A History of Korea (6 page)

MAP 1.1.
Old Chos
ŏ
n

In the fourth century
BC
Old Chos
ŏ
n was bordered on the west, far beyond the Liao River, by the northern Chinese dynasty of Yan. Thereafter, under heavy pressure from the Yan, it entered a period of gradual decline. In the early third century
BC
Old Chos
ŏ
n was invaded by Yan forces, commanded by their general Qinkai, and lost its territory in the Liao River basin to the Chinese kingdom. At the same time, Old Chos
ŏ
n may have transferred its capital to Pyongyang, called Wangg
ŏ
m-s
ŏ
ng at the time, in northern Korea.

From the mid-third century
BC
Old Chos
ŏ
n experienced a long period of civil turbulence in neighboring China, having gone through the late Warring States Period. By the late third century
BC
China had become a unified empire under the Qin and Han dynasties. As opposing dynasties wrestled for supremacy in China, small bands of refugees periodically made their way into Old Chos
ŏ
n. Leading one of these refugee bands was a warrior known as Wiman, a native of Yan. Wiman and his followers, numbering more than 1,000, submitted themselves to King Chun of Old Chos
ŏ
n, who in turn assigned them to guard the state’s western frontier. But Wiman gathered additional refugees from China, armed them with weapons fashioned from iron, and, after marching to the capital under the pretext of protecting the king against Chinese invaders, seized the throne in 194
BC
. At the time relations between Old Chos
ŏ
n and Han were strained because of a struggle for suzerainty over Korean states and populations. The dethroned king Chun is said to have taken a ship to the southern state of Chin to become its king (“Han King”).

Although Wiman came from the former Chinese Yan dynasty, when he sought refuge in Old Chos
ŏ
n, he is said to have styled his hair in a topknot resembling that of the Old Chos
ŏ
n people and to have dressed in the Chos
ŏ
n style. He also continued to use “Chos
ŏ
n” for the name of his kingdom. These considerations suggest that Wiman might be a dongyi man.

For the next 86 years (194–108
BC
), under Wiman and his heirs, Chos
ŏ
n enjoyed peace and prosperity. Wiman Chos
ŏ
n embraced the native elite of Old Chos
ŏ
n society, and some members of that elite were given the highest government position of “sang.” Possessed of highly advanced Iron culture, Wiman Chos
ŏ
n expanded its territory and subjugated its neighboring states to the north, east, and south. In about 190
BC
Chinb
ŏ
n in today’s Hwanghae province and Imdun in present-day South Hamgy
ŏ
ng province, both now situated in North Korea, were forced to submit to Wiman Chos
ŏ
n. China’s Han empire
was concerned about the threat posed by a possible alliance between Wiman Chos
ŏ
n and the nomadic Xiongnu people, then rapidly expanding into Manchuria from their heartland in Mongolia. From early times the nomadic peoples beyond the Great Wall were a constant challenge to China, and several Korean states, including Wiman Chos
ŏ
n, forged close ties with these powerful nomads. At this point, in 128
BC
, Namny
ŏ
, the ruler of Ye, who had been forced to yield to Wiman Chos
ŏ
n, defected to Han with his people, numbering 280,000. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Han sought to outflank Wiman Chos
ŏ
n by establishing the Canghai (Ch’anghae in Korean) Commandery in the Ye territory, located in the mid-Yalu and the Tongjia (present-day Hon) river basin. Two years later, in 126
BC
, however, the fierce resistance of the Ye people dismantled the Chinese commandery, and the Han empire’s ambitious designs to weaken Wiman Chos
ŏ
n ended in failure. Around 110
BC
King Ug
ŏ
of Wiman Chos
ŏ
n, who sought to profit as an intermediary in trade between Korean states and Han China, prevented the state of Chin, located south of the Han River, from direct contact with the Han empire.

