Dokdo-or-Takeshima?: 1793 Oct 1 "Songdo another name for Ulleungdo"

7.9.07

1793 Oct 1 "Songdo another name for Ulleungdo"

Today I was looking again at the 1793 passage about "Songdo" (松島) from Korea's "Ilseong-rok" records and realized that my previous translation of the passage was probably a mistranslation. Here is the complete 1793 passage:

召見輪對官于熙政堂

禮曹正郞李福休曰兩昏朝私家設享不合於禮博採衆議立廟享祀似好矣予曰曠古未行之典何可輕議乎福休曰臣按本曹謄錄蔚陵外島其名松島卽古于山國也新羅智證王時異斯夫以木獅子恐㥘島人而受降今若立碑於松島述異斯夫舊蹟則其爲我國土地可以憑驗矣

I had previously translated the part marked in red as follows:

臣按本曹謄錄蔚陵外島其名松島卽古于山國也
The attendant observed that in the Yejo record, Ulleungdo’s neighboring island of Songdo was part of the country of Usan.

I think the above translation is wrong because I think 蔚陵外島 should be translated as "Ulleung and its surrounding islands." If I am right, then the translation should be corrected as follows:

臣按本曹謄錄蔚陵外島其名松島卽古于山國也

The attendant said that according to the Yejo record, "Songdo" was another name for Ulleungdo and its surrounding islands," which was the old kingdom of Usan.

"Songdo" is the Korean pronunciation of 松島, which the Japanese pronounce as "Matsushima." It appears from this 1793 record that Koreans believed Songdo/Matsushima (松島) to be Ulleungdo, not Liancourt Rocks or not even a neighboring island of Ulleungdo.

I am not sure how to translate the remaining portion of the passage, so if anyone has a translation, please let me know.

8 comments:

pacifist7/9/07 14:25
Gerry,

The word 蔚陵外島 may have various meanings but 蔚陵 means Ulleungdo and 外 means "outer" or "other" and 島 means island. So I think the whole word may mean "another island except Ulleungdo" or "the other island (but not Ulleungdo)".

The latter may have a meaning that there are two islands, one is Ulleungdo and another one is the island the author referred to.
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pacifist7/9/07 14:30
So if I was right, the whole sentence should mean:

臣按本曹謄錄蔚陵外島其名松島卽古于山國也

The attendant observed that in the Yejo record, another island beside Ulleungdo is called as Songdo, it was the country of Usan in the older days.
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Gerry Bevers7/9/07 14:41
Pacifist,

The problem with your translation is that it is saying that Ulleungdo's neighboring island was the old country of Usan, not Ulleungdo, itself. However, the country of Usan was not Ulleungdo's neighboring island, but "Ulleungdo and its surrounding islands" (蔚陵外島). That is why I think 蔚陵外島 should be translated as "Ulleungdo 'and' its surrounding islands."
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pacifist7/9/07 14:52
Gerry,

If 蔚陵外島 means "Ulleungdo and surrounding islands", then the island group is called as Songdo as a whole, which is not reasonable, isn't it?

How about other sentences in the whole book? What they say?

If another island (today's Jukdo) was called as Songdo, it may another clue to the "Matsushima (Songdo) is Usando, which is also our land, how can you live there?" statement...
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Gerry Bevers7/9/07 15:40
Pacifist,

Yes, of course, it is possible. When Japanese refer to Ulleungdo as "Matsushima," aren't they really referring to Ulleungdo, in general, which would include its main island and surrounding islands?

Yes, if it said that Ulleungdo's neighboring island was called "Songdo" (Matsushima), then it would help explain what An Yong-bok was talking about when he said that Matsushima was Korea's Usando since Korean maps after the incident showed Usando to be Ulleungdo's neighboring island of Juko. However, we cannot translate it that way just because it would be a convenient translation. Besides, when An Yong-bok said that Matsushima (Songdo) was Usando, was he referring to Ulleungdo's neighboring island or to Ulleungdo, itself? Either way, it would still show that the Matsushima in the 1793 document was not referring to Liancourt Rocks.
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pacifist7/9/07 17:11
Gerry,

Yes, I agree. It couldn't be Liancourt rocks because the text seems to be mentioning that the islanders erected a monument on Songdo.
There had been no islanders on Liancourt rocks, and if they erected a monument on the small rocks it would be easily found and documented by Japanese fishermen or someone else but there had been no record about the monument.

So the Songdo in the text should be Ulleungdo or Jukdo.
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Anonymous7/9/07 18:24
At this point in time Ulleungdo's neighbour island Jukdo was already called as such.

