We Need Another Voice: Taoism to Zen Buddhism

By Mosol Don S. Lee MD.

This is A Lone Voice from the retired medical doctor who was a faculty member. Geopolitics play a very important role. Korean historian could raise a voice against China. Westerners have not heard any other voice from the Korean scholars.

The winners write history. Generalissimo Chiang knew that Korea has been an independent country for millennia of years and raised a voice to provide Joseon as an independent country at the secret Yalta Meeting. The US didn't know Korean history and drew the western front not including the Korean peninsula. After the Korean war, the US invited Korean scholars to learn about the hermit kingdom. One of Korean historians who were educated in Japan came to the US and compiled Korean history in English within a year. He simply translated the text written by the Chinese and Japanese about Korea. His book is the eye opening for the American and sets the mainstream.

During the cultural revolution under Chairman Mao, Zhou Enlai realized that one of his compatriots could be in danger. By the time Zhou arrived in Manchuria, his friend had been killed by the Red Guards. Zhou gave an emotional speech stating that Manchuria has been the homeland of Joseon People.

Korea has a unique group of historians namely hermit historians. It started during the Mongol invasion and resurrected under the Japanese invasion. Hwandan Gogi is a text on ancient Korean history originally emerged from the Manchuria.

This is a sister copy of the author’s last one. It explored the Gojoseon diaspora who remained under the southerners. They ran away to the south. Elders went up to the eastern slope of the Himalaya Mountains and implanted the ancient faith, Taoism. It became the primitive Buddhism. As came back to the homeland, adapted ancient faith, it became Maitreyan Buddhism. As ancient History of Judaism remained in the Old Testament, Hwandan Gogi and Buddhist scriptures include ancient Korean History.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Apr 11, 2023
• ISBN: 9781669859895

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Copyright © 2023 by Mosol, Don S. Lee, MD.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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Rev. date: 04/11/2023

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CONTENTS

A Lone Voice from over the Great Wall

Chapter 1: Conceptual Issues Related with Ancient History

Section 1: New Theory in the New World

Ether Dome in Boston

How to Start Searches.

Section 2: The Yellow River Valley Civilization:

New York City

The Original Nine Provinces

Section 3: Gojoseon, Xia, Shang, and Zhou Dynasty.

Philadelphia Museum of Art and Science.

Section 4: Origin of Taoism

Trinity College

Section 5: Buyeo and Three Hahns

William and Mary

Semantics of Three Hahns

Section 6: Northern Buyeo from the Last Capital, Geummidal

University of Virginia

Section 7: The Capital City Pyongyang

VMI-Washington Lee University

Chapter 2: Trail of Footprint

Section 1: Gojoseon Diaspora Spreads Out to All Direction:

UNC

Winner Wrote the History

Section 2: The Port in the Changhai Commandery

Duke University

Section 3: Korean History to American Institute

Emory University

Section 4: Korean History Written by Japanese

Charleston, South Carolina

Section 5: Ancient Korean History Written by Korean

Disney World

Section 6: Korean History Written by Chiang Dynasty

University of Miami

Chapter 3: Southern Band of Gojoseon Diaspora

University of Notre Dame

Section 1: Overview of Southern China

Section 2: Brief History of the Southern Dynasties

Chicago

Section 3: Nanzhao Emperor became the Etymology of Cina

Milwaukee

Section 4: Dali Kingdom (大理國) in Yunnan Province

Minnesota

Section 5: Coastal Region of Southern China

University of Michigan

Section 6: Bal-Gi and Gongson Clan to the South

Detroit Michigan

Section 7: Five Kings of Wei (倭五王) and Five Town-States

St. Louis University

Section 8: Gaelim (鷄林), Guilin (桂林), and Jilin (吉林)

Bloomington, Indiana

Section 9: Seafarer and Seafaring Compass

Louisville, Kentucky

Section 10: He-Bi (解飛) invented the Navigation Compass:

Lexington, Kentucky

Chapter 4: Birth of Buddhism and Spread

St. Louis Gateway Arch

Synopsis

Section 1: Fact Is in the Ideo-Logograms

Washington University in St. Louis

Section 2: Mu-Wi (無爲) to Maurya (無憂) Empire

University of St. Louis

Section 3: Spread of Buddhism

Kansas to Denver to Albuquerque, Oklahoma

Section 4: Glory of Buddhism in Indian Subcontinent

Section 5: Buddhism to the Korea and Japan

Pink Palace in Memphis

Buddhism from the SEA Arrived to the Korean Peninsula

Section 6: Korean Maitreyan Buddhism (미륵신앙, 彌勒信仰)

Loyola University, New Orleans

Chapter 5: Two Groups Met in NEA

The University of San Francisco

Summary of Manchurian History

Section 1: Buddhism to the last capital of Gojoseon

UC Buckley

Section 2: Port of Heavenly Son Was the Birthplace of Silla

Stanford University

Section 3: Imna Gaya (任那加羅) in the Gwanggaeto Stele

UCLA

Section 4: Relocation of Silla Capital to Korean peninsula

Sacramento

Section 5: Silla Absorbed Geumgwan Gaya First

University of Phoenix

Section 6: Farang-Do and Bone-Rank System of Silla

San Diego

Section 7: Description of Island Nations and the Sea of Hahn (瀚海)

University Hawaii

Section 8: Balhae Kingdom and Goryeo

Alaska

Epilogue

Further Discussion

Conclusion

About the Author

In memory of my parents, who died during the Korean War.

