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Names of Korea
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There are various names of Korea in use today, derived from ancient kingdoms and dynasties. The modern English name Korea is an exonym derived from the Goryeo period and is used by both North Korea and South Korea in international contexts. In the Korean language, the two Koreas use different terms to refer to the nominally unified nation: Choson in North Korea and Hanguk in South Korea.
History
The earliest records of Korean history are written in Chinese characters.
Discussion
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Encyclopedia
There are various names of Korea in use today, derived from ancient kingdoms and dynasties. The modern English name Korea is an exonym derived from the Goryeo period and is used by both North Korea and South Korea in international contexts. In the Korean language, the two Koreas use different terms to refer to the nominally unified nation: Choson in North Korea and Hanguk in South Korea.
History
The earliest records of Korean history are written in Chinese characters. Even after the invention of hangul, Koreans generally recorded native Korean names with hanja, by translation of meaning, transliteration of sound, or even combinations of the two. Furthermore, the pronunciations of the same character are somewhat different in Korean and the various Chinese dialects (and Japanese and Vietnamese), and have changed over time.
For all these reasons, in addition to the sparse and sometimes contradictory written records, it is often difficult to determine the original meanings or pronunciations of ancient names.
Ancient history
Joseon
Until about 2000 years ago, northern Korea and Manchuria were controlled by Gojoseon. In Chinese records, it was written as , which is pronounced in modern Korean as Joseon . Go , meaning "ancient", distinguishes it from the later Joseon Dynasty.
The Chinese characters phonetically transcribed a native Korean name, thought to have been then pronounced something like "Jyusin". Some speculate that it also corresponds to Chinese references to (suksin), (jiksin) and (siksin), although these latter names probably describe the ancestors of the Jurchen.
Other scholars believe was a translation of the native Korean Asadal , the capital of Gojoseon: asa being a hypothetical Altaic root word for "morning", and dal meaning "mountain", a common ending for Goguryeo place names.
The character means both "dynasty" (read as cháo in Chinese) and "morning" (read as zhao in Chinese), while may translate to "fresh" or "savory", often used to describe rarity. In modern Mandarin Chinese, is read as Cháoxian. The first character is read as cháo, as when it is used to mean "dynasty" rather than "morning", and the second character is read as xian with a falling-rising contour tone, which is a special reading of this character that is used only when pronouncing the name of Cháoxian (Joseon). This may suggest a phonetic transcription, although it is unknown how the characters were pronounced at the time of recording.
Han
Around the time of Gojoseon's fall, various chiefdoms in southern Korea grouped into confederacies, collectively called the Samhan ("Three Han"). Han is a native Korean root for "leader" or "great", as in maripgan ("king", archaic), hanabi ("grandfather", archaic), and Hanbat ("Great Field", archaic name for Daejon). It may be related to the Mongol/Turkic title Khan.
Han was transliterated in Chinese records as ? (?, han), ? (?, gan), ? (?, gan), ? (?, gan), or ? (?, han), but is unrelated to the Chinese people and states also called Han (with a different tone.) (See: Transliteration into Chinese characters).
Goryeo
Around the beginning of the Common Era, remnants of the fallen Gojoseon were re-united and expanded by the kingdom of Goguryeo, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. It, too, was a native Korean word, probably pronounced something like "Guri", transcribed with various Chinese characters: ???,???, or ??? (???, Goguryeo), ?? (??, Goryeo), ?? (??, Gori), or ?? (??, Guryeo). In ???, the character ? ("high") is an adjective, rather than a part of the transliteration. The character ? is sometimes pronounced ri.
The source native name is thought to be either Guru (??, walled city) or Gauri (???, "center"; c.f. Middle Korean gandy and Standard Modern Korean gaunde ???).
The theory that Goguryeo referenced the founder's surname has been largely discredited (the royal surname changed from Hae to Go long after the state's founding).
Revival of the names
In the south, the Samhan resolved into the kingdoms of Baekje and Silla, constituting, with Goguryeo, the Three Kingdoms of Korea. In 668, Silla unified the three kingdoms, and reigned as Unified Silla until 935.
The succeeding dynasty called itself Goryeo (), in reference to Goguryeo. Through the Silk Road trade routes, Muslim merchants brought knowledge about Silla and Goryeo to India and the Middle East. Goryeo was transliterated into Italian as "Cauli", the name Marco Polo used when mentioning the country in his Travels, derived from the Mandarin Chinese form Gaolí. From "Cauli" eventually came the English names "Corea" and the now standard "Korea" (see English usage below).
