Philobiblon

A story about a “lost city” found on the China-North Korea border (with all of the consequent political ramifications), reminds me that I haven’t yet pointed to the latest Asian History carnival, up now on Miscellany. Particularly notable is a piece on the likely loss of a traditional Cambodian music form. It is a topic that I’ve pondered often – how societies “lose” technologies: Tasmanian Aboriginals and fishhooks and Ancient Egyptians and mummification are the two most cited examples.
As for the “lost city”, you’ll notice I haven’t named it, because I’m staying neutral on various issues …

The ruins, exposed when a reservoir was drained near the city of Ji’an, are believed to date from the Han Dynasty, which reigned from 202 BC to AD 220. They include a burial area with 2,360 tombs from Korea’s Koguryo kingdom. China and the two Koreas all claim Koguryo as part of their historical legacies because Koguryoruled north-eastern China and the Korean peninsula 2,000 years ago.

This reminds me of the Pyongyang history museum, which claims Koreans invented …well just about every human advance.