Which of these answers describes the zaibatsu

A History of Korea

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ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC. Lanham • Boulder • New York • Toronto • Plymouth, UK

A History of Korea

From Antiquity to the Present

Michael J. Seth

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Published by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc. 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706 http://www.rowmanlittlefield.com

Estover Road, Plymouth PL6 7PY, United Kingdom

Copyright © 2011 by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Seth, Michael J., 1948– A history of Korea : from antiquity to the present / Michael J. Seth. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-7425-6715-3 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-7425-6716-0 (pbk. : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-7425-6717-7 (electronic) 1. Korea—History. 2. Korea—Civilization. I. Title. DS907.18.S426 2011 951.9—dc22 2010032330

� ™ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

Printed in the United States of America

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v

List of Primary Source Readings xi

Maps xiii

Introduction 1

1 The Origins 9 The Koreans 9 Early Inhabitants 10 The Age of Rice Farming Begins 13 Sources for Early Korea 16 Chosǒn 16 The Chinese Commanderies 18 Chinese Commanderies and Their Neighbors: The Northern Peoples 20 Chinese Commanderies and Their Neighbors: The Southern Peoples 22 Politics of the Third Century 23 Korea in Global Perspective: 5,000 Years of History 24

2 The Period of the Three Kingdoms, 4th Century to 676 27 The Emergence of the Three Kingdoms 28 The Wa and the Mimana 31 Korea and Northeast Asia in the Fourth and Fifth Centuries 32 Culture and Society of the Three Kingdoms 34 The Bone-Ranks, the Hwabaek, and the Hwarang 39

Contents

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vi Contents

The Changing Environment of the Late Sixth and Seventh Centuries 42 The Unification of Korea under Silla 44 Korea in Global Perspective: State Formation 46

3 Late Silla, 676 to 935 49 The Peninsular Kingdom 49 Consolidation of Central Monarchical Rule under Silla, 676–780 50 Silla and the Chinese Model 52 Supporting the Silla State 53 Silla Society 57 Silla and Its Neighbors 64 Parhae 67 The Decline of Silla 69 The Later Three Kingdoms 70 Korea in Global Perspective: Silla’s Rise and Fall 73

4 Koryǒ, 935 to 1170 77 The New Koryǒ State 77 Koryǒ in East Asia 85 Internal Politics, 935–1170 88 Koryǒ Culture 90 The Samguk Sagi 93 Koryǒ Society 95 Korea in Global Perspective: Koryǒ’s Examination System 98

5 Military Rulers and Mongol Invaders, 1170 to 1392 103 Military Rule 103 Sǒn Buddhism 107 Korea, Japan, and Feudal Europe 108 The Mongol Invasions 110 The Legacy of the Mongol Period 113 Late Koryǒ Society 115 The End of the Koryǒ 116 Late Koryǒ Culture 118 The Rise of Neo-Confucianism 120 Korea in Global Perspective: The Mongols and Korea 123

6 The Neo-Confucian Revolution and the Chosǒn State, 1392 to the 18th Century 127 Establishing the Yi Dynasty 127 The Chosǒn State 131 The Censorate and the Classics Mat 133 Historians 134

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Contents vii

The Examination System 135 Education 139 Agricultural Improvements and the State 141 Military and Foreign Affairs 142 The Japanese and Manchu Invasions 146 Competition for Power among the Elite 150 Chosǒn Politics in Perspective 154 Korea in Global Perspective: Chosǒn as an Ideologically Driven State 154

7 Chosǒn Society 157 The Family 158 Women during the Yi Dynasty 161 Social Structure 165 Slaves and Outcastes 167 Crime and Punishment 172 Religious Beliefs and Practices 174 Philosophy 176 Arts, Literature, and Science 179 Technology and Inventions 184 Korea in Global Perspective: Women in Korea 184 Korea in Global Perspective: Chosǒn’s Social Hierarchy 186

8 Late Chosǒn, Early 18th Century to 1876 189 The Politics of Late Chosǒn 190 Late Chosǒn and the Confucian World Order 191 Korean Travelers to China and Japan 194 Taxation and Reform 197 Agriculture 200 Commerce and Trade 201 Cultural Flowering of Late Chosǒn 204 Sirhak 210 Everyday Life 212 Korea in the Nineteenth Century: The “Hermit Kingdom” 215 Internal Problems in the Nineteenth Century 216 Korea in Global Perspective: The Hermit Kingdom? 221

9 Korea in the Age of Imperialism, 1876 to 1910 225 Early Contacts with the West 225 The Opening of Korea 230 Early Reforms, 1876–1884 234 The Chinese Decade, 1885–1894 240 The Tonghak Rebellion 243 Kabo Reforms 246

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viii Contents

The Russian Ascendency and the Independence Club 249 The Russo-Japanese War and the Protectorate 252 The Protectorate, 1905–1910 254 Korea in Transition 257 Korea in Global Perspective: Korea in the Age of Imperialism 259

10 Colonial Korea, 1910 to 1945 265 The March First Movement 267 The Post–March First Period 269 Cultural Ferment of the 1920s 271 Moderate and Radical Nationalism 272 Economic Development 280 Modernity and Social Change 282 Rural Society 289 Wartime Colonialism, 1931–1945 292 Forced Assimilation 296 A Society in Turmoil: The Legacy of Colonial Rule 297 Korea in Global Perspective: The Korean Nationalist Movement 299 Korea in Global Perspective: Korea’s Colonial Experience 300

11 Division and War, 1945 to 1953 305 The End of Colonial Rule in Korea 308 North Korea under Soviet Occupation 309 South Korea under U.S. Occupation 311 Trusteeship 312 Establishing a Separate Regime in the North 313 The Beginnings of a New Regime in the South 314 Toward Division 316 The Republic of Korea 317 The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea 320 On the Eve of the Korean War 321 The Korean War 324 The Impact of the Korean War 332 Korea in Global Perspective: Divided Countries 333 Korea in Global Perspective: The Korean War 334

12 North Korea: Recovery, Transformation, and Decline, 1953 to 1993 339 The Divergent Paths of the Two Koreas 339 North Korea’s Recovery 340 Political Consolidation 344 The Changing International Situation 347

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Contents ix

Confrontational Stance toward the South and the United States 350 Relentless Militarization 353 The Ideology of Self-Reliance 355 The Cult of the Kim Family 358 Society 362 Economic Problems 365 Korea in Global Perspective: North Korea as a Communist Country 368

13 South Korea: From Poverty to Prosperity, 1953 to 1997 373 The Syngman Rhee Years, 1953–1960 373 The Democratic Experiment, 1960–1961 376 The Military Coup 378 Economic Transformation 381 Economic Growth under Park Chung Hee 383 Chaebǒls 389 Transformation of the Countryside 392 Economic Development in the 1980s 394 Explaining South Korea’s Economic Miracle 395 Education 398 Korea in Global Perspective: Educational Development 400 Korea in Global Perspective: Economic Development 401

14 South Korea: Creating a Democratic Society, 1953 to 1997 405 Military Authoritarianism 405 The Yushin Era, 1971–1979 407 Seoul Spring, 1979–1980 411 The Fifth Republic 414 1987: A Political Turning Point 415 Transition to Democracy 418 Understanding the Democratic Turn 422 Student Activism 426 Organized Labor 428 Social and Cultural Transition 431 Korea in Global Perspective: Democratization 434

15 Contemporary North Korea, 1993 to 2010 437 In Decline 437 A Period of Crisis 439 Under Kim Jong Il 441 Ideology 442 Famine 444 Crisis and Summitry 446

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x Contents

Tentative Reforms 448 Confrontations and the Policy of Survival 451 Korea in Global Perspective: North Korea’s Famine 457 Korea in Global Perspective: North Korea as a Failed State 458