In 1392, a new dynasty established by a military coup revived the name Joseon (). The Chinese characters were often translated into English as "morning calm", and Korea's English nickname became "The Land of the Morning Calm"; however, this interpretation is not often used in the Korean language, and is more familiar to Koreans as a back-translation from English. This nickname was coined by Percival Lowell in his book, "Choson, the Land of the Morning Calm," published in 1885.
In 1897, the nation was renamed to Daehan Jeguk ( literally, "Great Han Empire", known in English as Korean Empire). Han was selected in reference to the Samhan, meaning the Three Kingdoms of Korea, although Samhan can also refer to the earlier Samhan.
20th century
When Korea came under Japanese rule in 1910, the name reverted to Joseon (officially, the Japanese pronunciation Chosen). During this period, many different groups outside of Korea fought for independence, the most notable being the Daehan Minguk Imsi Jeongbu (), literally the "Provisional government of the Great Han people's nation", known in English as the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea ( = ‘people’ + state/nation’ = ‘republic’ in East Asian languages).
Korea became independent with the Japanese surrender to the Allies in World War II (1945). The country was then divided into the Soviet-occupied North and American-occupied South.
In 1948, the South adopted the provisional government's name of Daehan Minguk (; see above), known in English as the Republic of Korea. Meanwhile, the North became the Choson Minjujuui Inmin Konghwaguk () literally the "Joseon Democratic People's Republic", known in English as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Current usage
East Asia
Korea
Today, South Koreans use Hanguk to refer to just South Korea or Korea as a whole, Namhan (; "South Han") for South Korea, and Bukhan (; "North Han") for North Korea. South Korea less formally refers to North Korea as Ibuk (; "The North").
North Koreans use Choson, Namjoson (; "South Choson"), and Bukchoson (; "North Choson") respectively. The term Bukchoson, however, is rarely ever used in the north.
In the tourist regions in North Korea and the official meetings between South Korea and North Korea, Namcheuk () and Bukcheuk (), or "North Side" and "South Side", are used instead of Namhan and Bukhan.
The Korean language is called Hangugeo () or Hangukmal in the South and Chosonmal or Chosono () in the North. The Korean script is called hangeul in South Korea and Choson'gul in North Korea. The Korean Peninsula is called Hanbando () in the South and Choson Pando () in the North.
Chinese-speaking areas
In Chinese-speaking areas such as mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan, the Korean Peninsula is usually called Cháoxian Bàndao , but it is also less often called Hán Bàndao in Hanyu Pinyin .
Until recently, the People's Republic of China tended to use the historic Korean name Cháoxian ( "Joseon"), by referring to South Korea as Nán Cháoxian ( "South Joseon"). Since establishing diplomatic relationship with South Korea 1992, China has used the names that each of the two sides prefer, by referring to North Korea as Cháoxian and to South Korea as Hánguó ( "Hanguk"). The Korean language can be referred to as either Cháoxianyu or Hánguóyu , although many people argue that the former is more correct, as China itself has a sizeable minority of ethnic Koreans ( Cháoxianzú) who use the historic name.
Taiwan, on the other hand, uses the South Korean names, referring to North Korean as Beihán ( "North Han") and South Korean as Nánhán ( "South Han"). The Republic of China previously maintained diplomatic relations with South Korea, but has never had relations with North Korea. As a result, in the past, Hánguó had been used to refer to the whole Korea, and Taiwanese textbooks treated Korea as a unified nation (as it did China). The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China under the Democratic Progressive Party Government now considers North and South Koreas two separate countries. However, general usage in Taiwan still refer to North Korean as Beihán ( "North Han[guk]") and South Korean as Nánhán ( "South Han[guk]") while use of Cháoxian is generally limited to ancient Korea. The Korean language is usually referred to as Hánguóyu or Hányu .
Similarly, general usage in Hong Kong and Macau have traditionally referred to North Korea as Bak Hon ( "North Han") and South Korea as Nam Hon ( "South Han"). Under influence from official usage, which is itself influenced by official usage by the People's Republic of China government, the mainland practice of naming the two Koreas differently has become more common.
In the Chinese language used in Singapore and Malaysia, North Korea is usually called Cháoxian ( "Choson") with Bei Cháoxian ( "North Choson") and Beihán ( "North Han") less often used, while South Korea is usually called Hánguó ( "Hanguk") with Nánhán ( "South Han[guk]") and Nán Cháoxian ( "South Choson") less often used.
