Buyeo
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Buyeo was a Korean kingdom located in today's North Korea and southern Manchuria, from about 2nd century BC to 494. Its remnants were absorbed by Goguryeo in 494, and both Goguryeo and Baekje, two of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, considered themselves its successor.
Although records are sparse and contradictory, it is thought that in 86 BCE, Dongbuyeo (East Buyeo) branched out, after which the original Buyeo is sometimes referred to as Bukbuyeo (North Buyeo). Jolbon Buyeo referred to the incipient Goguryeo's capital. In 538, Baekje renamed itself Nambuyeo (South Buyeo).
"Buyeo" may also refer to a Baekje surname or Buyeo County in South Korea.
History
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Origins
Buyeo is believed to have risen from the areas of Gojoseon in the 2nd century BC. The founding date is difficult to estimate, but Buyeo was known to China by the Warring States Period, bordering Yan. Their capital was once considered to be Nong'an, Jilin Province but it may have been near Harbin.
The records of its founding conflict: Chinese records say it was founded by Dongmyeong (東明, 동명), arriving from the north. Korean records say it was founded in 239 BC by King Hae Buru. King Hae Buru moved his capital to the east under unknown circumstances, and the end result was the formation of Bukbuyeo under Hae Mosu. Korean records seem to indicate that either: 1. Buyeo later became known as East Buyeo when North Buyeo separated from it, or 2. the original Buyeo was conquered or replaced by Hae Mosu, when it became sometimes known as North Buyeo.
Buyeo began to make frequent contacts with China via the Xuantu commandery during the Eastern Han Dynasty. Although it raided Chinese borderland in 111, Buyeo paid tribute to Eastern Han in 120 and in the next year dispatched Prince Wi Gutae (尉仇台) to Xuantu to save it from Goguryeo's attack. It attacked Eastern Han again in 167 because of trade frictions.
Dongbuyeo
According to the Samguk Sagi and other accounts, the kingdom of Dongbuyeo (86 BCE - 22 CE) developed to the east of Bukbuyeo, near the land of Okjeo.
When Bukbuyeo's 4th Dangun Go Uru of Bukbuyeo died, his brother Hae Buru succeded him and became the 5th Dangun of Bukbuyeo until he got into political and military conflicts with Go Dumak, who was a member of the royal family. A power struggle occured and resulted in the victory of Go Dumak and the fleeing of Haeburu to Gaseopwon, where he established Dongbuyeo. Haeburu submitted to Bukbuyeo to avoid conflicts with the kingdom and its 5th Dangun, Go Dumak of Bukbuyeo.
According to the Samguk Sagi, Hae Buru found a golden frog-like child under a large rock. Hae Buru named the child Geumwa, meaning golden frog, and later made him crown prince.
Geumwa became king after Hae Buru's death. Geumwa met Yuhwa, the daughter of Habaek, and brought her back to his palace. She was impregnated by sunlight and laid an egg, from which hatched Jumong. Geumwa's seven sons resented Jumong, and although Geumwa tried to protect him, Jumong ran away to Jolbon Buyeo, where he later established Goguryeo.
Geumwa's eldest son Daeso became the next king. Daeso attacked Goguryeo during the reign of its second king, Yuri. Goguryeo's third king Daemusin attacked Dongbuyeo and killed Daeso. After internal strife, Dongbuyeo fell, and its territory was absorbed into Goguryeo.
Dongbuyeo was briefly revived by a small state established around 285 by refugees of Buyeo. This state was conquered by King Gwanggaeto of Goguryeo. According to the Gwanggaeto stele, Dongbuyeo was a tributary of Goguryeo. Although the chronology is inconsistent with the Samguksagi, one legend says Wutae, the father of the Baekje king Biryu, was a son of Hae Buru.
Jolbon
Some Korean records name a “Jolbon Buyeo” (卒本夫餘, 졸본부여), apparently referring to the incipient Goguryeo or its capital city. Jolbon Buyeo was a continuation of Bukbuyeo during the reign of its 5th Dangun Go Dumak of Bukbuyeo. After the death of Go Dumak Dangun in 60 BCE, Go Musu of Bukbuyeo rose to the throne to become the 6th Dangun of Bukbuyeo. After ruling for two years, Go Musu gave Jolbon Buyeo to Jumong, who was also a direct descendant of Bukbuyeo's founder Haemosu.
Go Musu Dangun gave his daughter Soseuno to Jumong in marriage and also abdicated in favor of the latter. In 37 BC, Jumong united all five of the tribes that made up Jolbon and established Goguryeo. Goguryeo under Jumong went on to unite all of Buyeo, Okjeo, Dongye, and Haeng-In Guk, regaining most of Gojoseon's former territories.
Under attack
At the end of Eastern Han, Gongsun Du, a Chinese warlord in Liaodong, supported Buyeo to counter Xianbei in the north and Goguryeo in the east. After destroying the Gongsun family, the Kingdom of Wei sent Wuqiu Jian to attack Goguryeo. A squad of the third expeditionary force led by the Governor of the Xuantu commandery was welcomed by Buyeo. It brought detailed information of the kingdom to China.[citation needed]
Since then, Buyeo was torn between big powers, and ravaged during the waves of movement of northern nomadic peoples into China.[citation needed] In 285 the Murong tribe of the Xianbei, led by Murong Hui, invaded Buyeo, pushing King Yilü (依慮) to suicide, and forcing the relocation of the court to Okjeo. Considering its friendly relationship with Jin Dynasty, Emperor Wu helped King Yiluo (依羅) revive Buyeo. [citation needed]
Goguryeo's attack sometime before 347 caused further decline. Having lost its stronghold near Harbin, Buyeo moved southwestward to Nong'an. Around 347, Buyeo was attacked by Murong Huang of the Former Yan, and King Xuan (玄) was captured.
Fall
A remnant of Buyeo seems to have lingered around Harbin under the influence of Goguryeo. Buyeo paid tribute once to Northern Wei in 457, but otherwise seems to have been controlled by Goguryeo. Goguryeo and Buyeo were under attack by the rising Wuji (Mohe, 勿吉, 물길) in 494 and the Buyeo court moved into Goguryeo.
Culture
The Buyeo were agricultural people who occupied the vastest plain in Manchuria. Their manners a nd customs were mostly recorded in Sanguo Zhi (Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms). They already maintained a complex social structure and named official titled after animals. [citation needed]
Language
The Buyeo (Puyŏ, Fuyu) languages are a hypothetical language family that would relate the languages of Buyeo, Goguryeo, and Baekje with the Japonic languages, and possibly place them together as a family under the hypothetical Altaic family.
The Buyeo language itself is unknown except for a small number of words, but thought to have been similar to languages of Gojoseon, Goguryeo and East Okjeo.
Legacy
In the 1930's, Chinese historian Jin Yufu developed a linear model of descent for the people of Manchuria and northern Korea, from the kingdoms of Buyeo, Goguryeo, and Baekje, to the present Korean nationality. Later historians of Northeast China built upon this influential model. [1]
Goguryeo and Baekje, two of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, considered themselves successors of Buyeo. King Onjo, the founder of Baekje, is said to have been a son of Chumo Taewang, founder of Goguryeo. Baekje officially changed its name to Nambuyeo (남부여, 南夫餘 "South Buyeo") in 538.
See Also