We analyzed the records on the reign style and the calendrical data presented in the Samguksagi (History of the Three Kingdoms) and the epigraph of the Three Kingdoms (Silla, Goguryeo, and Baekje) period in Korea (B.C. 57 – A.D. 935) to verify the chronological tables of the period that are currently in use. For the epigraph of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, we utilized the database provided by the National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage. By analyzing the records on the reign style, first, we found that the Yeonpyo (Chronological Table) of the Samguksagi is tabularized using the reign style of the Caowei for the period of Three Kingdoms of China (Caowei, Shuhan, and Sunwu) (A.D. 220 – 280). Second, we found that the reign style of the Silla was promulgated during the reign period of a king, which was usually promulgated when a king acceded in China. Third, we found that the reign styles presented in historical materials showed agreement with those of the Yeonpyo except for two cases in the Goguryeo. Concerning the records on the calendrical data, first, we confirmed that accession years of kings Michu, Beobheung, Seondeok, Minae, Gyeongmun, and Seongdeok. On the other hand, we found probable errors in the record of accession years for the kings Munja, Wideok, Aejang, and Heonan. Next, we found that the records of the length of a lunar month, leap month, and cyclic day showed agreement with the current chronological table except for several cases. In particular, cyclic days in the solar eclipse account had a relatively large number of discrepancies. We believe that these errors might have been caused by the inaccurate identification of a year in the records of the Three Kingdoms while determining the year by referring to Chinese historical documents. Finally, we found that the starting point was included while counting a year, at least from the Three Kingdoms period, similar to the current method of counting age in Korea. However, we point out that the starting point should be excluded when the term “after” is used in the expression. We believe that this study is very useful to verify the current chronological table of the Three Kingdoms period in Korea.
We investigate the records related to the reign style and the calendar day from the epigraphs of the Goryeo dynasty (918 - 1392) in Korea in order to verify and supplement the sexagenary cycle data of the first day in the lunar month of the dynasty. The database of the National Research Institute of Culture Heritage contains a rubbed-copy image, transcription statement, and translation statement for Korean epigraphs as well as 775 epigraphs corresponding to the Goryeo dynasty. The epigraph records are valuable in that, during this time, they were written differently from other historical literature such as the Goryeosa (History of the Goryeo Dynasty), which was compiled in the next dynasty. We find that the Goryeo dynasty, in general, had adopted the reign styles of Chinese dynasties at that time. We also find 159 calendar day records all showing good agreement with the work of Ahn et al. except for dozens of records. Through this study, we can verify the reign styles and the calendar days of the Goryeo dynasty.