Goryeojang: The Truth Behind History’s Saddest Lie

Is the story that old parents were carried on a pack saddle and abandoned in the mountains true?

• Explore how much filial piety was actually valued during the Goryeo period.
• Trace the true origin of the ‘Goryeojang’ story.
• Analyze how this story was distorted and exploited during the Japanese colonial period.

Many Koreans remember the heartbreaking scene of a son carrying his elderly parents on a pack saddle and abandoning them deep in the mountains. This custom, engraved under the name ‘Goryeojang,’ has long been regarded as a shameful page in our history. I, too, recall feeling both doubt and shame as a child hearing this story, wondering if such a sad custom really existed in our history.

However, this story is not our history. It is a ghost of falsehood—a tale created in a distant foreign land for moral teaching that quietly slipped into our history and was distorted into a tool of oppression. Now, let us begin the journey of a historical detective to uncover the true identity of this ghost.

1. The Real Goryeo: A Kingdom That Respected the Elderly

The myth of Goryeojang and the actual history of Goryeo show completely opposite pictures. Structurally and culturally, Goryeo society never tolerated abandoning parents.

A Society of Filial Piety (孝) and Compassion (慈悲)

The spiritual foundation of Goryeo was Confucian filial piety (孝) and Buddhist compassion (慈悲). Filial piety was regarded as the root of loyalty to the king (“Loyal subjects come from filial sons”), and the state widely publicized stories of devoted children as exemplary models. Representative tales include Seo Neung, who saved his mother by rescuing a frog in winter, and Choi Nubek, who avenged his father against a tiger.

Filial Impiety Punished by Law

Goryeo treated filial impiety (不孝) as a serious crime comparable to treason. The criminal law section of the “Goryeosa” states that failing to properly care for parents or enjoying entertainment during mourning was punishable by imprisonment or exile. Extreme crimes like plotting to kill parents were punished by the harshest penalty of dismemberment, usually reserved for treason.

State Responsibility for Elderly Welfare

The Goryeo government actively implemented welfare policies for the elderly:

• Yangro-yeon (養老宴): A national banquet where the king personally invited elders aged 80 and above, offering food and gifts.
• Medical Institutions: Established Dongseo Daebiwon and Hyemin-guk to provide medical care and medicine to the poor and sick.
• Practical Support: Officials were granted leave to care for sick parents (sibyeongga), and sons caring for elderly parents were exempted from military service.

The strongest rebuttal to the Goryeojang myth is not the absence of evidence but the overwhelming abundance of evidence to the contrary.

2. The True Origin of the Goryeojang Story: Fables from India and China

So where did the Goryeojang story we know come from? Its roots lie not in our history but in moral fables spread across Asia.

The “Abandoning the Elderly” Fable Genre (棄老說話): A Universal Moral Tale

Stories about abandoning elderly parents belong to a genre called ‘Giroseolhwa (棄老說話),’ found throughout Eurasia including India and China. These are not records of actual customs but moral fables teaching the importance of elderly wisdom and filial piety through irony. Similarly, Japan’s “Ubasuteyama” (mountain where old women are abandoned) legend is not evidence of an actual custom.

The “Pack Saddle” Story from China

The story commonly known, where a son learns a lesson from his grandson, originates from the Chinese “Filial Sons’ Stories (孝子傳),” specifically the tale of Yuan Guo. When a father tries to abandon his grandfather, the grandson says, “I will use this pack saddle later when I abandon you,” causing the father to repent. This story was already included in the Joseon-era “Samgang Haengsildo” as a foreign fable teaching filial piety.

The “Problem-Solving” Story from Buddhist Scriptures

Another type of story about an elderly person’s wisdom saving the nation comes from the Buddhist scripture “Zabaozang Jing (雜寶藏經).” The setting is a fictional country called “Giroguk (棄老國),” meaning “country that abandons the elderly.” Here lies the crucial misunderstanding.

Over centuries of oral transmission, the fictional country ‘Giroguk (棄老國)’ was confused with the real historical ‘Goryeoguk (高麗國)’ due to similar pronunciation. This was the decisive moment when a foreign fable was mistaken for Korean history.

3. The Beginning of Distortion: Why Colonial Historiography Weaponized Goryeojang

The fable promoting filial piety was twisted into a malicious weapon to justify colonial rule in the 20th century.

Japanese Colonial Historiography (植民史觀)

Japan spread a colonial historiography portraying Korean history as stagnant and uncivilized to crush Korean national pride. The Goryeojang story was a perfect tool to claim Koreans were a barbaric people who abandoned even their parents, thus justifying Japan’s “civilized” rule.

Justification for Tomb Robbing

There was an even more cynical motive: to justify the looting of Goryeo-era tombs. Japanese looters claimed, “These are not ancestral graves but sites of Goryeojang where children abandoned their parents,” spreading false justification that tomb robbing was not a crime.

Tools of Indoctrination

This myth was inculcated into students through the 1924 publication “Joseon Donghwajip” by the Government-General of Korea and gained false international authority through Western authors like William Griffis, who relied solely on Japanese sources in books such as “The Land of the Hermit Kingdom.”

4. Crucial Evidence: The True Meaning of ‘Goryeojang (高麗葬)’

What did the term ‘Goryeojang’ originally mean? Joseon-era records clarify its meaning.

In the Joseon period, ‘Goryeojang (高麗葬)’ did not refer to a custom of abandoning elderly parents but was a neutral archaeological term meaning ‘Goryeo-style funeral’ or ‘Goryeo-era tomb.’ Records like the “Seungjeongwon Ilgi” mention “Goryeojang used many iron nails,” referring to distinctive Goryeo funerary practices such as cremation and stone chamber tombs.

Colonialists erased this neutral meaning and overlaid it with the barbaric custom they fabricated. This was not mere misunderstanding but an act of ’linguistic hijacking.’ Was it a simple mistake or intentional linguistic theft?

Comparison: Original Fables vs. Distorted Myth

Conclusion

The idea of Goryeojang as a custom of abandoning elderly parents is a complete fabrication. The truth can be summarized in three points:

1. Reality: Goryeo was a dynasty of filial piety that respected and protected the elderly through laws and institutions.
2. Origin: The Goryeojang story is a moral fable imported from abroad to teach filial piety.
3. Distortion: This fable was distorted by Japanese colonialists to denigrate Koreans and plunder cultural heritage.

The Goryeojang myth is not a shameful secret of our history but a painful scar left by colonialism. Now that you know the truth, please gently correct the story when you hear it. Join in driving out the ghost of falsehood and filling its place with the true history of our ancestors who respected the elderly.