ArticlePDF Available

The Role of Korea in Cultural Transmission Between China and Japan during the Three Kingdoms Period

Authors:
2012/2
Prague Papers on the History
of International Relations
Institute of World History
Faculty of Arts
Charles University in Prague
Institute of East European History
Faculty of Historical
and Cultural Sciences
University of Vienna
PRAGUEPAPERSONTHEHISTORYOFINTERNATIONALRELATIONS
Since 1997, Prague Papers on the History of International Relations (PPHIR) has been published as a yearbook
of the Institute of World History, Faculty of Arts and Philosophy, Charles University, Prague. Since 2006 it
started a successful cooperation with the Institute of East European History, Faculty of Historical and Cultural
Sciences, University of Vienna, which caused an considerable increase of authors and articles and so that in
2010 it was transformed into the reviewed international research journal, which has came out biannually and
in which has been published studies on international relations. In 2009 the journal was included List of reviewed
non-impacted journals from the Czech Republic.
Editorsinchief
Aleš Skřivan, Sr., Arnold Suppan
Redaction
Richard Lein, Lukáš Novotný, Jaroslav Valkoun
EditorialBoard
Leopold Auer (Wien), Winfried Becker (Passau), Marie Bláhová (Praha), Franz Bosbach (Duisburg), Ivo Budil
(Plzeň), Václav Bůžek (České Budějovice), Gabriele Clemens (Hamburg), Jaroslav Čechura (Praha), John R. Davis
(Kingston upon Thames), Marcus A. Denzel (Leipzig), Anselm Doering-Manteuel (Tübingen), Václav Drška
(Praha), Ewald Frie (Tübingen), Radek Fukala (Ústí nad Labem), Reimer Hansen (Berlin), Arno Herzig (Hamburg),
Hermann Joseph Hiery (Bayreuth), Wolfgang von Hippel (Mannheim), Václav Horčička (Praha), Rainer Hudeman
(Saarbrücken), Ivan Jakubec (Praha), Drahomír Jančík (Praha), Zdeněk Jirásek (Opava), Thomas Kletečka
(Wien), Dušan Koč (Bratislava), Martin Koř (Praha), Hans-Christof Kraus (Passau), Rudolf Kučera (Praha),
Robert Kvaček (Praha), Igor Lukes (Boston), Jürgen Miethke (Heidelberg), Dagmar Moravcová (Praha), Daniel
C. Narváez Torregrosa (Burgos), Martin Nejedlý (Praha), Lukáš Novotný (Plzeň), Josef Opatrný (Praha), Bianka
Pietrow-Ennker (Konstanz), Jiří Schwarz (Praha), Volker Sellin (Heidelberg), José Manuel Serrano (Medellín),
Aleš Skřivan, Sr. (Praha), Aleš Skřivan, Jr. (Praha), František Stellner (Praha), Holm Sundhaussen (Berlin), Arnold
Suppan (Wien), Jiří Štaif (Praha), Miroslav Tejchman (Praha), Andrej Tóth (Opava), Marko Trogrlić (Split), Marija
Wakounig (Wien), Jan Wanner (Praha), Eike Wolgast (Heidelberg), Rudolf Žaček (Opava), Jan Županič (Praha)
AddressÚstav světových dějin FF UK, nám. J. Palacha 2, 116 38 Praha 1 (praguepapers@ff.cuni.cz)
Each author is responsible for the substance and accuracy of his or her manuscript.
SubscriptionsVydavatelství FF UK v Praze, nám. J. Palacha 2, 116 38 Praha 1 (books@ff.cuni.cz)
PublishedCharles University in Prague, Faculty of Arts, nám. Jana Palacha 2, 116 38 Praha 1, Czech Republic
Two issues per year
Cover&Typo Studio Lacerta (www.sazba.cz)
Printed by the Printing Oce, Karolinum Press, Charles University in Prague
© Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Arts, 2014
ISSN 1803-7356
PRAGUE PAPERS ON THE HISTORY OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 2/2014
Contents/Inhalt
Articles
e Role of Korea in Cultural Transmission between China and Japan
during the ree Kingdoms Period
P K— J Y
Feinde Widerwillen? Französisch -burgundischer
Discours über den Vertrag in Troyes
V D
e Russian -Chinese Trade in Kyakhta, Its Organisation
and Commodity Structure, 
M W
Is the Glass Half Empty or Half Full?
K S
Russisch -deutsche Beziehungen nach der ronbesteigung Wilhelms II.