This is recorded in the inspection report by Shim JIn Hyeon in 1794.

1794-Jukdo
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pacifist7/9/07 18:55
not anonymous (toadface),

The 1711 Korean map and 1834 Korean map, which you can see in this site, show that today's Jukdo was called Usan (or so-called Usando).

But it seems that there were confusions concerning the name of neighboring island to Ulleungdo, as well as the same kind of confusion in the names of islands in Japan.

However, close examination of the various documents and maps will give us clue about the truth.
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NE Shore of Ulleungdo (鬱陵島 - 울릉도)

This satellite photo shows Ulleungdo's neighboring islands of Gwaneumdo (觀音島) and Jukdo (竹島) off Ulleungdo's east shore. Gwaneumdo is only about 100 meters offshore and looks more like a cape than an island. Jukdo is about 2 km offshore. The old Korean name for Jukdo was "Usando" (于山島), as many of Korea's old maps show. Koreans claim that Usando was Korea's old name for "Dokdo" (Liancourt Rocks), but they have no documents or maps to prove it. Also, Liancourt Rocks is about ninety-two kilometers southeast of Ulleungdo and are essentially two islands, but all of Korea's old maps show it as one island just off shore of Ulleungdo.

"Cheonggudo" (靑邱圖) Atlas (1860 - 1872)

This Korean map of Ulleungdo (鬱陵島 - 울릉도) showed it with a small island off its eastern shore labeled as "Usan" (于山). Hash marks at the bottom of the map showed that Usan was less than 4 km off Ulleungdo's east shore. That would mean that it would be Ulleungdo's neighboring island of Jukdo, which is about 2.2 km off Ulleungdo's east shore. Koreans claim that Usando was the old name for Dokdo (Liancourt Rocks), but Dokdo is 92 km southeast of Ulleungdo and is essentially two islands, not one. The map is stored in the National Library of Korea.

"Cheonggudo" (靑邱圖) Atlas (1834)

This Korean map of Ulleungdo (鬱陵島 - 울릉도) showed Usan (于山 - 우산) as a neighboring island just off Ulleungdo's east shore. The hash marks at the bottom of the map showed the island to be about 4 km offshore. Usando was the old Korean name for Ulleungdo's neighboring island of Jukdo, which is about 2.2 km of Ulleungdo's east shore. Koreans claim that Usando was the old Korean name for "Dokdo" (Liancourt Rocks), which is 92 km southeast of Ulleungdo, but this map and many others prove that claim false. The map is stored in Seoul National University's Kyujanggak Center for Korean Studies.

"Dong Yeodo" (東輿圖) Atlas (1795 - 1800)

This map showed Ulleungdo (鬱陵島 - 울릉도) with a neighboring island labeled as "Usan" (于山 - 우산). Usando (于山島) was the old Korean name for Ulleungdo's neighboring island of Jukdo (竹島 - 죽도), which is about 2.2 km off Ulleungdo's east shore. Koreans claim that Usando was the old name for "Dokdo" (Liancourt Rocks), which is 92 km southeast of Ulleungdo, but this map and many others prove that claim wrong. The map is stored in Japan's "University of Tsukuba Library" (筑波大学附属図書館).

"Joseon-do" (朝鮮圖) - 1800 - 1822

This map of Ullelungdo (鬱陵島) is from the Korean atlas "Joseon-do" (朝鮮圖), which is believed to have been made sometime between 1800 and 1822. Ulleungdo is shown with a neighboring island labeled as Usan (于山). Koreans claim that Usando (于山島) was the old Korean name for Dokdo (Liancourt Rocks), but this map and many others show that it was Ulleungdo's neighboring island of Jukdo (竹島), which is Ulleungdo's largest neighboring island and only two kilometers off Ulleungdo's east shore. The map is stored in the Osaka Nakanoshima Library (中之島圖書館).

"Gwandong Bangyeo" (關東方輿) - late 1800s?)

This map of Ulleungdo comes from an atlas entitled "Gwandong Bangyeo" (關東方輿), which was probably made in the late 1800s since the map is very similarly to another map of Ulleungdo that was made between 1884 and 1894. The mapmaker used gridlines to help show relative size and distance. The map shows Ulleungdo with a small island off its east shore labeled as "Usan" (于山), which was the old Korean name for Ulleungdo's neighboring island of Jukdo (竹島 - 죽도). Jukdo is Ulleungdo's largest neighoring island and is about two kilometers off Ulleungdo's east shore. Koreans claim that Usando was the old Korean name for "Dokdo" (Liancourt Rocks), but they have no maps or documents to prove it. The map is stored in the Korean National Library.

