArticleView/article_view.asp?no=280522&rel_no=1
 |archive-date = 2007-11-28
}}</ref> and has possibly influenced South Korea's security strategy to become more pro-American and anti-China.<ref>{{cite journal
| title = The Koguryo Controversy, National Identity, and Sino-Korean relations Today
| last = Gries
| first = Peter Hays
| date= December 2005
| url = https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12140-005-0001-y
| journal = East Asia
| volume = 22
| issue = 4
| pages = 3–17
| doi = 10.1007/s12140-005-0001-y
| s2cid = 144129470
| url-access = subscription
}}</ref>

===2004–2007===
In March 2004, the South Korean government established the [[Goguryeo Research Foundation]] to publish research conducive to its view of Goguryeo as part of Korean history.<ref>{{cite book|title=China's Rise: Threat Or Opportunity?|first=Hebert|last=Yee|publisher=Taylor & Francis US|year=2011|page=162}}</ref> In April, China's [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China|Ministry of Foreign Affairs]] deleted references to Korea's premodern history on its website, prompting South Korea to summon its Chinese ambassador.<ref name="Chen"/> In August 2004, China sent its Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs [[Wu Dawei]] to Seoul to defuse tensions.<ref name="Chen"/> China recognized Korea's concerns and pledged not to place the Northeast Project's conclusions in its history textbooks, and both South Korea and China expressed the desire not to see the issue damage relations.<ref>{{cite news
 | first = Hyun-jin
 | last = Seo
 | title = Skepticism Lingers over History Issue
 | url = http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/content/skepticism-lingers-over-history-issue
 | format = Reprint
 | work = [[The Korea Herald]]
 | date = 2004-08-24
 | access-date = 2012-01-08
 | archive-date = 2011-04-21
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110421004629/http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/content/skepticism-lingers-over-history-issue
 | url-status = dead
 }}</ref>

However, China's expressed concerns that Korean [[irredentism]] towards northeast China were not addressed by the South Korean side.<ref name="Chen" /> In September, the South Korean government declared that the 1909 [[Gando Convention|Jiandao Convention]], which ceded Korean claims to northeast Chinese territory, was invalid. In 2005, South Korea conducted joint research projects with [[North Korea]] on Goguryeo relics near [[Pyongyang]]. Meanwhile, Chinese social scientists continued to publish research articles on the ancient Northeast Asian polities, including [[Guchaoxian]] (Gija Chosun), [[Fuyu (kingdom)|Fuyu]] (Puyo), Goguryeo, and Bohai, which Koreans exclusively considered their own.<ref name="Chen" />

In 2006, South Korean president [[Roh Moo-hyun]] protested this research at the 2006 [[Asia–Europe Meeting]]. That year, his government renamed the Goguryeo Research Foundation to the [[Northeast Asian History Foundation]], expanding its mandate. In 2007, the Northeast Project concluded, but neither China nor South Korea has changed their view of Goguryeo history after the dispute. In China, the diplomatic imbroglio meant that research on Goguryeo has become taboo, and former Chinese Goguryeo researchers have diverted their time and resources to other areas.<ref name="Chen" />

==Japanese and North Korean views==
During the 19th and 20th centuries, the [[Empire of Japan|Japanese Empire]] differentiated Goguryeo from the other Three Kingdoms of Korea to claim Japanese (Wa) influence in the non-Goguryeo kingdoms of [[Baekje]] and [[Silla]] to justify its colonization of Korea. To demonstrate their theories, they moved a stone monument (棕蟬縣神祠碑), which was originally located at [[Liaodong]], into Pyongyang.<ref>{{cite book|first=순진|last=리|script-title=ko:평양일대 락랑무덤에 대한 연구(A Research about the Tombs of Nangnang around Pyongyang)|publisher=중심|location=서울|isbn=89-89524-05-9|year=2001}}</ref>{{page needed|date=September 2022}}
 
Meanwhile, North Korea has glorified Goguryeo's independent qualities as part of their [[Juche]] ("self-reliance") ideology, identifying itself with Goguryeo, while equating South Korea with [[Silla]], and the [[United States]] with the [[Tang dynasty]]. North Korea narrates their national history to conform to Juche, by denying any indication of foreign occupation of the Korean peninsula, such as the existence of any [[Four Commanderies of Han|Chinese commanderies]] there.<ref>
{{Cite journal
 |title=Restoring the Glorious Past: North Korean Juche Historiography and Goguryeo 
 |last=Petrov 
 |first=Leonid A. 
 |url=http://www.aks.ac.kr/aks_kor/book/pdf/7-3-9-Restoring%20the%20Glorious%20Past.pdf 
 |year=2004 
 |journal=The Review of Korean Studies
 |volume=7 |issue=3 
 |pages=231–252 
 |publisher=[[Academy of Korean Studies]] 
 |access-date=2007-06-05 
 |url-status=dead 
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927194719/http://www.aks.ac.kr/aks_kor/book/pdf/7-3-9-Restoring%20the%20Glorious%20Past.pdf 
 |archive-date=2007-09-27 
}}
</ref> [[North Korea]]'s state run media has denounced Chinese claims as "a pathetic attempt to manipulate history for its own interests" or "intentionally distorting historical facts through biased perspectives" in North Korean media.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Jin |first1=Linbo |editor1-last=Rozman |editor1-first=Gilbert |title=U.S. Leadership, History, and Bilateral Relations in Northeast Asia |date=21 October 2010 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-139-49203-4 |page=184 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B3M-DhGYtF4C&pg=PA184 |chapter=Sino–South Korean Differences over Koguryo and the U.S. Role}}</ref>

==Speculative motives==
Much of the scholarship on the Goguryeo controversy has focused on China's strategic intentions towards the Koreas, and presumptively overlooked the validity of Chinese scholars' historical claims.<ref name="Chen"/>

Yonson Ahn, a Korean scholar who has studied Korean [[comfort women]] and historical debates in Korea and Japan,<ref name="autogenerated4">{{cite web|url=http://hnn.us/articles/21617.html|title=The Korea-China Textbook War—What's It All About? – History News Network|website=hnn.us|date=13 September 2006 }}</ref> writes that historians such as [[Quan Zhezhu]], [[Sun Jinji]], [[Kim Hui-kyo]], and Mark Byington "perceive the launching of the Project as a defensive reaction to preserve China's own territorial integrity and stability."<ref name="autogenerated4" />

Various explanations advanced for China's interest in northeastern history include: South Korean [[irredentism]] over [[Jiandao]] (''Gando'' in Korean),<ref name="Chung" /> privileges granted by South Korea to [[Koreans in China]],<ref name="Chung" /> and the possible collapse of [[North Korea]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/FI11Dg03.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040911032145/http://atimes.com/atimes/Korea/FI11Dg03.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2004-09-11|title=Asia Times – News and analysis from Korea; North and South|website=www.atimes.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
| url = http://hnn.us/roundup/entries/30047.html
| title = China and Korea can't escape their pasts
| access-date = 2007-03-08
| last = Lankov
| first = Andrei
| date = 2006-09-16
| work =  History News Network
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
 |url=http://www.aei.org/speech/foreign-and-defense-policy/regional/asia/briefing-north-korea/
 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130224095531/http://www.aei.org/speech/foreign-and-defense-policy/regional/asia/briefing-north-korea/
 |url-status=dead
 |archive-date=2013-02-24
 |title=Briefing: North Korea 
 |access-date=2011-01-08 
 |last=Lilley 
 |first=James 
 |date=2007-01-18 
 |work=American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
}}</ref>

Modern [[Chinese nationalism]], which in contrast to [[Korean ethnic nationalism|Korean nationalism]], is not based on a "pure blood line" and instead stresses unity in diversity and a [[supraethnic]] "Chinese people" or ''[[Zhonghua minzu]]''. China also has an interest in promoting stability and the territorial ''status quo'' in its border territories, to tackle the advanced cross-border problems of [[drug trafficking]], fundamentalist religious proselytism, ethnic separatism, and [[illegal immigration]].<ref name="Chen" />{{page needed|date=November 2022}} An interpretation which suspects aggressive Chinese motivations is inconsistent with China's own [[China's peaceful rise|"peaceful rise"]] rhetoric and with its record of peacefully settling 17 of 23 of its territorial disputes with substantial compromises.<ref name="Chen" />{{page needed|date=November 2022}}

On the other hand, some Chinese scholars perceive the [[Korean nationalism|Korean nationalistic]] sentiments of some Koreans (both North and South) as threatening to its territorial integrity. In fact, there are proponents in both the Korean liberal and conservative camps advocating for the "restoration of the lost former territories."<ref>Kim, Hui-kyo 2004,"Chunggukuitongbuk kongjonkwa hanguk minjokjuuiui chilro ( China's Northeast Project and the Course of Korean Nationalism)", Yoksa pip’yong (History Critics) 2004, Spring, Seoul:Yoksa bip’yongsa.</ref>{{page needed|date=November 2022}} Chinese scholars are afraid of border changes when the North Korean government collapses. Because there are more than 2 million ethnic Koreans living in China's [[Jilin]] province, China fears that they might secede from China and join a newly unified Korea.<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite web|url=http://hnn.us/articles/7077.html|title=The War of Words Between South Korea and China Over An Ancient Kingdom: Why Both Sides Are Misguided – History News Network|website=hnn.us|date=10 September 2004 }}</ref>{{page needed|date=November 2022}}

On the whole, the Goguryeo controversy is more significant to Koreans than Chinese. Reasons for this imbalance include the fact that in modern [[Korean nationalism]], Goguryeo's history is presented as a contrast to Korean history in the 19th and 20th century, during which Korea was subjugated during [[Korea under Japanese rule]] after which it became the first major battleground during the [[Cold War]]. Another founding tenet of Korean nationalism is to establish independence from China, which it had long been subordinate to as a member of the [[Tributary system of China]]. For example, in the 20th century, Koreans switched the central figure in their founding myth from [[Jizi]], a Chinese human sage, to [[Dangun]], a god.<ref name="Chen"/>{{page needed|date=November 2022}}

Li Yangfan, a researcher of international relations studies at [[Peking University]], believes that South Korean historical sensationalism, caused by the turbulent modern history of Korea, was the driving force behind the conflict. Li views that South Korean historians push for a strong selective narrative in Korean history, and that the motive for rejecting Goguryeo's Chinese connections is to establish a narrative of a continuous Korean nation-state from [[Dangun Joseon]] to [[Goryeo]] and modern Korea. As both China and South Korea are in the process of [[nation-building]], Li believes that recognizing South Korea's changes and establishing a set of compatible historiographical views are necessary for China's relations with South Korea.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=李 |first1=扬帆 |title=身份认同：韩国对中韩历史的选择性叙述与中韩关系 |journal=国际政治研究 |date=2009 |issue=1 |pages=44–46 |url=https://www.sis.pku.edu.cn/teachers/docs/20190904102720650645.pdf}}</ref>

