Topics on Korean History

Topics on Korean History (S. Kye)

Chapter 1: Origins of the Korean People

Who were the ancestors of the ―Korean‖ people? When did they appear and set up their civilization in the Korean peninsula for the first time? How are Koreans related to other ethnic groups such as the Chinese, Japanese, Mongols, Turks, and even Native Americans? There are three possible ways to trace the origins of a people: linguistic, archeological, and biological approaches. Language is the aggregate of a way of living, speaking, thinking, eating, playing, and other aspects of lifestyle; it is one of the foremost representatives of culture. Therefore, if two peoples speak the same or a very similar language, then it would suggest that the two groups share their origins or at least historical experiences. The linguistic approach is thus important in tracing the origin of a people. Syntax, for example, is one of the most important criteria for the classification of languages. ―I am a student‖ is translated as ―나는 학생이다‖ in Korean, ―Watashi wa gakusei desu‖ in Japanese, and ―Wo shi xue sheng‖ in Chinese. In the English and Chinese sentences, the main verb ―am‖ and ―shi‖ must be followed by the complement or object. In Korean and Japanese, however, the main verb ―다‖ and ―da‖ must be placed at the end of the sentence. This is also the case with Mongolian and other Altaic languages such as Turkish. We can thus draw a tentative conclusion about the origins of the Korean people in terms of linguistics: that is, the Koreans may have been more closely related to various peoples of Inner Asia rather than China. Archeological artifacts can also provide clues for determining the early stages of a civilization. The dominant pottery of the Neolithic period in East Asia is Geometric-Design Pottery with a V-shape conical bottom as well as the designs on the surface of parallel lines that resemble marking made by combs. This type of pottery has been found in Outer Mongolia, Manchuria, and the peninsula....