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Massive Influx of the Paekche People into the Yamato Region

 
 

Massive Influx of the Paekche People into the Yamato Region close kinship between the royal families

Wontack Hong
Professor, Seoul University

We owe to Kojiki and Nihongi a detailed account of the massive influx of the Paekche people into the Yamato region immediately after the establishment of the Yamato kingdom.1> Dongyi-zhuan, which was compiled in the late third century, records that there was no horse in the Japanese islands. Kojiki and Nihongi record the official arrival of horses in the Japanese archipelago.

The King of Paekche sent A-chik-ki with two quiet horses (one stallion and one mare, specifies Kojiki) in 404, the fifteenth year of Oujin’s reign. Because A-chik-ki was well-read in the classics, the Heir Apparent made him his teacher. Oujin (Homuda) asked A-chik-ki whether there were other learned men superior to him, and he answered that there was such a man named Wang-in.

Wang-in arrived from Paekche in 405, and the Heir Apparent learned various books from him. A-chik-ki became the ancestor of the Scribes, and Wang-in became the ancestor of the Chief Writers. Kojiki adds that the King of Paekche also sent for a blacksmith and a weaver. There also arrived a man who knew how to brew wine. He brewed a great wine and King Oujin greatly rejoiced in that wine.2>

Nihongi records the construction of a reservoir in 396, the seventh year of Oujin’s reign, by a group of people from the Korean peninsula. Kojiki records that there came some people from Silla, who constructed a reservoir under the command of Take-uchi and called it “Paekche reservoir.”

Nihongi records that the King of Paekche sent for a seamstress named Chin-mo-chin in 403, who became the ancestress of the seamstresses of Kume.3> According to Nihongi, Kung-wol, the progenitor of the Hata clan, arrived at Yamato in 403 (the fourteenth year of Oujin) from “Paekche,” leading the people of 120 provinces, and in 409 (twentieth year of Oujin), Achi, the progenitor of the Yamato Aya clan, also arrived with the people of 17 provinces.4>

The records of both Samguk-sagi (for the year 399) and King Kwang-gae-to epitaph (for the year 400) corroborate the possible sequence of the massive movement of people from Paekche to the Japanese islands precisely at about this time.5> According to the Shinsen Shoujiroku, the Hata people were dispersed in various provinces during the reign of Nintoku and let undertake sericulture and the manufacturing of silk for the court. It is recorded that, by the late fifth century (in the reign of King Y?riaku), the size of the Hata clan amounted to 18,670 persons consisting of 92 Be.6>

According to the Shoku-Nihongi, the province of Takechi, which was the very center of the Yamato kingdom, was so full of Aya people that the people of other clans accounted for only one or two out of ten.7> According to the Shinsen Shoujiroku, Achi obtained the permission (from Oujin) to establish the Province of Imaki (Newly Arrived) that was later renamed Takechi, but the place came to be so crowded with the Aya people that they had to be dispersed into various other provinces.

Harima Fudoki records an instance of such a relocation of the Aya people as well as their matrimonial relationship with the Hata people. Harima Fudoki also states: “In the reign of Homuda, Paekche people arrived at this place and built a castle as they used to do in their homeland, making it their dwelling. Hence the place is called Ki (Walls) Mure Mountain [Walled Mountain Fortress].” 8>

According to Nihongi, a large number of skilled workers, including saddle-makers, potters, painters, and silk-makers arrived at Yamato from Paekche in the seventh year of Y?riaku’s reign [463]. In order to differentiate these newly arrived skilled workers from those that had arrived during the reign of Oujin (the Yamato Aya clan), they were called Newly-Arrived Aya (or New Aya), and were put under the jurisdiction of the Yamato Aya clan.9>

This massive movement of peoples clearly establishes a place for Korea in the story of the Yamato kingdom. Ishida (1974: 85), a Tokyo University professor of cultural anthropology, states: “Detailed research by historians has made clear that the greatest wave of immigration took place immediately after the unification of Japan by the Yamato court.

