A Study on the Transition of Balhae Geography in Joseon Dynasty Historical Materials
Authors:   The Paek-San Society, Kim jinkwang 
Published: January 2023

Although it is well revealed in Yu Deuk-gong(柳得恭)'s preface to Balhae-go(渤海考), it is important to examine how the perception of Balhae succession is reflected in the history books of the Joseon Dynasty. The change in the perception of historical geography in Balhae developed in conjunction with the development of historical geography in the middle and late Joseon Dynasty.
This expanded interest in the historical space of the past as the theory of wealth and strength spread in the process of protesting with external enemies such as the Imjin War(壬⾠倭亂) and the Manchu Invasion(丙⼦胡亂) of Korea. The study of the territory aroused interest in countries that dominated the northern areas such as Goguryeo and Balhae after Dangun Joseon(檀君朝鮮) in time, and further expanded their understanding of historical and geographical data received from China. Accordingly, the tendency to expand the scope of the river area to Manchuria spread away from the limitations of domestic data that focused on the Korean Peninsula.
There are a total of 42 historical materials that convey records related to Balhae history. The compilation period ranges from the 12th century to the mid-19th century. However, there are 14 types of historical materials dealing with the territorial geography of Balhae, and most of them are reproduced or extracted from the geography-related articles of Xintangshu(新唐書), and only five types of history books have attempted to prove geography in earnest.
The first review of the administrative district of Balhae was Dongsa-gangmok(東史綱目), where Balhae was destroyed and Hamgyeong-do(咸境道) and Pyeongan-do(平安道) belonged to Balhae.
However, in fact, this was not reviewed in the geographical history of the text, and the historical geography of Balhae was also biased toward the Liaodong area(遼東). This stance led to Balhae-go(渤 海考) and Daedongjiji(大東地志), which harshly criticized Goryeo for not compiling Balhae history.
Of course, it was not directly cited as Liaoshi(遼史) Geography, but it is also the result of accepting historical materials of the Yitongzhi(一統志), Shengjingtongzhi(盛京通志) series that succeeded it without criticism.
In the historical evidence of Balhae geography, the transformation of perception was made in AbangGangyeok-go(我邦疆域考) and Haedong-yeoksasok(海東繹史續). These two historical sources were compiled around the same time and have similar forms. Unlike the location of major administrative districts in Balhae in Dongsa-gangmok(東史綱目), these two librarians compared and reviewed each feed to criticize the error of defining the location as the Liaodong area(遼東), and presented a new perception. This view is not different from the current theory in terms of specific points, but it is almost identical in the general context. And in a large framework, it is not very different from the development of archaeology or the result of the deepening of research. This means that the perception of historical geography has risen one notch from the level of Dongsa-gangmok (東史綱目) as a result of organically combining the historical historical methodology as well as a review of historical data.