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How to kill a sage: North Korean discourse on Jizi/Kija 箕子

Vladimir Glomb – 2023

After liberation in 1945, the new North Korean regime initiated a process to liquidate so-called “old” or “feudal” thought. One prime target of the North Korean authorities was the myth of Jizi 箕子 (kor. Kija) and the story of his migration to the Korean Peninsula. The elimination of Kija and his legacy was a complicated task; the ancient legend of the Shang dynasty sage who brought civilisation and culture to the Korean people was widely known in all strata of Korean society, deeply ingrained in thousands of literary works, and the new North Korean capital, Pyongyang, was the traditional centre of the Kija cult. In spite of censorship, physical destructions of Kija-related relics, or academic conferences, which tried to repudiate the link between Kija and the Chosŏn state on a scientific basis, the North Korean authorities were never able to fully suppress the old narrative. The ancient sage remains, until nowadays, a problematic point for North Korean historiography and cultural memory.

Titel
How to kill a sage: North Korean discourse on Jizi/Kija 箕子
Verlag
De Gruyter
Datum
2023-04
Erschienen in
Asiatische Studien - Études Asiatiques Zeitschrift der Schweizerischen Asiengesellschaft - Revue de la Société Suisse-Asie, Band 76 Heft 4, 659-682
Sprache
eng
Art
Text