[[Gari Ledyard]] observed that Goguryeo is also regarded as an important part of [[Northeast China|Northeast Chinese]] (Dongbei) identity by scholars from that region, just as it is prominent in modern Korean identity. Regarding the registration of the [[Capital Cities and Tombs of the Ancient Koguryo Kingdom|Koguryo UNESCO World Heritage Site]], he suggested that there was likely considerable regional pressure on China's national government, and found it understandable that "Dongbei self-respect requires better maintenance for those Koguryo cultural properties".<ref name=autogenerated3/>

== Arguments for Goguryeo as a part of Chinese history ==
Chinese scholars are divided on the issue concerning the historical place of Goguryeo. As early as the 1940s, Jin Yufu (金毓黻), a prominent scholar in Northeast Chinese history, asserted that [[Buyeo|Fuyu]] (Buyeo) and Goguryeo were indisputable members of the [[Chinese nation]].<ref>金毓黻. 东北通史: 上编. 六卷. 五十年代出版社 (1979). p. 31. "如东北民族之在古代，则有汉族肃慎族夫余族东胡族之分...然其同为构成中华民族之一份子，则任何人不能有异议者."<br /> p. 229. "而高句骊一族，为吾中华民族成分之一部..."</ref> The following arguments largely represent research work after the 1980s by Sun Jinji, Zhang Bibo, et al., who regard Goguryeo as a Chinese state first and foremost, as well as supporters of the "One History, Two Uses" view, who consider Goguryeo to be part of both Chinese and Korean history.{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}

Other Chinese historians see Goguryeo as a part of Korean history. In many contemporary Chinese publications on China's international relations, for example, the relations between Chinese dynasties and Goguryeo are treated as foreign relations or Sino-Korean relations.<ref name="姜孟山"/>

=== Arguments regarding the history of Goguryeo ===
* Goguryeo grew out of the [[Xuantu Commandery]] of the [[Han dynasty]].<ref name=autogenerated3>{{Cite web |url=http://koreaweb.ws/pipermail/koreanstudies_koreaweb.ws/2004-January.txt.gz |title=Koguryo part of China? |access-date=2007-07-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928035949/http://koreaweb.ws/pipermail/koreanstudies_koreaweb.ws/2004-January.txt.gz |archive-date=2007-09-28 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The Goguryeo state was founded in present-day [[Huanren County]], [[Liaoning]] province, and expanded to large swathes of [[Northeast China]] through a series of conquest wars against neighboring states.<ref name="姜孟山">{{cite journal |last1=姜 |first1=孟山 |title=高句丽史的归属问题 |journal=东疆学刊 |date=1999 |volume=16 |issue=4 |pages=38–41}}</ref> 
* Goguryeo's capital was located in Northeast China from 37 BC to 427 AD, which accounted for around two-thirds of Goguryeo's history. Pyongyang was Goguryeo's capital only for the last one third of its history.<ref name="姜孟山"/>
* Goguryeo was under the jurisdiction of the Xuantu Commandery for a more than a century after its establishment. The ''[[Records of Three Kingdoms]]'' recorded that during the Han dynasty, the magistrate of [[Gaogouli County]] (Goguryeo County) managed household registers of Goguryeo, and Xuantu Commandery regularly granted Goguryeo ceremonial instruments and clothing. Xuantu was moved further north in the early 2nd century, leaving Goguryeo outside its boundaries. However, the ''[[Book of Later Han]]'', the ''Records of Three Kingdoms'' and the ''[[Samguk sagi]]'' all recorded the king of Goguryeo requesting to be placed under the jurisdiction of Xuantu or Liaodong commanderies on several occasions from 111 to 169 AD.<ref name="魏存成">{{cite journal |last1=魏 |first1=存成 |title=如何处理和确定高句丽的历史定位 |journal=吉林大学社会科学学报 |date=2011 |volume=51 |issue=4 |pages=5–12}}</ref>
* Goguryeo had a long and stable tributary relationship with Imperial Chinese dynasties after the 4th century. Goguryeo kings actively sought and accepted a tributary status with Chinese dynasties. From 32 BC to 666 AD Goguryeo paid 205 tributes to the Chinese Central Plains dynasties. From 32 BC to 391 AD, Goguryeo paid only 17 tributes, but between 423 AD and 666 AD, 188 tributes were paid.<ref>See Byeon Tae-seop (변태섭) (1999). 韓國史通論 (Hanguksa tongnon) (Outline of Korean history), 4th ed.. {{ISBN|89-445-9101-6}}, p. 40. See TANAKA Toshiaki:"The Rise of Goguryeo and Xuan-Tu Shire" [[:ja:田中俊明|田中俊明]]:《高句丽的兴起和玄菟郡》</ref> Subordinance, rather than independence, was the norm in Goguryeo's relations with the Chinese Empire. Furthermore, Goguryeo rulers accepted both recognition of royal titles and assignment of government posts in central or local Chinese governments, which shows a Goguryeo self-recognition as a Chinese power, and distinguishes it from foreign tributaries such as [[Joseon]] and Vietnam.<ref name="孙进己">{{cite journal |last1=孙 |first1=进己 |date=2001 |title=当前研究高句丽归属的几个问题 |journal=东疆学刊 |volume=20–25 |issue=3}}</ref>

===Arguments regarding the succession of Goguryeo===
* The Goguryeo people originated in [[Northeast China]]. As it expanded, Goguryeo absorbed other ethnic groups in the same area. The Goguryeo were likely descended from a branch of the [[Yemaek people|Maek people]] that lived in the [[Hun River (Yalu River tributary)|Hun Jiang]] basin. The Goguryeo royal family was said to be of [[Buyeo]] origin, which was another ancient ethnic group that lived in what is now [[Jilin]], China.<ref name="魏存成"/>
* The majority of Goguryeo's land and population are now within China, making China the main successor of Goguryeo according to official Chinese records and Korean sources.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> Surviving descendants of the Goguryeo royal family and powerful nobles such as [[Yŏn Kaesomun]] served in the Tang government as officials and generals. Some remained in Northeast China and assimilated into the [[Han Chinese]] population there. For example, the Gao clan of [[Tai'an County|Tai'an]] traced their ancestry to Gao Lian (Go Yeon, King [[Jangsu of Goguryeo]]).<ref name="孫進己">{{cite journal |last1=孫 |first1=進己 |date=2004 |title=東北亞各國對高句麗土地、人民、文化的繼承 |journal=동북아역사논총 |issue=12 |pages=71–83}}</ref> With regard to Goguryeo remnants in territories of the protectorate that were later annexed by [[Silla]], the ''[[Old Book of Tang]]'' and the ''[[New Book of Tang]]'' documented that most fled north to the [[Second Turkic Khaganate|Turkic Khaganate]] or [[Mohe people|Mohe tribes]].<ref>''[[New Book of Tang]]'': 舊城往往入新羅，遺人散奔突厥、靺鞨，由是高氏君長皆絕。"Many old [Goguryeo] cities were annexed by Silla, while the remaining population were dispersed and fled to Tujue and Mohe. Since then Goguryeo leaders had all disappeared."<br />''[[Tang Huiyao]]'': 自是高句麗舊戶在安東者漸寡少，分投突厥及靺鞨等，其舊地盡入於新羅。"Since then Goguryeo households had become fewer and fewer in Andong. They submitted to Tujue and Mohe, all of their land being annexed by Silla.</ref> The Mohe people were ancestors of the [[Jurchens]] and [[Manchus]], while Mongolic-speaking peoples lived within the Turkic Khaganate.
* The Goguryeo state cannot be viewed as a predecessor of [[Goryeo]] (918–1392), nor was it a successor of [[Gojoseon]]. There was a 250-year-long gap between the fall of Goguryeo and the founding of Goryeo. Goryeo only controlled a small proportion of Goguryeo territory. Similarly, there was no succession between the contemporary [[Former Yan]] and the [[Yan (state)|Yan]] of Warring States, or between the [[Later Zhao]] and the earlier [[Zhao (state)|Zhao]] state.<ref name="孙进己"/>
** Goryeo adopted its name as it was established through a mutiny in the short-lived [[Later Goguryeo]] regime.
** Furthermore, Goryeo-era historical texts such as the ''[[Samguk sagi]]'' viewed Goguryeo negatively as the enemy of Silla and rebellious to Tang,<ref>''[[Samguk sagi]]'': 高句麗自秦漢之後，介在中國東北隅，其北鄰皆天子有司，亂世則英雄特起，僭竊名位者也……及其東遷，值隋唐之一統，而猶拒詔命以不順，囚王人於土室，其頑然不畏如此，故屢致問罪之師。</ref> while Koreans deified and worshipped [[Xue Rengui]] and [[Su Dingfang]], Tang generals that led the war against Goguryeo and Baekje. Goryeo briefly found it useful to invoke the memory of Goguryeo during [[Mongol invasions of Korea|Mongol invasions]], but abandoned this identity permanently once relations stabilized.<ref name="张春海">{{cite journal |last1=张 |first1=春海 |title=高丽政权的自称抉择、记忆筛选与中国认同 |journal=安徽史学 |date=2018 |issue=1 |pages=78–87}}</ref>{{Original research inline|date=October 2023}}{{Example needed|date=October 2023}}
* Territorial and population overlap between Gojoseon and early Goguryeo was minimal. Gojoseon's land corresponded to the [[Lelang Commandery]] of Han dynasty, as opposed to Goguryeo's founding location within the [[Xuantu Commandery|Xuantu]] (the second Xuantu Commandery, different from the first) and [[Liaodong Commandery|Liaodong]] commanderies. Goguryeo only conquered Lelang after more than 400 years of Chinese rule.<ref name="孙进己"/>
* The majority of [[List of Goguryeo fortresses in China|Goguryeo fortresses]] and cities, more than 200 in total, were preserved in China, alongside thousands of known burial sites.<ref name="孫進己"/> 

=== Goguryeo as a part of both Chinese and Korean history ===
Many Chinese historians do not consider Goguryeo's positions in Chinese history and Korean history to be mutually exclusive.<ref name="孙进己"/> A highly influential view in China, later known as "One History, Two Uses" (一史两用),<ref name="Rawski">{{cite book |last1=Rawski |first1=Evelyn S. |title=Early Modern China and Northeast Asia |date=2015 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |page=260 |isbn=9781107093089 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E4psCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA260}}</ref> was proposed by Chinese [[historical geographer]] [[Tan Qixiang]] in the 1980s. In 427 AD, Goguryeo moved its capital to Pyongyang, and its political and economic center shifted to the Korean Peninsula. Therefore, Tan divided Goguryeo history into two phases: it is considered a regional Chinese power until 427, and a foreign state after moving its capital. Jiang Mengshan suggested that Goguryeo was simultaneously part of Chinese and Korean history. He compared Goguryeo to the [[Yuan dynasty]], which is important to the history of both Mongolia and China.<ref name="张碧波">{{cite journal |last1=张 |first1=碧波 |date=2000 |title=关于历史上民族归属与疆域问题的再思考——兼评"一史两用"史观 |journal=中国边疆史地研究 |issue=2}}</ref>{{Pages needed|date=October 2023}}

