식민주의 역사학의 연속과 불연속 – 고대 한일 관계에 대한 스에마쓰 야스카즈(末松保和)의 논의를 중심으로

Suematsu Yasukazu is a historian who had a great influence on Japanese academia by comprehensively summarizing the ancient Japanese management theory of the southern part of the Korean Peninsula through his book The Rise & Fall of Imna(『任那興亡史』). However, comparing his discussions from the pre-war to the post-war period, we can confirm that the perspective and explanation on the character of the Yamato’s dominance over the southern part of the Korean Peninsula from the 4th to 6th centuries has changed.
The basis for this new explanation was the records of diplomatic relations between China and Japan since 413 which were in the official Chinese history. Suematsu explained that these records not only showed Imna’s prosperity, but also that China and Japan’s diplomatic relations flourished through Imna’s prosperity. That is, Yamato’s control over the southern part of the Korean Peninsula is a prerequisite for the frequent diplomatic relations between China and Japan.
In the end, Suematsu’s account of the Yamato’s dominance on the southern part of the Korean Peninsula was based on another discussion of the close relation between the continent and Japan through the Korean Peninsula. And the old China-Japan’s relation served as the basis for Japanese society’s early acceptance and development of the continent’s advanced culture. Suematsu concludes his discussion of Imna’s rise and fall by linking this idea to the Taika Reforms and presenting the development of ancient Japanese society.
In this regard, it is necessary to expand the perspective beyond ancient Korea-Japan relations in order to accurately grasp the influence of the Historiography of Colonialism-especially the Japan’s dominance over the southern part of the Korea, which was the main research topic of Suematsu-after 1945.