The Story of East Asian History by Ju Eul-ryang

It is commonly stated that our nation's history spans five millennia, and the evidence supporting this can be found in the "Records of the Three Kingdoms: Wei Shu, Dongyi Zhuan," written in the 3rd century. This book is a historical account of the Three Kingdoms period in China, established by the states of Wei, Shu, and Wu, and it includes a section on 'Dongyi' that explains the origins of our people.

In this text, our ancestors are referred to as Dongyi (Eastern Barbarians). Historically, China has believed itself to be the center of the world, viewing all surrounding ethnic groups as barbarians, hence the term 'Dongyi' was used to belittle them as the eastern barbarians. However, there are two interpretations of this term. One suggests that it originally meant simply "eastern people," and was even a slightly elevated term, while another interpretation, based on the appearance of the characters, suggests it refers to people with large bows. This implies that 'Dongyi' was not merely a derogatory term.

Since 2000, China has initiated a new historical project called "Exploration of Chinese Civilization" to build a "Great China" in the 21st century. This project aims to highlight the Liaohhe River area in Northeast China as a new civilization with a history of 10,000 years, predating the four great civilizations of the world, known as the "Liaohhe Civilization Theory." At the core of this theory is the Hongshan culture, a Neolithic cultural complex discovered near Hongshan in China. Evidence suggests that the creators of this Hongshan culture were the Dongyi people, who are the ancestors of our nation.

Amid various speculations regarding this, it is currently believed that some descendants of this civilization moved eastward, becoming our ancestors in Buyeo and Goguryeo, while others migrated southward, becoming the legendary founders of China, the "Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors." In other words, China and Korea may not be entirely different ethnic groups but rather branches that diverged from a common ancestor, settling in different regions and developing independently. There are records indicating that Goguryeo and the Xianbei, who formed a significant power not far from the Liaohhe civilization area, communicated with each other. Furthermore, records show that some Xianbei were incorporated into the Chinese mainstream, suggesting that the ancient Korean Peninsula and the surrounding Northeast Asia likely formed a shared cultural sphere.