Bilateral negotiations failed to heal the breach between Wiman Chos
ŏ
n and the Han empire. At this critical moment a major crisis occurred. A Chinese envoy named Shehe, who had earlier been rewarded after killing a Wiman Chos
ŏ
n commander and fleeing back to China, was killed in retaliation by Chos
ŏ
n soldiers in 109
BC
. The Han emperor Wudi, who had already engaged in aggressive military campaigns to crush Xiongnu’s threat, used this incident as an excuse to launch an armed attack on Wiman Chos
ŏ
n.
⁴
Wudi sought to neutralize Xiongnu’s power by conquering the Korean nation. In 109
BC
he sent out 50,000 army troops and 7,000 naval forces to destroy Wiman Chos
ŏ
n. After suffering defeat at the beginning of the war, the Chinese sought to provoke internal strife within the Chos
ŏ
n ruling class. As a result, although Wiman Chos
ŏ
n fought hard against the Chinese invaders for a year, its resistance was weakened by internal dissension. Many high-ranking pacifists surrendered to Han, and one of them, Nigye-sang Sam, assassinated King Ug
ŏ
in 108
BC
. Led by the high-level official S
ŏ
nggi, a hard-liner on the Chinese, the struggle continued for a time but could not be maintained indefinitely. Finally, after pacifists killed S
ŏ
nggi, Wangg
ŏ
m-s
ŏ
ng was taken by the Chinese. Wiman Chos
ŏ
n was devastated and replaced by four Chinese commanderies. For the first time in their history Koreans were placed under foreign domination. After Wiman Chos
ŏ
n was conquered by the Han empire, many members of its ruling class went south, greatly encouraging the development of the three Han
federations. It appears that these refugees from Wiman Chos
ŏ
n established the Chinhan federation.

Immediately after destroying Wiman Chos
ŏ
n, the Han empire established administrative units to rule large territories in the northern Korean peninsula and southern Manchuria. In 108
BC
it built three commanderies—Nangnang (Lelang in Chinese), Chinb
ŏ
n (Zhenfan in Chinese), and Imdun (Lintun in Chinese)—within the former domain of Wiman Chos
ŏ
n, and the next year it created Hy
ŏ
ndo (Xuantu in Chinese) in the former territory of Ye. The locations of these four Chinese commanderies have been interpreted differently, but one widely accepted version places them as follows: Nangnang in the Taedong River basin around Pyongyang; Chinb
ŏ
n in present-day Hwanghae province north of the Han River (the old Chinb
ŏ
n region); Imdun in today’s South Hamgy
ŏ
ng province (the former Imdun area); and Hy
ŏ
ndo in the middle reaches of the Yalu River.

In the face of continuing hostility and stiff opposition on the part of the native Korean population, however, the Chinese conquerors soon found themselves overextended. A generation later the original four commanderies were reduced to just one, that of Nangnang. In 82
BC
local opposition expelled Chinb
ŏ
n and Imdun, and the Han empire abolished both commanderies, attaching the areas under their jurisdiction to Nangnang and Hy
ŏ
ndo, respectively. Seven years later, in 75
BC
, the newly emerging Korean kingdom of Kogury
ŏ
attacked the Hy
ŏ
ndo Commandery, expelling it far to the northwest, out of the former Ye territory. Soon the Chinese commandery ceased to exist.

Controlling the northwestern part of the Korean peninsula, Nangnang endured for more than four centuries, outlasting its father Han empire by 100 years. But Nangnang also experienced a succession of serious crises both internally and externally. In
AD
24 Wang Diao, a powerful member of the Nangnang gentry, rebelled against its governor and proclaimed himself the new governor. This coup was suppressed in
AD
30 by Wang Zun, the newly arrived governor from China, but it had a significant impact on the indigenous Korean people, who had been pushed down to the southern part of the Korean peninsula when the Han empire expanded into Korea. As the once domineering Nangnang weakened, these native Korean societies recovered their earlier strength. To cope with the growing power of the Korean population, in
AD
205 the Gongsun clan, then in control of the Liaodong region, established a new commandery,
Daifang (Taebang in Korean) in the area south of Nangnang, formerly administered by Chinb
ŏ
n. Since the first century
BC
Nangnang felt heavy pressure from the northern Korean kingdom of Kogury
ŏ
, established in the north of the commandery and expanded into Manchuria. Nangnang finally fell to Kogury
ŏ
in 313, and in 314 its neighboring commandery of Taebang was also overwhelmed by the native Korean kingdom.

