1. Korea in the World Map
Korea was not known to Europe until after the 16th century "Age of Discovery." It was long after Marco Polo made an account of his voyage, published in 1301 under the title of "Description of the World," which was widely circulated in Europe and became the principal source of European knowledge of Asia.
The map created in 1594 by Petro Plancio of the Netherlands is known to be the oldest existing map in Europe that made reference to Korea with the marking "Corea." (There are two earlier maps, drawn by Bartholomeu Velho in 1562 and by Abraham Ortelius in the 1580s that show the Korean Peninsula but they gave no specific name to the peninsula.) In 1646, Sir Robert Dudley¡¯s hydrographic chart Dell¡¯Arcano del Mare, (The Mysteries of the Sea), referred to Regno di Corai (the Kingdom of Korea).
In ancient times, Asians tended to be conservative in naming the seas. They just used East, West, South or North, according to the location of the seas. For example, China called Korea's West Sea as its East Sea, Korea called the sea lying to its east East Sea, while Japan named the sea in the direction of the Pacific Ocean as East Sea.
In the 16th century when European travelers started to create maps after exploring East Asia, these seas came to have more specific names, as they named the seas with reference to the surrounding countries.
2. East Sea in Old Maps
a. The History of Naming the East Sea
Historically, Korea has used the term East Sea because it was to the east of the Korean Peninsula, and further east was the Pacific Ocean. According to ancient maps, from the 17th century to the 19th century, many countries used to refer to the sea as East Sea or Sea of Korea. Since the late 19th century, however, when Japan began to expand militarily and its external influence grew, these names were replaced by Sea of Japan gradually. Following the Russo-Japanese War in 1904-5 and the Japanese annexation of Korea in 1910, Sea of Japan became dominant.
b. The East Sea in Maps of the World
Old maps made by Europeans provide the most objective grounds for the argument that East Sea is the legitimate name for the area in question. It was in the 13th century that East Sea started to appear on maps drawn by Europeans.
The map that many regard as holding the key to the settling of the dispute surrounding the name of the sea is in the Yale University collection. The world map, commonly known as the "Vinland Map," was inserted in a travel record (1245-1247) by Giovanni da Pian del Carpini, who had traveled to Central Asia.
Carpini's "The Tartar Relation" is the oldest surviving record that introduces Mongolia and Asia to Europe. The map inserted in the book is particularly famous since it made reference to North America as Vinland long before Columbus discovered the continent. Due to its immense historical significance, a number of research papers have been written on the map.
An original edition of the map does not exist, but a copy produced in 1440 is in Yale¡¯s possession. The map holds great value since it is the only map that dates back to the medieval period. The map's authenticity has been certified through scientific tests on its paper and ink.
The map is also the first map to refer to the sea area in question as Eastern Ocean along with the reference to Korea. Many of the world maps that were published subsequently followed in the Vinland Map's footsteps. For example, the world map created by Martin Waldseemuller (1507) also refers to the sea as the Ocean Orientalis. Bordone's world map (1528) calls the sea MARE ORIENTALE, while the 1540 map by Sebastian Munster uses the term OCEANUS Orientalis.
The history of naming the East Sea should be understood in the context of the changing European world-view through discoveries and explorations. That is, the name for the East Sea has changed from an imaginary sea to a Great Ocean (the Pacific), then to Small Coast (of Korea).
It is noteworthy that indications with a country's name such as Sea of Korea appear on the maps published from the early 1600s till the last days of the Joseon Dynasty. During this period, most of them exclusively mentioned the East Sea as Sea of Korea. Further investigation is needed to find out the reasons why references including country names were concentrated during this period.