Japan
In Japan, the names preferred by each of the two sides is used, so that North Korea is called Kita-Chosen (; "North Choson") and South Korea Kankoku ( "Hanguk").
However, North Koreans claim the name Kita-Chosen is derogatory, as it only refers to the northern part of Korean Peninsula, whereas the government claims the sovereignty over the entire part of it. Pro-North people such as Chongryon use the name Kyowakoku (; "the Republic") instead, but the ambiguous name is not popular among others. In 1972 Chongryon campaigned to get the Japanese media to stop referring to North Korea as Kita-Chosen. This effort was not successful, but as a compromise most media companies agreed to refer to the nation with its full official title at least once in every article, thus they used the lengthy Kita-Chosen (Chosen Minshu-shugi Jinmin Kyowakoku) ( "North Choson (The People's Democratic Republic of Choson)"). From January 2003, this policy was started to be abandoned by most newspapers and TV stations, on the basis that other nations with naming issues such as South Korea (ROK) and Taiwan (ROC) aren't necessarily referred to by their official names.
For Korea in general, Chosen (; "Joseon") is mostly used. Some South Koreans, however, think the word is reminiscent either of the Japanese occupation period, or pro-North political views (or both). Consequently, there is a trend to use the transcription of English Korea (Koria) and Korean (Korian) in print media in order to avoid making an implied political statement.
The Korean language is most frequently referred to in Japan as Kankokugo or Chosengo . While academia mostly prefers Chosengo, Kankokugo became more and more common in non-academic fields, thanks to the economic and cultural presence of South Korea. The language is also referred to as various terms, such as "Kankokuchosengo" , "Chosen-Kankokugo" , "Kankokugo (Chosengo)" , etc. Some people refer to the language as Koriago (; "Korean Language"). These term is not used in ordinary Japanese, but was selected as a compromise to placate both nations in a euphemistic process called kotobagari. Likewise, when NHK broadcasts a language instruction program for Korean, the language is referred to as hangurugo (; "hangul language"); although it's technically incorrect since hangul itself is a writing system, not a language. Some argues even Hangurugo is not completely neutral, since North Korea calls the letter Choson'gul, not hangul. Urimaru , a direct transcription of uri mal ("our language") is sometimes used by Korean residents in Japan, as well as by KBS World Radio. This term, however, may not be suitable to ethnic Japanese whose "our language" is not necessarily Korean.
In Japan, those who moved to Japan before and after the annexation of the Korean Peninsula usually maintain their distinctive cultural heritages (such as the Baekje-towns or Goguryeo-villages). Ethnic Korean residents of Japan have been collectively called Zainichi Chosenjin ( "Joseon People in Japan"), regardless of nationality. However, because of the same reason as above, the euphemism Zainichi Korian (; "Koreans in Japan") is increasingly used now. Zainichi (; "In Japan") itself is also often used colloquially. The people with North Korean nationality are called Zainichi Chosenjin, while those with South Korean nationality, sometimes including the recent new comers, are called Zainichi Kankokujin ( "Hanguk People in Japan").
Mongolia
Mongols have their own word for Korea: ???????? (Solongos). The etymology of Solongos is believed to be the Solon tribe living in Manchuria, a tribe culturally and ethnically related to the Korean people. Solon is perhaps better remembered by the Mongols due to the beloved second wife Khulan of Genghis Khan having Solon ancestry. North and South Korea are, accordingly, ???? ???????? (Hojd Solongos) and ????? ???????? (Ömnöd Solongos).
Vietnam
In Vietnam, people call North Korea ("Choson") and South Korea ("Hanguk"). Prior to unification, North Vietnam used (Bukchoson) and (Namjoson) while South Vietnam used (Bukhan) and (Namhan) for North and South Korea, respectively. After unification, the northern Vietnamese terminology persisted until the 1990s. When South Korea reestablished diplomatic relations with Vietnam in 1993, it requested that Vietnam use the name that it uses for itself, and gradually replaced in usage.
Outside East Asia
English usage
Both South and North Korea use the name "Korea" when referring to their countries in English.
As with other European languages, English historically had a variety of names for Korea derived from Marco Polo's rendering of Goryeo, "Cauli" (see Revival of the names above). These included Caule, Core, Cory, Caoli, and Corai as well as two spellings that survived into the 19th century, Corea and Korea. (The modern spelling, "Korea", first appeared in late 17th century in the travel writings of the Dutch East India Company's Hendrick Hamel.)