Critics of Tan's view criticize that the division was not based in historical reality of the time. Zhang Bibo argues that Pyongyang, part of Han dynasty's Lelang Commandery, was within the territories of Han, Wei and Jin dynasties until its conquest by Goguryeo. Prior to the [[Han conquest of Gojoseon|Han conquest]], the region was part of [[Gija Joseon]] and [[Wiman Joseon]], which successively submitted to Zhou, Qin and Han dynasties.{{Original research inline|date=October 2023}}{{Dubious|date=October 2023}}

== Arguments for Goguryeo as a part of Korean history ==
Korean historians generally make these arguments:<ref name=":0">{{cite book|script-title=ko:동북공정과 고대사 왜곡의 대응방안 |publisher=백암 [The Society of Korean History]|location=서울|isbn=89-7625-119-9|year=2006}}{{page needed|date=September 2022}}</ref>

=== Arguments regarding the history of Goguryeo ===
Goguryeo is a country founded by [[Buyeo kingdom|Buyeo]] ([[Yemaek]]) people, one of the major ancestors of modern-day Koreans alongside the natives of [[Samhan]]. Both [[Goguryeo]] and [[Baekje]] were successors of Buyeo. The fact that a portion of Goguryeo people were assimilated into China does not necessarily make it Chinese, not to mention that the majority were assimilated into other [[Koreans|Koreanic]] dynasties such as [[Silla]] and [[Balhae]] at the time of its fall and afterwards.<ref>Discovered of Goguryeo (고구려의 발견), Written on South Korea historian Kim Yong-man.</ref>{{full citation needed|date=September 2022}} Additionally, significant numbers of dispersed Goguryeo people taken into Tang custody would break free and escape to these neighboring states during the Khitan rebellion of 696 led by [[Li Jinzhong]]. Many would later be subjugated by Balhae in its conquest of [[Little Goguryeo]] during the era of [[Seon of Balhae|King Seon]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=선왕|url=https://terms.naver.com/entry.naver?cid=40942&docId=1111981&categoryId=33381|access-date=2021-10-26|website=terms.naver.com|language=ko}}</ref>{{failed verification|reason=no mention of Little Goguryeo or escape of Goguryeo people in Tang custody|date=September 2022}} Certain amounts of dispersed population having been assimilated into foreign polities also took place with other Korean dynasties like [[Goryeo]] ([[Mongol invasions of Korea]])<ref>{{cite book |last1=Seth |first1=Michael |title=A Concise History of Korea : From Antiquity to the Present |date=2019 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers |pages=114–116}}</ref> and [[Joseon]] ([[Qing invasion of Joseon|Manchu Invasions of Korea]]) during times of war. This does not make them a part of Mongolian or Manchurian history.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

