Coming Across the Emotive Records in
Kojiki and Nihongi
revelation of close kinship
Wontack Hong
Professor, Seoul University
The Emotive Records
Nihongi records numerous touching episodes that clearly indicate
a close kinship between the Paekche rulers and the Yamato imperial
clan. Nihongi also records the Yamato relationships with Silla
and Koguryeo, but the narrations of these relations conspicuously
lack intimacy.
According to Nihongi (Aston tr.: 250), Empress Jing? addressed
her son Homuda, saying: “We owe it to Heaven and not to
man that we have a friendly country like Corea [the correct
translation being Paekche]. … and so long as we live will
heartily bestow on it Our favor.” King Keun Chogo of Paekche
(346-75) addresses his grandson, Prince Chim-nyu (who reigned
during 384-5), saying (N1: 251): “The honorable country
east of the sea with which we are now in communication has been
opened to us by Heaven. Consequently the foundation of our land
is confirmed for ever. Thou shouldst cultivate well its friendship,
and having collected our national products, wait on it with
tributes without ceasing.”1>
King Asin of Paekche (392-405) sent the crown prince Cheon-ji
to Yamato in 397.2> Samguk-sagi records that, in 402, King
Asin sent an envoy to Yamato and obtained large beads and, in
403, the King accorded a warm welcome to the envoy from Yamato.3>
In the 16th year of Oujin’s reign, Nihongi (N1: 263) records
that: “In this year King Ahwa (Asin) of Paekche died.
The Emperor then sent for Prince Cheon-ji, and addressed him,
saying: ‘Do thou return to thy country and succeed the
Dignity.’ Accordingly he further granted him the territory
of Eastern Han.” It seems that Oujin, having already become
the ruler of Yamato, formally renounced any claim on Paekche
territories.4>
Samguk-sagi records that the Yamato court sent an envoy to
King Cheon-ji (405-20) in 409 with noctilucent beads; and the
envoy was received cordially by the King.5> Nihongi (N1:
270) records that: “the King of Paekche [Cheon-ji] sent
his younger sister, to wait upon [Oujin]. Now the Lady Shin-je-do
came over, bringing in her train seven women.”6> Samguk-sagi
records that King Cheon-ji sent an envoy in 418 to the Yamato
court with 10 pils of silk.7>
Nihong (N1: 293-4) records that “Lord Chu, the grandson
of the King of Paekche” was sent to the Yamato court and
while staying in the house of Koroshi, tamed a falcon and accompanied
Nintoku in hunting: “Tsuchigura … caught a strange
bird and presented it to the Emperor … The Emperor sent
for Lord Chu and, pointing to the bird, said: -‘What bird
is this?’ Lord Chu answered and said:-‘Birds of
this kind are numerous in Paekche. They can be tamed…
The common people in Paekche call them Kuchi.’ So it was
given to Lord Chu to be fed and tamed… Lord Chu accordingly
fastened to its leg a soft leather strap, and attached to its
tail a small bell. Then, placing it on his forearm, he presented
it to the Emperor. On this day [they] went to the moor of Mozu
and hunted.” Mozu is the place where Nintoku was later
buried.8> Samguk-sagi records that an envoy from the Yamato
court arrived in 428 accompanied by 50 followers.9>
Nihongi quotes the New Compilation of Paekche History (N1:
345-6): “King Kaero ascended the throne [in 455]. The
Emperor [Y?riaku] sent Aretoku hither to ask for a lady. Paekche
adorned the daughter of the Lay Moni, and sent her to the Emperor.
… [But she], in despite of the Emperor’s intention
to favor [i.e., wed] her, had an amour with Tate Ishikaha. The
Emperor was greatly enraged … and she was burned to death.
… [In 461] King Kaero sent his younger brother, Lord Kon-ji,
to Great Yamato, to wait upon the Emperor and to confirm the
friendship of former sovereigns [Aston should have translated
the sentence into: ‘to confirm the friendship of big brother
King.’]”10>
When King Sam-keun [477-9] died, Y?riaku “summoned within
the Palace Prince Mata, the second son of Prince Kon-ji’s
five sons, who was young in years, but intelligent. He himself
stroked the Prince’s face and head and made a gracious
decree, appointing him to reign over that country. He became
King Tong-seong (479-501).”11>
King seong-myung sent an image of Buddha to kimmei lauding
the merit of its worship
According to Nihongi, King Seong-myung (523-54) of Paekche
maintained intensive communications with Kimmei (531-71) of
the Yamato kingdom as if modern-day soul mates exchanging e-mails.
In 545, “Paekche made an image of Buddha sixteen feet
high, and drew up a written prayer, saying: ‘I [King Seong
of Paekche] understand that it is extremely meritorious to make
a Buddha sixteen feet high. By the merit which I have now acquired
in reverentially constructing one, I pray that the Emperor [Kimmei]
may obtain exceeding virtue, and that all the land of the Miyake
belonging to the Emperor may receive blessings.’”