16 Contemporary South Korea, 1997 to 2010 465 Return to Civilian Government 465 Economic Crisis and Recovery 469 Domestic Politics 471 Foreign Policy 477 Rethinking Reunification 480 A Society Undergoing Rapid Change 481 Changing Gender Relations, Changing Families 485 Ethnic Homogeneity 487 Facing History and Preserving Heritage 489 New Crises and New Problems 491 Korea in Global Perspective: South Korea’s Place in the World 492

Conclusion 497

Appendix: Romanization 503

Notes 507

Glossary of Korean Words 529

Annotated Selected Bibliography 539

Index 555

About the Author 573

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xi

The Tan’gun Myth 25 Origins of the Hwarang 47 King Hǔngdǒk’s Edict on Clothing, Carts, and Housing 47 Sǒl Kye-du 74 Great Master Kyunyǒ: Eleven Poems on the Ten Vows of

the Universally Worthy Bodhisattva 74 Wang Kǒn: Ten Injunctions 99 Manjǒk’s Slave Rebellion 124 Yun Hoe: On the Harmfulness of Buddhism 156 Sin Ch’ǒjung: On the Deceitfulness of Buddhism 156 The Creation of the Han’gǔl Script 187 Regulating Marriage 223 Inaugural Message of the Independent, April 7, 1896 261 Chang Chiyǒn, “We Wail Today” 262 Son Pyǒnghǔi et al., Declaration of Independence 302 Summary of the Instructions of Commanding General

Chistiakov at the Meeting of the Five Provinces 336 Kim Il Sung, from “Report on the Work of the Central Committee

to the Fourth Congress of the Workers Party of Korea” 370 Kim Il Sung, from “Socialist Construction in the Democratic

People’s Republic of Korea and the South Korean Revolution” 371 Park Chung Hee, from The Country, the Revolution and I 402 Kim Chi-ha: Five Thieves 435 “Publishing Comrade Kim Jong Il’s Brief History” 460 An Account of the Famine 461 Kim Dae Jung, from Prison Writings 494

Primary Source Readings

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Physical Map of Korea

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Physical Map of East Asia

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Korea in the Fifth Century

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Silla and Parhae Kingdoms

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Koryǒ in the Eleventh Century

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Chosǒn Korea

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Modern Korea

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1

Korea is an ancient land with 2,000 years of recorded history and a rich and distinctive cultural tradition. The various peoples that lived in the peninsula gradually forged a society characterized by cultural homogeneity and political unity. Korea today is divided into two rival states, but this is a fairly recent development. Before being effectively partitioned by the United States and the Soviet Union in 1945, Korea had been one of the oldest continuously unified states in the world. The pen- insular heartland of what is today Korea was united in 676, and except for one brief period, remained so until the end of World War II. It had also become one of the most homogeneous societies in the world. A number of peoples entered the peninsula in antiquity, but gradually all merged into a single ethnicity, sharing one language and participating in one political system. In modern times there have been no significant ethnic minorities.

Binding Koreans together and distinguishing them from their neigh- bors has been their language. Korean, while showing some similarities to Japanese and to the Altaic languages of Inner Asia, is also quite distinct from them. In modern times all Koreans spoke the Korean language, which since the fifteenth century has been written in a unique alphabet. Before the twentieth century, there were no significant Korean-speaking groups outside of Korea. Thus, Korea became one of the few lands where ethnicity, membership in a language community, and a state were coter- minous. This unity and homogeneity that emerged over the centuries has become an important part of Korean identity.

In the late nineteenth century few if any states could match Korea’s ter- ritorial and institutional stability, its historical continuity, its ethnic unity

Introduction

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2 Introduction

and its isolation. The last earned it the sobriquet “the hermit kingdom.” As with so much of the non-Western world Korea became a victim of the age of imperialism. Its colonial experience was atypical, however, in that it was ruled by Japan, another non-Western society, a familiar neighbor with which it shared many cultural affinities. But what makes Korea’s modern history unique was its division in 1945 by the United States and the Soviet Union at the thirty-eighth parallel. Korea was divided along a totally arbitrary line that had no historical, geographical, cultural, or economic logic; just a line that conveniently separated the country into roughly two halves—dividing provinces, valleys, and families. A nation that was arguably the most ethnically homogeneous in the world, with thirteen centuries of political unity, with national and provincial bound- aries older than almost any other state, was cut into halves by the two superpowers.

While in theory this was only a temporary measure, almost imme- diately two separate regimes emerged. In 1948, the United States and the Soviet Union set up their client states: the Republic of Korea, better known as South Korea, and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or North Korea. The two “Koreas” had different leaders, different political and economic systems, and different external orientations. Both saw the division as an unacceptable and temporary condition, but the attempts to unify the country led to one of the bloodiest conflicts since the end of World War II. Despite horrific destruction and loss of life, both regimes survived and continued on their markedly different trajectories of devel- opment. North Korea evolved into one of the world’s most totalitarian and militant states, ruled by a family with a cult of personality unequaled in its extreme intensity. It was the world’s most closed and enigmatic state, with a leadership busy developing missiles and nuclear weapons while millions of the nation’s children were stunted from malnutrition. South Korea, by contrast, after a rocky and uncertain start evolved into an open, democratic society, whose spectacular economic growth and in- ternationally competitive industries made it an outstanding success story among the postcolonial states.

Nowhere else was a nation so arbitrarily divided and the peoples of the two halves so effectively isolated from each other; nowhere else did such radically different political and social systems emerge. The boundary between the two Koreas is not only the world’s most heavily armed and until recently most hermetically sealed, it marks two different living stan- dards and lifestyles. Nowhere else is there such a sharp contrast between two contiguous states—one rich, democratic, and cosmopolitan; the other impoverished, totalitarian, and isolated. And arguably the history of no other society in the past century offers such contrasting examples of how societies can undergo modern development. Korea’s modern history is

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Introduction 3

both a remarkable story and an incomparable example of how the inter- play of historical contingency, policy choices, and cultural heritage can shape societies in contrasting ways.

Korea is also a fascinating land with a rich and distinctive culture that continues to evolve in interesting and even surprising ways. Yet Korea and its history have often been overlooked in the past. Except for the Korean War it has not, at least until recently, drawn much attention from the rest of the world. Partly this is due to the fact that it has been over- shadowed by it larger neighbors, China and Japan.

Today Korea is emerging from its past obscurity. On the negative side there is the notoriety of Kim Jong Il and the North Korean nuclear threat. But South Korea has become a major world economy whose corporate names LG, Samsung, and Hyundai are globally recognized and whose popular culture has a huge audience among its Asian neighbors and is beginning to be known beyond Asia. Yet its remarkable history, with its important implications, is still not widely known or appreciated.

Geographically, Korea is a mountainous peninsula about 600 miles long and an average of 120 miles wide with a mixture of maritime and continental climates. The mountains are not high, reaching only 9,000 feet with Mount Paektu on the border between North Korea and Manchuria. Yet no place in Korea is not within sight of them.

Arable land is limited but well watered and fertile. Winters vary from short and mild in the south to long and bitter cold in the north; summers are wet and humid almost everywhere. The wet, humid summer and dry autumn are ideal for growing rice, and except in the far north where it is too cold to cultivate, rice has been the staple crop for several millen- nia. Wet rice agriculture is labor intensive but produces high yields per acre. Therefore, despite the limited amount of land suitable for farming, Korea has been for centuries a densely populated country and until quite recently an overwhelmingly rural, agricultural one.

No part of Korea is far from the seas. The seas, however, while filled with abundant fish and seafood, important components in the Korean diet, are not friendly to navigation. The east coast on the Sea of Japan (or “East Sea” as the Koreans call it) has few good harbors and is cut off from the major population centers by rugged mountains. Navigation on the western Yellow Sea coast is made difficult by shifting sandbars and some of the world’s highest tides. Confined to a geographically well-defined peninsula with ample resources to support a fairly populous agricultural society Korea developed its own distinctive society and identity while borrowing heavily from China.