Because of the coexistence of the spellings "Corea" and "Korea" in the 19th century English publications, some Koreans believe Japan, around the time of the Japanese occupation, intentionally standardised the spelling on "Korea", so that "Japan" would appear first alphabetically. Both major English-speaking governments of the time (ie the United States and the United Kingdom and its Empire) used both "Korea" and "Corea" until the early part of the Japanese occupation. "English books and maps published through the 19th century generally spelled the country's name as Corea, as did the British government in laying the cornerstone of its embassy in Seoul in 1890 with the name "Corea". However, US minister and consul general to Korea, Horace Newton Allen, used "Korea" in his works published on the country and American usage began to also see "Korea".
A shift can also be seen in Korea itself, where postage stamps issued in 1884 used the name "Corean Post" in English, but those from 1885 and thereafter used "Korea" or "Korean Post".
Image:Korea 1884 stamp - 10 mun.jpg|1884 stamp reading "Corean Post"
Image:Korea 1885 stamp - 25 poon (bun).jpg|1885 stamp reading "Korea"
Image:Korea 1900 stamp - 2 ri.jpg|1900 stamp reading "Imperial Korean Post"
By the first two decades of the 20th century, "Korea" began to be seen more frequently than "Corea" - a change that coincided with Japan's consolidation of its grip over the peninsula. Most evidence of a deliberate name change orchestrated by Japanese authorities is circumstantial, including a 1912 memoir by a Japanese colonial official that complained of the Koreans' tendency "to maintain they are an independent country by insisting on using a C to write their country's name." However, the spelling "Corea" was occasionally used even under full Japanese colonial rule and both it and "Korea" were largely eschewed in favour of the Japanese-derived "Chosen".
Other languages
European languages use variations of the name "Korea" for both North and South Korea. In general, Celtic and Romance languages spell it "Corea" (or variations) since "c" represents the /k/ sound in most Romance and Celtic orthographies. However, Germanic and Slavic languages largely use variants of "Korea" since, in many of these languages, "c" represents other sounds such as /ts/. In languages using other alphabets such as Russian (Cyrillic), variations phonetically similar to "Korea" are also used. Outside of Europe, most languages also use variants of "Korea", often adopted to local orthographies.
Examples of major language versions using the Latin alphabet include:
- Corea — Italian, Latin, Spanish
- Corée — French
- Coreea — Romanian
- Coréia — Portuguese
- Kore — Turkish
- Korea — Czech, Dutch, English, German, Indonesian, Malay, Polish, Swahili, Swedish, Tagalog
- Kórea — Slovak
- Koreja — Croatian, Slovenian
Examples of major language versions using other alphabets include:
Koreans abroad
Where large immigrant populations were established outside of Korea before its division, the communities tend to maintain the identity of the former Korean nation, without associating with either the North or South Korean governments.
Subjects of former Goryeo who moved to Russian and Central Asia call themselves Goryeoin (; ; literally "person or people of Goryeo"), or ??????? in Russian. Many Goryeoin are living in the CIS, including an estimated 106,852 in Russia, 22,000 in Uzbekistan, 20,000 in Kyrgyzstan, 17,460 in Kazakhstan, 8,669 in the Ukraine, 2,000 in Belarus, 350 in Moldova, 250 in Georgia, 100 in Azerbaijan, and 30 in Armenia.
Koreans living in the United States will refer to themselves as jaemi gyopo (;, or "temporary residents in America"), or sometimes simply "gyopo" for short.
Sobriquets for Korea
In traditional Korean culture, as well as in the cultural tradition of East Asia, the land of Korea has assumed a number of sobriquets over the centuries, including:
??? asadal, apparently an Old Korean term for Joseon
???? baeguiminjok, "The white-clad people"
?? cheonggu, or "Blue Hills"
?? daedong, "Great East"
?? dongguk, "Eastern Country"
?? dongto, "Eastern Land"
?? dong'i, or "Eastern Foreigners"
???? geumsugangsan, "Land of Embroidered (or Splendid) Rivers and Mountains"
???? gunjajiguk, "Country of Scholarly Gentlemen"
?? gyerim, "Cock Forest", in reference to an early name for Silla
?? haedong, "East of the Sea" (here being the Yellow Sea separating China from Korea)
?? sohwa, "Lesser Flower" or "Little China"
See also
External links
- - The Official Korea Tourism Guide Site
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