This article examined late Joseon dynasty research perspectives and works of the Sirak scholars on Han commanderies of Korean ancient history.
At the advent of the early Joseon dynasty, in the context of the unilineal system of Korean ancient history, Han commanderies were perceived as “Old Joseon-Han commanderies-Three Hans-Three Kingdoms”. However, after the second Manchu invasion of Korea occurred in 1636, the historical legitimacy theory was introduced in the writing of the history books, and so history began writing Wiman Joseon and Han commanderies as the subjective entities to Mahan in the history. Through this process at this time, Yi Ik and Jeong Yak-yong contrasted the native authorities of Nangnang-guk against the perceiving of Han Chinese commandery’s rule over Nangnang. Furthermore, Ahn Jeong-bok established how Korean history system could be perceived to be different from Chinese one through examining Han commandery.
Many positive outcomes on the studies of Han commanderies were accumulated in the late Joseon dynasty. Lots of scholars in Joseon dynasty were uncritically following the opinion that Two-bu existed as one stage of Han commanderies in the first century B.C.E.― which had been first mentioned at Samgukyusa in Goryeo dynasty. Nam Gu-man and Han Jin-seo actively criticized Two-bu theory and proved that Han commanderies were developed step by step as a whole from Four commanderies via Two commanderies to Three commanderies without the Two-bu stage.
A variety of opinions on the locations of Jinbeon and Hyeonto commanderies were expressed in the late Joseon dynasty. During this period of active academic development, first it was Han Baek-gyeom who insisted Jinbeon commandery had been located around Chuncheon now in Gangwon province. Then from this notion of his, other scholars located Jinbeon commandery to be at an area in Liaodong district, but later many scholars of the late 18th and the early 19th centuries asserted that Jinbeon commandery was first established at the center of early Goguryeo and afterwards united into Hyeonto commandery. The exact location of Hyeonto commandery was much befuddled during the early Joseon dynasty, because the center of early Goguryeo had been fallaciously estimated to be located at the northern part of Korean peninsula― instead of the correct location now known to be at the Liaodong district. After the center of early Goguryeo was corrected and asserted to be in Liaodong district in 17th century, Ahn Jeong-bok and Han Jin-seo and other scholars were able to properly and investigate the locations of Hyeonto commandery and its movements at three times.
Ahn Jeong-bok, Han Jin-seo and other scholars assumed the locations of the 25 prefectures under Nangnang commandery, based on the locations of the three rivers: Yeol, Dae and Pae river. However, some defects are also latent within even these conclusions arising from profound researches of the Sirak scholars, as these researches assumed that all the prefectures under Nangnang commandery had been spreadevenly in the northern part of Korean peninsula, which happens to be contradictory to actual historic facts.