Korea is a modest-sized country surrounded by much larger neighbors: China, Japan, and Russia. The fact that it has been lodged between the im- portant and culturally rich Chinese and Japanese societies helps account

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4 Introduction

for the lack of attention its history has attracted. It has been difficult for Koreans to emerge from the shadow of their East Asian neighbors and to make their presence and their culture known to the rest of the world. Yet Korea, small as it seems next to its neighbors, is not all that small. The area of North and South Korea combined is 84,000 square miles, about the same as Utah. This sounds unimpressive, but it is also the same size as the United Kingdom and a little smaller than another peninsular society, Italy, which it roughly resembles in shape. In population today North Korea has about 23 million inhabitants and South Korea 47 million for a total of 70 million, a little larger than that of Britain, France, or Italy, and a little smaller than that of Germany.

Korea has been a part of an East Asian civilization centered in China. China was one of the earliest homes of agriculture, urbanization, state structures, and literacy. As long as three and a half millennia ago a culture emerged in northern China that was recognizably Chinese. This culture profoundly influenced its neighbors, Korea, Vietnam, and Japan, to the extent that the cultures of these societies can be viewed as offshoots of Chinese civilization. Literate states emerged first in Korea and then Japan in the early centuries of the first millennium CE. From China the Koreans received their writing system. Although in the fifteenth century the Ko- reans invented their own unique alphabet, Chinese characters were the main means of writing until the twentieth century. The Korean language borrowed much of its higher vocabulary from Chinese, much as English borrowed most of its educated vocabulary from Latin and Greek. Kore- ans then brought literacy farther eastward to their Japanese neighbors. Written classical Chinese was studied by all educated Koreans before the twentieth century, and it served as the means for communicating with their Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese neighbors.

China provided the model for literature, art, music, architecture, dress, and etiquette. From China Koreans imported most of their ideas about government and politics. They accepted the Chinese worldview in which China was the center of the universe and the home of all civilization, and its emperor the mediator between heaven and earth. Koreans took pride in their adherence to Chinese cultural norms. For most of the period from the seventh to the nineteenth century they accepted their country’s role as a subordinate member of the international hierarchy in which China stood at the apex, loyal adherents of Chinese culture such as Korea ranked next, and the barbarians outside Chinese civilization stood at the bottom. Close adherence to civilized standards was a source of pride. But this did not result in a loss of separate identity. On the contrary, in adapting Chinese culture to their own society Koreans defined their own cultural distinctiveness. Nor did Korea’s membership in the “tributary system” in which the Korean king became a vassal of the Chinese emperor mean that

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Introduction 5

Korea was less than fully independent, as was sometimes misunderstood by Westerners. In fact, Koreans were fiercely independent. Much of their history has been the story of resistance to outside intruders. Korea’s posi- tion as a tributary state was usually ceremonial, and for Koreans it did not imply a loss of autonomy. Chinese attempts to interfere in domestic af- fairs were met with opposition. Indeed, some today view the Korean past as a saga of the struggles of a smaller society to resist control or assimila- tion by larger, more aggressive neighbors: the Chinese, the Japanese, and the Inner Asian peoples that border them on the north, the Russians being the successors of the last.

Missionaries from China and Central Asia introduced Buddhism to Korea. For much of its history Korea was a Buddhist land. Millions of Koreans are still adherents to Buddhism, which until recently has been the most influential religious tradition. Buddhism originated in India from where it spread throughout most of Asia, coming to Korea via China. When it reached Korea it had absorbed a number of Chinese and other Asian traditions. Buddhism had a profound impact on Korean art, music, and literature. Buddhism inspired the earliest sculptures and the first monumental architecture other than tombs, and importantly, its missionaries brought literacy. It included the idea of reincarnation, that the suffering in life is inevitable, but escape from the cycle of births and rebirths is possible. For many Koreans it meant a hope for a future life of bliss through faith in the Buddha. It also taught a respect for all forms of life. Buddhist practices of meditation and the escape from daily concerns that temples provided were an important outlet for those who found the obligations and pressures of everyday life too strong.

Confucianism had an especially profound impact on Korean society, forming the basis for ethical standards and for ideas about govern- ment, society, and family relationships. Confucianism was a tradition of thought in China, a dynamic tradition that evolved over the centuries. It taught that the world was a moral universe, that all humans were con- nected to the universe and to each other. For Koreans it was important in that it made the family, and the roles and responsibilities of each member of the family, the foundation for morality. Each individual had the duty to adhere to his or her role as mother, father, son, daughter, elder brother, and so on. These relations were given cosmic significance. At a political level Confucianism emphasized the importance of loyalty, hierarchy, and authority. It made obedience to a ruler a moral duty and correctly carry- ing out rulership a moral obligation. It also influenced the Korean concern for social rank. Koreans viewed the world as a hierarchical order in which everyone has a place. The young were subordinate to their elders, women to men, commoners to members of the upper class, and subjects to the ruler. Yet in each of these relations both were bound by moral obligations.

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6 Introduction

While Buddhism and Confucianism came to Korea from China, the Korean love and respect for nature has indigenous origins. Koreans have looked to the natural world—the mountains, rivers, trees, rocks, flowers, animals, and seashores—as sources of artistic and spiritual inspiration. The changing of the seasons and the beauties of nature have always been among the most popular topics of painting, poetry, and song. Prominent features of nature, especially mountains, but also rocks, trees, and riv- ers, have been seen as sources of spiritual power. This took the form of directly worshiping the spirits of nature, spirits that were not personified as gods and goddesses but accepted as part of nature. Nature worship blended with geomancy, the belief imported from China that certain top- ographical settings are auspicious. The location of buildings, the layout of cities and towns, and the placement of graves, as well as architecture and everyday activities, took note of their natural settings.

While in general the Koreans adhered to Chinese models more closely than did the more distant Japanese, Chinese culture imports did not erase indigenous cultural traditions and beliefs. Shamanism and nature worship remained a strong component of religious life, particularly for the non-elite. Folk dances, folk art, and craft traditions drew upon do- mestic sources. Koreans often selectively borrowed and adapted from China. Korean homes, for example, with their heated paper floors, were unlike those of their neighbors. Their cuisine took on its own style, evolving into a highly spiced culinary tradition in sharp contrast to the blander fare of the northern Chinese and Japanese. The social system evolved differently from that of China. Korea retained a fairly rigid hi- erarchical tradition, with an aristocracy made up of families who often could trace their ancestries back many generations, in contrast to the Chinese ruling class with its greater social mobility and lesser stability. Yet the Korean aristocracy gradually moved from a warrior aristocracy to a civilian one that held military skills in contempt in contrast to the Japanese warrior elite. In many ways, such as ritual practices, marital customs, the role of women, the structure of the family, and the patterns of governance, Korean society provided a distinctive variant within East Asian civilization.

Another way Korean history was distinctive was its remarkable con- tinuity. From the seventh to the twentieth century only three dynasties ruled Korea. The second ruled for almost five centuries and the third for more than five centuries; both were among the longest-ruling dynasties in history. The two dynastic changes that did take place did not bring about a vast upheaval. Elite families as well as institutions were carried over from one dynasty to another. This, along with a Confucian concern for examining the past, contributed to a strong sense of historical conscious- ness among Koreans.

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Introduction 7

This history traces the origins and development of the Korean people and their culture from the varied tribal peoples who settled in the penin- sula to the two Koreas today. The first chapter deals with the origins of the Korean people, from the earliest human inhabitants to the emergence of indigenous literate states in the third century CE. The second chapter deals with the “Three Kingdoms” period, in which three states—Silla, Paekche, and Koguryŏ—competed for supremacy in the peninsula, and ends with the unification of most of the peninsula under Silla in the sev- enth century. The next six chapters deal with the evolution of Korean society and culture under a unified state structure. The third chapter examines developments during Late Silla (676–935); the fourth and fifth during Koryŏ (935–1392), the second dynastic state; and chapters 6, 7, and 8 survey the social, political, and cultural evolution of Korea during the third and longest dynastic state, Chosŏn (1392–1910). Chapter 9 looks at the entry of Korea into the modern world and the age of imperialism in the late nineteenth century and traces its loss of independence to Japan. The tenth chapter surveys the thirty-five-year period of colonial rule, from 1910 to 1945, and its impact on later Korean history. Chapter 11 nar- rates the division of Korea, the development of two separate regimes and the horrendous Korean War. Chapter 12 examines the evolution of North Korean society from the end of the Korean War in 1953 to the early 1990s. Chapters 13 and 14 cover South Korea’s development during this time. More attention is given to South Korea than to the North since not only does it contain a majority of the Korean people, its history is far better documented. Chapters 15 and 16 deal respectively with North and South Korea since the late 1980s.

