Birth of a Monster Story on the Borderlands: The “Big People” (Chōjin) Legend in 8th-Century Silla

Abstract

The Chinese official historical chronicle Xintang shu 新唐書 (compiled c. 1060), includes a section entitled “An Account of Silla” 新羅伝. As a contemporary historical source recording in detail the domestic affairs of the mid-8th century Korean kingdom Silla 新羅, it is a document that has attracted a good deal of attention over the years. At the same time, however, it also contains a number of indecipherable passages like the following: