-2000 BC - Chinese historians record coming into contact with "eastern barbarians" (likely referring to a bunch of different tribes, at least one of whom (possibly the Yemaek people) are a direct ancestor of modern-day Koreans!).
-The Yemaeks were also badass horsemen and horse archers, eventually consolidating their power in North Korea and Manchuria.
-Most of the historical records that we have about what was going on around the Korean peninsula comes from Chinese records up until like the beginning of Gojoseon & Co. (see below).
-Around this time the pottery culture that had sprung up around the time of the Xia dynasty on the banks of the Yellow River was spreading into Manchuria.
-The eastern barbarians were wild, raging hordes, and were a giant pain in the ass for the Chinese.
-Some of these hordes would eventually form the first proto-Korean kingdoms in Manchuria and North Korea (Gojoseon, Buyeo, Okjeo, and other minor states) since they would eventually have a Bronze Age advantage technologically over the stone age barbarians who also happened to be living there at that time, kicking off Korea's Bronze Age (1000-800 BC).
-Gojoseon (literally "Old Joseon"; "Joseon" could possibly mean "morning calm" (hence, "Land of the Morning Calm") but this is unclear; in the Chinese "Records of the Grand Historian", Gojoseon is referred to as "Yemaek Joseon") was formed by a Yemaek Bronze Age tribe from Manchuria who worshiped bear totems (maybe all Yemaek worshipped bear totems or maybe it was just this one tribe in particular; I'm not sure).
-The Chinese referred to the Gojoseon people as "bears".
-Mythological founding of Gojoseon (according to the Samgukyusa) was c. 2333 BC by the demigod king Dangun.
-Archaeological evidence, however, suggests 1500 BC, but also as far as an actual "legit" government or kingdom this was likely to be around 1000 BC.
-Additionally, Gojoseon only appears in Chinese records around the 7th century BC.
-Buyeo was founded to the north of Gojoseon in as early as the 5th century BC. Founded after the Xiongnu left the area.
-Okjeo was located southeast of Gojoseon and formed c. 5th century BC.
-Worshiped various totem animal spirits such as dogs, horses, cows, etc.
-Government was tribal chieftains ruled by a supreme chieftain.
-Chiefs wore fox and sable furs and decorated them with red gemstones
-Justice system was harsh - most crimes were capital offenses and the family of the perpetrator would be enslaved.
-400 BC - The Yemaek kingdoms obtain iron age technology from China.
-Began to fortify towns with walls.
-The capital of Gojoseon moved from modern-day Liaoning Province in China to Pyongyang in North Korea.
-Iron Age technology allowed for Gojoseon to grow more food and thus have a rising population.
-Early Korean warfare was all about capturing people for slaves and raiding, as opposed to crushing enemies completely and conquering them.
-Yemaek overlords built their houses on hills to overlook their fields and defend themselves from raiders.
-So WTF was going on south of Gojoseon on the southern Korean peninsula? Why did Gojoseon never expand south and conquer the whole peninsula?
-Barbarians occupied the area, and among these people two kingdoms (or confederacies) eventually emerged- Ye/Dongye (emerged around the 3rd century BC) and Jin (both emerged around the 3rd century BC).
-Organization and ethnic makeup is murky.
-Tried to negotiate with the Han Chinese to obtain iron technology, but failed.
-This is probably because the Chinese liked having Gojoseon to the northeast as a buffer state between China and the Siberian barbarian hordes, and had nothing to gain from Gojoseon power being challenged by Jin and Ye.
-Eventually, however, Gojoseon began to grow more powerful, and began to fight with Yan (or Yen), a northern Chinese kingdom.
-Yen decided to ally itself with Buyeo, a kingdom north of Gojoseon.
-Chinese sources described Gojoseon as "arrogant" and "cruel".
-Around the 300s BC, Yan was able to successfully invade and conquer the Liaodong peninsula, which was Gojoseon territory.
-Unfortunately, Yan was also fighting with Han China, who soon invaded the Liaodong peninsula and took it from Yan.
-The Han Chinese then set up a commandery (or prefecture) in the region and appointed a warlord to rule over it.
-Manchuria was in chaos at this time due to all the wars, and the common folk were constantly fleeing from violence due to the battles and invading armies, not to mention raids by the Xiongnu.
-People began to migrate into Gojoseon, bringing with them Chinese culture.
-Wiman - possibly a Chinese leader of thousands of refugees.
-Led them to Pyongyang.
-Immediately adopted Gojoseon fashion and hairstyles.
-Went to the court of Gojoseon's ruler, King Jun. King Jun accepted Wiman and his followers as people of Gojoseon, but sent them west to go defend the border. Wiman knew that this was probably suicide.
-Sometime between 194-180 BC, Wiman marched back to the capital and revolted!
-He pretended that he was there to defend the king from a Chinese assassination plot. When he got there, though, he seized the throne!
-The "Wiman Joseon" period of Gojoseon history implemented many Chinese economic, political, and cultural traditions and norms into mainstream society.
-However, it is important to remember that Wiman was not a puppet of China, and that Gojoseon was an independent state. Many of his public officials were still from the previous king's administration.
-King Wiman had goals of expanding Gojoseon's power, and he began to accumulate more and more territory. Soon he took over parts of trade routes, which unfortunately pissed off China.
-The throne is eventually handed off to Ugeo, Wiman's grandson.
-108 BC - King Ugeo is assassinated and Han China invades Gojoseon, conquering it (this also coincides with the beginning of Korea's Iron Age).
-Emperor Wu of Han China then sets up 4 commanderies in the former Gojoseon territories- Lelang, Lintun, Xuantu, and Zhenfan.
-The most important one concerning Korean history was Lelang, in North Korea.
-Archaeological evidence suggests that the elite enjoyed a lavish lifestyle in Lelang, and Chinese rule probably wasn't that much different than rule under the Gojoseon kings.
-The peasants probably could do whatever they wanted as long as they gave up a portion of their crops to the state and didn't cause problems.
-Society began to grow more complex in Lelang during this time.
-Evidence of this because the laws grew from 8 to 60!
-Also, large-scale projects were developed to clear forests and develop farmland.
-The southern kingdoms began to eye Lelang greedily, but instead of attacking they submitted to the Han dynasty as tributary states in exchange for Chinese trade, culture, technology, etc.
No comments:
Post a Comment