식민주의 역사학 속의 일본과 중국 －이마니시 류(今西龍)의 任那日本府 및樂浪․帶方에 관한 논의를 중심으로－

Most of the studies by Imanishi Ryu, one of the leading historians of the historiography of colonialism, were about ancient Korean history. And it is indisputable that his work advocated Japanese aggression and colonial rule to Korea. However, his studies were not only in the historical phase of Japan’s invasion to the continent in the early 20th century, but also in the magnetic field of Japanese academia of history at that time. From this point of view, this paper examines how Imanishi’s research on the Japanese Ministry of Imna and Lelang-Daifang Commandery were linked to the explanation of ancient Japanese history.
Imanishi, who had investigated Korea before the colonial rule, believed it all the time that Korea and Japan had a “dominance-subordinance” relationship based on frequent “transportation” and that ancient Japan was more advanced than Samhan and Silla. What symbolized Japan’s dominance over ancient Korea was that it dominated the southern part of the Korean Peninsula. Even though no relics had not been found in several archaeological investigations, Imanishi’s belief in the Japanese ministry of Imna remained unwavering. In particular, he linked the rise and fall of Japanese power in the southern part of the Korean Peninsula with the development of the Japanese state. In other words, it was possible to conquer Silla by Empress Jingu after the Japanese government’s power was mature enough to affect Japan as a whole. This meant that by the time of the Empress Jingu’s reign, a state with unified power was established in ancient Japan. Based on these internal capabilities, it was explained that the Japanese power in the southern part of the Korean peninsula reached its heyday from conquering Silla by the Empress Jingu until the reign of Emperor Yūryaku. And Imanishi regarded the time when the Empress Jingu conquered Silla, based on the year adjustment, which adds 120 years to Nihon Shoki’s Calendar year, like Naka michiyo, as the middle of the 4th century at the latest. This meant that in the 4th century, a unified state that stretched its power to the whole of Japan emerged.
The reason Japan was able to make progress in this early period was because it adopted advanced Chinese culture early. Imanishi argued that both Korean and Japanese cultures originated from Chinese culture, and argued that ancient Japan was more advanced than Korea on the grounds that Japan adopted Chinese culture before Korea. After Korean Annexation of Japanese Imperialism, Japanese researchers linked the tomb clusters in Pyongyang with Lelang Commandery, and Imanishi discovered a decisive relic proving that Lelang Commandery was in Pyongyang. Since then, Imanishi replaced the exchanges between China and Japan with transport between Lelang Commandery and Japan, insisting that this exchange began around A.D. In addition, he said that China and Japan continued to maintain contact through Daifang Commandery until the middle of the 3rd century. At the time, Japanese researchers agreed that the essence of Chinese culture was preserved in Lelang-Daifang Commandery, although they were located on the Korean Peninsula. And Imanishi was also one of these researchers. This also meant that the Chinese culture that Japan had embraced throughLelang-Daifang Commandery since around A.D. was the highest level at the time, and that this culture acceptance was an important nutrient for the development of Japan. Imanishi’s discussion about Lelang-Daifang Commandery was that Japan grew up to embrace Chinese culture since around A.D. and matured into a unified state in the 4th century. In addition, he suggested that in the early 4th century, while the Lelang -Daifang Commandery disappeared from the Korean peninsula, the three kingdoms were established, and in order to save the small states of Imna from the pressure of Silla and Baekje, Empress Jingu conquered Silla. As a result, Imanishi suggested that a new historical phase of East Asia surrounding the Korean Peninsula was developed after 4th century.