Review and Prospects of an epitaph of Ko Jok-You(高足酉): Focusing on decipherment and discussion

Abstract

The epitaph of Ko Jok-You(高足酉) is noteworthy in that it tells the lives of Koguryo(高句麗) refugees that are not recorded in the literature. Analyzing the meaning of various expressions used in the epitaph and interpreting the characters and events in the epitaph while considering the historical context of Ko Jok-You's time can broaden the understanding of the lives of ancient refugees, which are still unknown. Ko Jok-You was born in 626 in the late Koguryo period, lived in the Luoyang(洛陽) area after moving to Tang(唐) Dynasty, and died in the Jingzhou(荊州) area at the age of 70 while returning from the war in the southwestern region in 695. In the epitaph, he was described as a person from Liaodong Pingrang(遼東平壤人), which can be said to be an expression that claims that he is from Koguryo and belongs to the Tang Dynasty. This would have reflected the situation in which Ko Jok-You served as a military officer of the Tang Dynasty. Although the epitaph did not reveal when he entered the Tang Dynasty, it is highly likely that he entered between 667 and 668, considering that he was related to Ko Hyoun(高玄) and Cheon Heon-Seong(泉獻誠). Since entering the Tang Dynasty, Ko Jok-You has made many achievements in the military field as a foreign military officer(蕃將). He served as a high-ranking military officer and served in the royal guard with Ko Hyoun, but also commanded the Tang army himself toachieve results in wars against various other ethnic groups, including Tufan(吐蕃) and Tujue(突厥) on the border. Based on these military achievements, Ko Jok-You seems to have risen to the position of representing the Koguryo refugee group in its late years. Ko Jok-You participated in the construction of the Column of Tianshu(天樞) built by Wu Zetian(武則天) to show off her virtue and received a reward that was sealed with a Chief of Koryo refugee group(高麗蕃長), and his name seems to have been engraved on the Column of Tianshu along with the chiefs of other ethnic groups. In particular, among Koguryo refugees, Cheon Heon-seong was originally involved in the production of the Column of Tianshu, which is believed to be because the Cheon clan was the most powerful force among Koguryo refugees. However, the fact that Ko Jok-You appeared after Cheon Heon-seong's death can be interpreted as meaning that he was a person with enough status to replace Cheon Heon-seong during Wu Zetian‘s reign.