* Korean scholars believe that the people of the [[Three Kingdoms of Korea]] shared a common ancestor; the [[Yemaek|Yemaek tribe]], which was distinct to nearby Tungusic ([[Mohe people|Mohe]]), Mongolic ([[Xianbei]]) and Turkic ([[Göktürks]]) tribes in terms of genetics, culture and language. Goguryeo's attitudes towards the Mohe people as well as its own perception of its self-identity reveal that it held a discriminatory attitude the Mohe people and held this attitude towards all groups that were culturally and ethnically different from it. As such, Koguryŏ's self-identity was based on two different perceptions; one being the existence of a shared cultural heritage with other Yemaek tribes, for instance other states such as Old Chosŏn, Puyŏ, Paekche, Silla and Parhae.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Park |first1=Kyeong-Chul |title=History of Koguryŏ and China's Northeast Asian Project |journal=International Journal of Korean History |date=2004 |volume=6 |pages=17–19 |url=https://ijkh.khistory.org/upload/pdf/6_01.pdf}}</ref>
*Modern Koreans are direct descendants of the [[Yemaek]] tribes that originally come from outside the boundaries of Samhan (Manchuria), i.e. Goguryeo,<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Vovin|first=Alexander|title=From Koguryo to T'amna: Slowly riding to the South with speakers of Proto-Korean |journal=Korean Linguistics| volume=15 |issue=2 |year=2013 |url=https://www.academia.edu/6360018 |doi=10.1075/kl.15.2.03vov}}</ref> while the Korean language is suggested to be descended from the [[Goguryeo language]] by linguistics such as [[Alexander Vovin]] and [[James Marshall Unger]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=The role of contact in the origins of the Japanese and Korean languages|publisher=Unger, J. Marshall|year=2009|isbn=978-0-8248-3279-7|language=en}}</ref>{{page needed|date=September 2022}} Despite Silla being the one to unite the Korean Peninsula under a single polity after the [[Silla–Tang War|Silla-Tang Wars]], it eventually failed to assimilate the Goguryeo and Baekje populace by instilling a shared identity among them. Furthermore, the conquered Goguryeo and Baekje peoples held deep-rooted resentment towards the Sillan people due to Silla's role in the destruction of their kingdoms, which helped retain their [[collective consciousness]].<ref name="Seoul National University Press">{{cite book |last1=Ro |first1=Myungho |title=The State and Four Streams of Group Consciousness in the Koryo Dynasty |date=2009 |publisher=Seoul National University Press |pages=47–53 |isbn=9788952110664 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kiTztGJ3NngC}}</ref> This was worsened by the class rigidity of the Sillan [[bone-rank system]] which prevented upward class mobility particularly for people of Goguryeo and Baekje descent. As a result, when Later Silla began to collapse in the late 9th and early 10th century, regional warlords known as "hojok" ({{Korean|호족|豪族|labels=no}}) took this opportunity and restored Later Baekje and Later Goguryeo to liberate themselves from Sillan dominance.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kim |first1=Jinwung |title=A History of Korea: From "Land of the Morning Calm" to States in Conflict |date=2012 |publisher=Indiana University Press |pages=112–115 |isbn=978-0253000248 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s2EVi-MpnUsC}}</ref> The role of uniting the Koreanic people under a single agenda would befall upon the [[Goryeo|Goryeo dynasty]], founded by the Goguryeoic populace led by [[Taejo of Goryeo|Wang Kŏn]]<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kim |first1=Jinwung |title=A History of Korea: From "Land of the Morning Calm" to States in Conflict |date=2012 |publisher=Indiana University Press |page=120 |isbn=978-0253000248 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s2EVi-MpnUsC}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Lee |first1=Ki-Baik |title=A New History of Korea |date=1984 |publisher=Harvard University Press |page=103 |isbn=9780674615762 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g2mdVwXpMzwC}}</ref>
* Along with its other counterparts, [[Silla]] and [[Baekje]], Goguryeo was traditionally considered as one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea since ancient times and was perceived as a state considered to be one of the predecessors of the Korean nation by both Koreans during the Later Silla and Goryeo dynasties as well as by the Chinese during the Tang dynasty and onwards.<ref name="National">{{cite web |title=고현묘지명(高玄墓誌銘) |url=http://gsm.nricp.go.kr/_third/user/frame.jsp?View=search&No=4&ksmno=7190 |website=한국금석문 종합영상정보시스템 |publisher=National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage |access-date=10 September 2018}}</ref> Hence, the inclusion of its history in historical records such as ''[[Samguk Sagi]]'' and ''[[Samguk Yusa]]''. Meanwhile, classical Chinese records have excluded Northern Korean kingdoms including Goguryeo in being as one of their own and categorized it as the history of the Joseon people throughout the ages such as how records of the Tang dynasty indicated that Goguryeo was a part of the Samhan.<ref name="National"/> The recent movement to incorporate ancient Korean kingdoms that held presence in Manchuria ([[Gojoseon]], [[Buyeo]], [[Balhae]], Goguryeo, etc.) as Chinese history is only recent following the [[Northeast Project of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences|Northeast Project]] with political motives behind it.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Yeo |first1=Hokyu |title=China's Northeast Project and Trends in the Study of Koguryŏ History |journal=International Journal of Korean History |date=2006 |volume=10 |pages=126–136 |url=https://ijkh.khistory.org/upload/pdf/10_06.pdf}}</ref>
* Although supporters of the concept that Goguryeo is Chinese argue that many Goguryeo peoples were deported to China (appx. 28,200–38,200 out of 690,000 post-war households by official historical records/Korean sources and 78,000 by Chinese scholar Wang Zhenping),<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Gaozong of Tang Disperses Goguryeo Refugees |url=https://db.history.go.kr/item/compareViewer.do?levelId=sg_022r_0020_0500 |website=Korean History Database (한국사데이터베이스)}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Cartwright |first=Mark |title=Goguryeo |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Goguryeo/ |access-date=2023-10-30 |website=World History Encyclopedia |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-06-24 |title=Tang China in Multi-Polar Asia: A History of Diplomacy and War |url=https://uhpress.hawaii.edu/title/tang-china-in-multi-polar-asia-a-history-of-diplomacy-and-war/ |access-date=2023-10-30 |website=UH Press |language=en-US}}</ref> this arguably enhances the case that Goguryeo is Korean rather than Chinese. Whereas the victorious Tang dynasty had to forcefully deport tens of thousands of Goguryeo civilians to China, many surviving Goguryeo remnants outright resisted Tang China's Protectorate to Pacify the East. Most Goguryeo remnants either rebelled and formed Balhae alongside the Mohe people, or fled to Silla. It is attested multiple times in Korean and Chinese historical records that Goguryeo and Baekje remnants sided with Silla, their long-time enemy and resisted Tang China's attempts to conquer the rest of the Korean Peninsula during the [[Silla-Tang War]]. For example, the Goguryeo Pretender King [[Anseung]] who was the nephew or illegitimate son of the last Goguryeo King, rebelled against Tang rule which failed. He fled to Silla, leading 4,000 households with him, and the Sillan King bestowed upon him titles of nobility and territory to rule as a vassal. The idea that the migrants of Goguryeo voluntarily took refuge in Silla (and were rewarded) indicated that something was very different from the way they were forcibly relocated into China by the Tang. In Silla, there were also the former territories of Goguryeo and its residents from areas such as Kaesong, a Goguryeo Stronghold. Silla's dual, contradictory policy towards Goguryeo can arguably be explained as that of a benevolent conqueror including the defeated Baekje and Goguryeo peoples as a part of a unified Samhan identity while at the same time treating them as second-class members of Silla, similar to how in many modern states, certain regional identities are prioritized with [[Prestige Dialects]] and prestige identities while lesser regional identities are still accepted within a common identity albeit with far less recognition and respect. This explains why the Goguryeo peoples maintained a collective identity despite two centuries of Sillan rule, and also explains why Goryeo ultimately did decide to mercifully spare the last remnants of Silla at the end of the Later Three Kingdoms period.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lee |first1=Soon Keun |title=On the Historical Succession of Goguryeo in Northeast Asia |journal=Korea Journal |date=2005 |volume=45 |issue=1 |pages=190–194 |url=https://www.dbpia.co.kr/pdf/pdfView.do?nodeId=NODE09375791&googleIPSandBox=false&mark=0&useDate=&ipRange=false&accessgl=Y&language=ko_KR&hasTopBanner=true}}</ref>
* Records indicate that Goguryeo rebels launched uprisings every year from 670 to 673, and numerous efforts to restore Goguryeo and expel the Tang were made by the last King of Goguryeo [[Bojang of Goguryeo]], his nephew or illegitimate son [[Anseung]], Goguryeo General [[Geom Mojam]], the Kingdom of Silla (which was waging war against its former patron-ally over control of former Goguryeo and Baekje territories) and finally the founders of Balhae, [[Dae Jung-sang]] and [[Dae Joyeong]].{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}
* Goguryeo lasted about 700 years while no [[Chinese dynasty]] concurrent with Goguryeo's rule lasted for more than 500 years. It was [[Late Imperial China|Imperial China]]'s tributary only during some of its existence. More importantly, being a tributary of Imperial China doesn't make the state a Chinese one nor does it symbolizes the total subjugation of the state. [[Tributary system of China|The tributary system applied by Chinese dynasties]] was a practice conducted by both parties in which the tributary would profit from political/diplomatic recognition, products of civilization bestowed by the host while the host would honor the tributary hence the strengthened legitimacy of their own imperial status and hegemony.<ref>{{cite news |url = https://www.donga.com/news/Opinion/article/all/20210528/107151591/1 |script-title = ko:‘반일’ 이전에 ‘항청’… 속국을 거부한 조선의 싸움[박훈 한일 역사의 갈림길]－ |publisher = [[The Dong-a Ilbo]] |author = Park Hoon (박훈) |date = 28 May 2021 |language = ko |quote = 19세기 후반 서양과 일본의 대두로 중대한 도전에 직면하게 된다. 이미 주권국가 체제를 확립한 이 국가들이 조청(朝淸)관계의 ‘정체’를 묻기 시작한 것이다. 그 계기는 병인양요(1866년), 신미양요(1871년)였다. 프랑스와 미국은 조선과 전쟁을 하면 청나를 침범하는 게 되는지, 청나라는 개입할 것인지, 그 이전에 도대체 조청관계는 어떤 것인지를 물었다. 청 정부의 답변은 ‘속국이지만 자주적인 나라이고, 자주적이지만 동시에 속국’이었다. 즉, 속국자주(屬國自主)였다...그러나 조선 같은 조공국은 사실상 독립국이라는 게 당시 조선과 서양, 그리고 일본의 입장이었다. |title = '반일' 이전에 '항청'… 속국을 거부한 조선의 싸움[박훈 한일 역사의 갈림길]}}</ref><ref>Okamoto, Takashi 岡本隆司. 属国と自主のあいだ : 近代清韓関係 と東アジアの命運 [Between dependency and autonomy: early modern Sino-Korean relations and the fate of East Asia]. Nagoya: Nagoya Daigaku Shuppankai, 2004 (In Japanese)</ref>{{page needed|date=September 2022}} [[List of tributaries of Imperial China|Many East Asia dynasties and kingdoms]], like [[Silla]], [[Goryeo]], [[Japan]], [[Ryukyu]] etc., maintained tributary relationships with Chinese dynasties. Such misunderstandings are attributed to the confusion regarding the difference between tributaries and vassals; and the tributary system adopted in East Asia overall back then. For example, Silla, Goguryeo, Baekje and early-mid Joseon were tributaries of various Chinese dynasties such as the Sui, Tang, Ming and Qing dynasties but were considered independent states by the Chinese. This is in stark contrast with the Goryeo dynasty during Yuan Rule or the late Joseon dynasty, which was a client state of the Qing dynasty.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Seth |first1=Michael |title=A Concise History of Korea : From Antiquity to the Present |date=2019 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers |pages=112–114}}</ref>
*Legacy of names. Joseon ("[[Gojoseon]]") is considered the first Korean kingdom. After the collapse of Goguryeo, the Tang emperor gave to the last ruler of Goguryeo [[Bojang of Goguryeo]] the title "King of Joseon" named after the original Joseon kingdom showing that the Chinese themselves considered Goguryeo and Joseon the same lineage. Goguryeo was succeeded by Goryeo ("Later Goguryeo") which was succeeded again by "[[Joseon]]" {{sfn|Wang|2013|p=85}}{{original research inline|further=source does not mention Gojoseon is the first Korean kingdom, Bojang, the title "King of Joseon", Goguryeo and Joseon sharing the same lineage, or Goryeo as a successor|date=September 2022}}
* The view that Goguryeo is Chinese contradicts with Chinese history records of the past Chinese dynasties, which considered it a part of the cultural [[East Asian cultural sphere|Sinosphere]], but was a separate and foreign political entity. Based on epitaphs dating to the 4th and 5th centuries, [[Goguryeo]] had concepts of [[Son of Heaven]] ({{lang|ko|天帝之子}}) and independent ''tianxia''.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Yeongkwang |first1=Jo |title=Status and Tasks for Study of the Foreign Relations and World View of Koguryo in the Gwanggaeto Stele |journal=Dongbuga Yeoksa Nonchong |date=2015 |issue=49 |pages=70–76 |url=http://www.dbpia.co.kr/Journal/ArticleDetail/NODE06520451 |access-date=3 November 2018|language=ko |issn=1975-7840}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |script-title=ko:고구려의 천하관 |url=http://contents.history.go.kr/front/hm/view.do?treeId=010201&tabId=01&levelId=hm_013_0010 |website={{lang|ko|우리역사넷}} |publisher=[[National Institute of Korean History]] |access-date=3 November 2018|language=ko}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |script-title=ko:장수왕의 남진 정책 |url=http://contents.history.go.kr/front/ta/view.do?levelId=ta_m71_0030_0020_0010_0020 |website={{lang|ko|우리역사넷}} |publisher=[[National Institute of Korean History]] |access-date=6 December 2018|language=ko}}</ref> The rulers of [[Goryeo]] used the titles of [[emperor]] and Son of Heaven and positioned Goryeo at the center of the ''Haedong'' "East of the Sea" ''tianxia'', which encompassed the historical domain of the "''Samhan''", another name for the [[Three Kingdoms of Korea]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Em |first1=Henry |title=The Great Enterprise: Sovereignty and Historiography in Modern Korea |date=2013 |publisher=Duke University Press |isbn=978-0822353720 |pages=24–26 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DxAd2Aw_jP0C&pg=PA24 |access-date=3 November 2018|language=en}}</ref>
* Goryeo was founded by [[Taejo of Goryeo|Wang Kŏn]], whom himself descended from the Gaesong Wang clan of Goguryeo nobility. Modern historians believe that Wang Kŏn's ancestors were a powerful clan that conducted maritime trade with China for generations.<ref>{{cite web |script-title=ko:의조경강대왕 (懿祖景康大王) |url=http://encykorea.aks.ac.kr/Contents/Index?contents_id=E0043394 |website=[[Encyclopedia of Korean Culture]]|language=ko}}</ref> According to the ''Gaoli tujing'' (c. early 12th century) by the [[Song dynasty]] envoy Xu Jing, Wang Kŏn's ancestors were Goguryeo nobility.<ref>{{cite book|last1=박|first1=종기|title=고려사의 재발견: 한반도 역사상 가장 개방적이고 역동적인 500년 고려 역사를 만나다|publisher=휴머니스트|isbn=9788958629023|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qn6TCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT59|access-date=27 October 2016|language=ko|date=2015-08-24}}</ref> According to Jang Deokho: His ancestors were Goguryeo refugees who settled around Songak, accumulating great wealth through maritime trade and gaining control of the region, including the [[Ryesong River]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=장덕호 |script-title=ko:한반도 중심에 터 닦으니 화합·통합의 새시대 '활짝' |url=http://www.joongboo.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=974730 |website=중부일보 |access-date=16 September 2022|language=ko |date=1 March 2015 |quote=왕건의 가문은 고구려의 유민으로서 대대로 개성지방을 중심으로 해상무역을 통해 막대한 부(富)를 이룩했고, 축적된 부를 기반으로 송악일대를 장악했을 뿐 아니라, 예성강 일대에서 강화도에 이르는 지역에 튼튼한 세력기반을 구축하고 있었다.}}</ref> During the [[Later Silla]] period, the northern regions, including Songak, were the strongholds of Goguryeo refugees,<ref>{{cite book|last1=이상각|title=고려사 – 열정과 자존의 오백년|date=2014|publisher=들녘|isbn=9791159250248|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LonnCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT25|access-date=23 March 2018|language=ko}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=(2) 건국―호족들과의 제휴|url=http://contents.history.go.kr/front/nh/view.do?levelId=nh_011_0040_0030_0020_0020|website=우리역사넷|publisher=[[National Institute of Korean History]]|access-date=23 March 2018|language=ko}}</ref> and Wang Kŏn's hometown of Songak would become the original capital of [[Taebong|Later Goguryeo]] in 901.<ref>{{cite book|last1=성기환|title=생각하는 한국사 2: 고려시대부터 조선·일제강점까지|date=2008|publisher=버들미디어|isbn=9788986982923|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gQ3-AwAAQBAJ&pg=PT6|access-date=23 March 2018|language=ko}}</ref> The Kingdom considered itself to be the continuation (successor state) of Goguryeo, and had ambitions to reclaim former Goguryeo territories. In fact, there were no political succession of Later Silla by Goryeo as Goryeo was not founded upon the Silla government nor did it succeed in its namesake but that of Goguryeo. Hence, Silla's annexation by Goryeo. As evidenced by the 'Northward Policy ({{Korean|hangul=북진 정책|labels=no}})' conducted by Wang Kŏn and his heirs, Goryeo launched several major military campaigns to reclaim territories that they deemed rightfully theirs as ancestral inheritance lost to them. The Jurchen Expeditions (1104~1109) led by [[Yun Kwan]], Anti-Yuan Campaigns and Liaodong Expeditions (1356~1370) led by [[Gongmin of Goryeo]] and [[Taejo of Joseon|Lee Seong Gye]] were all extensions of the Northward Policy first implemented by Wang Kŏn.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Yun |first1=Peter |title=Guest Editor's Introduction: Manchuria and Korea in East Asian History |journal=International Journal of Korean History |date=2016 |volume=21 |issue=1 |pages=1–9 |doi=10.22372/ijkh.2016.21.1.1 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
* The ''Samguk Sagi'' was written by Kim Bu-sik, who was an important Korean historian from the Goryeo dynasty. However, it cannot be ignored that Kim Bu-sik was a member of the Gyeongju Kim clan, which were the direct descendants of the last king of Silla, Gyeongsun of Silla. Korean historians have noted that Kim extensively focuses on Silla's history during the Three Kingdoms period, and relegates much less attention to both Goguryeo and Baekje. The pro-Confucian sentiment and favorable bias to Silla and Tang found in the ''Samguk Sagi'' was due in large part to the Gyeongju Kim Clan's political dominance of Goryeo during the ''Samguk Sagi'''s compilation.<ref name="shultz70">{{cite journal |last1=Shultz |first1=Edward J. |title=Military Revolt in Koryŏ: The 1170 Coup d'État |journal=Korean Studies |date=1979 |volume=3 |pages=24–25 |doi=10.1353/ks.1979.0009 |id={{Project MUSE|397658}} {{ProQuest|1311653155}} |jstor=23717825 |s2cid=159548907 }}{{page needed|date=September 2022}}</ref>

