Nihonshoki and Blurring Ancient Boundaries in East Asia

This article criticizes the past-oriented perception of history and attempts to break down the "boundaries" of East Asia by examining the Nihonshoki from an ancient perspective. Japanese imperialist historiography posited the Imna-Nihonfu Theory that the Japanese dominated the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and drew the "boundary" of East Asia within the Korean Peninsula. In North Korea, the Pun'guk Theory set the 'boundary' of the 'Korean people' within the Japanese archipelago. In the South, the 'boundary' was set in the sea between Korea and Japan, but the perspective of 'domination' was maintained by replacing the subject of domination with Paekche. In recent years, Korean and Japanese scholars have abandoned the Imna-Nihonfu Theory and focused on the pluralistic international relations of various ancient political entities. Nihonshoki, which was born at the "border" of ancient Paekche and Japan, has been used to create the "border" of East Asia from a modern, nationalistic perspective, but it is necessary to study Nihonshoki from an ancient perspective to break down the "border" of East Asia and explore the pluralistic international order of ancient East Asia.