F S
Problems of British Policy in China at the End of the th Century
A S, S.— A S, J. — 
Great Britain, Germany, and the Selected Railway Problems in China, 
L N
e Balkans and Austria -Hungary 
M U
e Issue of Hungarian -Slovak Diplomatic Connections
in the Hungarian Parliament in 
I J
Hungarian -Croatian Bilateral Co -operations since s
E B L
Book Reviews / Buchbesprechungen
Miroslav Šedivý, Metternich, the Great Powers and the Eastern Question,
Pilsen  (R K) — 
Jitka Balcarová, „Jeden za všechny, všichni za jednoho!“ Bund der Deutschen
a jeho předchůdci v procesu utváření „sudetoněmecké identity“, Praha 
(E R) — 
PRAGUE PAPERS ON THE HISTORY OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 2/2014
ARTICLES
TheRoleofKoreainCulturalTransmission
betweenChinaandJapanduring
theThreeKingdomsPeriod
Pál KoudelaJinil Yoo
INTRODUCTION
e ree Kingdoms’ role in cultural transmission and its importance in dierent
cultural elds is only now becoming clearer. ere is more and more evidence sup-
porting the fact that Korea played a complex part in this. China’s cultural, economic
and political inuence on Asia is core and a starting point for current studies; and
during the Middle Ages Japan had been in China’s circle of inuence since the thcen-
tury. e two most important components of cultural relations were Buddhism and
Confucianism, but summing them up is still very limited. is article compiles the
latest results and shows this complexity from a new viewpoint. Buddhism is not
only a religion, a set of beliefs and habits, but has artistic relevance in architecture,
graphic arts, music, and poetry too. Buddhism is also a philosophy and had its inu-
ence on thinking not only about religion but about ways of life. It also represented
a part of international relations: monks went from Silla to Japan, rst of all to Hyeja
in  and later the famous mission from Paekche. Confucianism was also very im-
portant, taking legislative and administrative structure to Japan through Korea. But
there are other parts of international relations and cultural transmission like war-
fare, dressing or even eating habits. Korean warriors ghting in the ree Kingdoms
created their own style of armour, which spread to Japan, evolving into the image of
the medieval samurai on horseback.
BUDDHISMFROMCHINA
Aer the fall of the Chinese Empire in the th century (especially the Western Jin in
) many refugees ed to the Korean peninsula taking with them Chinese culture.
e early ree Kingdoms were open to the new skills and diplomatic connections that
had a strong cultural inuence on the following centuries. Koguryŏ and Paekche ac-
cepted Buddhism in the th century and Silla in . e traditional dates are either 
(according to the Samguk sagi) or  (according to the Samguk yusa), although some
scholars have argued for  becaus e that is when constru ction on t he rst monastery,
Hŭngnyunsa, began. e new religion was introduced to P’yŏngyang by the monk Sundo
from the former Chinese Qin, to Koguryŏ in  AD, and Buddhism soon became state
8 PRAGUE PAPERS ON THE HISTORY OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 2/2014
religion. But all three kingdoms maintained pastoral and theoretic relations between
northern and southern Chinese Buddhist communities in the ensuing period. In  AD
an Indian monk from Xinjiang, called Mālānanda, brought Buddhism to Paekches Han-
Seong (modern Seoul). e sources for this story say that he was a dark -skinned, non-
-Chinese monk (hosŭng 󱸒) named Maranant’a 󰆚󱲶󳐔󳍱. e name Mālānanda
is a reconstruction, and there is no evidence he came specically from Xinjiang.
At that time Buddhism had to ght for acceptance against Shamanism, which had
originated from Siberia, then spread to the south and west including Korea. Buddhist
monks were believed to be spiritual leaders who could defend both state and person-
ality and this belief led to greater popularity and a chance against Shamanic leaders.1
Behind the scenes Chinese patronage of Buddhism made a big role: Korean leaders
thought that preferring monks with their Chinese style of thinking and dressing
would impress Manchurian leaders despite the weakened and mostly ruled situation
of China. Before  AD, when Silla— aer many battles by the Han River— united
the peninsula, the ree Kingdoms had intense diplomatic relations with China.
A Buddhist monk called Wonchuk lived in China at the Ximing Temple. He special-
ized in the study of Consciousness under the inuence of Xuanzang. Confucian inu-
ence can be indicated since the early th century. An ocial academy, the T’aehak, was
established in  AD to teach Chinese, Confucian knowledge to future administra-
tors. Symbols of Taoist (󲶄󰉿) beliefs like faiths (󱪢) were also found in excava-
tions proving a more complex Chinese inuence on the Korea of that era.2
Buddhism was spreading quickly through the royal families and the Aristocracy,
especially in Silla where it was a kind of national ideology of defence and royal su-
premacy. Despite the fact that Buddhism was the state religion in Koguryŏ, its inu-
ence was limited, and it was not the sole religion of any of the early Korean kingdoms.
Later the Vinaya School became dominant, creating institutions providing scholar
advisers for the kings. In the th century Koguryŏ itself helped spread Buddhism.
Relations between Buddhist monks and royalty led to the appointment of a Buddhist
monk in  AD in Koguryŏ, by the king of Silla to the role of the head of the monastic
organization. is event also shows the growing dominance of Silla over the other
kingdoms. e monk Hyeryang— mentioned above— was a Koguryŏ monk who
emigrated to Silla aer Silla’s conquest of the Han River Basin. He moved to the Silla
capital and was made the Sagha Overseer by the Silla king in . Hyeryang wasn’t
in Koguryŏ, but had become the leader of the Silla Buddhist order.
e institution of kyŏngdang was a community of unmarried men in Koguryŏ
which was also inuenced by China. Many local aristocratic archery communities
formed learning Chinese texts but remained remarkably marginal.
In Paekche Buddhism played the same role as in Koguryŏ: it was a state religion
dominated by the Vinaya School that built systematic organization for the kingdom.
In the th century inter national re lations b etween Koguryŏ and Paekche strengthened,
1 󲅬󱘨󲇇󱞛󰰿󰞏󰙓 󲺳󰛄 󱛟󰚧(JUNG, Byung -jo, !e Silk Road and Korea’s Buddhism), in:
Buddhist Studies (󶣼󶎋󶱎󶎾), Vol. 29, 2008, pp. 1143.
