[Korea Root] Since the Day of the 'Bukhansanseong' Haenggung Investigation...

Goyang Bukhansanseong Gwansunsoji and Sangchangji [Goyang-si]

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[Asia Economy Reporter Ra Young-cheol] Joseon's fortress walls were the foundation of national defense and a space for resistance against foreign powers.

Among them, Bukhansanseong Fortress served as a defensive base that protected the capital city Hanyang and its residents for hundreds of years.

Around 1905, the Japanese Empire conducted extensive searches of the Bukhansanseong area under the pretext of suppressing the activities of the righteous armies.

Subsequently, the Japanese military even established a military police detachment inside Bukhansanseong, placing the fortress under their control.

However, the ruling class and people of Joseon did not enter Bukhansanseong to build positions to fight the enemy.

In effect, Joseon's fortress fell into enemy hands.

After the forced annexation by Japan in 1910, Bukhansanseong rapidly declined.

Fires of unknown origin frequently broke out in the fortress, and the ownerless fortress was once even used as a temporary palace by a Western religious group.

With no people left to protect the fortress, the walls were neglected and military facilities abandoned.

Severe floods washed away facilities inside the fortress, and the Japanese dismantled the temporary palace buildings, turning Bukhansanseong into ruins.

Thus, Bukhansanseong collapsed pitifully and helplessly under imperialist invasion along with the fate of the nation.

It was the downfall of the fortress walls rebuilt on the old site after about 200 years.

The thousand-year history of the fortress, woven through countless trials, and the stories of the people who made that history, gradually faded away.

At that time, Joseon was a dynastic state, but royal authority was weak, and the ruling class had long lost the strength to overcome chaos.

Moreover, there was no military power sufficient to resist foreign forces.

The decline of Bukhansanseong was the basis for Japan's justification of its rule over Joseon and can be found in Japan's 'Joseon Ancient Architecture Survey.'

Goyang Bukhan Mountain Fortress Gwansunsoji and Sangchangji (Materials from the Director of the Institute of Oriental Culture, Gakushuin University, Japan) [Goyang City]

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The background of Japan's cultural invasion is as follows.

In 1902, Japanese ancient architecture expert Sekino Tadashi (1867?1935) visited Bukhansanseong.

He came with scholars specializing in ancient architecture and art and carefully examined various parts of the fortress walls.

He inspected the buildings and facilities within Bukhansanseong one by one, including temples, government offices, military facilities such as armories and food storage.

Particularly interested in the Bukhansanseong temporary palace, he conducted a detailed investigation and even recorded it with photographs.

Sekino Tadashi's investigation of the Bukhansanseong temporary palace marked the beginning of decades of Japanese cultural invasion.

It was also the prelude to the 'Joseon cultural heritage research' mobilized for colonial rule and its subsequent destruction.

The work led by Sekino Tadashi was part of the 'Joseon Ancient Architecture Survey Project' conducted over two months under the name of Tokyo Imperial University.

Although it appeared to be an academic research group activity on the surface, in reality, it was a state-level project led by the Japanese government and authorities.

They surveyed fortress walls, palaces, tombs, Confucian academies, and stone structures in Seoul, Kaesong, and Gyeongju, and also investigated sculpture and craft fields.

The 'Joseon Ancient Architecture Survey' resumed seven years later in 1909.

Under the command of the Joseon Governor-General's Office, it was promoted as a much larger-scale survey project than before.

At that time, the Governor-General's Office was the governing body that effectively controlled Joseon's administration.

The Joseon Ancient Architecture Survey was planned as part of the colonial policy implemented by the Governor-General's Office.

Sekino Tadashi, holding the status of 'Ancient Architecture Survey Contractor,' continued his survey of ancient architecture, fortress walls, and tombs throughout the Korean Peninsula until 1915.

Under the guise of academic research, many of Joseon's artifacts were taken to Japan.

