Kim Bu-sik, the Goryeo Historian Who Rewrote History
The biography of Kim Bu-sik included in the collection of biographies of Goryosa (高麗史), or the History of Goryeo, offers an account detailed enough to hint at what a monumental project Kim Bu-sik's Samguk Sagi had been for the kingdom of Goryeo by the time he finished compiling it in 1145, the 23rd year of King Injong's reign. The magnitude of Kim Bu-sik's achievement was such that the king personally sent a close aide of his to extend his appreciation. And it was a great personal accomplishment for Kim Bu-sik himself as well. Kim Bu-sik had already passed the age of seventy when he finished compiling Samguk Sagi, also known as History of the Three Kingdoms, so it must have been the project of a lifetime through which he burned away his very last bit of passion left as he neared death. What had motivated the compilation of Samguk Sagi halfway through the Goryeo dynasty? What was it that made Kim Bu-sik dedicate his final spark to compile Samguk Sagi?
Chung Chul-heon (Professor of Korean Literature in Chinese Characters, Pusan National University)