The Go'ryeo Dynasty Period, a Unique Era for the Korean People - Examined from the Aspect of Foreign Trades

강연 소개

In the entire history of the Korean people, the Go’ryeo dynasty might be the least understood era, and also the least appreciated period. It is an era that remains pretty much alien not only to the general public, but also to professional scholars, and for sure to the people abroad. One of the reasons for that is the lack of sufficient amount of historical material, compared to other periods in the Korean history in which people are oftentimes more interested to explore. Between the glorious tales of the ancient times, and the familiar aspects of the Joseon culture, there is not much room for the Go’ryeo period to be adequately recognized. To many people, Go’ryeo was just a middle period that bridged the previous and later periods.

Yet in several terms, Go’ryeo was the one which successfully brought an end to the divided nature of the Korean peninsula, and created for the first time a unified order for the people living on it. The nature of Go’ryeo’s political system, and dynamics throughout the local regions, were rather unique, compared to either the Shilla or Joseon societies. Relationships between the people, either private or public, and their perception of such relationships, either individual or collective, were also different from any of the other time periods in Korean history. The people’s philosophical aspirations, as well as their ideological ambition, were diverse yet intense. And most importantly, the structure of its economy, and all the foreign exchanges it had, not only with its East Asian neighbors but also with other regions around the globe, put the Korean peninsula on the map, and made it much more accessible to the entire outer world.

In the early half of the 9th century, a military figure and also a wealthy merchant named Jang Bo-go once established a formidable trade post on the southwest side of the Korean peninsula. That trade post named Cheong’hae-jin, aided by the Shilla communities located along the southeast coast of China, facilitated the trades between China and Japan for 13 years, and brought wealth and security to the region that connected all the three countries. Then, with the presence of Jang Bo-go eliminated in the mid-9th century by political machinations, the activities throughout the region were weakened, and with the newborn Go’ryeo government’s decision to subdue the local factions throughout the country, which had all thrived on maritime transactions, the activities of the Korean foreign traders eventually came to a halt, at least for the following century.

The situation then showed a noticeable change in the 11th century. Sung dynasty merchants began to visit Korea, and their visits continued for 2 centuries, with annual visits that were accompanied by dozens of ships, with hundreds of merchants on board. Incoming fleets of merchants was not something that the Korean people had ever witnessed before. In response, hundreds of Korean merchants followed official Go’ryeo emissaries to the Sung court, and “disrupted” the economy of Sung local regions wherever they go, with their trade initiatives.

And in the 13th and 14th centuries, the Koreans were forced to open and maintain a relationship with the Mongol Yüan dynasty. The relationship had a rocky start, to put it mildly, as Go’ryeo had to suffer 40 years of hostile invasions from Nomadic Mongol troops. After that, the Go’ryeo government was forced to agree to a ceasefire, which was followed by all kinds of political demands and also a long list of ‘requested’ items that were expected to be submitted immediately. It was a truly painful period for the Korean people. But they managed to turn the tides once again, and made the 14th century one of the most dynamic periods in Korean history.

Each of the Go’ryeo kings who ruled the country in this period launched their own trade policies, which were designed to not only restart trades with Chinese harbors, but also open relationships with other parts in the world such as the Indian and Arabian peninsulas. And in the meantime, the Go’ryeo civilians, unlike their ancestors who preferred land roads to reach China and only visited China aboard vessels in a limited number, used both land and sea to connect themselves with the Chinese market, in a considerably more stable and longstanding manner. 500 years of the Go’ryeo dynasty, was not a time period that merely informed all the people around the world of the existence of Go’ryeo. It was a time period for the Korean people to learn about the outer world, and understand their status in it. The peninsula was wide open to the world, by the own will of the people living on it, and that was a rare one for the Korean history. Proper understanding of this time period would provide us with some valuable insights upon the history of Korea in general.