=== Arguments regarding the succession of Goguryeo ===
*Goryeo rebuilt [[Pyongyang]], the capital of Goguryeo, and made it its second capital by naming it the 'West Capital ({{Korean|hangul=서경|hanja=西京|labels=no}})', as a means to advocate the legitimacy of succeeding Goguryeo while using it as a forward base to reclaim former territories and fend off potential invaders like the Khitans.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Shin |first1=Ansik |title=이전논문 3 of 7 다음논문 A Study on the Status of Pyeongyang[Seogyeong] and {{as written|i|t's [sic]}} Fortress System in the Goryeo Dynasty |journal=Military History Institute |date=2020 |issue=115 |pages=91–119 |doi=10.29212/mh.2020..115.91 |url=http://journal.kci.go.kr/imhc/archive/articleView?artiId=ART002593685}}</ref> Many of the lands that were recovered by the Goryeo dynasty during its early days were territories considered central to Goguryeo alongside the Paeseo Region ({{Korean|hangul=패서|hanja=浿西}}; ''territories beneath the [[Taedong River]]'') in which the founders of Goryeo were based upon due to its concentrated population, fertile lands, and relative prosperity during [[Unified Silla]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Park|first=Namsoo|date=2013|title=The Organization of the office of Paegangjin and the establishment of local governments on the Northwstern border of Hanju|journal=Dongguk Historical Society|volume=57|pages=37–87|via=Dongguk University}}</ref>{{page needed|date=September 2022}}
*Goguryeo was also succeeded by [[Balhae]]. After being conquered by the [[Liao dynasty]], the last crown prince of Balhae, [[Dae Gwang-hyeon|Dae Gwang Hyeon]], and the majority of the state's royalty nobility took refuge in Goryeo,<ref>{{Cite web |title=발해 유민 포섭 (Integration of Balhae Refugees) |url=http://contents.history.go.kr/front/hm/view.do?levelId=hm_045_0020 |website=한국사데이터베이스 (Korean History Database)}}</ref> thus uniting the two successor dynasties of Goguryeo.<ref>{{cite web|last1=이기환|date=31 May 2012|script-title=ko:[이기환의 흔적의 역사]발해 멸망과 백두산 대폭발|url=http://news.khan.co.kr/kh_news/khan_art_view.html?artid=201205302126225|access-date=22 March 2018|publisher=[[Kyunghyang Shinmun]]|language=ko|script-website=ko:경향신문}}</ref> Exodus en masse towards Goryeo continued on until 1116, with Balhae people seeking refuge from political instability inside Liao and in pursuit of conjoining with their kin. It is speculated that the mass influx of Balhae refugees in the span of two centuries has led to a significant rise in Goguryeoic people that was already one of the dominant groups within Goryeo compared to that of Silla and Baekje after the fall of both states; of which the two have since experienced devastating warfare, political instability, rebellions, and social stratification even before the [[Later Three Kingdoms]] era.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Song|first=Yeong-Dae|date=2017|title=Study on the Characteristics and Patterns of Balhae Descendants' Emigration to Goryeo From a Diasporic view|journal=East Asian Ancient History|volume=46|pages=137–172|doi=10.17070/aeaas.2017.06.46.137|via=East Asian Ancient History Society}}</ref>{{page needed|date=September 2022}}<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Park|first=Sunwoo|date=2019|title=An Examination of Settlements of Balhae Figures in Goryeo -Evidence of Balhae-style Roof-end Tiles Unearthed from Historic Sites of Goryeo-|journal=Baeksan Hakbo|volume=114|pages=97–120|via=Baeksan Research Society}}</ref>{{page needed|date=September 2022}} Bearers of Balhae's royal surname [[Tae (Korean name)|Tae]] (太) and Dae (大), as well as Goguryeo's royal surname [[Ko (surname)|Ko (高)]], still lives on to this day in [[North Korea|North]] and [[South Korea]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Woo |first=Park Soon |date=2023 |title=Study of the Joseon Balhae People(The Dae and Tae Figures), and Their Actions during the War with the Japanese: Examination of Nanjung Ilgi(『亂中日記』) and Honam Jeol'eui-rok(『湖南節義錄』) |url=https://www.kci.go.kr/kciportal/mobile/ci/sereArticleSearch/ciSereArtiView.kci?sereArticleSearchBean.artiId=ART002945414 |journal=Dongbuga Yeoksa Nonchong |language=ko |issue=79 |pages=257–286 |doi=10.23037/dyn.2023..79.007 |issn=1975-7840}}</ref>
*Taejo of Goryeo viewed Balhae as a state constituted by his own kind, the Goguryeo people, and referred to them as 'relatives'. According to the [[Zizhi Tongjian|Zizi Tongjian]], Taejo sent emissaries accompanied by the Later Jin monk Waluo (襪囉) to [[Shi Jingtang]] in request of a joint attack on the [[Liao dynasty|Khitans]] to rescue the [[Dae Inseon|Balhae King]] as Balhae is considered a 'relative country' of Goryeo. (勃海本吾親戚之國, 其王爲契丹所虜, 吾欲爲朝廷攻而取之, 且欲平其舊怨. 師廻, 爲言於天子. 當定期兩襲之.)[http://db.history.go.kr/id/ko_038_1480_0010]{{primary source inline|date=September 2022}}
*Supporting the previous argument, although Goryeo arose 250 years after the fall of Goguryeo, discrimination from the ruling Sillan people, particularly through its Bone-rank System, kept Goguryeo identity alive. The Baekje and Goguryeo refugees retained their respective collective consciousnesses and maintained a deep-seated resentment and hostility toward Silla.<ref name="Seoul National University Press"/> Beginning in the late 8th century, Later Silla was undermined by instability because of political turbulence in the capital and class rigidity in the bone-rank system, leading to the weakening of the central government and the rise of the "hojok" (호족; 豪族) regional lords. This helps explain how the military officer [[Kyŏn Hwŏn]] revived Baekje in 892 with the descendants of the Baekje refugees, and the Buddhist monk [[Kung Ye]] revived Goguryeo in 901 with the descendants of the Goguryeo refugees;<ref name="Seoul National University Press"/><ref>{{cite web |last1=박한설 |title=후삼국시대(後三國時代) |url=http://encykorea.aks.ac.kr/Contents/Item/E0065743 |website=[[Encyclopedia of Korean Culture]] |publisher=[[Academy of Korean Studies]] |access-date=13 March 2019|language=ko}}</ref> these states are called [[Later Baekje]] and [[Taebong|Later Goguryeo]] in historiography, and together with Later Silla form the [[Later Three Kingdoms]]. Later Goguryeo originated in the northern regions of Later Silla, which, along with its capital located in modern-day [[Kaesong]], [[North Korea]], were the strongholds of the Goguryeo refugees.<ref>{{cite book |last1=이상각 |title=고려사 – 열정과 자존의 오백년 |date=2014 |publisher=들녘 |isbn=9791159250248 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LonnCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT25 |access-date=13 March 2019|language=ko |chapter=후삼국 시대의 개막}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=(2) 건국―호족들과의 제휴 |url=http://contents.history.go.kr/front/nh/view.do?levelId=nh_011_0040_0030_0020_0020 |website=우리역사넷 |publisher=[[National Institute of Korean History]] |access-date=13 March 2019|language=ko}}</ref> Among the Goguryeo refugees was [[Taejo of Goryeo|Wang Kŏn]],<ref>{{cite web |last1=장덕호 |title=한반도 중심에 터 닦으니 화합·통합의 새시대 '활짝' |url=https://news.joins.com/article/17253437 |website=[[JoongAng Ilbo]] |access-date=13 March 2019|language=ko |date=1 March 2015}}</ref> a member of a prominent maritime ''hojok'' based in Kaesong, who traced his ancestry to a great clan of Goguryeo.<ref>{{cite book |last1=박종기 |title=고려사의 재발견: 한반도 역사상 가장 개방적이고 역동적인 500년 고려 역사를 만나다 |date=2015 |publisher=휴머니스트 |isbn=9788958629023 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qn6TCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT59 |access-date=13 March 2019|language=ko |chapter=고려 왕실의 뿌리 찾기}}</ref><ref name="Seoul National University Press"/>
*Like Wang Kŏn, regional warlords and residents situated in today's [[Pyongan Province|Pyeong'an]], [[Hwanghae Province|Hwanghae]], [[Gangwon Province, South Korea|Gangwon]], and northern parts of the [[Gyeonggi Province]] were for the most part Goguryeo refugees that founded the Goryeo dynasty with Wang Kŏn.<ref>{{Cite web|title=건국―호족들과의 제휴 (Founding of the Nation-Ties with the Regional Powers)|url=http://contents.history.go.kr/mobile/nh/view.do?levelId=nh_011_0040_0030_0020_0020|access-date=2021-10-26|website=contents.history.go.kr}}</ref> Korean surnames such as [[Yun (Korean surname)|Yun]] (尹), [[Kang (Korean surname)|Kang]] (姜/康), [[Yoo (Korean surname)|Yoo]] (柳/庾/劉), [[Yeom]] (廉), [[Cha (Korean surname)|Cha]] (車), [[Hwangbo (Korean surname)|Hwangbo]] (皇甫), etc., are known to have descended from these regional lords of Goguryeo descent. Aside from these surnames, other regional lords and contributors to the founding of the nation were also given Silla-style surnames such as [[Kim (Korean surname)|Kim (金)]], [[Park (Korean surname)|Park (朴)]], [[Choi (Korean surname)|Choi (崔)]], and [[Jeong (surname)|Jung (鄭)]]. A significant amount of Goguryeo refugees have also maintained a strong presence in the southwestern regions of the Jeolla Province after the fall of Goguryeo in the form of the Kingdom of Bodeok;<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Cho|first=Bup Jong|date=2015|title=Studies on the placement of displaced Koguryeo to iksan and Bodeok state|journal=한국고대사연구|volume=78|pages=237–273|via=한국고대사학회}}</ref>{{page needed|date=September 2022}}<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Jung|first=Weonjoo|date=2019|title=Anseung(安勝)'s Direction during the period of the Revival Movement of Goguryeo|journal=Institute of Military History|volume=110|pages=39–92}}</ref>{{page needed|date=September 2022}} later having been incorporated into Silla and hence deported to southern regions by Sinmun of Silla.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Shin|first=Eun-yi|date=2018|title=The Foundation and Meanings of Bodeokguk|journal=Daegu History Society|volume=138|pages=237–273|doi=10.17751/DHR.132.237|s2cid=186794358}}</ref>{{page needed|date=September 2022}} The main contingents of the Goguryeo Revival Movement linked with former Goguryeo warlords and nobles rooted in [[Liaodong Peninsula|Liaodong]] and [[Pyongyang]] rebelling against Tang's dominion have also been accepted into Silla during the course of the [[Silla–Tang War|Silla-Tang Wars]]; later settling within Silla's polity. These dispersed group of Goguryeo people would later constitute a part of the northern warlords and residents of Goguryeo descent around the time of Silla's fall.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kwon|first=Chang-hyuk|date=2021|title=A Review of Silla's Strategy to Support Goguryeo Revival Movement in 670–673|journal=Silla History Society|volume=51|pages=165–205}}</ref>{{page needed|date=September 2022}}<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kim|first=Kang-hun|date=2016|title=Revival Movement of Koguryo in Liaodong Region and Kommojam|journal=Institute for Military History (Korea)|volume=99|pages=1–38}}</ref>{{page needed|date=September 2022}}
*A major portion of the existing Kim clans that place their roots in Silla royalty and nobility are also said to be descended from the [[Wang (Korean name)|royal family of Goryeo]] through their maternal line as marriage between the two royal families took place after Silla's fall in 935. The [[Gyeongju]], [[Eonyang]], [[Samcheok]], [[Andong]], [[Uiseong County|Uiseong]], [[Naju]], [[Gangneung|Kangneung]], [[Seosan|Seonsan]], [[Tongchon County|Tongcheon]], [[Puryong County|Buryeong]] Kims, etc., are offspring of these intermarriages between the two royal families.<ref>{{Cite web|title=낙랑공주(樂浪公主) / Princess Nakrang- 한국민족문화대백과사전|url=http://encykorea.aks.ac.kr/Contents/SearchNavi?keyword=%EB%82%99%EB%9E%91%EA%B3%B5%EC%A3%BC&ridx=1&tot=5|access-date=2021-10-26|website=[[Encyclopedia of Korean Culture]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=경순왕(敬順王)|url=http://encykorea.aks.ac.kr/Contents/SearchNavi?keyword=%EA%B2%BD%EC%88%9C%EC%99%95&ridx=0&tot=24|access-date=2021-10-26|website=[[Encyclopedia of Korean Culture]]}}</ref>
*One of the reasons behind Goryeo's Jurchen Expeditions (1104~1109) was to reclaim former Goguryeo territories. According to the '''Biographies of Yun Kwan''<nowiki/>' written in the [[Goryeosa]], the head of the commander whom spearheaded the invasions, [[Yun Kwan]], quoted after claiming Jurchen-held territories, "These lands were originally owned by Goguryeo. The text of the old monument still remains. How would this not be the will of the heavens for our King ([[Yejong of Goryeo]]) has acquired what Goguryeo had lost before? (而本勾高麗之所有也. 其古碑遺跡 尙有存焉. 夫勾高麗失之於前 今上得之於後, 豈非天歟).<ref>{{Cite book|title=고려사 (高麗史) 윤관 (尹瓘) 열전 (列傳) – 2|date=c. 1400s |location=Seoul, Korea}} (in Middle Korean and Traditional Chinese).</ref> Diplomatic feuds between the Korean Goryeo dynasty and Jurchen Jin dynasty continued despite peace agreements after Goryeo's failed attempt to conquer Jurchen territories in which two major military campaigns had mobilized at least 250,000 troops from Goryeo alone. The Jurchen's who won the war with a heavy cost with their lands devastated by the Koreans would later conquer the Northern Song dynasty under Aguda's leadership. However, Goryeo during the reign of Yejong did not tolerate Aguda's self-proclamation as Emperor after his empire's ascension following the defeat of the Song dynasty, seeing them nothing more than former vassals and servants of their Goguryeo ancestors and that of themselves until the advent of Wuyashu.<ref>고려사 (Records of Goryeo, 1451)

