Three Confederate States of Gojoseon

The three Gojoseon kingdoms are states thought to have existed according to "Joseon Sangosa" (1924–25). The concept gained a following among several fringe historians, although it is not completely accepted by mainstream scholars.
In popular Korean history, drawing on the Korean founding myth, Gojoseon (고조선, 古朝鮮, 2333 BC – 239 BC) was an early state that was established around Liaoning, southern Manchuria, and the northern Korean Peninsula. It was anciently known simply as "Joseon", but is now referred to as "Gojoseon", i.e. "Ancient Joseon" to distinguish it from the much later (14th century) Kingdom of Joseon.
According to some sources, Gojoseon was a kingdom formed by the union of three confederacies, or "Samhan": Makjoseon (막조선, 莫朝鮮), Jinjoseon (진조선, 真朝鮮) and Beonjoseon (번조선, 番朝鮮). These three confederacies are said to be also known as Mahan, Byeonhan, and Jinhan. In conventional Korean history, these three confederacies appeared following Gojoseon's break-up, in the central and southern Korean Peninsula, until they were fully absorbed into the Three Kingdoms of Korea around the 4th century CE. Therefore, these later Samhan must be distinguished from the "former Samhan", or "Samjoseon".
Government structure.
According to "Joseon Sangosa", written in 1924–25 by Sin Chaeho, Gojoseon had an organizational system of three states and 5 ministries. 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), "Gaeda" (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 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.
Territory of Three Confederacies.
Gojoseon was developed in the time of bronze wares, and continued to the Iron Age. The territory of the three Gojoseons is recognizable by the occurrence of their unique style of bronze sword, i.e., the mandolin-shaped dagger (비파형동검, 琵琶形銅劍). Their mandolin-shaped dagger is found around Liaoning, Manchuria, the Korean peninsula and even Hebei. The shape of the mandolin-shape daggers of Gojoseon is very different from that of those found in China. Moreover, the composition of Gojoseon's bronze contains much more tin than that of China.
Jinjoseon (2333 BC – 239 BC).
It is usually said that the prefixes Ma, Jin and Beon were borrowed from Chinese characters to represent the Korean language. "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." In 425 BC, the name of Ancient Joseon was changed to Great Buyeo, and the capital city was moved to Jangdang. At this time, Jinjoseon did not have enough power to control Beonjoseon and Makjoseon, and gradually Gojoseon began to disintegrate. In 239 BC, Jinjoseon was conquered by Hae Mosu Dangun, and the state name was changed to Buyeo.
Beonjoseon (2333 BC – 108 BC).
"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. Dangun had assigned Chidunam (치두남, 蚩頭男) as a vice Dangun of Beonjoseon. Its capital city was "Heomdok" (험독현, 險瀆縣), also called Wanggeom-seong (왕검성, 王儉城). Chidunam was a descendant of Chiyou (치우, 蚩尤) of the Baedal royalty. Hyeomdokhyeon is currently located in Changli (昌黎) County of Hebei Province in the modern People's Republic of China. 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.
Makjoseon (2333 BC – ?).
"Ma" is generally used to represent "south", and Makjoseon was located to the south of Jinjoseon. Dangun assigned Ungbaekda (웅백다, 熊伯多) as Vice Dangun of Makjoseon. 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.
Disintegration of Three Gojoseon.
According to "Joseon Sangosa", the disintegration of the three Gojoseon started around 400 BC, when Yan attacked Gojoseon, and Gihu became the king of Beonjoseon. At this time, it seems that Gihu did not fall under the jurisdiction of Jinjoseon, and Beonjoseon under the Gi family became independent of Jinjoseon. Thereafter, the influence of Jinjoseon over Beonjoseon and Makjoseon being greatly weakened, the disintegration of Gojoseon became inevitable.
Interpretation.
Misreading.
Some Korean scholars point out that the basis of the story is from Shin's interpretation of the following line in the chapter "Treatise on Chosun" (朝鮮列傳) section of the "Records of the Grand Historian" that Shin introduced in his book "Chǒnhu Samhan Ko" ("A Study of the Three Hans in Sequence", or "An Inquiry into the Former and Latter Three Han States"; 前後三韓考):
自始全燕時嘗略屬眞番朝鮮.
"Zhenfan Commandery and Joseon were already invaded and subjugated in the high days of the Yan."
Since the characters 眞番朝鮮 can be read as Jinbeon and Joseon or Jinjoseon and Beonjoseon, this is thought to be the source of the confusion.
Support for the interpretation of Shin's original opinion.
On the collected annotations (集解) of the same section, Guang Xu (徐廣) who was a historian of Eastern Jin, illustrates that Jinbeon is also called Jinmak (眞莫).
In the Biographies of the Wuhuan, Xianbei, and Dongyi in the "Book of Wei" in the "Records of the Three Kingdoms", a following detailed paragraph appears that differentiates Jin (辰) and Beon (蕃) which suggests the two entities were separate.
初, 右渠未破時, 朝鮮相歷谿卿以諫右渠不用, 東之辰國,
時民隨出居者二千餘戶, 亦與朝鮮貢蕃不相往來.
"At earlier times before King Ugeo was demolished, a Joseon official called Yeokgyeyung (歷谿卿) expostulated to the king but after his expostulation was refused he went east to the state of Jin (辰國). At that time there were 2000 houses of people who followed his journey, and they never traded with Beon (蕃) which was a tributary of Joseon."
Trivia.
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, Gija Joseon, and Wiman Joseon.