2 󰞗󰧿󱭰: 󱨓󰛄󱰳󰱗󶭄󶪪󶞬󲂯󰴛󱨘󱽇󰛃 (KIM Nam -suk, A Study on the Iconography of Aus-
picious Animal Pa"erns in the !ree Kingdoms Period), in: Master’s (esis of Wonkwang Uni-
versity Graduate School (󲀧󰙨󰱗󲺰󰚧󰱗󲺰󲀧), 2012, pp. 1149.
PÁL KOUDELAJINIL YOO 9
partly because of a lack of wars with China since  AD and partly because of an
economic progress seemed to be possible to get easier by a national cohesion. Along
with the fruitful diplomatic connections between the ree Kingdoms, Chinese cul-
tural inuence spread fast. King Muryeong of Paekche sent two diplomatic envoys to
Liang China and to King Seong to maintain these ties aerwards. During the reign of
King Seong ( AD) new commentaries on the Niepan jing (Nirvāṇa Sūtra) were
obtained. Paekche monks facilitated the relationship between Liang Emperor Wu
and Paekche, studying Buddhism and transmitting the Chengshi -Niepan (󰪶󰛴)3
thought to the Korean Kingdom. is wing of Buddhist thought later became the basis
of the religion and administration in Paekche. e following King Wideok (
AD) accepted the Dilun (󲠇) thought and meditation techniques of the Fahua jing
(Lotus Sūtra) from China.4 Monks didn’t direct, only arranged administration, law,
procedure and literacy to make a complex political system built for the early rulers.
Buddhist inuence spread so far into the Paekche court that King Pŏp banned killing
or hunting animals and ordered to release all domesticated animals at the turn of the
th century. He also forced the court’s men to break their weapons they used for hunt-
ing. At the end of the th century Buddhist monks also studied the thoughts of other
Chinese schools: the Shelun (󰉎󲠇) and Sanlun (󲠇) which were very new even in
the Sui and early Tang periods of Chinese history. e latter thought became the basis
for the institutional Buddhism in Paekche during the reign of King Mu and King Ui -ja.5
Silla resisted Buddhism much longer than Paekche and Koguryŏ, saving its indig-
enous culture. us political organization became more complex later, sophisticated,
rened arts developed only aer the two other kingdoms had reached a high grade
in it. Ich’adon, a nobleman was martyred for his Buddhist beliefs in  AD and many
miracles followed his death, which made the king accept Buddhism as state religion.
is happened under the reign of king Pŏphŭng ( A D), who c hang ed hi s origi-
nal name to mean the rising of the dharma; but resistance still persisted for decades
thereaer. We cannot know if Silla king Pŏphŭng changed his name to mean “Rising
of the Dharma,” but this is his posthumous title, at least. According to the Haedong
kosŭng chŏn and Samguk yusa, Pŏphŭng surrendered the throne to become a monk
named Pŏpkong (󰨆󱞫).
CHINESEINFLUENCEONTHEARTSINTHETHREEKINGDOMS
Monasteries, pagodas and statues were being built and artisans and artists travelled
around the ree Kingdoms. In  AD king Seong of Paekche asked the Nanjing court
for Buddhist texts, teachers of the Shijing (Book of Odes) and artisans. Later Paekche
3 Chengshi was originally a (eravada school but was oriented to Mahayana by its explana-
tion that Buddhahood can be a)ained by destroying the a)achment to names, elements
and emptiness. Niepan concentrates on the propagation of the nirvana theory.
4 󲚳󱽇󱰴: 󱖈󲅳 󲻹󰙥󱾍 󱛟󰚧󲺰󲂯 󲅛󰕳󰙓󲅬 ( CHOE, Yeon -shik, Buddhist !oughts in Late Baekje
Dynasty), in: Journal of (e Korean Society for Buddhist Studies (󱛟󰚧󲺰󱽇󰛃), Vol . 28,
2011, pp. 189224.
5 Ibidem.
10 PRAGUE PAPERS ON THE HISTORY OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 2/2014
architects built Silla’s great Hwangnyŏng (Yellow Dragon) temple. e structure
the three pagodas and three main buildings of the Mityuk temple— clearly shows
Paekche’s philosophical and politico -cultural viewpoint.6 Korean scholars oen vis-
ited Wa and were welcomed studying Chinese characters in  AD. In Silla King
Pŏphŭng introduced the kolp’um (bone -rank) system which was a political and social
stratication. is innovation strengthened the authority of the state but many other
kinds of Chinese inuence began being adopted, e.g. the wearing of Chinese court
dresses. Kyongdang were schools set up in dierent districts of Koguryŏ to teach Chi-
nese characters. Since the earliest adoption of Chinese writing and thus inuences
on Korean culture in the nd century a great immanent development occurred.7 Po-
etry of Silla and Koguryŏ successor Balhae was mainly dominated by Chinese litera-
ture. It shows a kind of chauvinism believing their own country to be the centre of
the world as Chinese traditional world view does.8 In poems incenses were mentioned
and this phenomena connects culturally China to Korea too.