Book 14, 10th Year of the Reign of Yejong (1115)

或曰, "昔我平州僧今俊, 遁入女眞, 居阿之古村, 是謂金之先." 或曰, "平州僧金幸之子克守, 初入女眞阿之古村, 娶女眞女, 生子曰古乙太師. 古乙生活羅太師, 活羅多子. 長曰劾里鉢, 季曰盈歌, 盈歌最雄傑, 得衆心. 盈歌死, 劾里鉢長子烏雅束嗣位, 烏雅束卒, 弟阿骨打立.”

English Translation:                                                             "''From what people say, the Monk Keumjun from Pyeongju (Today's Pyeongsan, North Korea) fled to Jurchen lands beyond and settled in a village called Ajigo, only to become the founder of Jin. Meanwhile, others say that the son of the Pyeongju monk Kim Haeng, Kim Geuksu, travelled into Jurchen territory and married a local woman. They gave birth to Goeultesa who gave birth to Hwallatesa. Then Hwallatesa gave birth to his elder son Heklibal and youngest Yeonga. Yeonga was said to be fierce and courageous. After the death of Yeonga, Heklibal's first son Wuyashu assumed leadership. He was succeeded by Aguda following his death''."</ref><ref>History of Jin (1344)                                                                  Book 1, Chapter 1                                                                 "金之始祖諱函普, 初從高麗來"

English Translation: "''The founder of Jin (Hanpu) comes from Goryeo''"</ref><ref>History of Goryeo (1451), ''Records of August of Year 1119''         ''- From Yejong of Goryeo to Aguda''

"···'''''况彼源發乎吾土'''''···"

English Translation:                                                                "···''Even the origins of your likes stems from my realms'' (Goryeo)···"

Explanation: → Diplomatic feuds between the Korean Goryeo dynasty and Jurchen Jin dynasty continued despite peace agreements after Goryeo's failed attempt to conquer Jurchen territories in which two major military campaigns had mobilized at least 250,000 troops from Goryeo alone. The Jurchen's who won the war with a heavy cost with their lands devastated by the Koreans would later conquer the Northern Song dynasty under Aguda's leadership. However, Goryeo during the reign of Yejong did not tolerate Aguda's self-proclamation as Emperor after his empire's ascension following the defeat of the Song dynasty, seeing them nothing more than former vassals and servants of their Goguryeo ancestors and that of themselves until the advent of Wuyashu.</ref>{{primary source inline|date=September 2022}}

=== Arguments regarding recognition from foreign dynasties ===

China, Japan, and other foreign states during medieval times acknowledged the legitimate succession by Korean dynasties such as Goryeo and Joseon of Goguryeo and viewed them as its rightful successors. Such is evidenced in records and scripts.<ref name="Byington">{{cite web|last1=Byington|first1=Mark|title=The War of Words Between South Korea and China Over An Ancient Kingdom: Why Both Sides Are Misguided|url=https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/7077|access-date=29 May 2019|website=History News Network|date=10 September 2004 |publisher=Columbian College of Arts & Sciences}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Han|first1=Myung-gi|date=2006|title=Korean and Chinese Intellectuals' recognitions of Koguryo in Choson dynasty|url=https://s-space.snu.ac.kr/handle/10371/66808|journal=Korean Culture|language=ko|publisher=Kyujanggak Institute for Korean Studies|volume=38|pages=337–366|issn=1226-8356}}</ref>

