Beijing recently erected a large stone marker that says Korea¡¯s ancient Balhae kingdom (698 - 926 A.D.) was a Chinese ¡°vassal state.¡± The sign sits on a road in Antu County, Jilin Province passed by many tourists to the Chinese side of Mt.Baekdu, it was confirmed Sunday. Pictures of the Chinese painting the sign were taken by Ahn Byung-chan, a Koyang city resident who recently toured the mountain that according to Dangun mythology is the birthplace of the Korean nation.
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A stone sign reads, ¡°The road Balhae built to pay tribute to the Tang Dynasty¡± (right), while a Chinese man fills the stone lettering on the back of the stone with ink./provided by Ahn Byung-chan
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The stone sign reads, ¡°The road used by the vassal state Balhae to present regular tribute to China¡¯s Tang Dynasty.¡± On the back, the still unfinished marker reads, ¡°Balhae built the road to pay tribute to the Tang Dynasty.¡± It also mentions ¡°eco-tourism¡± to ¡°Changbai shan¡± -- Mt. Baekdu -- suggesting it is part of China¡¯s ongoing plans to develop the mountain and surroundings.
Kyungsung University historian Prof. Han Giu-cheol said a Tang Dynasty book does refer to the ¡°tribute road,¡± but this was a term only used by Tang China. From the perspective of Balhae, it should be called the Aprok Road, for the Korean name for the Yalu River area, he said. Academics agree that a tribute-investiture relationship was a way of routine trade between the dynasties. Balhae always used its own names for successive eras and, like China, called itself an empire. The kingdom made it clear that it saw itself as the successor to the Korean Koguryo kingdom, stating in diplomatic letters to Japan, ¡°from the king of Koryo(Koguryo).¡±
Balhae was a state founded in former Koguryo territory by displaced Koguryo people.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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