"Joseon Jido" (朝鮮地圖) Atlas (1750 - 1768)

This Korean map of Ulleungdo (鬱陵島 - 울릉도) showed "Usan" (于山 - 우산) as a neighboring island. The grid lines on the map helped show the small island's relative distance from Ulleungdo. Usando (于山島 - 우산도) was the old Korean name for Ulleungdo's neighboring island of Jukdo (竹島 - 죽도), which is about 2.2 km off Ulleungdo's east shore. Korean's claim that Usando was the old name for "Dokdo" (Liancourt Rocks), but this map and many others prove that claim false.

Inspector's Map of Ulleungdo (1711)

The map is an inspector's map that showed Ulleungdo with an island off its east shore labeled as "the so-called Usando" (所謂于山島). The small island was also labeled as having "fields of haejang bamboo" (海長竹田). Koreans claim that Usando was Dokdo (Liancourt Rocks), but this map shows that it could not have been Dokdo since Dokdo is just rocks without the soil to grow haejang bamboo. Also, Usando was shown as a neighboring island of Ulleungdo, but Dokdo is 92 km southeast of Ulleungdo. Stored in Seoul Nat'l University's Kyujanggak Institute of Korean Studies.

"Haejwa Jeondo" (海左全圖) - mid 1800s

This old Korean map showed Ulleungdo (鬱陵島 - 울릉도) with a small neighboring island just off its east shore labeled as "Usan" (于山 - 우산). Koreans claim that Usando (于山島 - 우산도) was the old name for Dokdo (Liancourt Rocks), but this map is evidence against the Korean claim. Liancourt Rocks is essentially two islands 92 kilometers southeast of Ulleungdo, but the Usan on this map is just off Ulleungdo's east shore and is only one island. In fact, Usando was the old name for Ulleungdo's neighboring island of Jukdo (竹島 - 죽도), which is only two kilometers off Ulleungdo's east shore.

Carte de la Coree (1846)

This map was made iin 1846 by Kim Dae-geon (金大建), who was Korea's first Catholic priest. He made this map for the benefit of the French priest he works with. He was killed by the Joseon government the same year this map was made. The map shows Ulleungdo labeled in French as "Oulangto" and its neighboring island of Usando labeled as "Ousan." Koreans claim that Usando (于山島 - 우산도) was the old name for Dokdo (Liancourt Rock), but this map shows Usando as one island just of the east shore of Ulleungdo. That tells us that Usando was almost certainly Ulleungdo's neighboring island of Jukdo (竹島 - 죽도), which is only 2 kilometers off Ulleungdo's east shore. Also, this island could not have been Liancourt Rocks since Liancourt Rocks is essentially two islands not one. The original of this map is stored in the National Library of France.

Joseon Jeondo (朝鮮全圖) from the "Gakdo Jido" (各道地圖) Atlas (latter 18th c.)

This old Korean map showed an island labeled as "Usando" (于山島 - 우산도) just off the east shore of Ulleundo (鬱陵島 - 울릉도). Koreans claim that Usando was the old name for Dokdo (Liancourt Rocks), but this map is more evidence against that claim. Liancourt Rocks is essentially two islands ninety-two kilometers southeast of Ulleungdo, but this map shows Usando as one island just off Ulleungdo's east shore. Usando was, in fact, the old name for Ulleungdo's neighboring island of Jukdo (竹島 - 죽도), which is about two kilometers off Ulleungdo's east shore. This map is stored in Korea's Yeongnam University Museum.

"Joseon Jido" (朝鮮地圖) Atlas (1898)

"Donggyeong San Cheon - Paldo Jido (東京山川八道地圖) Atlas (date unknown)

"Jeongukdo" (全國圖) from the "Dongguk Daecheondo" (東國大全圖) - 1740

This old Korean map shows Ulleungdo (鬱陵島 - 울릉도) with a small neighboring island just off its east shore labeled as "Usando" (于山島 - 우산도). Koreans claim that Usando was the old name for Dokdo, but this map is evidence against that claim. Liancourt Rocks is essentially two islands ninety-two kilometers southeast of Ulleungdo, but the Usando on this map is one island just off the east shore of Ulleungdo. Usando was, in fact, the old name for Ulleungdo's neighboring island of Jukdo (竹島 - 죽도), which is about two kilometers off Ulleungdo's east shore. This map is stored in the Korean National Museum.

竹島問題の歴史

7.9.07

1793 Oct 1 "Songdo another name for Ulleungdo"

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