To place Korean history into global perspective one or two short essays entitled “Korea in Global Perspective” appear at the end of each chapter. This is followed by one or more short primary sources. Korean names and terms are transliterated according the modified McCune-Reishauer sys- tem used by the Library of Congress and most English-speaking scholars (see appendix). Most dates for premodern Korea are based on the lunar (Chinese) calendar. Since the lunar calendar usually begins between mid- January and mid-February they may vary slightly with our solar calendar.

The remarkable continuity of Korea’s social and political history, its turbulent modern history, the creation of two Koreas, and the radically divergent paths they followed offer many insights for understanding economic, social, and political development. Korea is also an important part of the global community, with a rich and dynamic culture. That alone makes its history worthy of study.

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9

THE KOREANS

The Koreans today are one of the world’s most ethnically homogeneous peoples. In recent times there have been no significant ethnic or linguistic minorities. Ethnicity is a very difficult term to define, but language is simpler. All Koreans speak Korean as their native tongue, and all people who speak Korean as their first language identify themselves as ethnically Korean. No other language is known to have been spoken by any large group on the peninsula in recent centuries.

Korean is not closely related to any other language. Most linguists clas- sify it as related to Japanese and remotely related to the Altaic languages of Inner Asia, which include Mongolian, the Turkic languages, and the Tungusic languages such as Manchu. Korean shares a grammatical structure with Japanese and the Altaic languages. All are agglutinative, that is, one adds components to a root to form words that are often long. This linguistic relationship, if accurate, is often interpreted as meaning that the ancient ancestors of modern Koreans came from Central Asia and entered the peninsula through Manchuria, with some of them going on to occupy the Japanese archipelago. According to one current theory, the ancestral Koreans spoke Proto-Altaic, one branch of which evolved into the Tungusic languages and another into Proto-Korean-Japanese, which eventually became the modern Korean and Japanese languages.1 Korean shares many similarities in sentence structure with Japanese, and it is probable that the two languages are genetically related, but linguists differ on whether both languages are related to the Altaic languages. A

1

X

The Origins

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10 Chapter 1

recent linguistic theory places Korean and Japanese along with Ainu in its own language group and does not see a direct connection between this proposed Japanese-Korean-Ainu language family and those of any other. Genetic evidence lends some support for both theories. Analysis of Y-chromosome DNA suggests that at least some of the ancestors of Koreans entered from Manchuria and Northeast Asia, and that after a long period in the peninsula some of their descendents moved into Japan. The migration into Japan may have taken place 4,000 years ago. Koreans and Japanese share a cluster of genetic markers that is uncommon among other Asians. Whatever the origins of Koreans and their relations with their neighbors, in the 2,000 years of Korean history that can be supported with written records, no documented large-scale migrations of people into the peninsula took place.

Although most probably related to Japanese, the unusual sound system of Korean and most of its native vocabulary are very different. Korean consonants make a distinction between aspiration and nonaspiration, and between tense and lax sounds, but do not make phonemic distinc- tions between voiced and unvoiced consonants. This means that Korean has no initial b, d, hard g, or j sounds but has three p, three t, three ch, and three k sounds. This plus the complex system of sound changes makes it a difficult language for most nonnative speakers to pronounce. It is highly inflected and has no tones. Although modern Korean is filled with many Chinese loanwords it does not resemble Chinese at all. The distinctive- ness of Korean native vocabulary and phonology is a source of pride to some modern Korean nationalists who like to emphasize Korean unique- ness. For the historian it presents a linguistic puzzle, making it hard to trace Korean origins. It should be added that historians do not know much about how the language sounded before the invention of the Ko- rean alphabet in the fifteenth century and can only guess at its structure in ancient times.

EARLY INHABITANTS

Humans have lived on the Korean peninsula since very early times. Re- mains of Paleolithic hominids have been found at Kulp’ori in Unggi-gun in the extreme northeast of Korea that have been tentatively dated back 400,000 years. North Koreans have claimed to have found evidence of hu- man habitation as early as 600,000 years ago. Stone implements and evi- dence of the occupation of caves by Paleolithic people have been reported at a number of sites in South Korea. The dating of these early inhabitants is uncertain. It is also unclear if the peninsula was continuously inhabited

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since these early times. At the minimum, we can say that human activity in Korea goes back hundreds of thousands of years.

The search for the origins of Korean culture begins during the post- Pleistocene climatic optimum, 6000 to 2000 BCE. This period of warming climate roughly coincided with the early Neolithic period in Korea. Our chief source of information on Neolithic peoples in Korea comes from pottery. The earliest pottery is found on top of layers of pre-pottery sites. This, along with a continuity in the stone tools, suggests that the pottery cultures may have emerged from the preexisting cultures rather than be- ing the product of new peoples entering the peninsula.2 The earliest pot- tery dates back to perhaps 6000 BCE and is found in connection with shell middens along the Korean coasts. This early pottery is known as chŭlmun, or comb-patterned pottery (also known in Korean as pitsal munŭi), after the characteristic decorative pattern that consisted of incised parallel lines. The early forms show considerable regional variation. After 3500 BCE the classic chŭlmun emerged in the Han and Taedong River basins on the west coast. Regional variations in pottery remained. Along the east coast a flat-based pottery has been found, while on the south coast, pottery vessels are typically round-based vessels with wide mouths. The early cultures associated with these pottery remains appear to have had a subsistence base that was heavily dependent on fishing. In addition to shell middens, the importance of fishing is apparent from the abundant stone net sinkers and fishhooks that have been found at these early Neo- lithic sites.3

Villages associated with chŭlmun pottery resemble earlier ones, being small clusters of semisubterranean dwellings made by digging a pit into the ground and covering it with wood, mud, and thatch. A central hearth lined with stones provided heat. This was a practical adaptation to the climate, since the homes would likely be cool in summer and relatively warm in winter. The complex relationship between the peoples of the peninsula and their relationship with their regional neighbors China, Manchuria/Siberia, and the Japanese archipelago are apparent in this early period. Pottery in Korea shows some similarity to that of Japan and the Yellow Sea region of China. Some scholars have also noted some resemblances in regional Korean styles to Siberian pottery. Similarity in pottery styles suggests these early inhabitants of Korea were part of a larger complex of Northeast Asian peoples and cultures. Some scholars see a distinctiveness in the pottery of Korea from what has been found in either the Asian mainland or in Japan. Others, however, find the evidence for a distinctive Korean culture at such an early date unconvincing.

The chŭlmun period, which lasted until about 2000 BCE, is a period of transition from hunting, fishing, and gathering to agriculture as the basis

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of subsistence. To understand this transition, we can best see develop- ments in Korea as part of a worldwide change in human patterns of existence. About 10,000 years ago, people in various parts of the world shifted from economies based on specialized hunting with minor subsid- iary gathering of plants and some fishing to a broad-spectrum strategy for existence. This involved hunting a wider variety of game, including many smaller animals, and relying more on fishing and on plant collec- tion for food. In many parts of the world this was followed by the gradual domestication of plants and animals until societies became sedentary and once again specialized, relying on one to several species of cultivated plants or livestock. The reasons for this development remain somewhat mysterious, although the transition to agriculture is possibly related in some complex way to the end of the most recent glacial period about 10,000 years ago and the subsequent global warming.