To my wife, Jane, and my children

A LONE VOICE FROM OVER THE GREAT WALL

M OSOL : Good morning, Madam. I came here to discuss an unusual subject. It is a dry subject, but important in my view.

DIRECTOR: Thank you for coming. Since you requested to see me, I read your new book. I am impressed. How should I call you?

MOSOL: You may call me either Don or Mosol. Since I retired from the medical profession, I am using the pen name Mosol.

As we all know, geopolitics plays a very important role in culture. Criticizing the next-door giant would be an act of suicide. Without considering Chinese effects, no one could raise a voice, particularly in history. Since Marco Polo and Jesuit missionaries had been in Beijing before, Northeast Asia has been an eye-opening new world to the westerners. They simply accepted Chinese words without criticism. The New York Times best seller and the PBS documentary 1421: When China Discovered the World is one of many examples of misinformation. The Great Wall in Wikipedia is another. Westerners have not heard any other voice from over the Great Wall.

I alluded my book with the message in the Bible:

I am the voice of one calling in the desert.

I am raising a lone voice from over the great wall.

DIRECTOR: Yes. I understand your point. My question is your credential. You do not have a doctoral degree in history. Without an advanced degree, why did you choose history as the second career of your profession and published the books?

MOSOL: Well. Frankly, I knew that they wouldn’t accept my doctoral thesis. Rather than fighting a hopeless war against the city hall, I chose a self-publishing company to raise my voice to the public.

I lost my dad during the Korean War. When I was a toddler, he told me that he would send me to the Heidelberg University in Germany to get the doctoral degree in philosophy.

As I am approaching retirement age, I thought about philosophy but chose to study ancient Korea. Because I am convinced. Unlike philosophy, disputes in history could be settled by presenting factual evidence. Evidence is a visible object—that is the classic Chinese characters, ideo-logograms. Interpretation of the visible objects is the key. But Westerners are already brainwashed by the Chinese. As you might know, well established Koreans had learned the ancient classics from their teachers who parroted what Chinese had said. They had lots of questions about the meanings in the logograms but could not raise any questions.

My objective was to find the birthplace and founding father, Dangun Wanggeom of Gojoseon, ancient Korea—that is the ancient name of Joseon still in use in North Korea. The subject is directly related to the Yellow River Valley Civilization (YRVC) in the NEA and the origin of ancient scriptures written with archaic ideo-logograms.

I found the birthplace of Gojoseon. Now I need to spread out my new theory to the public. You can’t teach the old dog a new trick. I decided to spread my new theory to the young and untamed students.

DIRECTOR: I understand that you are planning to have a townhall type of meeting to the public by traveling over the college campus. I am curious. How did you find that no one had attempted? How did you research and find out that your ancestor came from China?

MOSOL: The answer to your questions are in the scriptures and ideo-logograms. My new theory is equivalent to presenting heliocentrism to the scholars believing geocentrism. When I came to the United States, everyone asked me whether I am Chinese or Japanese.

Mr. Xi of Communist China told the president of the United States that Korea was a part of China. Mr. Trump didn’t object, but accepted it as a fact. I haven’t heard any official denouncement from the Korean government nor the Korean American community.¹ I realized that finding the facts is the first step. The next step is to spread my word to the public, and third is to get them to accept my theory.

DIRECTOR: Yes. I remember their meeting in the Mar-a-Lago Club, Florida. I have learned that the YRVC is one of the four major civilizations. It is the youngest and only one in the east of the Ural Altai Mountains. Now, I hear that there is another archeological site in the north. It is very old and could be older than the YRVC.

MOSOL: Yes. Lots of people are talking about the Hongshan (紅山) culture in the north. Chinese changed the name to Longshan (龍山) culture and expanded the original boundary of YRVC to further north. That is an example of disinformation that the Chinese spread out deliberately to deceive others as we have seen in the map from Wikipedia 2022. Longshan culture and Taosi ruin.

The easiest way to conceal the fact is to hold the information or block access to the outsider. One good example is the Taosi (陶寺) archaeological site in the Shanxi, China. They started to excavate the place soon after the Maoist Communist government announced it, but did not invite any foreigners.² In my view, the Taosi is the first capital Asadal (阿斯達) of Gojoseon.

To find a four-leaf clover, the symbol of four Hs, we have to search around over and over again in the clover field. Ancient Chinese didn’t have a concept of research. The message from the emperor had been parroted over and over again. Koreans accepted the Chinese word until Christian missionaries arrived.

As scientists work hard to solve the problems, historians also have to find and provide reasonable explanations about the questions that the previous historians left. As other branches of science advances, historians ought to adjust accordingly. Study method of history written with ideo-logograms has not been discussed thoroughly. I proposed a new study method.

Historians ought to continue to search and search to resolve the questions remaining in the old records, not remain as a teacher teaching those errors to the next generation.

DIRECTOR: Yes. I understand. You point out the time and place of the birthplace. Can you find any convincing written records?

MOSOL: The most dramatic event in the YRVC was the epic flood control. The event is well recorded with archaic logograms. The grand historian said he read all those records. Confucius also read the (ancient Korean) Gojoseon letter. Though time has gone over millennia of years, the ideo-logograms are still in use in many countries. Joseon appeared in the era of epic flood control, faced the southern nemesis for a long time and lost the records.

There have been many names of Joseon with adjectives attached. The most ancient town-state was a commune in the Fen River valley. They had to manage the rain water. That is the beginning of the epic flood control written in Chinese history. The Flood control ended at the confluence of Fen River(汾水) and Yellow River, where the title, Dangun Wanggeom emerged. They concealed Dangun Joseon and implanted the mystical Xia (夏; Ha in Korean; c. 2070 BC–c. 1600 BC) dynasty. Westerners took Chinese words as the final.

Though Europeans heard about Joseon as Corea during the Mongol dynasty, Corea was not publicized well, if any.

As Jesuit missionaries had been in Beijing, Koreans heard about Catholicism and started to worship the new religion without a catholic priest. It was not an acceptable practice of Catholicism to both the Vatican and the king of the Hermit Kingdom. The king ordered the destruction of the new religion.

The Chinese wrote the history of NEA. Korean scholars formulated Korean history based upon the Chinese records while the Chinese were looking over with eagle eyes.

I decided to search the roots of Korea and retired from the medical profession and found the birthplace of Gojoseon. The established academic world ignored the new theory from the unknown person. I kept raising my new voice for almost a decade through the internet and self- published books by emphasizing the research. As an example, I compared the American history and evolution of research-oriented Johns Hopkins University in my first book in English, Ancient History of Manchuria. Redefining the Past, published in July 2013.³

DIRECTOR: Yes. The Travels of Marco Polo was an eye opening to the European. Lots of scholars were interested to learn about the east of the Ural Mountain Range and the Silk Road.

MOSOL: Since the European expresses deep interest, the Chinese spread lots of disinformation and keep adjusting any new findings.

As they had seen, they made a new name and spread disinformation. Korean and all other scholars stood silent. I kept moving forward to find more evidence. Now I got another that should be assessed from the other side from a different angle under a different paradigm.

DIRECTOR: What do you mean more evidence and different angle?

MOSOL: We know that ethical value is embedded along with the local language in history. Religion plays an important role. We have another religion, Buddhism, in the NEA. I looked into the Buddhist texts. I found out that certain ancient scriptures were compiled PLCs of locals who spoke Tungusic language. Scripture has that now and then Goguryeo language found in the Book of Changes. Sama Qian was born in the original Nine Provinces. He recorded the same issue with different ideo-logograms—九疇—that means nine plowable highland, and—九等 구등—that is same phonetics of Dèng Xiǎopíng, 鄧小平, 등소평: Deung in Korean. His name means a small plateau on the mountain ridge. Phonetics of Deung means the Ridge as in the Rhodesian Ridgeback, as in horseback riding, climbing up as wisteria—that is, Deung Namu by Korean. There are many such examples. With those findings, someone could make a dictionary.

I released my theory in 2019 at the Yonsei University and published the most recent book that you read in 2020. It is the story of a northern brand who ran away to the north and eventually over the Great Wall.

I continued my search under the same method to find out the remainders in the south. I found another goldmine. Gautama Buddha’s (Shakyamuni 釋迦牟尼, 석가모니) mother was diaspora of Yaemaek people. Buddhist scriptures could have ancient Korean history. I feel like another witness appeared to support my lone voice. I have strong evidence to present the same object to be assessed under two different stances. Teaching of Yaemaek people was the seed of early Buddhism.

Original Buddhist text was translated to Chinese ideo-logograms. It is reasonable to speculate that ancient Korean history could have remained in the words of early Buddhist text. I was right. Many names in the subcontinent of northeast India have the same phonetics of the current Korean words.