In the th century Silla begun to have supremacy over Paekche and Koguryŏ and
Chinese courts started to treat Silla more and more respectively. For that reason Silla
was the least inuenced by China but even there some phoenix shaped glass vessels
were found, made in the h -sixth -century in China. e extensive Chinese culture
derived from the Han period, and had its later eect on the Korean peninsula. Chi-
nese residents remained in Koguryŏ. Stone stupas evolved from the Chinese wooden
and brick pagodas but had their own progress. Both served as a sacred place, but
pagodas were larger buildings whilst stupas were rather monuments holding holy
relics (sarira), texts and oerings. ey had ve stories on average. In the case of
Silla an octagonal structure of buildings as typical is proofed showing the inuence
of Chinese pagodas’ same form. Iseongsanseong (󱶇), Najeong (󶒛), and
Mangisanseong (󰑌) in Silla and Wandusanseong (󲸮) in Koguryŏ have
octagonal designs related to the religious service system. Earliest brick pagodas in
China are from the th century and a connection between the two similar forms and
buildings is supposed by the latest studies; however religious systems are not aected
in the same way in Korea’s Kingdoms.9
ere are no two similar Buddha sculptures from this period, each has its own
character and place in everyday religion or ritual. But through time rituals evolved
6 󰫏󲉨󰛄: 󱖈󲅳󲂯 󰘷󰱗󰴰󱺛󱰳󱺛 󱪏󰘛󱼧󱩳󲂯 󲁛󱨘 (CHOONG Kook Noh, Phase in the World
of the ancient East Asia of Baekje), in: PAEKCHE -MOONHWA: (e Journal of Paekche Cul-
ture (󱖈󲅳󱒏󲾫), Vol. 40, 2009, pp. 155184.
7 󱒏󲃓󲾯: 󰴰󱛘󱺛 󲺳󱒏󲺰󲂯 󲅬󱌔󰙓 󰝏 󱒏󲾫󲅘 󲂯󱕏 (IL -Hwan Mun, Chinese Literature in East
Asia and Its Meanings), i n: To eg ye S tu di e s an d Ko re an Cu lt ur e (󲭋󰘛󲺰󰙓 󲁷󰚧󱒏󲾫), Vo l.
35, No. 1, 2004, pp. 179195.
8 󲃋󲽳󱭳: 󲺳󱒏󲾫󰛣(󷍁󶞬󷐣󶏬) 󲽬󱪈 󲙟󰞇 󲺳󱰳 󲖔󱭯󱋓 󲬌󲺳 󰴰󱛘󱺛 󰛄󰕗󰕛󲂯 󱒏󲾫󰚧󱊯
(LEE Hai -soon, Cultural Exchanges between Four Northeastern Asian Countries in the Early
Formative Periods of Chinese Culture Area: An Analytical Approach to Poems Donated to Envoys),
in: (e Studies in Korea Literature (󲺳󰛄󱒏󲺰󱽇󰛃), Vol. 27, 2004, pp. 225.
9 󲚳󰙨󱰴: 󲺳,󲉨,󲃓󰘷󰱗󲂯󲅳󱨃󲅳󰴛󱞛󰚧󱽇󰛃󲱫󰕘󰗋󱒓󲌗󱋓󲉨󱱃󲂓󱆳 (KWANG Shik
Choe, Comparison Studies of Ancient Korean, Chinese, Japanese Religious Service— Focusing
on the Octagonal Structures), in: Prehistory and Ancient History (󶧻󶥌󱾗 󶋵󶕕), Vo l. 27,
2007, pp. 257276.
PÁL KOUDELAJINIL YOO 11
and dierentiated requiring dierent buildings and tools. e very rst reason to
build temples, ritual places for Buddha sculptures was to save them. ese wooden
structures were square -shaped for practical reasons. e growing importance of en-
shrining Buddha images or sculptures for rituals set up a new representative style;
famous examples are the Joonggeumdang (󲼂) of the Hwangnyongsa Temple
(󱎸󳲾) and the Geumdang (󲼂) of the Sacheonwangsa Temple (󱂼). eir
design is supposed to have Chinese origins, even the latter two spaced chambers from
the United Silla period or even a further Indian origin is presumed.10
Lots of beautiful pottery remained from the ree Kingdoms period, most fre-
quently the hwabunhyŏng type. ese pots came from burials since the Han period
show Chinese inuence just like the Kimhae stoneware which was a kind of anteced-
ent of the porcelain red at above  C°. King Muryŏng’s tomb was also an impor-
tant artefact: ceramic vessels (a white ewer, a jar and lamps) were made in Liang,
China. In Silla the state of aairs was a bit more independent: potters made their own
style, designs show less Chinese inuence: free -standing pieces, containers or parts
of other articles— most of them for practical use with less decoration. For example
stone horsemen were totally unlike those of China proving that Korean art evolved
independently during this period.
e Sariras mentioned above were believed to be only a legend, based on the
historical sources of Samgukyusa and Samguksagi. Latest studies prove that Ja-
jang and Gakdeok monks introduced Sariras to Korea from China which had the
important eect of making Buddhist arts ourish in the ree Kingdoms. Jajang
( AD)— born to the royal Kim family in Silla— travelled to Tang, China in
 AD and studied Buddhism for seven years. Aer returning to Korea he became
a taegukt’ong 󱪢 (great state overseer) and received high honours from the
royal court. He carried with himself about  Sariras as well as a fragment of the
original Buddhas skull, a wooden begging -bowl and a monastic -robe of the Buddha.
