A History of Korea by Jinwung Kim Read Free Book Online Page B

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.
CONFEDERATED KINGDOMS
Puy ŏ
    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.
    Puy ŏ had existed for almost 1,000 years before Kogury ŏ finally annexed it in 494. In its heyday Puy ŏ extended its territory to the Heilong (Amur) River to the north, the Maritime Province of Russia to the east, Paektu-san to the south, and the upper reaches of the Liao River to the west. Since around the third century ad, however, it was reduced to a small state with a population of 80,000 households.
    Puy ŏ not only had existed for an extended time but had long maintained friendly relations with China’s successive Han, Wei, and Jin dynasties. Because it lay between the nomadic Xianbei people on China’s northern frontier and Kogury ŏ to China’s northeast, both of whom posed a serious threat to China, Puy ŏ and China shared in common the need to check the expansion of these two powerful peoples. Unlike its good-neighbor relationship with China, Puy ŏ ’s relations with Kogury ŏ to its south, as well as with the Xianbei people to the north, had long been antagonistic. China’s close, friendly ties with Puy ŏ had convinced the Chinese of the peaceful inclinations of the Puy ŏ people. The converging interests of the two nations revealed itself in a series of events.
    Puy ŏ sent its first envoy to China in AD 49, during the Later Han dynasty, and thereafter sent emissaries almost every year. At the end of the Later Han, the Gongsun clan, who as Chinese warlords controlled the Liadong region, forged marriage ties with Puy ŏ ’s royal house. When Guanqiu Jian, a general of the Wei dynasty that succeeded the Later Han, invaded Kogury ŏ in 244, Puy ŏ supplied provisions to the invading Wei army, cementing its friendship with China. Such pro-China policy was fruitfully rewarded. When the Xianbei ruler Murong Wei invaded Puy ŏ in 285, its king Ŭ iry ŏ committed suicide and the king’s