The most dangerous moment in reading primary sources isn’t when the text shouts.
It’s when it whispers—almost casually—“roughly,” “more or less,” “to some extent.”
And then, somewhere on the internet, that whisper hardens into a modern map with thick borders and a triumphant caption: “EMPIRE.”
One claim keeps resurfacing in that exact way:
“Baekje controlled the eastern side of China’s Central Plains. Chinese official histories prove it.”
It sounds persuasive—especially when the argument comes packaged with the title of a dynastic history. But historical writing has a costly rule:
the more confident the conclusion, the more carefully you have to audit the steps.
This post is a guide to doing exactly that—without turning scholarship into either propaganda or self-soothing myth.
1) The Spark: Song Shu’s “Liaoxi · Jinping” Line — Where the Real Puzzle Begins
In the Song Shu (Book of Song), the Baekje entry includes a sentence that mentions Liaoxi (遼西) and Jinping (晉平). This is the line that fuels the “mainland empire” narrative. (EncyKorea)
But here’s the key:
That sentence is not a clean modern-style statement of sovereign borders. It’s a historical puzzle—the kind scholars have argued over precisely because it’s ambiguous and easy to overread. (EncyKorea)
Why is it ambiguous?
Dynastic histories often blend official reports, diplomatic language, secondhand information, older geography, and occasional exaggeration into one smooth paragraph.
Place names in ancient East Asia are notoriously reused, shifted, or reattached across time.
And phrases that look strong in modern translation can be softer in the original—closer to “had influence,” “briefly held,” or “was said to have” than “administered as a stable province.” (EncyKorea)
So the most honest sentence you can write is also the most durable:
“The Song Shu mentions Liaoxi and Jinping in connection with Baekje—but what, exactly, that implies is debated and cannot be asserted as ‘Central Plains rule’ without extra steps.” (EncyKorea)
2) The #1 Internet Failure Mode: “Toponym Teleportation”
A common pattern goes like this:
The source mentions Liaodong / Liaoxi / Jinping.
The writer pins those names to a modern province or a convenient point on a map.
The pinned location becomes a measuring stick for an empire-sized conclusion.
That’s not historical method. That’s map cosplay.
At minimum, you have to keep your geographic anchors stable. For example, Liaodong is tied to the region we associate with today’s Liaoning area (the Liaodong Peninsula is a southern extension of Liaoning). (브리타니카 키즈)
If the starting geography slips—even slightly—the rest becomes a domino chain of confident nonsense.
3) The Zizhi Tongjian Trap: When “Hebei” Becomes “Baekje Territory” by Accident
Another frequently abused “proof” comes from the Zizhi Tongjian (Comprehensive Mirror). Some online readings try to treat references to Hebei as if they imply Baekje’s presence there.
But in context, the passage is about Tang imperial logistics—specifically, that people in Hebei were exhausted by conscription and war burdens from campaigns against Goguryeo and Baekje, leading to the cancellation of imperial rituals/travel plans. That’s Tang’s internal manpower problem, not a “Baekje in Hebei” flag-planting moment. (Kair News)
4) “Ungjin Protectorate Moved to Jian’an” — Why Offices Move (and What That Usually Means)
Another line that gets overcharged is the relocation of administrative institutions such as the Ungjin Protectorate.
Here’s the disciplined way to read it:
Bureaucracies often move not to mark expansion, but to follow security, supply lines, and retreat paths when control weakens.
“An office moved” can mean “we’re losing the ground under our feet,” not “we conquered new land.”
Korean reference works describing the Baekje-related protectorate context help frame it as an administrative reality of Tang’s post-conquest governance, not a Baekje territorial proof. (쿠팡)
In other words:
In history, government buildings don’t always follow borders.
Sometimes they follow the safest road out.
5) Heukchi Sangji and the “200 Fortresses” Line — Scale, Not a Satellite Map
Heukchi Sangji is real, and he matters enormously in the Baekje restoration movement narrative. (EncyKorea)
But when texts mention dramatic numbers like “recovering 200 fortresses,” that figure is better treated as a rhetorical measure of momentum and participation, not a literal cartographic count of “200 Chinese cities conquered.” (법보)
A stronger—and honestly more interesting—conclusion emerges:
Baekje wasn’t “an empire that ruled the Central Plains.”
Baekje was a high-voltage connector between the peninsula and the continent—people, techniques, information, and power moving through unstable frontiers.
That “connector” role is precisely why continental sources can wobble in their phrasing. Ambiguity is not weakness; it’s often the signature of borderlands.
Final Take:
Yes: the Song Shu contains the Liaoxi/Jinping line, and it’s historically important. (EncyKorea)
No: that line alone does not justify “Baekje ruled the Central Plains.” (EncyKorea)
And the real win: the gap between “a line” and “an empire” is where you teach readers how history actually works.
A single sentence can’t be allowed to become a continent unless you show your chain of reasoning—and that chain must survive geography, context, genre, and language.
Bonus: Why This Is Excellent Civilization / Paradox-Mod Material (Even Better Than the Original Claim)
If you insist “Baekje ruled the Central Plains” as hard fact, your mod concept becomes brittle: one debunking thread and the fantasy collapses.
But if you treat it as:
“A famous ambiguous line + a historical puzzle + an alternate-history switch”
…then it becomes premium mod material.
Wonder Idea (Historical-Core): “Artisan Workshops of Sabi”
Theme: craftsmanship, architecture, administrative precision
Effects: building production boost, culture + gold in capital, great engineer/artist points
Wonder Idea (Alt-History Switch): “Outpost of Liaoxi”
Lore text: “What if the Liaoxi/Jinping line reflected a real, durable foothold?” (EncyKorea)
Effects: extra trade route, diplomacy/visibility bonuses, spy slot (in systems that support it)
Wonder Idea (Administrative Realism): “Ungjin Protectorate Bureau”
Theme: governance under pressure—relocation, stabilization, resistance management
Effects: occupation/loyalty stabilization bonuses (쿠팡)
This approach is more mature, more resilient, and frankly more fun: you’re not pretending the puzzle has a single “correct” nationalist answer—you’re turning the puzzle into mechanics.
No comments:
Post a Comment