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The Contested Heritage of Koguryo/Gaogouli and China-Korea Conflict

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 May 2025

Yonson Ahn
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The ancient kingdom, Koguryo/Gaogouli (37BC – 668AD) encompassed an area from central Manchuria to Primorsky Krai (the extreme Southeastern region of Russia) to the central part of the Korean peninsular at the height of its power, around the fifth century AD. Koguryo remains, including of walled towns, fortresses, palaces and tombs, as well as wall paintings and artifacts, have been found on both sides of the Chinese-North Korean border as well as in South Korea (the ROK). The remains and relics in the People's Republic of China (PRC) reflect the history and culture of the early and mid-period Koguryo kingdom; they also showcase Koguryo's architectural style and pioneering new patterns of city construction, in which both mountain cities and plain cities were successfully constructed.

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Type
Research Article
Information
Asia-Pacific Journal , Volume 6 , Issue 1 , January 2008 , e10
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Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
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Copyright © The Authors 2008

References

Notes

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(22) Sarah M. Nelson, “The Politics of ethnicity in prehistoric Korea”, in Philip L. Kohl and Clare Fawcett, Nationailsm, Politics, and the Practice of Archaeology, Cambridge University press, 1995.

(23) Wang Mianhou, “The system of walled towns and the capitals of Gaogouli (Gaogouli de chengyi zhidu yu ducheng)”, Liaohai wenwu xuekan, 1997:2, 89-103, 114; Wang Mianhou, Gaogouli gucheng yanjiu (Research on ancient cities of Gaogouli), Beijing: Wenwu Chubanshe, 2002, cited in “Lips and Teeth: The Shared Cultural Heritage of China and Korea”, China Heritage Quarterly, 11, September 2007, click here for website. (accessed October 29, 2007). Built in 37 BC, the Wunu Mountain City located in Huanren County of northeast China's Liaoning Province was the first mountain capital of the Koguryo Kingdom for defense.

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