Archaeological evidence shows Korea fitting very much into this pattern. During the Neolithic, the peoples of the peninsula lived by fishing; shellfish collecting; hunting deer, wild pigs, and oxen; and collecting wild plants. The forests of Korea, especially during the post- Pleistocene climatic optimum from 6000 to 2000 BCE, contained great bounties of edible plants: acorns, chestnuts, arrowroots, turnips, green onions, garlic, and Japanese camellia. The stone implements left behind show that these foods became increasingly important in the diet.4 In the fourth millennium, the beginnings of agriculture appear. Millet, native to Korea, was probably the first major domesticated plant, and by the end of the chŭlmun its cultivation was widespread, as was the domestication of the pig. Evidence for plant domestication is found in the existence of grinding stones, hoes, and stone sickles at archaeologi- cal sites. Agriculture is extremely important for historical development, for it makes possible dense populations of sedentary communities, transforms the landscape, and creates the possibilities for more com- plex forms of social organization to emerge. But agriculture developed slowly as the basis of subsistence, and settlements remained small. Hunting, fishing, and wild plant collecting were still important. The changes brought about by the chŭlmun peoples were laying the founda- tion for the future developments in Korea, but who these peoples were and what their relationship was to the peoples and cultures outside the peninsula or to the later Korean peoples are unclear. Early agriculture was probably introduced into the peninsula from what is now central and southern China, perhaps brought by migrations of people into Korea. A cluster of genetic markers has been linked with the spread of Neolithic agriculture from southern China to the rest of East Asia including Korea and Japan.

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THE AGE OF RICE FARMING BEGINS

Rice has been a staple crop in Korea for the past several millennia.5 Korea is well suited for rice cultivation. There are two main varieties of rice: Oryza sativa indica and Oryza sativa japonica/sinica, both of which were cultivated in the Yangzi basin in central China by the third mil- lennium BCE. Oryza sativa japonica/sinica is best suited for Korea, since it germinates and ripens at lower temperatures and is more resistant to cold weather. Rice can be grown on dry fields, but the best yields are in wet paddies. During earlier times, most rice was grown in dry fields, but after the sixteenth century wet rice farming emerged as the domi- nant form of agriculture in Korea. In wet rice farming, water is kept in small reservoirs or diverted from small streams to flow into fields. Rice seedlings are first planted in seedbeds and then transplanted into the main field. In Korea the transplanting is usually done in June just before the start of the summer monsoon season. Weather patterns in Korea are ideal for this type of rice cultivation. The summer monsoon brings most of the year’s rainfall, which amounts to about sixty inches a year in the southern areas and about fifty inches in the central Han River basin and declines further as the monsoon proceeds northward. Rice grows fast in Korea’s warm, humid, tropical-like summers and ripens in the bright, cloudless, dry autumns. Although there are no broad plains in Korea, the many river valleys provide rich alluvial soils, and the numerous streams that trickle down the mountainsides into the valleys make for a ready supply of water for the paddies.

A number of other crops, such as soybeans, barley, and millet, have been important components of the Korean diet, but rice occupies a place in the culture unrivaled by any other food source. The word for meal, pap, means “cooked rice.” Most Koreans from the beginnings of recorded history 2,000 years ago until the mid-twentieth century were rice farmers. The rhythms of rice production have been dictated by the planting and harvesting of rice. Rice production has been the prime determinant of the population distribution. The majority of Koreans in historical times have lived in the warmer and moister regions of southern and central Korea; the northern regions, less suitable for rice, have been less populated and more marginal. The elite derived their wealth primarily from their own- ership of good rice lands and their control over those that farmed them.

It is not yet clear when rice farming began in Korea. Between 2000 and 1500 BCE the chŭlmun pottery culture gave way to the mumun, or plain, pottery style, so named after the characteristic undecorated double-rimmed vessels. It was during this period that agriculture clearly emerged as the dominant way of life. During the early mumun culture,

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hunting, fishing, and foraging were still important, and archaeological evidence suggests that cultivation of rice was not extensive until the first millennium BCE, indicating not an abrupt change but a slow transition as the peoples of the peninsula adapted to rice farming.6 But by the late first millennium, a great transformation had taken place, as rice cultivation was beginning to be the basis for the Korean way of life, which it would continue to be until the twentieth century. The impact of rice cultivation on the peoples and cultures of Korea was profound. Rice cultivation made it possible to support dense populations. It bound this expanded population to the soil and to the seasonal rhythms associated with the cultivation of rice. Collecting wild plants, the planting of a variety of veg- etables, the raising of pigs and oxen, fishing, shellfish collecting, and the cultivation of barley and millet as secondary crops were also important, but only as supplements to rice farming.

Some archaeological evidence suggests that the early peoples of Korea were influenced by developments of China. Around 700 BCE, or perhaps a little earlier, the use of bronze began in Korea. Western scholars, im- pressed by the impact of technology on social and cultural change, have tended to regard the arrival of bronze tools and weapons as of epochal significance. In the case of Korea, however, the appearance of bronze knives and tools was in itself probably of only minor significance. During the Bronze Age, some graves are accompanied by bronze mirrors, dag- gers, and bells, which are sometimes found in stone cists. These would appear to be precious goods, setting off their possessors from those whose graves had simpler, more common stone burial possessions. Characteris- tic among Korean bronze artifacts are a dagger shaped like a pip’a (Chi- nese lute) and a multiknobbed mirror; both are found in adjacent areas of Manchuria, and the dagger is also found in Shandong and parts of north- ern China. Neither appears to be of Chinese origin, and these may be indicators of a broad Northeast Asia cultural zone.7 Interestingly enough, not a single bronze ritual vessel, which is characteristic of China’s Bronze Age, has been found in Korea. This suggests that although bronze metal- working most probably spread to Korea from China, where it developed around 1800 BCE, Korea remained culturally different from the Chinese mainland. Also interesting is the fact that bronze was not associated with state formation in Korea as it has been elsewhere. Despite efforts by some nationalist Korean historians to claim bronze artifacts as evidence of early states, it is unlikely that any organization above the tribal level existed at this time. Iron also probably came to the peninsula from China some- time before 300 BCE. Iron is important not only because it is superior to stone for cutting trees, clearing fields, and eliminating enemies, but also because it contributed to economic specialization and the development of trade. Both are key elements in the creation of complex societies.

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Another artifact that suggests Korea was part of a Northeast Asian cultural zone distinct from most of China is the megalith. About 10,000 dolmens have been found in Korea, most probably built in the first mil- lennium BCE. These are not unique to Korea but are found in Manchu- ria, northern Shandong Province of China, and northern Kyushu. They usually mark grave sites and consist of two basic types. The northern type, called t’akcha (table) style, has typically three or four stones cov- ered by a large stone; the southern paduk (Korean name for the game of go) type consists of a large capstone resting on a number of much smaller stones or directly on the ground. Less is known about them and the people who constructed them than is known about the more fa- mous megaliths in Western Europe. The construction of elaborate stone megaliths suggests formation of social stratification and of social units larger than simple villages. Presumably it took large numbers of people, more than would inhabit a small village, to construct the megaliths, and burials there would be for persons of high or important status.8 Many mysteries remain about the megaliths. For example, why do the artifacts found in stone cists and dolmens vary considerably? Do they represent different ethnic groups or social strata? If the latter, then why are bronze artifacts more likely to be found in the stone cists than in the more im- pressive dolmens?

Early peoples in Korea lived in small self-sufficient communities, originally hunting bands and later farming or fishing settlements. It was most probably only in the late first millennium BCE that larger political units were formed. By the middle of the second millennium BCE states appeared in northern China. The formation of states and later empires in the north of China had a profound impact on Korea. The emergence of early kingdoms in Crete and mainland Greece was influenced by the more ancient societies of Egypt and the Near East. Likewise, state formation in Northeast Asia—Manchuria, Korea, and Japan—occurred under the influence of the earlier and more complex societies of China. This, however, does not mean that Northeast Asian state formation was always and only the product of the direct impact of Chinese developments. For throughout the history of Korea cultural processes took place that were often very different from those in China, indicating a high degree of autonomous development based in part on cultural roots and ecological factors that were quite distinct. From the beginning of Korean history, proximity to the great Chinese civilization was one of the main determining factors in the evolution of Korean culture. Consequently, the absorption of Chinese cultural patterns and their adaptation to indigenous and non-Sinitic patterns have been a major part of the process that created a clearly definable Korean culture and society.

