• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.155-163
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• 2013

The ancient sailing routes between Silla Korea and Tang China have been a hot issue among the researchers. Some assert that the Korean seafarers under Chang Po-go sailed the East China Sea directly from China to the Korean Peninsula with the assistance of mariner's compass on boarding V-shaped vessels in the 9th century. As we all know, Chinese used the mariner's compass in the 11th century and Europeans in the 12th century. In this paper, the author analyzed the maritime meteorological condition for sailing ships to navigate in the East China Sea and retraced the rafting route by Yun in 1997. As the results of analysis, the author confirmed that the maritime meteorological condition might be favorable for the seafarers to be capable of navigating in the East China Sea from China to Korea in June and July. But even the sea condition might be favorable, it must be God's will for the ancient seafarers to reach the Korean Peninsula. On Yun's rafting account, the author found out that there is a difference between the sailing route drawn by Yun himself and the actual drifted route and the raft drifted at 1.7~2.0 knots. This was quite an extraordinary speed considering the unfavorable sea condition and raft itself without keel. In conclusion, the author reaffirms that it was after the year 1068 for the seafarers to navigate in the East China Sea directly from China to Korea without any historical proofs or evidences.