Valuable Teachings on "Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms "

Chairman Kim Jong Il said:

"Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms can be called the oldest of the historical books still remaining, which hands down in a systematic way the history of the three kingdoms."

During his revolutionary activities at Kim Il Sung University, Chairman Kim Jong Il gave precious instructions on the historiographical value and limitations of "Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms", a precious national classic of the Korean nation, in his famous work "We Should Read the Historical Books from a Critical Point of View" dated on February 8, 1962.

"Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms" is a history book compiled by Kim Pu Sik in 1145, which recorded the history of Koguryo, Paekje and Silla. Therefore, the analysis and evaluation of the book is very important to correctly understand the period of the three kingdoms.

Until the early 1960s, many scholars in the academic world made their own interpretations and evaluations of the book, but no one gave an accurate evaluation.

First, in his work, Chairman Kim Jong Il gave precious instructions on the historiographical value of the book.

The historiographical value of "Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms" clarified by Chairman Kim Jong Il is that it is one of the precious national classics compiled in the period of Koryo, which systematically recorded the history of Koguryo, Paekje and Silla.

It covers the historical facts in all fields such as music, memorial service, clothing, housing, geography and government posts in the period of the three kingdoms, as well as the biographies of dozens of prominent individuals and the famous stories such as the one about the origin of kayagum (a nineteen-stringed Korean harp) and the famous people like On Tal and Sol Go.

Therefore, "Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms" is now the richest source of data in studying the history, geography, culture and customs in the period of the three kingdoms.

Also, the historiographical value of the book is that it is the oldest of the historical books still remaining.

There were many history books in our country, written before "Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms", but many have been lost and now only the names of the books remain, making it known as the oldest book now available.

On the basis of this analysis, he concluded that it could be called the oldest of the historical books still remaining, which hands down in a systematic way the history of the three kingdoms.

Second, Chairman Kim Jong Il clarified the limitations of "Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms".

As clarified by him, the limitation of the book is that it described the history of the period of the three kingdoms as the history centered on the dynasty.

Originally, the masses of the people, not the kings or the exploiting class, are the masters of historical development, and history should be described as the history of their struggle and creation.

This book not only described the history of Koguryo, Paekje and Silla as a dynasty-centred one, ignoring the creative activities of the popular masses who are responsible for the development of history, but also debased the righteous activities of the peasants against the feudal ruling class as the activities of "thieves".

Another limitation of the book, he clarified, is that the history of the three kingdoms was woven into the Silla-centred one, as a tribute to Silla while belittling Koguryo.

Koguryo was the most powerful of the three kingdoms and their history revolved around it, so the history of the three kingdoms should be described with priority given to Koguryo.

The other limitation of the book is that the historical data from other countries related to the three kingdoms were transferred uncritically and the historical facts were analyzed and evaluated from the flunkeyist viewpoint.

Thus, Chairman Kim Jong Il clarified the historiographical value and limitations of "Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms" from the Juche-oriented viewpoint, providing clear guidelines for properly analyzing and evaluating the historical books of the past.