If the Yamato court was established without any relation to Korea, how can these facts be explained?”Close Kinship between the Paekche and Yamato Royal FamiliesIf one reads Nihongi, one cannot but feel a very close kinship between the Paekche royal family and the Yamato royal family, witness the Paekche royal family members always staying at the Yamato court. The Heir Apparent Cheonji, the eldest son of Paekche King Asin (392-405), stayed at the Yamato court from 397 till 405. He returned to Paekche when Asin died in 405, and became King Cheonji (405-420).10> We also find in the Nihongi record that Cheonji sent his younger sister, Shinjedo, to the Yamato court, with seven maids, to wait on Oujin.11>

Later, during the reign of Nintoku, who had succeeded Oujin, Paekche Prince Chu came to the Yamato court, trained a falcon, and went hawking with Nintoku. During the reign of King Kaero in Paekche (455-475), the Paekche court sent a daughter of Lady Mony to the Yamato court to become a queen of Y?riaku, but she was burnt at the stake after being found guilty of infidelity. Learning of this unfortunate incident, King Kaero sent his younger brother Konji to the Yamato court to assist Y?riaku.12>

Nihongi (N1: 345-6) records that King Kaero gave Konji one of his consorts who was pregnant, instructing him to send back the baby if she should be delivered on the journey. The pregnant consort indeed gave birth to a child on an island in Ky?sh?, and Konji immediately took a ship and sent the baby named Si-ma (island or Si-eom in Korean) back to Kaero. Nihongi records that it was the year 461. The child became King Mu-nyeong (501-23) of Paekche whose tomb was excavated at Kong-ju in 1971.

The funerary inscription confirms that the King’s name was Sa-ma and that he died in 523 at the age of 62. It was also discovered that his coffin was made of umbrella pine which grew only in southern Japan. The parasol pine may reach a height of 36 meters, with a trunk diameter of 1.2 meters. When Paekche King Sam-keun (477-479) died in 479, the second son of Konji returned to Paekche and became King Tong-sung (479-501). Nihongi portrays the sorrow of Y?riaku parting from Konji’s son.13> In 505, Paekche King Mu-nyung sent a prince called Sa-a to assist the Yamato court.

In April 597, King Wi-duck sent Prince A-jwa. Nihongi also records the arrival of Prince Pung-jang, a son of King Uija, in 631.14> The Shinsen Shoujiroku records the progenitors for the 1,182 Yamato ruling clans. The preface of the Register states that since the Ma-hito (Jin-person) is the sovereign one among the imperial clans, the Ma-hito clans in the capital region are presented at the very beginning of the imperial group in Book One. According to the Register, however, all the Ma-hito clans can be regarded as the offspring of the Paekche royal family.15>

The first four Ma-hito imperial clans listed at the very beginning of Book One of the Register were recorded as descendants of Homuda, the fifth clan as descendants of Keitai, the seven following Ma-hito clans as descendants of Bidatsu; then the following eight Ma-hito imperial clans (i.e., from the thirteenth to the twentieth) were recorded as the descendants of “the Prince of Paekche.”

However, the twelfth one, that is, the Ma-hito clan immediately preceding those recorded as the descendants of the Prince of Paekche, was recorded not only as the descendant of Bidatsu but also as the offspring of the King of Paekche. In other words, “the descendants of Bidatsu” are equivalent to “the offspring of the King of Paekche.”16>

According to Nihongi, Bidatsu was the second child of Kinmei, who was the rightful heir of Keitai, who in turn was “a descendant in the fifth generation” of Oujin (Homuda). Thus, the Register records that the entire Ma-hito imperial clan, from the first to the twentieth, were the offspring of “the King of Paekche.”

This implies that the entire Oujin line of Japan’s imperial families originated from Paekche royal families. Immediately after recording the Paek-chon River debacle and the fall of fortress Chu-yu in 663, Nihongi records the following dialogue: “Then the people of the country said to one another; Chu-yu has fallen; nothing more to be done now; this day the name of Paekche has become extinct; how can we pay visits to the place where the tombs of our ancestors are?”17>

BIBLIOGRAPHY


<footnotes>

1> Yamato is one of five provinces (?) of Kinai (??), which forms the present-day “Nara Prefecture.” Formerly the name of the province was written ?? (read Great Yamato) but in 737 the characters were changed to ?? (also read Great Yamato). The Yamato Plain is about 30 km from north to south and 15 km from east to west.