Aer his return to Silla, Jajang built several temples of which the Tongdo Temple on
the Chuiseo -san Mountain in  AD was the rst one to have a Jeokmyeol -bogung
(Buddhist relics).11
Evid ently, Ch inese inuence expanded to other forms of artistry too. In Koguryŏ
the northern kingdom —, was found in the Anak Tomb No. a six -stringed instru-
ment, the kŏmun’go, introduced by Wang Sang’ak. e zither developed from the
Chinese one into a typically Korean instrument. Plenty of musical pieces were com-
posed,  pieces for the kayagu˘m in Silla alone, some of which were Chinese. Now
Korean folk songs like Hyesongga, a Hyangga of Silla are originated from that time.
10 󲃛󰧿󱭯: 󰘷󰱗 󲺳󰛄󶣼󶽠󲂯 󰞇󰯼󰙓 󲽬󱰴 (LIM Nam Su, A Study on Functions and Forms of
Buddhist Building in Ancient Korea), in: Art History (󶟄󶫶󶥌󷌸), Vol. 25, 2011, pp. 303330.
11 󶭃󶕘󷎴: 󷍉󶏒󶋵󶕕󶥰󶛉󶻼󶰇󲂯󶯜󶬬 󶱎󶎾: 󲰐󳃟󶢌󶇴󷏋󶥰󶛉󶑏󲂯 󱕳󱨴󰙓 󲅛󰕳󱼧 󰱗󲺯󱽃
(SHIN Dae Hyun, A Study on the Ancient Sarira Reliquary of Korea— Especially on the Roy-
al Palace Type Sarira Reliquary), in: Journal of Korean Cultural History (󶦊󷘁󶬪󷔖), No. 17,
2002, pp. 3762; 󶭃󶕘󷎴: 󷂴󶭍󶥰󶛉󲂯 󲺳󰛄 󰨋 󲅛󲱣 󰙓󲅬󱼧 󰱗󲺯󱽃 (I): 󱰷󱃓󲂯󶇲󶕦󱕦󶺷
󶼀󲃋󶽒󶘄󲺳󷂴󶭍󶥰󶛉󱋓 󲉨󱱃󲂓󱆳 (A Study of the Introduction of Buddhist Sarira into Korea
(1): Focusing on the Buddhist Sariras. Introduced by Silla’s Monks, Gakdeok and Jajang Shin), in:
Buddhist Archaeology (󶫚󶕩󶓩󶓓󷔖), No. 6, 2006, pp. 3956.
12 PRAGUE PAPERS ON THE HISTORY OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 2/2014
Chinese inuence ourished in dierent ways e.g. in warfare— as soon as insti-
tutes like the Kyongdang schools started to teach military arts to the youth. e bone
coated, horse -riding warrior appeared both in China and Korea in the th century,
originating from central Asia. Iron warrior coats were found in Kaya. Koguryŏ’s Ar-
istocracy emerged from these warriors, building tombs which are the most impor-
tant sources of information nowadays. Animal patterns of decoration and auspicious
animal guration also came from China during the ree Kingdoms period. Wall
paintings represent the fast diusion of auspicious animal patterns in Koguryŏ (󳠉
󳯈󱊦), as far gold plated bronze incense burners decorated with them in
Paekche (󱎯󰴐󲼂󲾶󳛊󰽁). Animal patterned shoes were excavated from the Shin-
gnichong Tomb in Silla (󰋡󱲶󳘯󲼂󲾶󳘯).12 In Koguryŏ and Silla the handle
type of incense burner was used from the th century base on the latest analysis of
the excavations of the Anak Tomb No. , the Ssangyeong (Twin Pillars) Tomb and the
Jangcheon Tomb No. . Koguryŏs patterns are human faced and birds or beasts with
human faces or show a triangular ame. Elephant and crocodile motifs can be found
and the inuence of the Censer (Boshanluincense burning vessel in China) from
southern China seems to be evident as well. In Silla, on a cli at Mount Danseok, an
incense burner was carved with a group of Buddha images and this burner belongs to
the type of handled burners with a handle in the shape of a magpie’s tail. Hyeryang,
a Korean monk () from Koguryŏ, who became the rst national patriarch in Silla
probably had this type of burner.13 Typical forms were animal shaped types (󱂩󲯜󳖏)
especially birds (󱛮󲯜󳖏) or body types but with a human face, wings or even any kind
of modied body, characterized paintings and objects like decorated incense burn-
ers or shoes. e latest results divide animal patterns into human faced and animal
faced types with or without wings. Human faced animal patterns with four legs were
found in the Anak Tomb No. and in the Deokheung -ri Tomb, and winged animals in
the former. Bakwi (), Yeongyang (󶲟󶯫), Cheonma (󳛝) in the Deokheung -ri
Ancient Tomb are animal faced and most of them look like dogs or horses. Incense
burners were decorated with most of the patterns and were found in Paekche mostly
but in Silla and Koguryŏ too. One of them was believed to represent a girae with
horns on it. Bird types are divided into humanface (󳒓󱛮󲯜), birdface (󱛮󳒓󱛮
󲯜), and twoface (󱊡󳒓󱛮󲯜) types all with a bird’s body. e humanface types
are Cheonchu (󱛼), Manse (󲅝󰢣) and Hajo (󲧱󳨖) from the Deokheungri Ancient
Tomb. e two former ones were symbolizing long life for thousands of years in Ko-
rea, and Hajo is an original Korean motif never found in China, with a medicine bottle
on its back. Fortune hunting, peace and prosperity seeking Gili (), Bugwi (
󲧥) and Yangsu (󳎮󰼘) in the Deokheungri Ancient Tomb are all bird faced. e lat-
ter Yangsu is symbolizing energy and re on ceremonials. e bird Cheongyang (󳒂
󳎮) in the Deokheungri Ancient Tomb has two faces but cannot y except when the
12 󰞗󰧿󱭰: 󱨓󰛄󱰳󰱗󶭄󶪪󶞬󲂯󰴛󱨘󱽇󰛃 (KIM Nam -suk, A Study on the Iconography of Aus-
picious Animal Pa"erns in the !ree Kingdoms Period), in: Master’s (esis of Wonkwang Uni-
versity Graduate School (󲀧󰙨󰱗󲺰󰚧󰱗󲺰󲀧), 2012, pp. 1149.
