Historical Geography on the Region seen through Changes in Place Names and Administrative Districts: A Case of Cheongsong-gun in Gyeongsangbuk-do
Authors:   Institute For Kyeongki Cultural Studies, Kwon Seonjeong 
Published: January 2024

A historical geography on the region can be said to be an approach for regional research that integrates time and space, focusing on the current appearance of the region as well as the strata of older times. In this paper, I take a historical-geographical approach to the Cheongsong-gun region in Gyeongsangbuk-do by focusing on changes in ‘place name’ as a linguistic expression referring to an area divided by a certain boundary and in ‘administrative district’ as a representative spatial area that divides the region.
First, the name ‘Cheongsong(靑松)’ can be found for the first time in the Annals of King Sejong. In 1423(5th year of King Sejong’s reign), the existing Cheongbo-gun(靑寶郡) and Songsaeng-hyeon(松生縣) were merged and ‘Cheongsong-gun(靑松郡)’ began to appear for the first time in Korean history. Naturally, our interests are bound to expand to Cheongbu-hyeon(靑鳧縣) and Jinbo-hyeon(眞寶縣) which are related to Cheongbo-gun, and Andeok-hyeon(安德 縣) which are related to Songsaeng-hyeon. Among these, in particular, Cheongbo-gun was elevated by integrating Jinbo-hyeon with Cheongbu-hyeon in 1418(the year of King Sejong’s accession to the throne), its name was changed to Cheongsong-gun through the separation of Jinbo-hyeon and incorporation of Songsaeng-hyeon in 1423, and Cheongsong-dohobu(靑松都護府) in 1459(the 5th year of King Sejo's reign). The promotion to Cheongbu-hyeon is deeply related to the locational specificity of Cheongbu-hyeon being the home of none other than King Sejong’s queen, Queen Soheon. From a current standpoint, it can be said to be a historical fact that requires attention in relation to the construction of place identity, securing historical and cultural contents, and storytelling in the Cheongsong region.
Next, if we look at the process of integration and abolition of administrative districts and the transition of jurisdictions related to the name ‘Cheongsong’, we can easily understand how dynamically this region has changed. In other words, Cheongsong-gun in Gyeongsang-do, which first appeared in history in 1423, was centered around the middle part of the current Cheongsong-gun, with Jinbo-hyeon in the north and Andeok-hyeon in the southwest. At the time of the modern administrative district reorganization in 1895(the 32nd year of King Gojong’s reign), Cheongsong-gun in Andong-bu(安東府) was divided into two parts: Jinbo-gun in the north and Cheongsong-gun in the middle and southwest. Then, in 1914, Cheongsong-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-do, which was formed through merger and amalgamation by the Japanese Imperialism, incorporated the area corresponding to Jinbo-myeon and part of Pacheon-myeon in the northern part of the current Cheongsong-gun, forming its current form. In the future, regardless of the topic or object related to regional research, I hope that a historical-geographical approach to changes in ‘place names’ as geographical texts representing the region and ‘administrative districts’ as a spatial area that distinguishes regions can take precedence.