Korea Emerges

1. Korea Emerges • October 15, 2013

2. Review • What is the difference between an aristocrat and a bureaucrat? • What sort of government did Tang China have? • What was the relationship of Tang China to Tibet? • What was the relationship of Tang China with Silla and Balhae/Parhae (Bohai)?

3. Prehistoric Korea • Hongshan culture in the Liaodong area--more in common with cultures farther south than with those on the Korean peninsula. Had oracle bones, jade carvings, and tripods. 3,500 BCE • Cord-pattern pottery (Jeulmun) 6,000-2,000 BCE consumed millet and rice, though we are not sure when they domesticated it. • Undecorated pottery (Mumun) 2,000 ---200 BCE clearly neolithic. Characterized in its last centuries by rice cultivation, bronze daggers, and dolmen burials. • Two foundation myths, Gija and Tan’gun. Neither has any archaeological support.

4. The origins of Korea • Mythical Origins: Gija (a Chinese official who moved to Korea after the fall of the Shang) or Tan’gun/Dangun (the son of a bear and a heavenly spirit) • Nangnang (Lelang) and the introduction of organized government on the Korean peninsula. (There is no evidence of an organized government before the Han established their outpost) • Three kingdoms appear after the fall of the Han: Goguryeo/Koguryŏ in the north, Baekje/Paekche in the southwest, and Silla in the southeast. (Some add Gaya/Kaya as a 4th kingdom.)

5. Old Chosŏn [Gojoseon] • Is there any archaeological evidence for a kingdom in Korea before the arrival of the Han Chinese? • What is the difference between a kingdom, on the one hand, and a tribal federation, a chiefdom, and small polity, on the other? • Can we trust accounts of Old Chosŏn (Gojoseon) written over a thousand years later? • What do Han dynasty accounts tell us about Korea 2,100 years ago?

6. The 4 Han Commandaries • after 108 BCE, Han established four outposts in Northeast Asia. Three lasted only a few decades. One (Lelang [Nangnang]) lasted for over 4 centuries. (Tai-fang appeared later) • Was there“nationalistic” resistance? There were Goguryeo raids on an outpost in Manchuria, but they shouldn’t be called “nationalistic.” • Why is there debate over whether those commandaries existed or not?

7. Korea 1,900 years ago • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buyeo_kingdom

8. Korea 1,500 years ago • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Kingdoms_of_Korea • Was Goguryeo/Koguryŏ a Korean kingdom? • Was Buyeo/Puyŏ Korean?

9. Debate over Goguryeo • Chinese started insisting about a decade ago that Goguryeo was part of China. • Koreans insist that it was a Korean kingdom. • Both are mistaken. It clearly was not part of China either politically or culturally. • But to call it “Korean” is anachronistic, since there was no Korea at that time. However, since it played a large role in the construction of what became Korea, a much bigger role than it played in Chinese history, it is acceptable to include it in a history of Korea.

10. Korean-Japanese Relations • The Gaya Confederation, the Wa, and Yamato • It is likely that the peoples of Gaya and the Wa of western Japan (Kyushu) were related. They were not under one government, but may have been one people. • There is much archaeological evidence of Gaya influence on western Japan before the 6th century. • What did Korea give Japan? First, rice, iron, and bronze. Later, Buddhism, Chinese writing, medicine, math, and the social structure of Yamato Japan (hereditary occupations and status). Horse-riding came from Korea as well.

11. Silla Korea • China”s Sui dynasty went broke trying to conquer Goguryeo (p.105) • Tang joined forced with Silla to defeat Baekje and Goguryeo in the late 7th century. (p. 105-6) • Its rivals defeated, Silla governed the bottom 2/3rds of the peninsula. Balhae/ Parhae (Bohai) was in the north. (p. 110-1) • Silla was Buddhist kingdom ruled by an aristocracy of mostly warriors. (106-7) • Adopted some elements of Chinese culture, including writing. • Can we call Silla “Unified Silla”? North Koreans say no, South Koreans say yes

12. Silla and Balhae/Parhae • ➞http://www.japanfocus.org/-Yonson-Ahn/1837

13. Silla Art • http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/736 • For a glimpse of Seokguram Grotto • For a glimpse of Silla art • http://www.museum.go.kr/program/place/placeListEng.jsp?menuID=002002001001&placeIDCon=23

14. Was Palhae Korean? • Chinese and Koreans have the same debate over Balhae they have over Goguryeo. • But, just as with Goguryeo, we should reject any claim that Balhae was part of China. At the same time, we should refrain from calling it “Korean.” It was simply Balhae, a kingdom that was never part of China but contributed to the formation of what became Korea.

15. Early Korean Religion p. 107 • shamanism---shamans in Korea are people (usually women) who become possessed by the spirits of the recently dead or of heroes from long ago. • Buddhism --Korea adopted Mahayana Buddhism from China • Wonhyo/Wŏnhyo was a particularly famous Korean monk. (p. 108) • Korea did not adopt Daoist religion. • Koreans also used Confucianism to run their governments.

16. Korean History in motion • Go to http://www.timemap.net/epublications/2002_animations/2002_shilla_animation.swf • Why is Nangnang (Lelang) not on this map designed by Korean historians? • Why does the map claim that Tsushima was part of Silla until Japan seized it in 500? (There was no central Japanese government in 500 to claim authority over Tsushima!)