13 󷀶󶼭󷊃󶭲󶖰󶳹󶜳󷕯󶡅󶸬󶖜 (LEE Yong -Jin, A Study on the Incense Burner of !ree Kingdoms
Period), in : Jo ur na l o f (e Society for the Study of Early Korean History (󲺳󰛄󰘷󰱗󱨃󲨧󰛃),
Vol. 5, 2010, pp. 159216.
PÁL KOUDELAJINIL YOO 13
two faces unite. e Chinese counterpart of this symbol is the Fenghuang two faced
bird and the meaning is connected to yin and yang so the inuence of this philo-
sophical concept cannot be excluded. e Anak Tomb No. and the Bieo (󳘌󳢋) of
the Deokheungri Ancient Tomb have winged sh -body (󳢋󲯜󳖏) patterns too. Jichuk
(󲰩) in the Deokheungri Ancient Tomb has one body and two heads, but some pat-
terns have only a head without a body.14 Most of the relics were of the royal family’s,
thus during the th and th centuries animals could only be interpreted as symbols of
power and strength. As shown above, Chinese and autonomous Korean motifs were
also found, suggesting that Korea’s cultural life was full and complicated, with a great
acculturating power, changing and creating old and new elements. Relics with animal
patterns were found mostly from this period, almost only birds, showing a complex
and culturally open society with strong religious convictions.
In Paekche, there were the Ogyong Confucian scholars (Confucian scholars spe-
cializing in the Five Confucian classics) and the T’aehak school was established in
P’yong’yang, in Koguryŏ to teach Con fucianis m and it had its r esults in achievin g har-
mony between the states in the Korean peninsula. Hierarchical status quo developed
on tribute system and Silla was getting stronger than the others. Aer the th century
China became dominant over the ree Kingdoms, helping Silla rule Paekche in 
AD and Koguryŏ in  AD. Aer this period the united Silla and China were oen
sending and receiving missions, and diplomatic connections were based on writings
full of Confucian quotes. Confucian rituals became the standards of diplomacy and
also life rituals in Korea during the ree Kingdoms era as the latest studies have
shown. is inuence spread to most Korean people and to other practices derived
originally from shamanism or the later Buddhist and Christian inuences. Funeral
and ancestral rites came under the inuence of Confucianism too.15
Buddhism le its mark on the arts too, giving us such beautiful bronze statues
as the Tathagata Buddha and the half -seated Maitreya, despite the lack of any sur-
viving Buddhist temple of that time in Koguryŏ. Koguryŏ in the period of the ree
Kingdoms, in spite of all the Chinese and Buddhist inuence, had had its own cultural
inheritance. Koguryŏ and Paekche dancing shows indigenous elements and a kind of
dierentiation in this era. Dancing was a very important element of Buddhist ritu-
als but the latest analyses of archaeological records of Subakhee in Koguryŏ: (the
Anak No. Tomb, the Muyongchong Tomb and the scene of everyday life shown by
the masked men in the Ji’an Five Tombs No. and ) show a kind of similarity be-
tween Paekche and Koguryŏ cultures. In such a late stage of cultural development it
is quite obvious that dierences should evolve. Dancing was no more an ancient habit
but rather a sophisticated Buddhist ritual: in Paekche, Mijami separated from the
original Koguryŏ forms but even in Koguryŏ their masked dance Jaeju altered from
14 󰞗󰧿󱭰: 󱨓󰛄󱰳󰱗󶭄󶪪󶞬󲂯󰴛󱨘󱽇󰛃 (KIM Nam -suk, A Study on the Iconography of Aus-
picious Animal Pa"erns in the !ree Kingdoms Period), in: Master’s (esis of Wonkwang Uni-
versity Graduate School (󲀧󰙨󰱗󲺰󰚧󰱗󲺰󲀧), 2012, pp. 1149.
15 󱕬󲇜󲗳: 󲅳󱆗󲂯 󲺳󰛄󲅘󲅛󰕳󱾗󲁷󰚧󲂯󱆗󲂯󱒏󲾫󲅘󱽘󲻼 (PARK Jong -Chun, Historical
Changes of Funeral Rites and Ancestral Rites in Korea and Cultural Influences of Confucian Ritu-
als), in: Korean Studies (󰖢󲶎󱸥󰖡), No. 17, 2010, pp. 363397.
