Three Confederate States of Gojoseon

According to Joseon Sangosa, written in 1924–25 by Sin Chaeho, Korea during the Sudu era(which roughly corresponds to Dangun Joseon) had an organizational system of three states and 5 ministries(Obu,五部). The three states consisted of Jinjoseon, Makjoseon and Beonjoseon. Jinjoseon was said to be ruled by the Supreme Dangun. Beonjoseon and Makjoseon were said to be ruled by two Vice-Danguns. The Five Ministries, or Ohga, included Dotga (pig), Gaega (dog), Soga (cow), Malga (horse) and Shinga according to their areas of east, west, south, north and center. This ministry system using the name of animals was also claimed to be used by Buyeo, which is considered a successor state of Gojoseon by fringe historians (in real life its hard to say it is a successor state as buyeo was coexistent with gojoseon). In wartime, five military troops(오군,五軍) consisting of a central army, an advanced army, a left army and a right army were said to be organized, according to military commands, by the general of the central army. It is said that the traditional Korean game of Yut is patterned after these five military structures (the real origin was based on the system of sachooldo). Generally, the succession system of the Supreme Dangun and the Vice-Dangun was said to be determined by heredity, and sometimes the ruler said to be succeeded by one of the Ohga, suggesting that the sovereign's power was not absolute.[7]

Shin says the prefixes Ma, Jin and Beon were borrowed from Chinese characters to represent the Korean language using the Idu system. Jin (or Shin) represents the meanings of "whole" or "general"; thus Jinjoseon refers to the central confederacy of Gojoseon. Asadal (아사달) was the capital city of Jinjoseon governed by Dangun, and the other two Joseons were governed by the vice Danguns. Joseon Sangosa says that Asadal corresponds to the current Harbin. In history books, Jinjoseon was usually called Jin. Jinjoseon was conquered by Hae Mo-su of Buyeo, and the state name was changed to Buyeo.[8]

Beon or sometimes Byun means a plain or a field. Because Beonjoseon was a neighbor to the Chinese states, Chinese history usually referred to Beonjoseon as Gojoseon or simply Joseon. According to Shin, Gija Joseon and Wiman Joseon were usurpations of Beonjoseon, and the Danguns allowed Gija and Wiman to rule over Beonjoseon because they were of the Dongyi race. Chinese usually referred to the ancestral Korean race as Dong-yi, meaning eastern barbarians. [9] According to Joseon Sangosa, the Gi family became the kings of Beonjoseon in 323 BC, and the central authority of the Vice-Dangun became very powerful. Beonjoseon of the Gi family was usurped by Wiman in 193 BC; it was called Wiman Joseon henceforth. The last Vice-Dangun, Gijun, fled with his nobles and a large number of people into the Korean peninsula. There, he conquered Makjoseon, and established Mahan.

Ma is generally used to represent "south", and Makjoseon was located to the south of Jinjoseon. Its capital city was Pyongyang. It is uncertain how long Makjoseon endured, but it is thought to have been conquered by Gijun when he fled from Wiman, and then changed the name of the state to Mahan — one of the confederacies of the later Samhan. It seems that Mahan continued until it was conquered by Baekje.[10]

According to Joseon Sangosa, the disintegration of the three Gojoseon started when people were disillusioned with the religion of the Samjoseon confederation, and decided to establish their own autonomous entities.[11]

A classification of Three Joseons existed before in the geography section of the Veritable Records of Sejong of the Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty where it illustrates the history of Pyongyang in Pyongan Province. But the classification was of Dangun Joseon(Jeonjoseon), Gija Joseon(Hujoseon), and Wiman Joseon.[12]

• Gojoseon
• Samhan