A rich and prosperous outpost of Han civilization, Nangnang was a replica of the Han empire proper, particularly its culture. Chinese civilization flowed into the Korean peninsula through Nangnang. The Chinese introduced their customs, their writing system, and their literature to Koreans. Nangnang also functioned as the international trade center of East Asia. Trade was conducted between China and the rest of Korea and even Japan through the Chinese commandery. Many Chinese merchants migrated into Nangnang to engage in commerce. They imported timber, salt, and iron from the indigenous tribal states south of the Han River. To strengthen business ties with native Korean societies, the Chinese granted their leaders ceremonial offices and ranks, official seals, and ceremonial attire. These served as formal tokens of their submission to Nangnang’s authority as well as Chinese recognition of their independent status.

Although Nangnang was the core area for Chinese colonial policy in Korea, severe political repression did not occur. The native populace rigidly opposed China’s colonial administration, and, as a result, the Chinese were forced to grant substantial political freedom to the populace whom they governed. Pyongyang, the center of Nangnang’s colonial administration, was transformed into a sumptuous, international city, and Chinese officials, merchants, and many others came to live there. The luxurious lifestyle of these Chinese, who boasted that they were colonial overlords, is evident in the burial objects found in the tombs in Pyongyang’s environs, items such as gold filigree work and superb pieces of lacquer.

The indigenous Korean society was heavily influenced by the Chinese. Some natives became rich and grew accustomed to the Chinese way of life, which prompted class divisions. The class division in Old Chos
ŏ
n society is evident from its burial system in which living slaves are entombed with their dead masters. In Old Chos
ŏ
n’s two tombs, apparently built sometime between the eighth and seventh centuries
BC
, more than 140 slaves were buried alive with their dead masters in one, and more than 100 slaves were buried alive with their dead masters in the other.

The presence of wealthy natives also prompted the need for the rich to protect their property. Thievery greatly increased, committed largely by Chinese merchants. The original code of law in Old Chos
ŏ
n consisted of eight articles, but, of these, only three stipulations are presently known. As in many other states in the ancient world, Old Chos
ŏ
n’s code of law followed the talion principle: a murderer was put to death; someone who caused bodily injury was required to pay compensation in grain; and a thief was made the slave of his victim but could be exempted from that penalty by paying each victim “500,000 coppers.” Other legal articles may have included provisions on adultery, jealousy, blasphemy, and so forth. Because of the heavy Chinese presence in Old Chos
ŏ
n, the original body of law was eventually expanded to include more than 60 provisions. The legal structure of the indigenous society thus became extremely complicated and crimes rapidly increased. On the other hand, the advanced Chinese culture encouraged the development of the Korean indigenous culture. Kogury
ŏ
, for example, took over Pyongyang and inherited a well-established, rich Chinese civilization. In sum, after the fall of Wiman Chos
ŏ
n and the establishment of Chinese commanderies, Chinese inroads into native Korean societies exerted tremendous effects upon Koreans both positively and negatively.

Puy
ŏ
, along with Old Chos
ŏ
n, was the source of the Korean nations. Chumong, the founder of Kogury
ŏ
, moved south from Puy
ŏ
. When King S
ŏ
ng of Paekche relocated his capital from Ungjin (present-day Kongju, South Ch’ungch’
ŏ
ng province) to Sabi (present-day Puy
ŏ
, South Ch’ungch’
ŏ
ng province) in 538, he renamed his kingdom “South Puy
ŏ
.” Puy
ŏ
(meaning “deer” or “wide flatland”) emerged in the vast plains of the upper and middle reaches of the Songhua River in Manchuria, and thus the people of Puy
ŏ
engaged in farming and raising livestock. Puy
ŏ
’s nation building as a walled-town state seems to have begun in the mid-fifth century
BC
. From the first century
AD
on, the name “Puy
ŏ
” appeared frequently in Chinese historical records, and by this time Puy
ŏ
had grown into a confederated kingdom. In
AD
49 the Puy
ŏ
ruler was using the Chinese title
wang.
Puy
ŏ
was founded by the Yemaek branch of Koreans. Since people of Puy
ŏ
origin later founded the Korean kingdoms of Kogury
ŏ
and Paekche, Puy
ŏ
deserves a great deal of weight in Korean history.