Originally, the character 'Nara Han · Country Name Han' was a character used to indicate the national name of the country Han, which was one of the seven states (Seven Greats of the Warring States) in the Warring States Period of ancient China. However, around the 4th century B.C., there is a record that the king of Gojoseon called himself Han, and there is a record that King Jun called himself King Han when he was deprived of the throne by Wiman and made a new start as the king of Geonma in Iksan. Remains. In other words, according to this theory, Han originated from Gojoseon.
In other words, the name 'Han' came from the process of transcribing the pure Korean language, which was called before Hangeul was created, with Chinese characters. The high-pitched sound of Korean is reconstructed as '*ɡˤar', and Gaya, a descendant of Byun-Han among the Three Hans, was also called 'Gara'. Considering that it is read as 'Han', it is presumed that the original pure Korean title of Samhan transliterated as 'Han' was close to 'Gara' or 'Gar'.[2] On the other hand, in the records, the forces in the northern part of the Korean Peninsula wrote Bal (發), Mac (貊), and Ye (濊), and the forces in the southern part of the Korean Peninsula appear as Jingu (辰) or Han (韓).
Originally, Samhan meant Mahan, Jinhan, and Byunhan in the central and southern part of the Korean Peninsula, but it changed its meaning to refer to the three kingdoms of Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla from the Proto-Three Kingdoms period to the late Three Kingdoms period. At the time of the Three Kingdoms period, people mainly corresponded to Goguryeo as Mahan among the Three Hans, Jinhan as Silla, and Baekje as Byeonhan.[3] The name Samhan here seems to have been expanded not as a country, but as a region or as a cultural succession.
Judging from the fact that Gohyeon, who was from the royal family of Goguryeo, is referred to as the three Koreans in Liaodong in the epitaph of Gohyeon, it seems that the three Hans referred to 'Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla' in Goguryeo as well. In addition, in Tang Gojong's edicts, Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla were referred to as 'Three Hans', and Ko Yeon-su and Go Hye-jin were referred to as 'Mahan chiefs'. . This is also revealed in the record that the people of Silla called the event that Baekje and Goguryeo were defeated by the Silla-Tang allied forces and the unified Silla was established as 'Three Hans in One', and used 'Samhan' as an alias for the country as an expression of pride that they had unified the three Koreas. Later, the Three Kingdoms Period was opened, and the Goryeo people who unified it again, that is, unified the Three Han States, still used Samhan as an alias for their country because of their pride in unifying the Three Han States. This is clearly evident in the fact that the title of meritorious subject bestowed upon a servant who contributed to the unification of Goryeo was ‘Samhanbyeoksang’s meritorious subject.