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SOURCES FOR EARLY KOREA

Our knowledge of the early Korean states comes from several sources: written records, archaeological evidence, and myths and legends. The earliest Korean written sources are inscriptions; the earliest of these dates from 414 CE. The most important written sources are two histories, the Samguk sagi (History of the Three Kingdoms) (see chapter 4) and the Samguk yusa (Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms) (see chapter 5). But these were compiled in 1145 and 1279 respectively, centuries after the events they describe. Although they are based on earlier sources that are no longer extant and remain extremely important for our understanding of ancient Korean history, their usefulness is greatly enhanced when they can be confirmed and supplemented by other sources. Chinese sources also bring considerable light to early Korean history. During the Han dynasty, the first great dynasty that unified all of China on a long-term basis (202 BCE–220 CE), the first detailed accounts of events on the Korean penin- sula appear. The most important of these are the Chinese history Shiji (Historical Record), written by Sima Qian around 100 BCE, and the Don- gizhuan (Account of the Eastern Barbarians) section of Sanguozhi (Record of the Three Kingdoms), compiled in 297 CE. The latter is probably the single most important contemporary document on ancient Korean history. Ar- chaeologists have also provided valuable information that is no less im- portant in understanding this period. And although it seems unlikely that major new written sources will be found, new archaeological evidence is providing a continuously better picture of early Korea.

Still another source is the myths and legends associated with this period. The study of myths for historical information is a difficult and controversial field, but it too can yield clues about the past. The most famous myth is that of Tan’gun. In this myth a celestial deity mates with a compliant bear that gives birth to Tan’gun (Sandalwood Prince), who in turn establishes the first Korean state of Chosŏn in 2333 BCE. While this story was not recorded until the thirteenth century, it is probably of much more ancient origin. It hints of animal totems; mountain worship, since most of the action takes place on a sacred mountain; and perhaps at the semidivine claims for early ruling families. In the twentieth century, the Tan’gun myth would be interpreted by nationalist writers as supporting claims for the antiquity and uniqueness of the Korean people.

CHOSŎN

An early recorded name associated with Korea is Chaoxian (Korean: Chosŏn). The name is derived from the Chinese characters chao, meaning

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“dawn” or “morning,” and xian, meaning “fresh” or “calm.” Often trans- lated in English as “Land of the Morning Calm,” it is one of the names Koreans call their country. The name comes from the geographic position of Korea in relation to China. Korea was to the east of China; hence it was an early morning country in the same way that Japan, still farther east, was later designated Riben (anglicized as Japan) or “sun origin” land.9 By the second century BCE, Chinese works such as the Zhanguoce (Strategies of the Warring States) and the Shangshu dazhuan (Commentary on the Esteemed Documents) refer to an area called Chaoxian. Although some later Korean histories would assert that the state was founded by Tan’gun in 2333 BCE, the earliest uncontested date for a political entity called Chosŏn is 109 BCE10 At that time, the Chinese, under Emperor Han Wudi, attacked and conquered Chaoxian, or Chosŏn. Almost everything about the origin and nature of this Chosŏn is obscure. It was likely to have been more a tribal federation than a state. Perhaps originally located in southern Manchuria, it fell after the Chinese besieged a fortress located in northern Korea, probably near P’yŏngyang.11 The people of the Chosŏn were most likely illiterate. Modern Koreans see ancient Chosŏn as an ancestor to their nation, but there is no clear evidence linking it with any particular ethnic group or culture. Its chief historical importance is that it brought the Chinese into direct involvement in Korea.

In 221 BCE the Qin unified all China for the first time, although only briefly. After 210 BCE the Qin Empire began to fall apart, and in the struggle for power that ensued Liu Bang emerged and reunified China, establishing the Han dynasty that lasted from 202 BCE to 220 CE, an empire comparable to its contemporary, the Roman Empire, in area and population. Liu created a number of wang (kings) to function as vassals; the king of Yan was one of these. In 195 BCE, the Yan king revolted and went over to the Xiongnu, a steppe nomad people. One of his lieutenants, Wiman (Chinese: Weiman), is recorded in the Shiji as having fled with 1,000 followers to Chosŏn, where the ruler Chun appointed him a frontier commander. Wiman, however, seized power with the aid of Chinese who had already settled in Chosŏn and set himself up as king. This occurred sometime between 194 and 180 BCE. His descendants ruled until 108 BCE.

Wiman and his successors probably served as foreign vassals of China, perhaps acting as middlemen between the tribal peoples in the area and the Chinese. But if this was so, Chosŏn’s relationships with China were often uneasy. It had become a place of exile for dissidents in the north- eastern part of the empire. The rulers of Chosŏn also blocked attempts by tribal groupings in the area to directly contact and trade with tribal peoples to the south. When the Han emperor Wu (141–87 BCE) sought to bring the frontier regions of his empire under direct control, he conquered this troublesome neighbor. During 109–108 BCE Emperor Wu launched

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a land and sea invasion. Following initial setbacks, the Chinese occupied the Chosŏn capital of Wanggŏm, and the last king, Ugŏ, a grandson of Wiman, was killed by his own ministers. For the next four centuries a northwestern part of the Korean peninsula was directly incorporated into the Chinese Empire, the first and only time the Chinese exerted direct rule in Korea.

THE CHINESE COMMANDERIES

The Chinese, having conquered Chosŏn, set up four administrative units called commanderies (Chinese: jun; Korean: kun). The Taedong River basin, the area where the modern city of P’yŏngyang is located, became the center of the Lelang (Korean: Nangnang) commandery. Three other commanderies were organized: Xuantu (Korean: Hyŏndo), Lintun (Korean: Imdun), and Chenfan (Korean: Chinbŏn). The locations of these commanderies are not altogether certain, but most likely Xuantu origi- nally was farther inland from Lelang, and Lintun was just south of it in the area inhabited by a people known as the Okchŏ. The site of Chenfan is less easy to determine but was probably south of Lelang. After Emperor Wu’s death in 87 BCE a retrenchment began under his successor, Emperor Chao (87–74 BCE). The remote Chenfan commandery was abandoned in 82 BCE, the Lintun commandery was merged with Xuantu in 75 BCE, and Xuantu in the same year was relocated farther east, most probably in the Yalu River basin. Thus, the history of the Chinese presence in Korea was mainly the story of Lelang and Xuantu, with the former being the more populous and prosperous of the two outposts of Chinese civilization.

The creation of the Chinese commanderies is important in the devel- opment of Korean history. It brought the peoples of the peninsula into direct contact with the advanced civilization of the Chinese, launching the process of the sinicization of the Korean peoples. With the establish- ment of the commanderies, the various peoples of the peninsula became involved in a web of trade and cultural ties that connected them with the vast empire of the Han. The Han Empire radiated out from its base in the North China Plain to the Yangzi and southward to Vietnam, and from the Pacific coast to the oases of Central Asia. Thus Korean history became a part of a larger history of East Asia.

These Chinese commanderies have been likened to colonies. However, the commanderies were not foreign territories, but were an integral part of the Han Empire, with the same administrative structure that character- ized the rest of China. The inhabitants included many Chinese settlers. Just how many is not known, nor is it possible to estimate the percentage of the population that was ethnically Chinese. In any case, a good deal

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The Origins 19

of intermarriage and cultural assimilation is probable. The Chinese pres- ence was not a sudden break in the history of the region, for Chosŏn had already absorbed Chinese refugees, and the ruling house of Chosŏn was, at least according to the recorded accounts, of Chinese descent. The Le- lang commandery produced textiles and fine Chinese ceramics locally. It imported silk, lacquerware, jade, and gold and silver jewelry, and the elite rode in carriages made from imported equipment. The way of life main- tained by the elite at the capital in the P’yŏngyang area, which is known from the tombs and scattered archaeological remains, evinces a prosper- ous, refined, and very Chinese culture.12 The existence of imported goods in large numbers from all over the Han Empire testifies to the prosperity of Lelang.