The results of the Joseon Ancient Architecture Survey were later used as foundational materials for the plundering of Joseon cultural assets and historical distortion.

Goyang Bukhansanseong Gwansunsoji and Sangchangji Fortress Wall [Goyang City]

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Japan distorted historical facts to reveal that Joseon had long been a people under Japanese rule, thereby establishing grounds for its colonial policy over Joseon.

The claims of 'Samhan Conquest (三韓征伐)' and 'Imna Japanese Government (任那日本府)' ruling the Korean Peninsula are representative examples of such historical distortion.

Japan asserted that ancient Japan conquered the Korean Peninsula, subjugating the Three Kingdoms of Silla, Baekje, and Goguryeo, and established the governing body 'Imna Japanese Government' in the Gaya region, ruling the southern Korean Peninsula for about 200 years until the mid-6th century.

To support these claims, they did not hesitate to manipulate and distort Joseon's documents, artifacts, and historical sites.

Joseon's fortress walls were no exception.

Japan declared fortress sites and walls in the southern Korean Peninsula, such as Jinju, Busan, and Changwon, were built during the 'Samhan Conquest' period and the 'Imna Japanese Government' era, asserting the legitimacy of Japanese rule over Joseon.

Especially, during the Japanese colonial period, they actively pursued policies to preserve about 30 fortress walls they had built mainly along the southern coast during the Imjin War.

They planted cherry trees around Japanese-style castles (Waeseong) in places like Ulsan and Sacheon and developed parks around fortress walls to widely promote the superiority of the Japanese people and instill the perception that Japanese rule over Joseon was historically legitimate.

The Japanese Empire also showed interest in preserving Baekje-era fortress walls, turning Gongju Gongsanseong into a park and attempting to build a Shinto shrine at Buyeo Busosanseong.

Based on the historical distortion that Japan ruled Baekje, they propagated that ancient Joseon and Japan were already in a 'Naesen Ilche (內鮮一體)' relationship, preemptively suppressing anti-Japanese sentiment and facilitating the mobilization of Koreans for war.

Goyang Bukhansanseong Gwansungso and Sangchang Seen in Old Photos (June 5, 1911, Father Norbert Weber and Dr. Kruger, German Consul General, and Party) [Materials from St. Benedict Waegwan Monastery]

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On the other hand, fortress walls where Joseon won fierce battles against Japan were subjected to a dual policy of damage or neglect.

To dilute anti-Japanese sentiment and weaken resistance to colonial policies, it was necessary to quickly eliminate Joseon's fortress walls symbolizing spaces of anti-Japanese struggle.

Japan's fortress wall policy began around 1905 by demolishing fortress walls in Daegu to make roads.

Later, a Fortress Wall Disposal Committee was formed, and they started demolishing fortress walls around Hanyang, the capital, beginning with the walls flanking Sungnyemun (Namdaemun).

Subsequently, fortress walls of provincial towns such as Jeonju and Namwon were also sequentially dismantled.

After the forced annexation of Korea, Donuimun (Seodaemun), Soeumun (Seosomun), and Hyehwamun (Dongsomun) gates were removed, and most buildings of Gyeongbokgung Palace were demolished.

However, Sungnyemun and Heunginjimun (Dongdaemun) were preserved, citing the historical fact that a Japanese general entered through these gates during the Imjin War.

Under such Japanese fortress policies, Joseon's fortress walls were brutally damaged, altered, and destroyed.

One example of this was the downfall of Bukhansanseong.

Therefore, Sekino Tadashi had no initial interest in the charm of Bukhansan and Bukhansanseong.

Who would have thought that one scholar's investigation of the Bukhansanseong temporary palace would lead to the brutal destruction and damage of Joseon's fortress walls with long histories...

Reference and citation: 『Fortresses and Kingdoms』, Cho Yoon-min, -Juryuseong- · Gyeonggi Province History

Photo: Goyang City

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