Gija Joseon (1120–194 BC) was a dynasty of

Gojoseon Gojoseon () also called Joseon (), was the first kingdom on the Korean Peninsula. According to Korean mythology, the kingdom was established by the legendary founder named Dangun. Gojoseon possessed the most advanced culture in the Korean P ...

allegedly founded by the sage

Jizi Jizi or Qizi or Kizi (; Gija or Kija in Korean) was a semi-legendary * :"Although Kija may have truly existed as a historical figure, Tangun is more problematical." * :"Most orean historianstreat the angunmyth as a later creation." * :"The Ta ...

(Gija), a member of the

Shang dynasty The Shang dynasty (), also known as the Yin dynasty (), was a Chinese royal dynasty founded by Tang of Shang (Cheng Tang) that ruled in the Yellow River valley in the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty a ...

royal house. Concrete evidence for Jizi's role in the history of Gojoseon is lacking, and the narrative has been challenged since the 20th century.

Understanding before 20th century

Chinese records

Chinese records before the

Qin dynasty The Qin dynasty ( ; zh, c=秦朝, p=Qín cháo, w=), or Ch'in dynasty in Wade–Giles romanization ( zh, c=, p=, w=Ch'in ch'ao), was the first dynasty of Imperial China. Named for its heartland in Qin state (modern Gansu and Shaanxi), ...

describe Gija (箕子) as the paternal uncle (or brother in other records) of the last king of the

, the tyrannical

King Zhou King Zhou (; ) was the pejorative posthumous name given to Di Xin of Shang () or King Shou of Shang (), the last king of the Shang dynasty of ancient China. He is also called Zhou Xin (). In Chinese, his name Zhòu ( 紂) also refers to a horse cr ...

, but contain no mention of king Zhou's relationship with Gojoseon. Gija was imprisoned by the tyrant until the downfall of Shang Kingdom, when

King Wu of Zhou King Wu of Zhou () was the first king of the Zhou dynasty of ancient China. The chronology of his reign is disputed but is generally thought to have begun around 1046 BC and ended three years later in 1043 BC. King Wu's ancestral name was ...

released him. Records written after the

, when the

Han dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by th ...

and Gojoseon were at war, add that Gija led 5,000 to the east of present-day

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...

, as written in the "Geography" section of the ''

Book of Han The ''Book of Han'' or ''History of the Former Han'' (Qián Hàn Shū,《前汉书》) is a history of China finished in 111AD, covering the Western, or Former Han dynasty from the first emperor in 206 BCE to the fall of Wang Mang in 23 CE. ...

'' (although some, especially in China, believe him to have moved to present-day Korea), and became the founding king of Gija Joseon. In

Sima Qian Sima Qian (; ; ) was a Chinese historian of the early Han dynasty (206AD220). He is considered the father of Chinese historiography for his ''Records of the Grand Historian'', a general history of China covering more than two thousand years be ...

's '' Shi Ji'', Gija is mentioned in the following sentence: ''King Wu enfeoffed Gija to Joseon, though he was not a vassal (of Zhou)'' (於是武王乃封箕子於朝鮮而不臣也).

Korean historiography

No contemporary Korean sources existed for Gija Joseon, and the oldest sources produced in Korea were from the Goryeo dynasty. The earliest Korean record about Gija Joseon can be seen from ''

Samguk Yusa ''Samguk yusa'' () or ''Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms'' is a collection of legends, folktales and historical accounts relating to the Three Kingdoms of Korea (Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla), as well as to other periods and states before, duri ...

'',

Later Dangun moved his capital to Asadal on T'aebaek-san and ruled 1500 years, until king Wu of Chou (ancient Chinese dynasty) placed Kija on the throne (traditional date 1122 BC). When Kija arrived, Dangun moved to Changtang-kyong and then returned to Asadal, where he became a mountain god at the age of 1908.

(御國一千五百年. 周虎王卽位己卯, 封箕子於朝鮮, 壇君乃移於藏唐京, 後還隱於阿斯達爲山神, 壽一千九百八歲), It was widely believed that Gija Joseon was located on the Korean Peninsula, replacing

Dangun Dangun (; ) or Dangun Wanggeom (; ) was the legendary founder and god-king of Gojoseon, the first Korean kingdom, around present-day Liaoning province in Northeast China and the northern part of the Korean Peninsula. He is said to be the "gran ...

. But some Korean scholars believed that Gija settled west of Gojoseon, based on records from "Geography" section of the ''Book of Han'', and the Korean ''

'' that suggests that Gojoseon continued to coexist with Gija Joseon after the migration of Gija. These scholars believed that Gija's influence was limited to western part of Gojoseon. The '' Genealogy of the Cheongju Han Clan'' (청주한씨세보) lists the names of 73 rulers of Gija Joseon and their periods of reign; however, it is not widely accepted by current Korean mainstream historians.

