“New History of Goryeo” by independence activist Kim Tae-young published in Korean for the first time in over 100 years

*This content was translated by AI.View Original

The “New History of Goryeo” by late independence activist Kim Tae-young has been translated and published in the mother tongue on the land of his homeland after 102 years.

On October 3, National Foundation Day, Citizen Revolution Publishing House published “New History of Goryeo: Translation of the Original Text,” a book that reinterprets the secret behind the fall of the Goryeo Dynasty and the Uhwido Retreat, with support (including translation of the original text) from the Goryeo History Restoration Society.

The book is a translation and free translation of the “New History of Goryeo” by the late independence activist Kim Tae-young, first published in 1924. After more than 100 years since its initial release in the Republic of China, it has been published domestically through Citizen Revolution Publishing House.

Kim Tae-young is evaluated as one of the three great independence activists who, along with Park Eun-sik and Shin Chae-ho, wrote historical books at the end of the Joseon Dynasty to awaken the national spirit.

Kim Tae-young was a scholar from Seonggyungwan (National Confucian Academy) at the end of the Joseon Dynasty, a secretary of the Central Council of the Joseon Dynasty, and a member of the Committee for Compiling the “Munhan Tonggo” (Comprehensive History of Korea). In 1905, he fled to Nantong, China, in protest against the Eulsa Treaty. He subsequently re-edited the “History of Goryeo,” compiled by the Joseon Dynasty, added annotations and translations, and published it under the title “New History of Goryeo” in 1924. In 1927, judging that the liberation of the Great Korean Empire had become uncertain due to the civil war between China and the Republic of China, he could not contain his indignation and took his own life.

After liberation, Korean history research has focused primarily on Joseon history and modern and contemporary history. In particular, interpretations have centered on the legitimacy of the Joseon Dynasty founded by General Yi Seong-gye at the end of the Goryeo period. There was little interest in the preceding dynasty, the Korea Goryeo Dynasty, which lasted for approximately 500 years.

However, records in the “History of Goryeo,” designated as a National Treasure of the Republic of Korea, and the “New History of Goryeo” detail how Yi Seong-gye’s military junta usurped the military control, official positions, and land of the Goryeo Dynasty, sequentially assassinated the last kings of Goryeo—King U, King Chang, and King Gongyang—to direct state affairs, and founded a new dynasty, Joseon.

The newly published “New History of Goryeo: Translation of the Original Text” interprets the final 11th volume of the “New History of Goryeo.” The original text is attached page by page, and it includes abundant additional original texts and materials from the “History of Goryeo.”

The creation of “New History of Goryeo: Translation of the Original Text” went through a long process. Independence activist Kim Tae-young compiled and translated the “History of Goryeo” into Classical Chinese. Ha Jin-gyu, author of “Baekje Seogi” (Records of Baekje) and “Baekje Wanggi” (Kings of Baekje), participated in the translation of the original text and annotations. The work underwent revisions and free translations by the president of the Goryeo History Restoration Society’s Book Review Society. Finally, through proofreading by Director Ryu Jeong-rok of the Goryeo History Restoration Society, it was able to be released into the world in Korean again after more than 100 years.

The president of the Book Review Society and Goryeo History Restoration Society stated, “For our nation to become even more powerful in the future, a reinterpretation of Goryeo, which followed Goguryeo that made its name known worldwide, and a re-examination of its territory are absolutely necessary. Through this, China’s Northeast Project and Japan’s Imna Nipponfu project can also be naturally neutralized.”

<© STARNEWS. All rights reserved. No reproduction or redistribution allowed.>

*This content was translated by AI.View Original