In 552, “King Seong-myung of Paekche sent … an image
of Shaka Buddha in gold and copper, several flags and umbrellas,
and a number of volumes of Sutras. Separately he presented a
memorial in which he lauded the merit of diffusing abroad religious
worship, saying: ‘… This doctrine can create religious
merit and retribution without measure and without bounds, and
so lead to a full appreciation of the highest wisdom…’”
Kimmei, “having heard to the end, leaped for joy”
and inquired of his Ministers whether it ought to be worshipped.
Thereby “Soga no Oho-omi, Iname no Sukune, addressed the
Emperor, saying: ‘All the Western frontier lands without
exception do it worship. Shall Akitsu Yamato alone refuse to
do so?’”12>
Seong-myung was slain by the Silla soldiers in 554. His son
Yeo-chang (King Wi-deok, 554-98) narrowly escaped from the battlefield
by taking a by-road. Nohongi records that at this point the
Silla generals noticed that the Paekche was extremely vulnerable
and hence “wished to take measures for the destruction
of the remainder. But there was one general who said: ‘This
would be a mistake. The Emperor of Japan has frequently attacked
our country on account of Imna: much more future mischief should
we certainly invite upon ourselves if we should proceed to take
steps for the destruction of the Miyake of Paekche.’ This
project was therefore dropped.” 13>
Nihongi continues: “Yeo-chang … sent Prince Hye
[the younger brother of Wi-deok, later the King Hye, 598-99]
with a message to the Kimmei, saying: ‘King Seong-myung
has been slain by brigands.’ When the Emperor heard this
he was indignant, and sent an envoy [Soga no Omi] to meet him
[Hye] at the port with a message of condolence. … Soga
no Omi condoled with him, … saying: ‘… Oh!
What a cruel grief. … Who is there possessed of feeling
who does not lament his death?” Minister Soga continues:
“Formerly, in the reign of the Emperor Oho-hatsuse [Y?ryaku,
ca.463-79], thy country was hard pressed by Koguryeo [ca.475],
and was in an extremely critical position ….
Thereupon the Emperor commanded the minister of the Shinto
religion to take counsel of the Gods. Accordingly the priests,
by divine inspiration, answered and said: ‘If after humble
prayer to the Deity, the founder of the Land, thou goest to
the assistance of the Ruler who is threatened with destruction,
there will surely be tranquility to the State and peace to the
people.’ Prayer was therefore offered to the Gods, aid
was rendered, and the peace of the country [Paekche] was consequently
assured. … Now the Gods who originally founded this country
[Yamato kingdom] is the God who descended from Heaven [Paekche?]
and established this State when Heaven [Paekche?] and Earth
[Yamato kingdom?] became separated, and when trees and herbs
had speech. I have recently been informed that your country
has ceased to worship him [Homuda?]. But if you now repent your
former errors, if you build a shrine to the God and perform
sacrifices in honor of his divine spirit, your country will
prosper.”14>
Palace at kudara and dying in the kudara palace.
According to Nihongi, Bidatsu “made his palace at Oho-wi
in Kudara [located in Kahachi] in 572.” The Chinese characters
for Paekche is read Kudara in both Kojiki and Nihongi. Nihongi
further records that Jomei made a decree in 639, saying that
“let there be a great palace and a great temple built.”
So the bank of the Kudara River was chosen as the site for the
palace; a pagoda of nine stories was erected on the bank of
the River Kudara [in 639]; Jomei removed to the Palace of Kudara
[in 641]; when Jomei died in the Palace of Kudara, he was temporarily
interred north of the Palace; and this was called the great
temporary tomb of Kudara.15>
Arrived vs. emigrated [naturalized]
Nihongi (N2: 123, 126) consistently uses the term “emigrated
[naturalized]” for Koguryeo priests, while simply using
the word “arrived” for the Paekche priests. In 595,
“a priest of Koguryeo, named He-ja, emigrated to Japan
[became naturalized as a Yamato citizen], and was taken as teacher
by the Prince Imperial. In the same year a Paekche priest, named
He-chong arrived. These two priests preached the Buddhist religion
widely, and were together the mainstay of the Three Precious
Things.” In 602, “a Paekche priest named Kwal-leuk
arrived and presented … books of Calendar-making, Astronomy,
and Geography, and also books on the art of invisibility and
of magic…. Two Buddhist priests of Koguryeo named …
emigrated [were naturalized] here together.”16>
Aya people chosen to study in China
In 608, the Yamato court sent seven students and one interpreter
to the Sui court accompanying the returning Sui envoys. Sansom
(1931: 37-38) notes that “there traveled a number of scholars
chosen by the prince [Sh?toku] for study abroad. It is interesting
to record their names, for they were pioneers in an important
task, and some of them played an important part in Japan [in
the Taika Reform, 645-50] upon their return.” Nihongi
notes their names: “the student Fukuin, Yamato no Aya
no Atahe, Emyo, Nara no Wosa [interpreter], Kuromaro, Takamuku
no Ayabito, and Ohokuni, Imaki no Ayabito, together with the
student-priests Hifumi, Imaki no Ayabito, Shoan, Minabuchi no
Ayabito, Eon, Shiga no Ayabito, and Kosai, Imaki no Ayabito,
in all eight persons.” Sansom (1931: 38) states that:
“to judge from their names and titles they were all naturalized
Koreans or Chinese, or of Korean or Chinese descent.”
