The respected Comrade
"A valuable legacy created by our ancestors through their struggle and creative activities, historical sites and relics are an asset of the nation that should be handed down from one generation to the next."
Historical sites and relics are the national treasures associated with the wisdom and talents of our nation and a valuable legacy conveying the time-honored history and advanced culture of the nation.
The narrow bronze dagger of ancient Joson is one of them.
It is a bronze weapon made and used by the ancient Koreans since the late 2 000 B.C. and was designed to make the dagger body, handle or hilt and pommel separately and assemble them later.
The dagger body is about 30 centimetres long, and has on both sides the ridges with blades alongside. The blades of the dagger are a little curved inward in the middle.
The dagger handle is known to be made of bronze, and it is a common appearance that it forms a node in the middle, becomes slightly thin on both sides, then thickens again, and the pommel has a "⊥-shaped" knob at the end.
The narrow bronze dagger underwent some changes in form through its long use by ancient Korean people, and therefore it is classified into early, middle and late types according to the temporal variation of the form.
The early type of the narrow bronze dagger has no curve and node in its blades. The blades are almost straight or slightly wide near the handle. The middle type has inward curve in the middle of both blades and also has nodes in the ridges corresponding to them, and it has narrow breadth, so its dagger body looks slim. It has blades on the ridges, but only on the nodes. This narrow bronze dagger of middle type is called the typical narrow bronze dagger.
The late type of the narrow bronze dagger is similar to the middle type, but it is somewhat wider and the blades are almost straight, and the blades on the ridges go down below the nodes.
The narrow bronze dagger was developed by the ancient Koreans by carrying forward the pipha-shaped dagger of ancient Joson.
It is well evidenced by the fact that the narrow bronze dagger has a peculiar appearance but shares several common features with the pipha-shaped dagger used in ancient Joson since the early 30th century B.C.
Both types of daggers are all weapons designed to be assembled after making separate bodies, handles and pommels. This is fundamentally different from the Tagar dagger of Siberia and the Taoshijian of China in the period of warring states, the bodies and handles of which are linked together.
The ridges on dagger bodies and inward curve in the middle of the blades of the narrow bronze dagger are the remnants of the inward curve of the blades of the pipha-shaped dagger.
However, the narrow bronze dagger has some peculiar features, too. It has small grooves on both sides of the ridges, narrow breadth which is more useful than the pipha-shaped dagger, and improved quality. And the narrow bronze daggers were found more in quantity than pipha-shaped daggers.
This clearly shows that the narrow bronze dagger is the more developed one by inheriting the pipha-shaped dagger.
The cradle of the narrow bronze daggers and their center was the northwestern area of Korea with Pyongyang at its center.
It is because the early type narrow bronze daggers were mainly found in the ancient relics in the area of Northwest Korea centered on Pyongyang, including the stone case tomb of Jongbong-ri, Singye County, North Hwanghae Province, Kosan-ri pit grave of Jaeryong County, South Hwanghae Province, Sinsong-ri pit grave of Phyongwon County, South Phyongan Province, Yongok-ri No.2 site of Taedong County, South Phyongan Province, and Paekwonri No.9 dolmen tomb of Songchon County, South Phyongan Province.
And the relics with narrow bronze daggers of the early type in the area of Northwest Korea centered on Pyongyang belong to the period earlier than the relics in Liaodong area of China where it is said that the narrow bronze daggers of the early type were found.
Northwest Korea centered on Pyongyang was not only the cradle of the narrow bronze dagger culture but also its center.
The reason for this is that in the area of northwestern Korea centered on Pyongyang there were found narrow bronze daggers in large quantity as compared to other areas and all the narrow bronze daggers of middle and late types as well as early type were excavated.
In the area including the Korean peninsula, northeastern China and the Maritime Territory region of Russia, the total number of narrow bronze daggers found were about 400, and those found in the area of northwestern Korea centered on Pyongyang account for more than half of them.
And in the Liaodong region of China, narrow bronze daggers of the early type were mainly found, and in the areas of southern and northeastern Korea and the Maritime Territory region of Russia, only the narrow bronze daggers of the middle and late types were found.
This shows that the narrow bronze daggers originated in the area of northwestern part of Korea centered on Pyongyang and gradually spread to the neighboring areas.
In Korea, with the advent of iron-made weapons, narrow bronze daggers gradually disappeared from the late 1st century B.C.
The narrow bronze dagger was a major weapon of the ancient Korean people and also a craftwork showing the bronze-making technique and aesthetic feelings of the people at that time.
The narrow bronze dagger is a peculiar bronze weapon developed by the ancient Korean people by carrying forward the pipha-shaped dagger. It shows well the relations of succession of the former and latter cultures of ancient Joson, its originality and excellent level of development, and it serves as an invaluable relic in studying the ancient culture of Korea including ancient Joson.
