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Three Gojoseon kingdoms are described in some history books, although not accepted by mainstream historians. Gojoseon (고조선, B.C. 2333- B.C. 108) is the first state of Korea that was established around Manchuria and Korean peninsula, and is a united kingdom composed of three confederacies of Gojoseon such as Majoseon (마조선), Jinjoseon (진조선) and Beonjoseon(번조선). Three confederacy is also called as Mahan, Jinhan and Beonhan. However, they must be discriminated from Samhan, because the Samhan (the three confederacies Mahan, Byeonhan, and Jinhan) existed in central and southern Korean Peninsula, from around the time of Gojoseon's fall until fully absorbed by the Three Kingdoms of Korea around the 4th century CE. It is usually said that the prefix such as Ma, Jin and Beon is borrowng a Chinese character to represent Korean language. "Ma" is generally used to represent southward, and Majoseon is located at the south of Jinjoseon. "Jin" or sometimes "Shin" represent the meanings of "whole" or "general", which says that Jinjosen is the central confederacy of Gojoseon. "Beon" or sometimes "Byun" means a plain or a field. Because Bejoseon is neighborhood of China, Chinese history usually calls Gojoseon or simplyh Joseon when they are refer to Beonjoseon. In addition, they also called Jin when they refer to Jinjoseon. Therefore, Gija and Wiman are caused from the misunderstanding of three confederacy of Gojoseon by ]. Actually, Dangun allowed Gija and Wiman to rule over the Beonjoseon because they are originally dong-i (동이).
The Gyuwon Sahwa (규원사화), and the controversial texts of Hwandan Gogi (환단고기) and Joseon Sangosa (조선상고사) describe Gojoseon as consisting of Majoseon, Jinjoseon and Beonjoseon, which were also called as Mahan, Jinhan and Beonhan, respectively. The three confederacies of Gojoseon are thus called Samjoseon (Three Joseon) or prior Samhan to distinguish it from the posterior Samhan (Three Han).
Territory of Three Confederacies
Majoseon was located at the Korean peninsula, Jinjoseon was located at Manchuria, and Beojoseon was located at the around of Liaoning. The Dangun (단군) governed Jinjoseon by himself, and the other two Gojoseons such as Majoseon and Beonjoseon are allowed to be governed by vice Danguns (부단군).
Gojoseon is developed based on the bronze ware, and continue to the Iron Age. The territory of three Gojoseons can be known by their unique style bronze sword. i.e., mandolin-shaped dagger (비파형동검, 琵琶形銅劍). The mandolin-shape dagger is found in around Liaoning, Manchuria and Korean peninsula. It proves that three Gojoseons territory at least cover the area in the map. Furthermore, the shape of the mandolin-shape dagger of Gojoseon are very different from those found in China. In addition, the composition of bronze of Gojoseon contains much more tin than that of China. These prove that the culture of bronze of Gojoseon are very different from Chinese bronze ware so that they are not affected by Chinese bronze culture.
Jinjoseon
Asadal (아사달) was a captial city of Jinjoseon governed by Dangun, and the other two Joseons such as Majoseon and Beonjoseon are governed by the vice Danguns.
Beonjoseon
The Dangun throne Chidoonam (치두남, 蚩頭男) as a vice Dangun of Beonjoseon. Its capital city was Heomdok (험독, 險瀆), but it is also called Wang-gum-sung (왕검성, 王儉城). The Chidoonam was a descendant of the Chiwoo (치우, 蚩尤).
Majoseon
Dangun throned the Woongbaekda (웅백다, 熊伯多) as a Vice Dangun of Majoseon. Its capital city was Daljiguk (달지국, 達支國), or it is also called as Baek-agang (백아강, 白牙江).
Reference
The author of Joseon-sango-sa, Che-ho Shin