* During diplomatic talks on the onset of the [[Goryeo–Khitan War|Goryeo-Khitan Wars]], [[Sŏ Hŭi]] told the [[Liao dynasty|Liao]] commander Xiao Xunning (蕭遜寧, ? ~ 997): "Our country is in fact former Goguryeo. Which is why it is named Goryeo and [[Pyongyang]] as its capital. If you want to discuss territorial boundaries of old, the [[Liaoyang|Eastern Capital]] of your country would be within our borders."<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LEMoDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA68|date=2017|publisher=Owlbook|isbn=9788950963705|page=68|language=ko|script-title=ko:생방송 한국사 04. 고려: 수능 한국사 강의 1인자 고종훈의 동영상 강의 수록}}</ref>
*Xu Jing (徐兢, 1091–1153) of the [[Northern Song dynasty]] makes it clear that Goryeo was the continuation and equivalent of Goguryeo through his texts written in the Gaoli-tujing (高麗圖經). He illustrates the history of the royal family of Goryeo and states that the people re-founded their nation once again after the decline of their predecessors.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Xu|first=Jing|title=Xuanhe Fengshi Gaoli-tujing (宣和奉使高麗圖經)|year=1124|location=Northern Song Dynasty|language=zh}}</ref>{{primary source inline|date=September 2022}}
* Chinese historical texts, particularly the dynastic historical records of Chinese dynasties, repeatedly describe Goguryeo as a part of Korean history rather than Chinese history and confirm the succession of Goguryeo by Goryeo.<ref name="dbpia.co.kr">{{cite journal |last1=Lee |first1=Soon Keun |title=On the Historical Succession of Goguryeo in Northeast Asia |journal=Korea Journal |date=2005 |volume=45 |issue=1 |pages=187–189 |url=https://www.dbpia.co.kr/pdf/pdfView.do?nodeId=NODE09375791&googleIPSandBox=false&mark=0&useDate=&ipRange=false&accessgl=Y&language=ko_KR&hasTopBanner=true}}</ref> For example, in the Yuanshi, Ming Chinese historians describe the succession of Goguryeo by Later Goguryeo and Goryeo as follows: "The King's family name was Ko. His country fell during the Ganfeng era of tha Tang. After the Chuigong era, his descendants received titles, and gradually became independent. In the Five Dynasties ([[Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period]]), they moved the country to Songak and raised a King, whose family name is Wang and first name is Geon."<ref name="On the Historical Succession of Gog">{{cite journal |last1=Lee |first1=Soon Keun |title=On the Historical Succession of Goguryeo in Northeast Asia |journal=Korea Journal |date=2005 |volume=45 |issue=1 |page=188 |url=https://www.dbpia.co.kr/pdf/pdfView.do?nodeId=NODE09375791&googleIPSandBox=false&mark=0&useDate=&ipRange=false&accessgl=Y&language=ko_KR&hasTopBanner=true}}</ref> Another example is the Mingshi, where Qing Chinese historians describe the succession of Goguryeo by Goryeo and subsequent unification of the Later Three Kingdoms as follows: "Ko, from the Buyeo people, founded a country in the land at the end of the Han dynasty and named it Goryeo or Goguryeo, and lived in Pyeongyang...but was later defeated and forced to move east. During the Later Tang, Wang Kŏn succeeded Go, absorbed Silla and Baekje and moved the capital to Songak."<ref name="On the Historical Succession of Gog"/> As historian Lee Soon Keun notes, "The Jiuwudaishi was written in 973, the Songshi, Liaoshi and Jinshi in 1344, while the Mingshi was finished in 1739... The above records (which are the dynastic histories of Chinese empires) all acknowledge that Goryeo had succeeded Goguryeo. In 3-1, all the names are recorded as Goryeo except in the last instance, where it was written as Goguryeo, as in the examples mentioned above, which again shows that there was no distinction between Goryeo and Goguryeo. In other words, it is confirmed throughout China's official historical documents written after Tang that China had viewed Goguryeo's history as having been carried on by Goryeo."<ref name="dbpia.co.kr"/> Lee further notes that the Mingshi and Qingshi also recognize the succession of Goguryeo by Goryeo and clearly described it.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lee |first1=Soon Keun |title=On the Historical Succession of Goguryeo in Northeast Asia |journal=Korea Journal |date=2005 |volume=45 |issue=1 |page=195 |url=https://www.dbpia.co.kr/pdf/pdfView.do?nodeId=NODE09375791&googleIPSandBox=false&mark=0&useDate=&ipRange=false&accessgl=Y&language=ko_KR&hasTopBanner=true}}</ref>{{dubious|reason=There is no "Qingshi"|date=October 2022}}
*[[Kublai Khan]] regarded Goryeo as the same country as Goguryeo. By the end of the [[Mongol invasions of Korea]], Kublai was in the middle of a power struggle with [[Ariq Böke]], who was residing in Karakorum while Kublai himself was participating in the [[Mongol conquest of China|Chinese campaign]]. Having the [[Wonjong of Goryeo|Goryeo crown prince]] come before him to concede after decades of fighting, Kublai Khan was jubilant and said "Goryeo is a country that long ago even [[Emperor Taizong of Tang|Tang Taizong]] personally campaigned against but was unable to defeat. But now, its crown prince has come before me, and this be the will of heaven as it is!"<ref>{{cite web|last1=이기환|date=2014-03-17|script-title=ko:최강의 몽골제국군도 무서워했던…|url=http://leekihwan.khan.kr/entry/%EC%B5%9C%EA%B0%95%EC%9D%98-%EB%AA%BD%EA%B3%A8%EC%A0%9C%EA%B5%AD%EA%B5%B0%EB%8F%84-%EB%AC%B4%EC%84%9C%EC%9B%8C%ED%96%88%EB%8D%98%E2%80%A6|access-date=22 March 2018|publisher=[[Kyunghyang Shinmun]]|script-website=ko:이기환 기자의 흔적의 역사}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=김운회|script-title=ko:<기황후>가 왜곡한 고려와 원나라의 결혼동맹|url=http://www.pressian.com/news/article.html?no=110138|access-date=22 March 2018|website=[[Pressian]]|date=3 January 2014|language=ko}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|script-title=ko:중국 남방 행재소에서 몽고 황제가 왕을 후대하다|url=http://db.history.go.kr/KOREA/document.do?recordId=kr_025_0030_0030_0090|access-date=22 March 2018|publisher=[[National Institute of Korean History]]|script-website=ko:한국사데이터베이스}}</ref>
* The Japanese saying, "The Mongol ("Mukuri") and Goguryeo ("Kokuri") demons are coming! (むくりこくり)" has its origins back during the time of the [[Mongol invasions of Japan]]. Kokuri is the name of Goguryeo in Japanese and was used as a reference towards Goryeo soldiers that accompanied the Mongols during the invasions.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Foster |first1=Michael |title=Pandemonium and Parade: Japanese Monsters and the Culture of Yokai |journal=University of California Press |date=2008 |page=236}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=むくりこくり |url=https://kotobank.jp/word/%E3%82%80%E3%81%8F%E3%82%8A%E3%81%93%E3%81%8F%E3%82%8A-1599106 |website=Encyclopedia Nipponica}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=蒙古高句麗 |url=https://kotobank.jp/word/%E8%92%99%E5%8F%A4%E9%AB%98%E5%8F%A5%E9%BA%97-641180 |website=Nihon Kokugo Daijiten}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=蒙古高句麗 |url=https://kotobank.jp/word/%E8%92%99%E5%8F%A4%E9%AB%98%E5%8F%A5%E9%BA%97-641180#E3.83.87.E3.82.B8.E3.82.BF.E3.83.AB.E5.A4.A7.E8.BE.9E.E6.B3.89 |website=Daijisen}}</ref>
* [[Choe Bu]] of Joseon in 1488 who was stranded in Ming China was asked by a Ming government official "What special skills does your country have that it was able to defeat the Sui and Tang dynasties armies?" Choe Bu replied "Goguryeo had strategic experts and powerful generals who were skilled in military and had soldiers who served their superiors to the death. Therefore, Goguryeo is a small country but defeated the Tianxia's one million soldiers two times. Now, Silla, Baekje, and Goguryeo have become one country, we have abundant products and large land, riches and powerful military, and immeasurable numbers of loyal and wise scholars."<ref>{{cite web|script-title=ko:［한국사속의 만주］9. 조선, 華夷觀을 넘어|url=http://news.khan.co.kr/kh_news/khan_art_view.html?artid=200403031838541&code=210000|access-date=22 March 2018|publisher=[[Kyunghyang Shinmun]]|language=ko|script-website=ko:경향신문|date = 3 March 2004}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=송정규|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fx7TDQAAQBAJ&q=%22%E4%BD%A0%E5%9C%8B%E6%9C%89%E4%BD%95%E9%95%B7%E6%8A%80%22&pg=RA3-PT78|date=2016|publisher=휴머니스트|isbn=9791160800050|language=ko|script-title=ko:해외문견록: 제주목사 송정규, 바다 건너 경이로운 이야기를 기록하다|access-date=22 March 2018}}</ref>{{page needed|date=September 2022}}

=== Ties with modern day Korea ===

*Goguryeo traditions such as [[ondol]],<ref>{{cite web|date=1 January 1970|script-title=ko:［문화재산책］고구려 온돌문화|url=http://news.khan.co.kr/kh_news/khan_art_view.html?artid=200012241854581&code=960201|access-date=22 March 2018|publisher=[[Kyunghyang Shinmun]]|language=ko|script-website=ko:경향신문}}</ref> [[Korean fortress]],<ref>{{cite web|last1=이명우|date=25 October 2015|script-title=ko:[역사기획] 난공불락의 고구려 산성과 치(雉)|url=http://www.sgilbo.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=9316|access-date=22 March 2018|language=ko|script-website=ko:성광일보}}</ref> [[Kimchi]],<ref>{{Cite web|title=우리역사넷 / The First Records of Kimchi|url=http://contents.history.go.kr/mobile/km/view.do?levelId=km_012_0070_0010_0020|access-date=2021-10-26|website=contents.history.go.kr}}</ref> [[Bulgogi]], fermented foods (e.g. [[doenjang]], [[jeotgal]], etc., as mentioned in [[Records of the Three Kingdoms]]),<ref>{{cite web|script-title=ko:'썩음'과 '삭음'의 절묘한 경계의 맛을 감각으로 가려내다|url=http://newsplus.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2013/10/23/2013102301125.html|access-date=22 March 2018|publisher=[[The Chosun Ilbo]]|script-website=ko:조선닷컴 – 라이프}}</ref> [[onggi]],<ref>{{cite web|script-title=ko:옹기의 역사성과 옹기장의 미래가치|url=http://www.cha.go.kr/cop/bbs/selectBoardArticle.do?nttId=5782&bbsId=BBSMSTR_1008&nm=NS_01_10|access-date=22 March 2018|publisher=[[Cultural Heritage Administration]]|language=ko|script-website=ko:월간문화재사랑 상세}}</ref> etc. are central mainstays of Korean culture. The ondol, a traditional heating technology, was first built and practiced by the Goguryeo people. Chinese records indicate the first ondols existing in Goguryeo. Goryeo has strong claims as the cultural successor of Goguryeo, because it was during the Goryeo dynasty that Ondol technology spread across the entire Korean Peninsula.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.korea-heating.eu/_1ondol_eng.php |title=The Korean traditional heating system "ONDOL" |website=Korea Heating}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lim |first1=Jun-Gu |title=Rethinking the Construction Period of the Ondol Heating System at Hoeamsa Monastery Site |journal=Journal of Architectural History |date=28 February 2022 |volume=31 |issue=1 |url=https://koreascience.kr/article/JAKO202210242829029.page}}</ref> This is in strong contrast with Sillan rule over the Korean Peninsula, which lasted more than two hundred years yet did not lead to the popularization of Ondol, which did happen during Goryeo. Modern Koreans continue this tradition with the ''dol bed'', or stone bed, a manufactured bed that has the same heating effect as ''ondol''. The ''dol bed'' industry is estimated to be worth 100 billion [[South Korean won]], comprising 30 to 40 percent of the entire bed industry in South Korea.<ref>{{cite web|title='스톤 매트리스'로 돌침대 시장 깨운다|url=http://heraldk.com/2016/08/09/%EC%8A%A4%ED%86%A4-%EB%A7%A4%ED%8A%B8%EB%A6%AC%EC%8A%A4%EB%A1%9C-%EB%8F%8C%EC%B9%A8%EB%8C%80-%EC%8B%9C%EC%9E%A5-%EA%B9%A8%EC%9A%B4%EB%8B%A4/|website=헤럴드경제 미주판 Heraldk.com|access-date=22 September 2016 |author1=헤럴드경제 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=[Biz] 돌침대 시장|url=http://news.mk.co.kr/newsRead.php?year=2006&no=508830|website=MK News|access-date=22 September 2016}}</ref>
*Martial arts such as Korean Wrestling ([[Ssireum]]), traditional dancing, musical instruments (e.g. [[Janggu]], [[Geomungo]]),<ref>{{cite web|script-title=ko:장구|url=http://www.culturecontent.com/content/contentView.do?search_div=CP_THE&search_div_id=CP_THE008&cp_code=cp0225&index_id=cp02250037&content_id=cp022500370001&search_left_menu=|access-date=22 March 2018|publisher=Korea Creative Content Agency|language=ko|script-website=ko:문화콘텐츠닷컴}}</ref> clothing (e.g. [[Hanbok]], [[Gat (hat)|gat]], etc.),<ref>{{cite web|title=갓|url=http://encykorea.aks.ac.kr/Contents/Index?contents_id=E0000945|access-date=22 March 2018|website=[[Encyclopedia of Korean Culture]]|publisher=[[Academy of Korean Studies]]|language=ko}}</ref> are present in Korean culture. Ancient music from Goguryeo sung down to posterity such as the ''Song of the Yellow Bird'' ({{Korean|hangul=황조가|hanja=黃鳥歌|labels=no}}) still remains to this day. The traditional clothing of Korea, ''hanbok'', traces its originality back to the Goguryeo-style hanboks. [[Hanbok]] has its roots in the Goguryeo-style hanbok and its early forms are well depicted in the Goguryeo murals located across [[North Korea]] and [[Manchuria]]. {{citation needed|date=September 2022}}
* The word "[[Korea]]" comes from the word [[Goryeo]], one of successor states of Goguryeo. The term ''Goryeo'' itself is the shortened form of ''Goguryeo'' first used during the era of King [[Jangsu of Goguryeo]] in the 5th century AD. It has become a term to refer to the Korean people later on after [[Unified Silla|Later Silla]] and [[Later Baekje]] were respectively annexed by Goryeo founded by Wang Kŏn.{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}
*[[Modern Korean]] is said to have its origins on the [[Kaesong]] dialect which later became the standard in [[Middle Korean]] after its spread throughout the Goryeo and Joseon dynasties. It was initially spoken in central Korea by the native Goguryeo populace situated there when Kaesong was the capital of Goryeo.<ref>{{Cite web|title=중부방언(中部方言) / Central Dialect- 한국민족문화대백과사전|url=http://encykorea.aks.ac.kr/Contents/Item/E0053771|access-date=2021-10-26|website=[[Encyclopedia of Korean Culture]]}}</ref> 
*The affinity for dancing and singing among the commoners is a shared trait that continued on to later Korean dynasties.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Book of Later Han – Goguryeo Chapter|publisher=Fan Ye|date=c. 400s |location=Liu Song|language=zh-hant}}</ref>{{primary source inline|date=September 2022}}

