중국 광저우에서 발견된 고려인 라마단 비문에 대한 한 해석

Abstract

In July 1985, during the enlargement construction works for the new city plan, an significant tomb stone was found near the Muslim cemetery affiliated to an old Mosque in Guang-chou, China. The tomb stone is believed to be related to a Korean Muslim in 14th century. At that time, however, nobody paid a special attention to the tomb stone. From 1990s, through a replica exhibited in the Guang chou Museum, the tomb stone is confirmed to belong to a Korean Muslim named Ramadan burried in Guang-chou in 1349. But, the existence of the tomb stone was known to very limited Korean scholars and the character is still under debate. The original tome stone is recently found at the storehouse of the Hui Sung Mosque in Guang-chou in the same city. The size of the tomb stone is 64cm height, 42cm width, 6.2cm thickness. Arabic is inscribed in the front face and at the side face Chinese is written. The full text is as follows: "God, there is no God,--- God says;"those who died in remote area during travel are already martyrs. This tomb is belong to Ramadan, a son of Aladdin. God forgive and bestow His blessing upon him. Ramadan is a Koryo people and owner of Ching-hyun-guan pavillion in Tatu(Beijing). His age is 38, now appointed Darugachi of Young chou county of Guang Xi Province. He died at the 23th March 1349 and buried him at the a garden in Guang-chou at the 18th August and erected a tome stone for him. The key issue is whom Ramadan was? Was he a Korean ethnic or immigrant Muslim settlers from Central Asia? Is there any possibility that Ramadan is an Uighur Turk assimilated to the Koryo society with other immigrant group from Central Asia? If he is a Turk, why he came to Guang-chou and buried in the Muslim cemetery of the city? The answer might be clear. When we consider Muslim`s condition in Korea in medieval age. In Koryo dynasty under Mongol occupation in the 13-14th centuries, there were a lot of Muslim settlers from Central Asia, mostly Uighur Turks.