2> ???????? ????? ???? ???????? ?????? ?????? . . . ?????? ??????? ? ?????? ????? ????? ????? . . . ?????????? . . . ?? ????? ??? ???????? ?. . . ????? ??? ??????????? (K: 248)?? ??? ??????? ?????. . . ???????? ???. . .?? ????????? ???????? ?? ???? ??? ??. . .??? . . .??? ????? ????? ???????? . . .??? . . .???? ???. . . ?? ??????? ???? ????? ??????? (NI: 371-373)

3> ??????? ??. . .??? ?????? ???? (K: 248) ?? ?? ???????????? ??? ??. . . ??????? ?? ?????? (NI: 367)?? ??? ???????? ???? ?????????? (NI: 371)

4> ???????? . . . ?? . . . ?? . . . ????? ???? . . .????? (K: 248)?? ??? ???????? . . .????????? . . . ??????? ????? ??? . . .??????? ???????. . .??. . . ???????? . . .????????????? (NI: 371- 375)??????? ??????? ?????? (????? ???? ????: 216-217).

5> ??? ?? ?????? ???? ???? ???? ???? (S2: 45-46) ?????? ?? ?????? ???? . . . ????????????? . . .???? ????????

6> ????????? . . . ??????????????? (SS: 307) ?? ?? ???????? ???? ???????? (SS: 279)

7> ???? . . .???????? ?????????? ?????? ?????????? ???? ???????? (SN4: 380)

8> ??? ??????..??????? . . .???????????? . . . ????. . .???? . . .???? ???? ???? ???? . . .????? ?????? ???? ? ????? ????? ???? ????? ??. . .????. . .? ?????? (SS: 358) ??? ????? ?????? ?????? ???????????? . . .?? ??????? (F: 304)?????? ??? ???... ???? ????...?? ?? ???? ?? ???? ?? ???? ??????? ?? ? ???? (F: 330)

9> ?? ?? ????????. . . ????? . . .??????????. . . ??. . . ???? ?????. . .??. . .??. . .??. . .??. . .? ???. . . ??? ???. . . ???? ????? ??? ??? (NI: 475-477)

10> ?? ?? ???? . . . ??? . . . ????? (NI: 367)??? ????. . .??????????? ??????? ????? . . . ???? . . . ?? . . . ????? (S2: 46)?? ??? ?? ?????? ????????? ??????? (NI: 373)

11> ?? ???? ????? ?????????? ?. . . ???? ???? (NI: 379)

12> ?? ??? ????? . . . ?????. . .???. . .???. . .????????? ????? ??????? ??????. . .???????… ? . . .??. . .????? (NI: 409) ?? ?? ????? ????? ??. . . ???? . . . ???? ????? . . . ???? . . . ??? . . . ???? ????????? ????? (NI: 463) ?? ?? ?? . . . ???. . . ???. . . ??. .. ? ????????? (NI: 471)

13> ????? ?????? ?? ??????? ????? . . . ???? ???? ???? ???? . . . ????? (NI: 497-499)

14> ???? ??????? . . . ??????? (NII: 17) ???? ???????? (NII: 175) ???? ?????????? (NII: 229)

15> ???? ???? . . . ????????? ???????? ???? (SS: 146-147)

16> ???? ???? ?????? ??? . . . ??? ? ??????…?? ???? ?????…????? ?? ???…?????…?????????????? ???? ?????? ??????? . . . ???? ?????? ??????? (SS: 149-152)

17> ?? ???? ????? ???? ?? ?????? ???? . . .???? ???? ???? ???? (NII: 361)

wthong@wontackhong.pe.kr.?2005 by Wontack HongAll rights reserved


Hidden Truth of History: About the Orgine of Japan (Recommanded Homepage: www.EastAsianHistory.pe.kr)
The Yamato Kingdom:The First Unified State in the Japanese Islands Established by the Paekche People
The Japanese Islands Conquered by the Paekche People the foundation myth: trinity
Massive Influx of the Paekche People into the Yamato Region
Fall of the Paekche Kingdom and Creating a New History of the Yamato Kingdom
King Kwang-gae-to’s Stele yamato solideirs in the korean peninsula
Archeological Break:Event or Process the late tomb culture
They, Including Minister Soga, Appeared Wearing Paekche Clothes
Coming Across the Emotive Records in Kojiki and Nihongi revelation of close kinship