The following are some of the references to the East Sea in various old maps and sources provided by early Europeans:
- MAR CORIA in the Chart of Asia by Manuel Godinho in 1615
- MAR DI CORAI in the Map of East Asia by Sir Robert Dudley in 1647
- Ocean Oriental in the map of Philippe Briet in 1650
- MAR DE CORÉE in the Map of Japanese Islands by Jean Baptiste Traemier in 1679
- MER ORIENTALE OU MER DE CORÉE in the Map of Indo-China by Guillaum de L'isle, French geographer in 1705
- Sea of Corea in the Map of East Asia by John Green in 1747
- MER DE CORÉE in the Map of China published in France in 1748
- M. DE CORÉE in the Chart of Asia published in France in 1761
- MAR DI COREA in the Map of Asian Countries created with new methods by Prof. Antonio Chata supported by the Senate of Venice, Italy in 1777
- SEA OF COREA in the China section of British Encyclopaedia in 1778
- Sea of Corea in the Map of Russia by Bowen in 1780
- MER DE CORÉE in the Map of Asia Dealing with Regions and Countries, in the possession of Spanish National Library in Madrid in 1785
- COREAN SEA in Asian Islands and Regions created in London, England in 1794
- GULF OF COREA in the map created by Samuel Dhun in London and published by Laurie and Whittle in 1794
- MER DE CORÉE in the Atlas of Asia created by Dezauche, a French geographer in 1800
- MER DE CORÉE OU DU JAPON, (Sea of Korea marked with bigger typography) in the Atlas of Asia by Dezauche in 1805
- COREAN SEA in the Cook's Voyages published in London to mark Captain Cook's exploratory route in 1808
- GULF OF COREA in Lizars' Chart of Asia published in London in 1833
- GULF OF COREA in Lizars' Chart of Asia published in London in 1840
- SEA OF COREA in General World Map created by Wyld, a British, in 1845
The references to Sea of Japan mostly appear in the maps based on Oriental maps that were produced in China after a Chinese translation of the Italian missionary Matteo Ricci's (1552-1610) world map was introduced. The map is the oldest surviving Chinese map known to have used the term Sea of Japan. But as we have observed, Sea of Japan gained currency only in the late 19th century as a result of increasing international recognition of Japan.
In short, before the 19th century, East Sea or Sea of Korea was the more common usage in the world maps. Sea of Japan appeared frequently in the wake of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-5 and the annexation of Korea by Japan in 1910, and the name later became predominant.
3. Three Different Models in Standardized Geographical Naming
a. The Azimuth Model (ex. the North Sea)
There are certain principles followed in naming seas on world maps. First, some seas are named after the four cardinal points, such as the East, West and North seas on old European maps. The Carpini¡¯s Vinland Map (1245-1247), which refers to the sea area between Korea and Japan as Eastern Ocean, is a typical example. Another representative example presently in use is the North Sea, designating the sea area lying between Germany, Denmark and Britain. In addition, Martin Waldseemuller's world map in 1507 records the East Sea as Ocean Orientalis, Bordon's world map in 1528 as Mare Orientale, and Sebastian Munster's world map in 1540 as Oceanus Orientalis.
Meanwhile, most of the maps produced in China, such as Zang Huang¡¯s Sihai-Hua-Yi-Zintu in 1613, adopted this model and named the sea between Korea and Japan East Sea in Chinese characters.
b. The State Name Model (ex. Norwegian Sea, Greenland Sea)
A typical example of the use of the names of the littoral states is the names of the sea between Norway and Greenland. The sea is called the Greenland Sea for the part closer to Greenland and the Norwegian Sea for the part closer to Norway.
c. The Continent Name Model (using the name of a place to the west of the sea)
This model refers to naming the sea using the name of a region located to the west of the sea area. Examples of this method abound. The sea located east of the Okhotsk, Russia, is called the Sea of Okhotsk, while the name of the sea located west of Okinawa and east of China is the East China Sea. Other examples include the South China Sea for the sea area located off southern China, the Arabian Sea for the sea located east of the Arabian Peninsula, the Labrador Sea for the sea located east of the Labrador Peninsula in Canada, the Mozambique Channel for the eastern sea of Mozambique, and the Andaman Sea for the sea east of Andaman in the Bay of Bengal. |