아프라시압 궁전벽화의 고구려인에 대한 재론

초록

Although there remains considerable debate as to whether Koguryo envoys were actually dispatched to Sogdia (Kang State), the Afrasiab palace murals clearly demonstrate that, from the perspective of Kang, Koguryo was recognized as the representative eastern kingdom within their worldview. It is difficult to deny that Koguryo was perceived strongly enough to occupy a place within the Sogdian conception of the world. In particular, the people of Kang were aware even of Koguryo, which had succeeded in resisting and at times defeating the Tang dynasty during the seventh century. What appears to have impressed the Sogdians most about the Koguryo people was their distinctive appearance: wearing the jowugwan (bird-feather crown) and carrying ring-pommel swords (hwandudaedo). From the perspective of Kang, these features represented a highly characteristic image of Koguryo people, clearly distinguishable from surrounding peoples and cultures. The depiction of Koguryo figures in the Afrasiab palace murals was therefore part of a Sogdian conceptual worldview. The Afrasiab murals should not simply be understood as sketches of actual diplomatic scenes; rather, they were most likely political images through which Sogdian royal authority visualized its international prestige and worldview. Instead of accurately reproducing real visitors, the murals may have symbolically arranged various regions of the surrounding world within a hierarchical order in which they visited or paid tribute to the Sogdian king, with Koguryo represented as the powerful eastern state within that order. The palace murals should thus be interpreted not as direct copies of reality but as visual representations of Sogdian royal ideology and perceptions of world order. The figures wearing jowugwan depicted in the Afrasiab murals must therefore be interpreted comprehensively through careful examination of multiple factors, including the political and diplomatic relations among Koguryo and neighboring powers such as Tang, Tiele, the Turks, and Kang; the practical issues surrounding transportation routes; detailed iconographic analysis of the figures wearing jowugwan; the overall composition of the palace murals; and the worldview of Kang at the time. Only through such a contextual approach can the figures wearing jowugwan in the Afrasiab palace murals be understood more accurately within their historical context. Rather than approaching these materials solely from a nationalist or Korea-centered historical perspective, it is necessary to adopt an objective understanding of how the Sogdians—the “other” who actually created the murals—perceived Koguryo and its people. If the iconography is interpreted merely as a factual record, it becomes difficult to explain various elements that do not correspond to the historical realities of the period. The murals must therefore be read within the framework of the complex international order and symbolic system of the time. From this perspective, the various figures depicted in the Afrasiab palace murals can be understood as symbolic representations of the international order and worldview imagined by Sogdian royal authority. Furthermore, the Afrasiab murals constitute visual evidence demonstrating how closely interconnected the Eurasian world had become during the seventh century, and they confirm that Koguryo was included as a significant member of the Eurasian network represented within that world.

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