Wiman Joseon Wiman Joseon (194–108 BC) was a dynasty of Gojoseon. It began with Wiman's (Wei Man) seizure of the throne from Gija Joseon's King Jun and ended with the death of King Ugeo who was a grandson of Wiman. Apart from archaeological data, the ...

is said to begin with the usurpation of the throne from

Jun of Gojoseon Jun of Gojoseon was the last king of Gija Joseon. He was succeeded by Wiman (Wei Man), whose usurpation of the throne began the dynasty of Wiman Joseon of Gojoseon. Overthrowing and exile into Mahan Wiman entered Gojoseon as a refugee, and su ...

and the line of kings descended from Gija.

Shin Chaeho's opinion

Shin Chaeho Sin Chaeho, or Shin Chae-ho (; November 7, 1880 – February 21, 1936), was a Korean independence activist, historian, anarchist, nationalist, and a founder of Korean nationalist historiography (민족 사학, ''minjok sahak''; sometimes shorten ...

said that Gija Joseon (323 BC-194 BC) refers to the putative period of Beonjoseon, one of the

Three Confederate States of Gojoseon The three Gojoseon kingdoms are states thought to have existed according to '' Joseon Sangosa'' (1924–25). The concept gained a following among several fringe historians, although it is not completely accepted by mainstream scholars. In popul ...

, after Gihu (기후, 箕詡) became the king of Beonjoseon. Chinese traditional accounts indicate that Gihu's ancestor, Gija, was the same person as Jizi (both written as 箕子 in

Hanzi Chinese characters () are logograms developed for the writing of Chinese. In addition, they have been adapted to write other East Asian languages, and remain a key component of the Japanese writing system where they are known as ''kanji' ...

Hanja Hanja (Hangul: ; Hanja: , ), alternatively known as Hancha, are Chinese characters () used in the writing of Korean. Hanja was used as early as the Gojoseon period, the first ever Korean kingdom. (, ) refers to Sino-Korean vocabulary, ...

). According to Sin Chaeho's Joseon Sangosa, Beonjoseon began disintegrating after its king had been killed by a rebel from the Chinese state of Yan at around 323 BC. With this, the five ministers of Beonjoseon began contending for the throne. Gihu joined in this struggle, and emerged victorious as the new king of Beonjoseon, defeating the competitors for the throne. He established Gija Joseon, named after his ancestor Gija. During Gija Joseon, the king enjoyed strong sovereign powers. Eventually, in 94 BC, Gija Joseon fell after King Jun was overthrown by

Wiman Wi Man (in Korean) or Wei Man (in Chinese) was originally a military leader of the Chinese Kingdom of Yan. * :"The term was used again by a refugee from the Han dynasty named Wiman, who about 200 B.C.E. set up a kingdom in Korea called Wiman ...

, who established

in its place.

Controversy on whether Gija and Jizi were the same person

The Korean historian Kim Jung-bae claims that the association between Jizi and Joseon is wrong. He believed that the existence of Gija Joseon as a state established by Jizi was fabricated during Han dynasty. He further claims that the ''

Bamboo Annals The ''Bamboo Annals'' (), also known as the ''Ji Tomb Annals'' (), is a chronicle of ancient China. It begins in the earliest legendary time (the age of the Yellow Emperor) and extends to 299 BC, with the later centuries focusing on the history ...

'', and

Confucius Confucius ( ; zh, s=, p=Kǒng Fūzǐ, "Master Kǒng"; or commonly zh, s=, p=Kǒngzǐ, labels=no; – ) was a Chinese philosopher and politician of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. C ...

's ''

Analects The ''Analects'' (; ; Old Chinese: '' ŋ(r)aʔ''; meaning "Selected Sayings"), also known as the ''Analects of Confucius'', the ''Sayings of Confucius'', or the ''Lun Yu'', is an ancient Chinese book composed of a large collection of sayings a ...

'', which was the earliest extant text that referred to Jizi, did not say anything about his going to Gojoseon. Similarly, the ''

Records of the Grand Historian ''Records of the Grand Historian'', also known by its Chinese name ''Shiji'', is a monumental history of China that is the first of China's 24 dynastic histories. The ''Records'' was written in the early 1st century by the ancient Chinese his ...

'', written soon after the conquest of Wiman Joseon by the Han dynasty, made no reference to Joseon in its discussions about Jizi and no reference to Jizi in its discussions about Joseon. According to some sources, ancient Koreans claimed that Gija came from the

Zhou dynasty The Zhou dynasty ( ; Old Chinese ( B&S): *''tiw'') was a royal dynasty of China that followed the Shang dynasty. Having lasted 789 years, the Zhou dynasty was the longest dynastic regime in Chinese history. The military control of China by th ...

but there is no archaeological evidence to support early involvement of the Chinese.

List of monarchs

Notes

References

{{Authority control Gojoseon Gija Joseon Former countries in Korean history History of ancient China Former countries in Chinese history