14 PRAGUE PAPERS ON THE HISTORY OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 2/2014
the original tradition.16 is mask -dance originates from the border state, northern
China and led to Japan with musicians sent there but has no connection to present
Snade, Bongsan or Hahoe dance forms. Ceremonial music of that era in Korea came
from Tang China with its seven note scales, eight phrases and four characters as one
unit in the form of one character, one note and one beat. e so called Munmyo-
jehryeak tradition used musical instruments imported from China directly without
changes.17
Crowns found in the tombsmost of them from Sillaalso show Buddhist
inuence representing immortality and the immanence of the aerlife. However, au-
tonomous and individual cultural characteristics can be found on them. One feature
of those from Koguryŏ is robust gold and copper decorated with owers. Buddhism
evidently appears in dragons, phoenixes and three legged crows used in decorations.
Paekche crowns are very similar but rather graceful with ame patterns imitating
the sun like the traditional symbol of power and rule of the king. Silla was the clos-
est to China and Buddhism in this sense, their crowns were spectacular with most
materials used and forms created. Antlers, tree branches like gold crowns, curved
jade (Gokok) symbolizing fertility and the foetus itself are all components of the Sil-
la’s royal artistry of the ree Kingdoms period.18
THETHREEKINGDOM’SAUTONOMOUSCULTURE
Korean cultural life achieved a high level in decorated arts and pottery techniques
showing an autonomous inherent evolution beside Chinese inuence. Vessel forms
from the early wooden tomb phase of the peninsula changed and dierentiated to the
latter stone tomb phase along with territorial dierentiation. e frequently inter-
acting four regions of Korea (ree Kingdoms period with four polities of Koguryŏ,
Paekche, Silla, and Kaya) developed their own cultural features from an isolated situ-
ation with more simple artistic forms during the ree Kingdom period. e forma-
tion of socio -economic and cultural life suggests that elites didn’t have much aec-
tion on the process that time.19 In the Yeungam region e.g. in the th century designs
and styles were unied in one type and a territorial unity but for the th century dis-
16 󱽇󲌛󳃃: 󰘷󰱗 󰴰󱺛󱰳󱺛 󱒏󲾫󰚧󱊯󱼧󲂯󲺳󱖈󲅳󰞇󱺜 󱽇󰛃 (JIN -HEE Yeon, A Study on
“Baelke Giak” According to Cultural Exchange in Ancient East Asia), in: Master’s (esis of
Kongju National University Graduate School (󰔪󲄱󰬵󲶎󰖅󰬵󲶎󱼅), 2013, pp. 6872.
17 󲚳󲉗󲃓: 󲺳󰛄󰙓 󱾱󱔭󱾍 󱺛󱺜 󱞛󰚧 󱽇󰛃󶦊󶥥󷆬󶠻󶵛󰙓󶻰󶵛󶥽󱋓 󲉨󱱃󲂓󱆳. (CHOI Jun
Il, Research of the Comparison of the Ceremonial Music of Korea and Japan: Focusing on Mun-
myojehryeak and Gairaigakubu), in Dissertation of Chugye University for the Arts Graduate
School (󲛫󰘛󱽟󱭷󰱗󲺰󰚧 󰱗󲺰󲀧), 2010, p. 73.
18 󱕬󲽛󲌛, 󲃋󲽬󰜳: 󱨓󰛄󱰳󰱗󰝟󰙗󱼧󰙗󲺳󰘷󲖇 (HYUNG Kyu Le eHYUN Jin P ark, A Study
on Golden Crowns During the Period of !ree Kingdoms), in: Journal of the Korean Society of
Design Culture (󲺳󰛄󰹫󲃧󲃏󱒏󲾫󲺰󲿣󲌗), Vol. 16, No. 4, 2010, pp. 283295.
19 󰞗󱽼󱭳: 󱨓󰛄󱰳󰱗󲫷󰞇󰞇󲇜󲇇󲻀󰙓󱨃󲿣󲌨󰰿󲂯󰚧󱊯󱻨󱨘󰧰󰴰󰕬 󱨘󱊯󲌗󱽄󲂛 󲉨󱱃󲂓
󱆳 (OKSOON Kim, !e Interaction of Social Groups as Represented in the Ceramic Vessel Form
Assemblages of the !ree Kingdoms Period), in: (e Journal of Korean Field Archaeology (󱻓
󱿏󰘷󰘷󲺰), Vol. 11, 2011, pp. 3565.
PÁL KOUDELAJINIL YOO 15
tribution sphere divided into two parts. In Silla and Gaya also two dierent types
evolved for that time: a combo -patterned and a dot line, wave -patterns design. From
these forms developed the rather peripheral Hwangnam -Daechong mound combo-
-pattern and saw -tooth design in the middle of the th century. e Gyeongju design
also quickly spread to the borders at the end of the century.20
Most tombs have wall -paintings carrying information about that period, depict-
ing wide streets, ladies dressed in skirt or hunters, archers, dancers and wrestlers
(an early form of ssiru˘m, Korean -style wrestling), and perhaps the most well-
-known is the Ssangyŏng -ch’ong (Tomb of the Twin Pillars). But other tombs like
Changgun -ch’ong (Tomb of the Generals), Kangso -daemyo (e Great Tombs), and
the Muyong -ch’ong (Tomb of the Dancers and Hunters) are all representing the virile
and developing artistry of Koguryŏ. Most tombs were robbed, so ancient life can only
be understood from frescos and only to a certain extent. ere are some exceptions
however, such as the tomb of King Munyong in which accessories remained. In Silla
gold crowns and a horse were found in the tomb Chonmach’ong.
