Cháoxiān Shǐlüè 朝鮮史略
A Brief History of Cháo-xiān (Korea) also titled Dōngguó Shǐlüè 東國史略 by anonymous Korean compiler (Míng-period transmission)
About the work
The Cháoxiān Shǐlüè, in 12 juàn (the catalog meta gives 12; the Sìkù recension may differ slightly), is an annalistic chronicle of Korean history from the legendary founder Tánjūn 檀君 (Dangun) through the fall of the Wángshì 王氏 Goryeo dynasty (918–1392) — concluding with the abdication of Wáng Yáo 王瑤 (King Gongyang 恭讓王, r. 1389–1392). The book was compiled by an anonymous Korean (Joseon-period) scholar, probably in the 15th–16th century, and circulated to China in the late Míng during the Imjin / Wànlì Korean campaigns (1592–1598). It is also known as Dōngguó Shǐlüè 東國史略. The book complements the official Goryeosa 高麗史 KR2j???? (the jìzhuàn-style official history compiled by Jeong In-ji 鄭麟趾 under Joseon, presented in 1451): where the Goryeosa uses the jìzhuàn form, this work uses the biānnián (chronological annals) form. The two were transmitted together in late-Joseon Korea and the Cháoxiān Shǐlüè was used by Korean students alongside the official history.
Tiyao
Also titled Dōngguó Shǐlüè 東國史略. The compiler is unnamed. It is a Míng-era Korean record of the chaos and order, rise and fall, of the Korean state. It begins with Tánjūn 檀君 [Dangun]; ends with the Gāolì 高麗 Gōngràngwáng Wáng Yáo 恭讓王王瑤. From the Sin-luó 新羅 Pòshì 朴氏 (Bak / Park) and earlier the account is somewhat brief; from the Gāolì Wáng Jiàn 王建 (King Taejo 太祖) onwards, it is in fully detailed annalistic form. It calls Lǐ Chéngguì 李成桂 [Yi Seong-gye, founder of Joseon] and Lǐ Fāngyuǎn 李芳遠 [King Taejong] Tàizǔ 太祖 and Tàizōng 太宗 — this is the language of their chénzǐ (subjects), confirming the writer is a Korean. The book also frequently quotes shǐchén 史臣 lùnduàn 論斷 (historian’s evaluations) and lìniántú 歷年圖 (chronological tables); 鄭麟趾 Jeong In-ji’s Gāolìshǐ uses the jìzhuàn form, while this uses the biānnián form, and the two were both current in Korea. Qián Zēng’s Mǐnqiú jì notes that the book preserves the Wángshì yíchén 鄭夢周 Jeong Mong-ju’s attempt to harm Lǐ Chéngguì, with the truth not concealed — calling it a liángshǐ 良史 (good history). On reading: the narrative is uneven in proportion, but the gathering of the yíwén 遺聞 (lost lore) is comprehensive. Useful for those who read the Wàiguózhuàn 外國傳 of the dynastic histories. At the end is a colophon by Zhào Qíměi 趙琦美 of Wànlì gēngxū 萬曆庚戌 (= Wànlì 38, 1610), reporting that he had borrowed the manuscript from the Féng Zhòngyīng 馮仲纓 family. This was during the campaigns of Sòngyuánbīng 送援兵 to Korea against the Japanese — the book reached China at that time.
Abstract
The Cháoxiān Shǐlüè (alternative title Dōngguó Shǐlüè) is an anonymous Joseon-period chronicle of Korean history that reached China during the Imjin War (1592–1598), when Míng armies were sent to Korea against Hideyoshi’s invasions. The Sìkù colophon by Zhào Qíměi dates the Chinese acquisition to Wànlì 38 (1610), and identifies the book as borrowed from the Féng Zhòngyīng family. The frontmatter date range notBefore 1392 / notAfter 1592 reflects the work’s coverage (ending in 1392) and the latest defensible Korean composition date before its arrival in China; the Korean original is generally placed in the 15th–16th century. The book uses the biānnián (annalistic) form throughout, and is the principal Joseon-era annalistic complement to 鄭麟趾 Jeong In-ji’s official jìzhuàn-form Goryeosa 高麗史. Particularly noted by Qián Zēng for not concealing 鄭夢周 Jeong Mong-ju’s plot against Lǐ Chéngguì (Yi Seong-gye), it is regarded as a liángshǐ 良史. The text in question is probably to be identified with the Korean Tongguk saryak 東國史略 of Bak Sang 朴祥 (1474–1530) or with the closely related anonymous Joseon-period Tongguk saryak tradition — the precise authorial attribution is unsettled in the Sìkù tíyào and remains so in modern scholarship. The book is now placed in the Zǎijì lèi fùlù 載記類附錄 of the Sìkù, alongside the Yuèshǐ lüè KR2i0023, as a text on a “non-legitimate” / external regime that the Sìkù editors thought worth retaining for reference.
Translations and research
- Park Yeong-mi 박영미. 2003. “Cho-sŏn-sa-ryak yŏn-gu” (A study of the Joseon saryak). Hanguk sahaksahakhoe nonchong. — Korean-language scholarly study.
- Robinson, Kenneth R. 2007. “An Island’s Place in History: Tsushima in Japan and in Chosŏn, 1392–1592”. Korean Studies 31. — Uses Joseon historical sources of the Tongguk saryak tradition.
- Lee, Peter H. (ed.). 1996. Sourcebook of Korean Civilization, 2 vols. Columbia UP. — Major Western reference on the underlying Korean historical tradition.
- No published English translation of the Cháo-xiān Shǐ-lüè as such.
Other points of interest
The Cháoxiān Shǐlüè is one of two non-Han East-Asian histories (along with the Yuèshǐ lüè KR2i0023 for Vietnam) preserved in the Zǎijì lèi fùlù of the Sìkù. Its preservation in the Sìkù attests to the Qiánlóng-era editors’ ambition to gather a comprehensive Sinographic-East-Asian historical record under imperial patronage.