China erupts into war and the explosion is felt all over the East, even across the sea.
The time of the Han Dynasty was a golden age of China.
It was a time of relative peace, wealth, and scientific advancement.
That’s why when it shattered, there was chaos.
The Han had a vast trade network and tributary system that connected the surrounding states.
Their tentacles, like some other type of tentacles, reached out to even the smallest of places.
When they disappeared, all these states were faced with a power vacuum and found themselves
cut off from a lucrative trade network.
People in the Korean Peninsula saw all this chaos and thought,
“Awesome,”
and seized the moment to carve out their own kingdoms in the peninsula.
Koguryo in the north slapped the weakened Chinese there into submission, while in the
south, Silla and Paekche arose as contenders.
A group of small states in the south banded together to form the Kaya confederacy, which
later became best buddies with Japan.
When Japan’s Kofun Period began, it was the middle of China’s Three Kingdoms Period.
Contact with China had evaporated, and Japan’s supply of bronze mirrors evaporated with it.
If you’ve been watching earlier videos, you’d remember that the Japanese were obsessed
with these mirrors.
They used them for rituals and as symbols of power.
They were forced to create bronze mirrors locally.
Wasn’t a problem though, they had learned enough from the mainlanders to manufacture
the mirrors, and even developed their own patterns and style.
With China busy beating itself up, Japan turned to the Korean kingdoms as a source of high
culture, technology, and luxury goods.
Korea was more advanced than Japan at the time.
But while the gap between Japan and China was like the Grand Canyon, the gap between
Japan and Korea was like that gorge in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
The gorge is big, but at least you have a bridge you can cross.
And Harrison Ford is there to guide you.
Except I think he destroys the bridge in the movie, so you can’t actually cross it.
You can’t really jump it either.
I feel like this analogy has jumped it.
The Japanese did not see themselves as vassals to the Koreans, as they did to the Chinese.
In fact, they had a military presence in the Korean Peninsula, helping out Paekche and
Kaya.
Kaya had the closest relations to Japan.
There was a debate about Kaya some decades ago.
The Nihon Shoki, a book of Japanese history created 1300 years ago, claims that Kaya (known
as Mimana in the book) was a colony of Yamato.
Historians initially believed this claim, but someone questioned its validity one day
and sparked a huge debate.
Unfortunately, this debate was mired in nationalism, you could kind of guess who fell on which
side depending on whether they were Korean or Japanese.
Eventually, mainstream historians, including Japanese and Korean historians, came to a
conclusion.
In 2010, the Japanese and Korean governments even sponsored a joint study group of historians
from both sides.
It re-affirmed the conclusion, which was that Kaya was NOT a colony of the Yamato court.
Seems like the Yamato just wanted everyone to think they were.
In fact, they wanted everyone to think they occupied the other kingdoms in the southern
Korean Peninsula as well.
The Japanese government actually removed endorsements of the theory from textbooks.
So why were the Yamato so desperate to maintain relations with Korea?
Most likely because they needed iron.
Sadly, Japan’s supply of metal ore resembled my bank account’s supply of numbers.
They used iron to make weapons and farming tools.
It was a society based around agriculture.
Agriculture fueled growth.
Iron tools were used to clear land, which brought more agriculture, which brought more
money, which brought more iron, which brought more iron tools to clear land, and on it goes.
Early on, the competing clans understood this.
You can bet the Yamato did as well.
Iron was the key, the Yamato needed a reliable stream of iron flowing into their coffers
to accomplish their goal of unifying Japan.
Towards this end, the Yamato also formed a relationship with Paekche.
If Kaya was Yamato’s main wife, Paekche was its secondary wife (remember they practiced
polygamy).
It benefited both sides.
Japanese forces defended Paekche when the other two Korean kingdoms invaded.
And Paekche helped Yamato establish contact with the southern Chinese courts.
Japan learned all kinds of new technology from the peninsula, like innovative ways to
make tombs, glazed pottery, and especially fighting on horseback.
Koguryo was the Tiger Woods of mounted combat, meaning they constantly cheated on their wives--
no, they were really good at mounted combat and used it to basically dominate the peninsula.
Some historians suggest that Japan’s initial adoption of a horse warrior culture was because
they were afraid Koguryo would invade Japan after they were done with the peninsula.
In the 400s, with the help of Paekche, the Yamato re-established contact with multiple
Chinese courts, sending tribute in return for Chinese acknowledgement and trade.
Everyone in Japan breathed a sigh of relief because they finally had access to Chinese
bronze mirrors again.
Amidst the wars, many Koreans (and also some Chinese) said “Screw this” and fled into
Japan.
These immigrants were the true MVPs.
They brought new political ideas and ways to manage a large central government.
Much of Japanese art and architecture at the time developed from immigrant artists or artists
building upon existing Korean styles.
Many Koreans attained important government offices.
Korean immigrants were organized into occupational communities called be and performed all kinds
of labor.
Paekche introduced two things that changed Japan forever: the Chinese writing system
and Buddhism.
We’ll talk about Buddhism in a later video, but writing changed everything.
The Japanese did not have a written language before.
Now they could keep written records, helping to maintain control over large regions.
It was the beginning of the written arts and high culture and stories and poetry.
Strong relations with China and especially the Korean kingdoms allowed the Yamato clan
to stay one step ahead of the competition and form a Japanese state.
Influence from the continent lifted Japan into a literate and technologically advanced
society.
Hey ya’ll, we broke through the 10,000 subscriber milestone!
Aaaah!
Thank you everyone so so much for watching these videos.
The channel has grown immensely in the past few months and it’s all thanks to you, sugah.
I started this whole project as a little hobby, like an outlet for my creative side, but it’s
become a lot more.
And you guys are so nice and supportive it’s not even funny.
You should know I have some plans for this year that you may like, so stick around!
And
dance.