Sansom should have said that “they were all descendants
of the Aya clan people from Pakeche.”17>
BIBLIOGRAPHY
<footnotes>
1> ?? ?????? ???? ???…????????...? ???????? ???? ?
???...???? ????… ????? ????(NI: 357-9)
?? ?????? ??? ... ?… ??????? ???? ???? ???? ????? …??
???? ?????? ???? ???? (NI: 359)
2> ???? ???? ??? ? ? ?????? ?????? ? (S2: 45)
???? ???? ????? ??? ???????(NI: 367)
3> ???? ???? ??? ? ?? ??????? ??? ????? ?????? (S2: 46)
4> ???? ???? ??? ? ??? ????… ????? ? ???? ????????
?????…????? ?? ??? (S2: 46)
?? ??? ?????? ? ????? ??? ????? ?? ??????????(NI: 373)
5> ???? ???? ??? ? ? ???????? ??? ?? (S2: 46)
6> ?? ???? ?????? ????????? ???? ? ???? ???? (NI: 379)
7> ???? ???? ??? ? ?? ???? ????? (S2: 46)
8> ?? ???? ?…??? …??…?????…????
...???…?????...???? ???? ???? ?? ??? ??????? ?? ???????
????? ? ?????? ?????? ? ???? ???? ???? ????? ???? ???? ????
?? ????? ? ???? ????? (NI: 409)
?? ???? ??????? ??? ???...?????? ????? (NI: 415)
9> ???? ???? ??? ? ? ???? ?????(S2: 46)
10> ?? ?? ????? ?? ??? ????? ????… ???? ???? ?????
??? ???? ???…?? ?? ????????? ?? ??? ????? (NI: 463)
?? ?? ?????? ?? ?? ??????????? ??? ????… ????? ? ??? ??????
?? ??…???? ????? ? ???? ??? ?????? ?? ??? ??? ???? ???
(NI: 471)
11> ?? ???? ?? ??? ? ????????? ??? ?? ???? ???? ?? ?? ????
????… ? ? ???????? ???? ????? (NI: 499-501)
???? ????? ???? ?? ???…???? (S2: 60)
12> ?? ?? ?…???? … ??????? ???? ? ? ???? ????
??? ???? ???????? ? ??? ???? ???? ? ? ???????? ???? ???? (NII:
93-95)
??? ????? ???? ?…? ????????? ???? ????? ?? ? ??????? ???
??? ????…??????…?? ?? ???? ???? ?? ?? ????? ?????…
?????????? ??? ? ???? ???? ??? ? (NII: 101-103)
13> ?? ??? ??????... ?…? ???????? ?? ?? ????... ??????
??????? ????? ? ???...????…????? ?… ?????? ?????
?… ?? ???? ???? ?? ?????? ???? ?? ???? ??? ??? ?? ????????
?? ?? ??? (NII: 111-3)
14> At this point Aston (N2: 77) notes that: The ‘Ts?sh?
commentator here quotes the following curious statement from
a work called the Sei-to-ki: ‘In the reign of the Kanmu
(781-806) we and Corea [Paekche?] had writings of the same kind.
The Emperor, disliking this, burnt them.’”
Kitabatake Chikahusa (????, 1293-1354) wrote a historical chronicle
in 1343, and in Oujin section, he stated that those chronicles
that recorded that “the people of old Japan were the same
as Three Han people” were all burnt during the reign of
Kanmu (781-806).
?? . . .????????????????????????????????????? ????? ????? (Tokyo:
Kyuko), p. 28.
?? ??? ?????? ???? …???????? ???? ??? ???? ???? ??...
????????… ???? ???? ???? ???? ...???? ?? ??????? ???????
???? ?? ?????? ?????? ???????? ?????? ?????? ?????? ???? ??
???? ?????? ?????? ?????? ?????? ???? ??????? ?? ?????? ??????
???? ???? ???? ???? (NII: 115-7)
15> ???? ?????? (NII: 133)
?? ??? ?? ????? ???? ????????? …????? ???? ??? ????? ???
????? ??...???? ?????? (NII: 233-5)
16> ?? ?? ???????? ????? ?? ?????? ? ??? ???? ???? ??? (NII:
175)
?? ?? ??????? ? ????????? ???? ???? ??? ????? ?? ??? (NII: 179)
17> ?? ??? ????…?? ?…????? ?????? ?... ?? ????
???? ??? ?????? ???? ?? ????? ????? ??? ?????? ???? ?? ??????
???? (NII: 189-193)
http://www.EastAsianHistory.pe.kr
http://www.WontackHong.pe.kr.
? 2005 by Wontack Hong
All rights reserved
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They, Including Minister Soga,
Appeared Wearing Paekche Clothes
Coming Across the Emotive Records
in Kojiki and Nihongi revelation of close kinship
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