It is no exaggeration to say that the study of the Goguryeo bricks and roof tiles is begun by Tadashi Sekino, a state scholar in Japanese colonial era. When Sekino began to investigate historical sites on the Korean Peninsula in earnest was 1909, and he died in 1935. Until then, his interest in Goguryeo roof tiles and bricks can be found in his diary in addition to his published papers and writings. The Korean academic community has difficulty to access to the Goguryeo bricks and roof tiles. Since the royal castles of Goguryeo were located in China and North Korea, bricks and roof tiles were excavated intensively there. In this situation, a large amount of material that Sekino wrote in Japanese colonial era is still important for research. On the other hand, there has never been a single attempt to verify whether the roof tiles and bricks used in the materials written by Sekino were all made during the Goguryeo period or not. This paper aim to find out the problems of Sekino’s collection process and research by reviewing the reason why Sekino started the tile study and how to utilize the tile in interpretation of history.
The roof tile was used in historical analysis by Sekino. It is because he was an authorized architect in Nara Prefecture, Japan from 1896 to 1901, and he recognized the value of roof tiles as a historical material. Based on this experience, it can be seen that Sekino has a steady interest in roof tiles and bricks while conducting a historical survey of the Korean Peninsula.
In particular, his special interest in Goguryeo roof tiles and bricks can be confirmed through the collection of a number of materials in the books 『朝鮮古蹟圖譜』 and 『高句麗時代之遺蹟』.
However, he cannot avoid criticism that it resulted in taking out of numerous Goguryeo relics because of the collusive ties he formed in the process of collecting the Goguryeo roof tiles and bricks.
The roof tiles and bricks he collected belonged to the Goguryeo era and did not provide sufficient evidence for the period of roof tiles and bricks. Furthermore, it can be concluded that the perspective that Goguryeo culture was subordinate to China based on the colonial view of history was a revelation of severely distorted historical analysis and an incomplete study of Goguryeo roof tiles and bricks.