Recording History

Historians define history as the chronological record of past events. This plainly shows us the value of record in history. The time of past without records-called in such names as the dark age and the prehistoric times - is very often wrapped in a veil of mystery that allows no solid truth to be revealed. Such absence of evidence usually leads to the situation where false assumptions and claims create controversies still ongoing in the present society. One of such a case regarding Korea was the distorted interpretation of its genesis. Japanese historians and politicians have claimed that the absence of Korea’s own genesis indicates that Korea adopted the Chinese genesis and that Korea was always dependant on other countries for its cultural needs; ultimately claiming that it was the duty of Japan to colonize Korea and develop its culture.
However, recent research signifies that we were never dependent on China for a genesis and that ours merely disappeared during the Joseon dynasty due to Confucianism scholars who disapproved records that collided with the thought that Korea was inferior to China. Yet the dispute goes on with an upper hand for Japan because of our lack of evidence.
On the other hand, there are also cases where disputes are soundly solved thanks to records of history. To illustrate, we were able to defend the originality of Hanguel with a book called Hunminjeongeum Heyreybon Though not widely known, there have been assertions that Hanguel was derived from Tamil language and that King Sejong merely adjusted it to fit the Korean language better. Although quite a number of differences existed, we were not able to refute it with certainty because we did not posses records telling us how King Sejong created Hanguel. Nonetheless, Hunminjeongeum Heyreybon documented how Hanguel was invented leaving no doubt.
From such cases we can infer the value of recording history. By accurately recording history, we can protect our rights and become better prepared for distortion of history .However, few people from recent generations have succeeded in recognizing that the most important factor is to record the present. This is because if we stop recording the present-thinking we still remember it-our children will have to deal with the same lack of evidence in the future.
As the ways of recording becomes diverse, we should put arduous effort into recording history using various methods and modify or translate past records into newer methods in an effort to keep them intelligible