==Perspectives by outsiders==

[[Alexander Vovin]] believes Gorguyeo was Koreanic in origin. He pointed to Koreanic loanwords in [[Jurchen language|Jurchen]] and [[Manchu language|Manchu]], as well as [[Khitan language|Khitan]] and argued that the Goguryeo language was the ancestor of Koreanic people, and spread southwards to replace the Japonic languages of the Samhan.{{sfnp|Vovin|2013|pp=224–226, 237–238}} [[James Marshall Unger|James Unger]] has proposed a similar model on historical grounds.{{sfnp|Unger|2009|p=87}}

According to John B. Duncan of UCLA: "For the last 1,000 years, Goguryeo was an important factor in helping modern Korea find its identity. Goguryeo is part of Korean history."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Bae |first1=Young-dae |last2=Lee |first2=Min-a |title=Korea finds some allies in Goguryeo history spat |url=https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2004/09/16/socialAffairs/Korea-finds-some-allies-in-Goguryeo-history-spat/2470382.html |work=[[Korea JoongAng Daily]] |date=September 16, 2004}}</ref>

According to Mark Byington of Harvard University, who has followed the debate since 1993, Goguryeo "was clearly not a Chinese state in any sense, as demonstrated abundantly by China's own dynastic histories". Byington says that the Chinese position is "historically indefensible" and "historically flawed", but at the same time has valid reasons, politically (e.g. territorial concerns), and is not as "sinister" as many Koreans believe (i.e., "a prelude to an active aggression against Korea").<ref name="Byington" />

Finnish linguist [[Juha Janhunen]] believes that it was likely that a "[[Tungusic languages|Tungusic-speaking]] elite" ruled Goguryeo and Balhae, describing them as "protohistorical Manchurian states" and that part of their population was Tungusic, and that the area of southern Manchuria was the origin of [[Tungusic peoples]] and inhabited continuously by them since ancient times, and Janhunen rejected opposing theories of Goguryeo and Balhae's ethnic composition.{{sfnp|Pozzi|Janhunen|Weiers|2006|p=109}}

According to scholar [[Andrei Lankov]]: "There is no doubt that the present-day dispute represents a case of retro-projection of modern identities. The real-life Koguryoans would have been surprised or even offended to learn that, in the future, they would be perceived by Koreans as members of the same community as their bitter enemies from Silla. Describing Koguryo as Chinese or Korean is as misleading as, say, describing medieval Brittany as French or English or Irish."<ref>{{cite news|last=Lankov|first=Andrei|date=September 16, 2006|title=The legacy of long-gone states|publisher=Asia Times|url=http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/HI16Dg01.html|url-status=dead|access-date=October 20, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061019074253/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/HI16Dg01.html|archive-date=October 19, 2006}}</ref>

== Validity of claims on ancient history ==
Some scholars analyze empirical evidence through the lens of nationalism and ethnocentrism. [[Yonson Ahn]] and [[Jie-Hyun Lim]] believe that projecting modern concepts of national territory and identity onto ancient nation states is self-serving.<ref name=autogenerated4/>

Yonson says that the Chinese claims on Goguryeo history tend to be centered on territory: because Goguryeo and Balhae shared territories with modern-day China, it is therefore Chinese. Korean arguments tend to stem from ancestry, a common bloodline.<ref name=autogenerated4/> Yonson argues both philosophies contradict the exclusivity claim that many scholars try to make for either Korea or China because Goguryeo possessed territories that now are within the borders of North Korea as well as China, and descendants of Goguryeo people live in both Korea and China. She also argues that the strong distinction between "self" and "other" drives many scholars to accept only exclusive possession of history and its artifacts. Disputes over such claims are often laden with terms like "stealing."<ref name="autogenerated4" />

== Recent developments ==
The Chinese city of Ji'an has built a Goguryeo museum within walking distance of the [[Yalu River]]. One of the major Goguryeo [[stele]]s is displayed there.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2013/12/29/2003580055|title=FEATURE: China, Koreas in modern conflict over old kingdom – Taipei Times|website=www.taipeitimes.com|date=29 December 2013}}</ref>

Professor Joon-Young Kang at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies noted that China's interpretation of Koguryo history completely reversed South Korea's positive view on China vis-à-vis the United States. From 1992 until 2015, South Korea and China experienced a surge in positive relations, as each abandoned their traditional Cold War ally (Taiwan and North Korea) and engaged in greater economic, cultural and technological ties. This was further empowered by the two nation's mutual grievances towards Japan due to the atrocities committed by the Empire of Japan during the Second World War, which often led to them jointly filing protests alongside North Korea towards Japan on topics such as the [[Rape of Nanking]] and [[Comfort Women]]. However, according to Han-Wool Jung, vice-director of the Center for Public Opinion Analysis of the East Asia Institute, the Northeast Project annihilated China's diplomatic accomplishments in South Korea with a stroke.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dennis |first1=Hickey |title=Dancing with the Dragon: China's Emergence in the Developing World (Challenges Facing Chinese Political Development) |date=2010 |publisher=Lexington Books}}</ref>

On the celebration of the 30th anniversary of Korea-China ties, the National Museum of China presented a chronology of Ancient Korean history which only included information about kingdoms like Baekje (18 B.C.-660 A.D.) and Silla (57 B.C.-935 A.D.) which were located on the southern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula, while omitting Goguryeo and Balhae, whose main territories belonged to the current North Korea and some parts of Manchuria, the current Chinese territory. This sparked diplomatic protests and demands of apology from the Republic of Korea, which accused the National Museum of China of tampering the chronology that Korea had initially given to China.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lim |first1=Seung-Hye |title=Chinese national museum to remove chart that excludes Korean history |url=https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2022/09/15/culture/koreanHeritage/korea-national-museum-of-korea/20220915175137760.html |website=[[Korea JoongAng Daily]]|date=15 September 2022 }}</ref>

This is raising speculation that Beijing is reactivating its "Northeast Project" that was launched by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in 2002.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Dong |first1=Sun-Hwa |title=China's state museum accused of distorting Korean history |url=https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2022/09/113_336035.html |website=[[The Korea Times]]|date=14 September 2022 }}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[China–North Korea relations]]
* [[China–South Korea relations]]
* [[History of Sino-Korean relations]]
* [[Nationalism and historiography]]
* [[Triệu dynasty#Historiography|Nanyue controversies]]

== References ==
{{full citations needed|reason=many sources do not contain specific page numbers or have page numbers that are too broad, some cite authors but don't have a corresponding reference|date=September 2022}}

=== Citations ===
{{Reflist|2}}

=== Sources ===
* {{cite book |title = Tumen Jalafun Jecen Aku: Manchu Studies in Honour of Giovanni Stary |editor1-first = Alessandra |editor1-last = Pozzi |editor2-first = Juha Antero |editor2-last = Janhunen |editor3-first = Michael |editor3-last = Weiers |others = Giovanni Stary (Contributor) |volume = 20 of Tunguso Sibirica |year = 2006 |publisher = Otto Harrassowitz Verlag |isbn = 344705378X |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=LbmP_1KIQ_8C&pg=PA109 |access-date = 1 April 2013 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Unger |first1=J. Marshall |title=The role of contact in the origins of the Japanese and Korean languages |date=2009 |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |location=Honolulu |isbn=978-0-8248-3279-7}}
* {{citation |last=Wang |first=Zhenping |year=2013 |title=Tang China in Multi-Polar Asia: A History of Diplomacy and War |publisher=University of Hawaii Press}}
* {{citation |last=Xiong |first=Victor |year=2008 |title=Historical Dictionary of Medieval China |publisher=Scarecrow Press, Inc. |location=United States of America |isbn=978-0810860537}}

{{China–North Korea relations}}
{{China–South Korea relations}}

[[Category:Goguryeo]]
[[Category:Anti-Chinese sentiment in Korea]]
[[Category:China–South Korea relations]]
[[Category:China–North Korea relations]]
[[Category:Chinese nationalism]]
[[Category:Historical controversies in China]]
[[Category:Historiography of Korea]]
[[Category:Korean nationalism]]