The prosperity of the commanderies was derived from trade. Lelang, and to a lesser extent Xuantu, sat in the center of a network of trade that incorporated the peoples of Manchuria and of northeastern Korea and the tribes in the southern peninsula, and even extended to the peoples and polities of the Japanese archipelago. Bronze mirrors, silk brocade, jade, vermillion, and gold seals from China were exchanged for the hardwood timber, fish, salt, iron, and agricultural produce of the region. Many of the imports into Lelang from the surrounding peoples were locally consumed, but the wealth of goods that were imported from the Chinese mainland suggests that any local products may have been re-exported to the rest of China. Many of these goods were of symbolic nature: caps, robes, seals, and precious items that were status goods enhancing the prestige and au- thority of native elites. This policy was termed heqin, “peace and kinship,” buying peace with nomadic and settled peoples along the frontiers with entertainments and sumptuous gifts.13 In the time-honored practice of successful imperialists, the Chinese extended their authority beyond the territory they physically occupied by incorporating surrounding indig- enous peoples into the imperial system. Tribal and clan leaders received prestige goods, along with Chinese titles and symbols of authority, and were able to engage in a profitable trade in return for their loyalty and cooperation. In this way, most of the peoples of Korea became tied to the Han Chinese imperial system.

Economic considerations may have entered into the original conquest; however, it seems clear that the primary concern was strategic, to protect the eastern flank of China’s northern frontier with often warlike and ag- gressive tribal peoples. Tribal leaders were required to come to the Xu- antu or Lelang capitals to “pay tribute,” that is, to trade and receive the caps, gowns, seals, and titles that were bestowed upon them by Chinese officials as vassals of the emperor. Throughout Korean history this use of the Chinese emperor as a source of authority would prove mutually ad- vantageous to the Chinese and to Koreans. In return, tribal leaders were

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called upon to aid in fighting other tribal groups beyond the control of the Chinese. In the southern part of the Korean peninsula, tribal groups appear to have generally been militarily less formidable and perhaps less organized. Their relationship with the Chinese may have been more ruthlessly exploitative, and tribute goods, food, timber, iron, and other resources may have been forcibly extracted from local peoples. But even if this was the case, the tribute relationship still held many of the same advantages for the elite groups among the southern peoples.

CHINESE COMMANDERIES AND THEIR NEIGHBORS: THE NORTHERN PEOPLES

Chinese sources from the time of the commanderies provide us with the earliest written descriptions of Korean societies and cultures. What is now Korea was inhabited by a confusing array of tribal groups that had not merged into a single culture. The Chinese sources refer to the Dongyi (the “Eastern Barbarians”), a general term for the non-Chinese people of the northeast region. According to the third-century Sanguozhi there were nine Dongyi: Puyŏ (Chinese: Fuyu), Okchŏ, Ŭmnu (Chinese: Yilou), Eastern Ye (Chinese: Hui), Koguryŏ (Chinese: Gaogouli), the three Han tribes of southern Korea, and the Wa of Japan. The actual classification of peoples is a complex matter, as different tribes were called by different names, peoples moved about, and groups split off from other groups. Trying to sort out these groups and their relationships to each other has been a problem for historians of early Korea.

Along the northern borders of the Chinese commanderies were several major groups, among which the Puyŏ were the first to be recorded by the Chinese. The Puyŏ, who attracted the notice of the Chinese in the third century BCE, lived in the plains and valleys of the upper Sungari River basin in central Manchuria. Although very much on the fringe of the Chi- nese world, they were influenced by Chinese culture and often served as allies against the warlike Koguryŏ, who lived south of them. They were not organized as a state but were ruled by tribal chiefs who apparently met to elect a supreme chieftain for all the Puyŏ. This Puyŏ tribal confed- eracy emerged by the second century BCE as the most powerful force in the region.

South of the Puyŏ lived the Koguryŏ, a people who according to the Chinese spoke a similar language and had similar customs but who dif- fered from the Puyŏ in their emotional and volatile temper. The Koguryŏ may have originally been a branch of the Puyŏ who settled farther into southern Manchuria in the region of the Yalu headwaters. Not only were they linguistically and culturally related to the Puyŏ, but their legends

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The Origins 21

as well suggest Puyŏ origins. Unlike the Puyŏ, the Koguryŏ appear in Chinese records only in 12 CE, by which time a long-standing client re- lationship had been established between them and the commandery of Xuantu. Living in marginal lands less suitable for agriculture than the fertile plains the Puyŏ occupied, the Koguryŏ were more dependent on hunting for their livelihood and maintained a more aggressive and war- like way of life that caused considerable concern for the Chinese. In fact, the principal function of the Xuantu may have been to attempt to control the Koguryŏ. The Koguryŏ were in frequent conflict with the Chinese after 12 CE, which no doubt accounts for the more negative assessment of them as an emotional and volatile people.

From 75 BCE to 12 CE the Koguryŏ paid tribute to the Chinese. Then they established a tribal federation, in the Hun River, a tributary of the Yalu; and the ruler began to call himself wang, or king, a sign that he no longer accepted subordinate status as a mere marquis but wished to be treated as the ruler of a sovereign state.14 The Koguryŏ began a territo- rial expansion that included establishing a suzerain relationship with the Okchŏ on the eastern coast of Korea. From there they launched frequent raids against their neighbors, including many clashes with the Chinese. Our information on the culture of the Koguryŏ in this period is limited. The religion of the Koguryŏ appears to have had an astral element similar to that of more nomadic steppe peoples from which they themselves were most probably descended. It also included a “Spirit of the Underground Passage,” and worship of rivers and other natural features. We also know that they were divided into five main tribes or clans: the Yŏnno, Chŏllo, Sunno, Kwanno, and Kyeru. The next several centuries saw the gradual evolution from a loose confederacy of these five tribes into a centralized state (see chapter 2).

In terms of the future history of Korea the Koguryŏ were by far the most important of the northern peoples; however, several other groups played an active role during this period. The Ŭmno were a people sub- ordinate to the Puyŏ who never organized themselves into a state. From their home in Manchuria, they conducted raids during the summer into northeastern Korea; the peoples along the coast appear to have been their chief victims. Famed as archers and as pig breeders, the Ŭmno were prob- ably less closely related to modern Koreans. They may have been related to the Suksin (Chinese: Suzhen), another people based in Manchuria who earned a reputation for their use of poison arrows. Two other groups that lived in what is now Korea were the Eastern Ye (Tongye) and the Ok- chŏ. The Puyŏ, Koguryŏ, the Okchŏo, and the Eastern Ye are collectively known as the Yemaek; most were associated with Manchuria as much as they were with the modern boundaries of Korea.

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CHINESE COMMANDERIES AND THEIR NEIGHBORS: THE SOUTHERN PEOPLES

To the south of Lelang were the Han tribes.15 Present-day South Koreans generally trace their ancestry to the Han tribes. In South Korea the of- ficial term for the Korean nation is Han’guk, “country of the Han.” Since they were farther away from the center of Chinese civilization, less was recorded about these peoples. Much of the knowledge we do have about them comes from the Sanguozhi, written at the end of the third century. It describes the Samhan (the three Han): the Mahan, the Chinhan, and the Pyŏnhan. These terms refer not to states or organized groups but to three related peoples that lived in different regions of Korea south of the Han River. Collectively their homeland roughly covered the area of modern South Korea. They were organized into petty statelets of varying size, ruled by chiefs. By the middle of the third century the Mahan inhabited the rich farmlands of the southwestern part of Korea, which have been the rice basket of Korea. Not surprisingly they were listed as the most numer- ous of the Han, constituting fifty-four of the statelets, what the Chinese called guo (countries). The guo varied in size. Some were reported as hav- ing up to 10,000 households, and the total number of households was said to be 100,000.16 The Chinhan, who lived in the middle and upper Naktong basin in southeast Korea, constituted twelve guo. Along the lower Nak- tong River basin and along the southeast coast were the Pyŏnhan, who also lived in twelve guo.

