• (The)Study of the Eastern Classic
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• no.36
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• pp.203-228
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• 2009

ChaeHo Shin's major interests were in the ancient history, among other periods of the Korean history. Shin's depiction of history is characterized by having nation in the heart of history, whose tendency of nationalism was purposefully strong. In general, the nationalism of those times was emphasizing a 'strong' nation, just as in the case of Shin's theory, and at the same time stood for the theory of social evolution with a view to raising the nation in the front line of history. The nationalism, in association with the theory of social evolution, ended up having a propensity that criticizes imperialism on the one hand, and envies it on the other. This inclination is literally shown in Doksasillon (A New Guide to Reading History), which is ChaeHo Shin's research on the ancient history. Doksasillon is a historical essay that was published serially in 50 installments from August 27th through December 13th in 1908. Unlike the existing views in the late 1900s on the ancient history, among other ages of the Korean history, Doksasillon can be called a treatise with a focus on nation. Doksasillon is an incomplete study which can be divided into two parts, introduction and ancient times that is the first volume. It, nevertheless, shows the aspect of a powerful nation activist who tried to surmount the life-and-death crisis of nation by 'recalling' the nation in the period of the late-Joseon and the Korean empire in 1908 and 'rediscovering' the territory. It also reflects a slice of a historian's anguish that attempted to cope with the national crisis by virtue of the 'power' of history. It is ChaeHo Shin who 'rediscovered' the Buyeo tribe as the mainstream of the ancient history of Korea, and recomposed and materialized the ancient history. Shin chose the 'Buyeo tribe' as a principal race, and used it as a representative of the Korean nation in the ancient era, which was because Buyeo and Goguryeo were the strongest. The emphasis laid on the powerful nation in the history of Korea well reflects the efforts of a powerful nation activist in the age of the late-Joseon, and on the other hand, it shows how nationalism came to be formed in Korea. ChaeHo Shin is regarded as a person who lived in the age in which nationalism, which underscores the homogeneity of a nation, had to be stressed as a sole weapon for a nation who was left behind in modernization and whose rights were disseized. Dosasillon shows a process of reconstructing the history of DanKun and the Buyeo tribe and unearthing a hero who was valued as a savior of the nation, which was the reason that ChaeHo Shin wrote a history.