Scriptures has that Taoist elders taught the Hu (胡) people in the west. A new religion emerged in the eastern slope of Himalaya Mountains, spread out along the Indus River valley to the entire subcontinent during the third century BC, evolved into many variant forms of Buddhism, and spread in all directions. Elders from the Yunnan Province of China took the ancient trading route to the eastern slope of the Himalaya Mountains. People spoke different languages, but understood each other. Shakyamuni (釋迦牟尼) was born to the king of the region. His mother was an alien and died soon after. His maternal aunt raised him. His mother tongue became the official language of the Buddhist text. Locals translated the message from the alien elders and left the Great Lóu-Tàn-Jing (大樓炭經), literally Great two story building charcoal story. It has been translated to Chinese since the late part of the Eastern Han dynasty.

DIRECTOR: It is very interesting. That is really another new theory. As I learned world history, the birthplace of Buddhism struck me with lots of questions. One of them is the location of birthplace. Would you provide some convincing evidence?

MOSOL: Yes. The route and trail of Buddhism to China is in dispute. The Silk Road is the gateway to Central Asia. I am looking at the issues under a panoramic view. It is odd. How do they get the salt, the essential mineral far away from the ocean? I found out about another ancient trade route from the southwestern region of China to the northeastern part of India. That was the birthplace of Buddhism.

Tang Buddhist monk, Xuan Zang (玄奘; 602–664 AD) left the travelog of his journey to India in 629–645 CE. His note is the most important evidence for the linguists and other scholars to understand the relationship between the Indian subcontinent and YRVC. I noticed that lots of the ancient Korean language remained in his travelog, the ancient Buddhist texts, and still in use in the Indian subcontinent.

British mariner Rowan Gavin Menzies published a controversial book, 1421: The Year China Discovered the World. He described lots of curious objects that he had seen under the deep sea. Zheng He (鄭和; 1371–1433 CE) was born in a Muslim family from the Yunnan Province, became fleet admiral, and explored the Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent. Despite clear documents and evidence, The Great Tang Records on the Western Regions, compiled by the Tang era Buddhist monk, has that Admiral Zheng He invaded the Island of Ceylon.⁴ It is obvious. Chinese tampered the original scriptures for their benefits and kept on changing throughout history. They swindled from the very beginning of any issue to get their influence and, eventually, to extend their territory. We see the same phenomena now through the Belt and Road Initiative.

DIRECTOR: I got your point. You cited the ancient scriptures. Most people do not read ancient text. How could you convince the ordinary citizen to understand your thoughts or new findings?

image1.jpg

The Great Wall of China. Map from Wikipedia 2022.⁵

MOSOL: Yes. That is the dilemma I have. It is out of common sense. How could they build the stone wall across the large river and Manchurian plain to the Korean Peninsula? Throughout the tour, I like to use visual images, ideo-logograms, and maps along with voice. One visible example is the Chinese-drawn maps that are in Wikipedia.

Another dilemma is the language. The majority of people who were involved in the epic flood in China came from the west. They spoke Tungusic language. Good number of words are still in the Korean language. It is mandatory to understand the Korean language to interpret ancient scriptures correctly. In proceeding to study Korean culture and folk religion, they would realize that the Buddhist texts are another window to see the ancient history of NEA.

Let me show you one more piece of evidence in Manchuria.

Emperor Wu of Han (漢武帝; 156–87 BC) enthroned at the age of fifteen. Gongson Hong (公孫弘; 200–121 BC) became the first commoner chancellor. Emperor Wu took the chancellor’s suggestion to set up the Changhai Commandery (蒼海郡: 128 BC–126 BC) in the Joseon territory around the Tianjin port. It dissolved within two years in 126 BC. It was almost twenty years before the Emperor Wu’s army invaded Wiman Joseon in the southwest of Liaoning Province. Despite a clear record in the original source, Wikipedia interpreted the region as being in the northeast corner of the Korean Peninsula near the Russian Far East. It is a joke. In fact, the Han court granted Gongson Hong the title marquis with the Tianjin region as his fiefdom.⁶ It was the capital region of Joseon territory during the latter part of the warring states period (481/403 BC - 221 BC) of China.⁷ Emperor Wu made a false claim, the reason to invade Joseon, and destroyed the capital in Manchuria in 108 BC.

Knowing that, the invader took massive killing in the capital of the Yaemaek, the Wuhan tribe. Chen Shou (陳壽, 233–297) named the place as Gol-Do (骨都), which is literally skeleton capital.⁸ It was the citadel of Yaemaek (濊城) people. Later scholars identified the ethnicity as a Wuhuan (烏桓, 烏丸) and named the citadel as Wu-Gol-Seong (烏骨城), literally the capital of Crow Bone.⁹ They were nomadic people from the west, moved into