It would be inaccurate to regard the guo as states. Their small size and the lack of any clear archaeological evidence of organized states confirm the observations made by the ancient Chinese that the rulers of the guo were not wang. Most probably these were chiefdoms, that is, small polities ruled by hereditary chiefs who controlled at least a few villages but lack- ing any state administrative structure. Although most were farmers, an elite stratum existed who, the Chinese recorded, wore silk garments and leather shoes, in contrast to the common people, who wore hemp clothes and straw shoes. The elite were also fond of earrings and necklaces. The Mahan, who lived in earthen huts, were an agricultural people. As with most agricultural peoples they held festivals in the spring and at harvest time in which sacrifices were made. The Chinese sources describe the Ma- han as backward people who did not value horses or money. The Mahan traded with an island people called Hoju who lived on a large island in the western sea, perhaps referring to Cheju Island.

The Chinhan lived in settlements, the Chinese reported, enclosed by wooden stockades; they practiced sericulture and used oxen and horse carts. Of particular note is that they traded in iron, which appears to have been an important export from the southeastern region. The Chinhan

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The Origins 23

were reported to have been fond of dancing and drinking, an observation that has been made by many subsequent foreign observers to the Korean countryside. The Mahan and the Chinhan spoke the same (or similar) languages, but the Pyŏnhan, who shared the same dwellings and customs as the Chinhan, were said to have spoken a different language.17 The gen- eral assumption has been that the languages spoken by the Samhan were directly ancestral to the modern Korean language. And while there is no proof of that assertion, it seems a reasonable one. Thus in terms of eth- nicity and language the Samhan can be said to be early Korean peoples. Most lived in semisubterranean homes in little villages near river terraces where they were able to grow rice, barley, and other crops. These villages were likely to have been largely self-sufficient. Sustained contact with the Chinese commanderies was probably a key factor in stimulating organi- zational development among the people of the peninsula, especially the southern folk.

Further to the south of the Han were the T’amna of Cheju Island, cattle and pig breeders who spoke a language different from the Samhan. Far- ther still were the Wa peoples, long considered to be the earliest reference to the Japanese. The first contact with the Wa was in 57 CE, when an embassy arrived in Lelang. Another was recorded in 107, and four were recorded from 238 to 248. Evidence indicates that the Wa had close con- nections with the Pyŏnhan and probably imported iron from the Kimhae area. A regular trade between the Korean peninsula and the Japanese archipelago must have existed, since Korean and Chinese artifacts from this period are frequently found there. The Sanguozhi, the first detailed description of both the Samhan and the Wa, makes a clear distinction between the two peoples, whose customs are described as very different. Who were the Wa? In traditional accounts they are simply equated with the Japanese. It is highly unlikely, however, that a definable Japanese ethnic group existed at such an early date. Rather, the peoples of both the peninsula and the archipelago consisted of various tribal cultures. The Wa probably lived in western Japan and perhaps on both sides of the Ko- rean Strait. Just as tribal peoples in southern Manchuria and Korea over- lapped, so the peoples along the southern coast of Korea were probably linked with those of western Japan. Only later did separate and distinct Korean and Japanese peoples emerge.

POLITICS OF THE THIRD CENTURY

The fortunes of the Chinese commanderies fluctuated with those of the Chinese heartland. Toward the late second century the Han dynasty went into decline. In 220 CE, the Han Empire broke up into three states. Wei,

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24 Chapter 1

the northernmost, controlled the North China Plain, the heartland region of ancient China and the region closest to Korea. As part of the efforts by the Wei to consolidate their power, they launched a series of campaigns against the belligerent peoples of the northeast from 238 to 245, which be- came one of the most impressive displays of Chinese power in the history of Korea. A main target of the campaign was Koguryŏ, which the Chinese defeated, destroying its capital in 244. The revival of Chinese authority, however, did not last long, and the Jin dynasty that temporarily reunited the Chinese Empire rapidly declined in the early fourth century. A civil war broke out in northern China in 301. In 311, the Xianbei, a steppe no- mad people, sacked the imperial Chinese capital, Luoyang. Six years later, the Jin relocated their capital to the lower Yangzi region and all effective administration in northern China collapsed. This inaugurated a period of Chinese history whose troubled nature is exemplified in the conven- tion of referring to it as the Period of the Five Dynasties and the Sixteen Kingdoms (317–589).

The Lelang and Taifang commanderies, the latter created south of Lelang, cut off from the rest of China by a series of nomadic intruders who had overrun northern China, continued a shadowy existence. By tradition, Lelang was conquered by a resurgent Koguryŏ in 313 and its southern outpost Taifang by the emerging kingdom of Paekche in 316. It appears, however, that some sort of rule by local Chinese elites continued well into the fourth century.18 After four centuries the Chinese presence in Korea disappeared. One reason for the lack of a continued Chinese presence was the geographic remoteness of Korea. The commanderies in Korea were distant outposts of the empire that could not be maintained in troubled times. With the withdrawal of China, the people of the Korean peninsula had several centuries to develop their societies without direct Chinese intervention. It was during these centuries that the first literate indigenous states emerged.

KOREA IN GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE: 5,000 YEARS OF HISTORY

Modern Koreans have been proud of their “5,000 years” of history. A rather arbitrary figure based on the idea that their history began with Tan’gun in the third millennium BCE. In proclaiming an ancient national lineage, they resemble other twentieth-century nationalists, from the Chinese, with their “4,000 years of history,” to the Turkish historians of the 1920s and 1930s, who established a new national history tracing the Turkish nation to earliest antiquity.

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The Origins 25

How old is Korea? The question cannot be answered because it sup- poses that the modern concept of Korea, of a nation of people with a com- mon heritage and a common destiny living as an autonomous unit within a global community of nations can be connected back in time in linear fashion. But this is misunderstanding history. Korea, although politically divided today is still thought of as one nation by the people of North and South Korea. As a state that has occupied most of the Korean Peninsula, it has existed since 676, making it one of the oldest continuous political units in the world. No modern state in Europe, and few if any in Africa or in Southwest and Southeast Asia, can be so clearly traced in recogniz- able form from such an early period as this. Only China and Japan are comparable. China, far older, was a vast multiethnic empire rather than a geographically compact state. Yet all the historical evidence suggests that no distinctive “Korean” ethnic group or culture existed before this, and even after political unity in 676 there is no clear evidence that all within the state shared the same language and identity. Moreover, the cultural and ethnic boundary between peninsular Korea and Manchuria was still a blurred one at best.

It is a common tendency for modern peoples to project their strong sense of national identity further back into the past than can be reason- ably supported by historical evidence. While Koreans can justifiably point to a long history as distinctive peoples existing within a single political framework, when they interpret the varied peoples and polities that existed in ancient times as “Koreans” in the modern sense, they too are projecting their own identity on the past in an unrealistic manner.

I

The Tan’gun Myth The Wei shu tells us that two thousand years ago, at the time of Em- peror Yao, Tan’gun Wanggŏm chose Asadal as his capital and founded the state of Chosŏn. The Old Record notes that in olden times Hwanin’s son, Hwanung, wished to descend from Heaven and live in the world of human beings. Knowing his son’s desire, Hwanin surveyed the three highest mountains and found Mount T’aebaek the most suitable place for his son to settle and help human beings. Therefore he gave Hwanung three heavenly seals and dispatched him to rule over the peo- ple. Hwanung descended with three thousand followers to a spot under a tree by the Holy Altar atop Mount T’aebaek, and he called this place the City of God. He was the Heavenly King Hwanung. Leading the Earl of Wind, the Master of Rain, and the Master of Clouds, he took charge