e early tombs’ artistic style shows less Chinese inuence, portraying aristo-
cratic or warrior life: horse -riding, hunting and warfare. Central Asian traits are
very similar to these murals, and most of them have little Buddhist character even of
those with religious pictures of dragons, tortoise or phoenix. But in the Ssangyong
tomb in Paekche Taoist elements were found just like in the Sasindo (󱚏) (the
animal deities of the four directions) drawn on the tomb of Koguryŏ demonstrat-
ing that cultural impact is always a complex phenomenon. e ree Kingdoms had
their dierent ways of the arts: Koguryŏ art puts more emphasis on physical strength
and passion but pieces in Paekche had an elegant and sophisticated character. Har-
mony soon became predominant in Silla artistry. Paekche’s ornaments, metal cras,
crowns, crown accessories and other art pieces exhibited in the Buyeo National Mu-
seum and the Gong -ju National Museum clearly reveal the splendid and glorious cul-
ture of that period.21 But all of these are relevant only for the aristocratic high culture
while poor people kept their traditional artwork. e pillar -wall structure, letters on
tiles, decorated chimneys, water toilet, ink stone, coloured and glazed ceramics can
characterize everyday life, based on artefacts found in the Naju area and in Yeosu,
Suncheon and Gwangyang. Citizens came from the central area to rural areas.22
Everyday econo mic li fe had a long hist ory and antec edents i n the ree Kingdoms
period. Agricultural methods and procedures had been adopted earlier from China,
20 󰞗󱽼󱭳: 5󱪏󰞇 󱽘󰧿󲌗󱽄 󲫷󰞇󱒏󱻨󲂯 󱘗󲾫󱾗 󰚧󱊯󱌼󱃔 (OKSOON Kim, A Study for Tran-
sition of Po"ery Design and Interaction Context in Yeungnam Region of 5th Century), in: Journal
of Korean Ancient Historical Society: Hanguk Sanggosa Hakbo (󲺳󰛄󱨘󰘷󱨃󲺰󱙋), No. 71,
2011, pp. 117148.
21 󱰷󱕏󱽘, 󱕬󱰐󲗷: 󱨓󰛄󱰳󰱗 󲃼󱰷󰛃󱼧 󰧯󲨗󰧳󲇇󲽬󲅘󲰐󲌬󱼧󰙗󲺳 󱽇󰛃(󱖈󲅳󲃼󱰷󰛃󱋓
󲉨󱱃󲂓󱆳) (MI -YOUNG SinSEUNGCHUL Park, On the Design Characteristics of Orna-
ments in the !ree Kingdom Period (Focused on Baekje’s Ornaments), in: (e Journal of Digital
Policy and Management (󰵉󲇵󲥭󲁊󲑺󱸥󰖡), Vol. 10, No. 11, 2012, pp. 603612.
22 󰛣󱽻󱽘: 󱖈󲅳 󱘗󰘔󱼧󱩳 󲾬󲃏󰵯󰯫 󱾬󰘔󲃏󲂯 󱒓󲌟󱒏󲾫 (KWON Ohyoung, Material Evidence
of Baekje’s City Dweller Found in Rural Area), in: Journal of Korean Ancient Historical Soci-
ety: Hanguk Sanggosa Hakbo (󲺳󰛄󱨘󰘷󱨃󲺰󱙋), Vol. 67, 2010, pp. 91114.
16 PRAGUE PAPERS ON THE HISTORY OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 2/2014
mostly from the Han period, but the oldest rice fossil is three thousand years old. For
the th century the most typical forms were farming and ranching along with hunt-
ing but mostly shing. Salt manufacturing and brewery characterized Koguryŏ and
Paekche. Vinegar and alcohol were also present. Fermentation and steaming were
known in both three states and about y dierent dishes were found in the excava-
tions, made of wood, copper and pottery. In Silla seasonings were more plentiful like
honey, oils, alcohol, nuts, fruits, vinegar and confectionery made of rice and another
grain called yeot (󱽖).23
A gold -plated gure of a half -cross -legged sitting Buddha from Sosan’s ree Bud-
dhas of Ma’e represents the presence of Buddhist Chinese or even Indian inuence
on this period in Paekche.
Paekche tombs were mounted with a corridor leading to a stone chamber. Murals
in them were less animated than in the Koguryŏ tombs but more sop histicated , show-
ing fewer inuences from the northern but rather from the southern China. Long,
thin bronze objects are suggesting a rened culture of Paekche in the th century.
Paekche reached its cultural peak during the reign of King Seong; Buddhism was
introduced to Japan by the Paekche Mission.
In the ree Kingdoms period Paekche had plenty of pagodas but only a few re-
mained until today— Mongol invasion destroyed most of them in the th century,
like the most famous one, the nine -story wooden pagoda at Hwangnyong Monastery,
which was built by the Paekche architect Abiji. One of the biggest temples was the
Mireuksa temple erected by King Mu ( AD) in Paekche. It had three mon-
astery sections side by side with a main hall and a pagoda for each of them. Bud-
dhist sculptures found by the excavation were all broken into several pieces and
made in later times but smaller artefacts prove that face and body representation
especially with tiles on walls and roofs were very popular that time.24 Expressions
of faces symbolizing human character and religious beliefs were very important in
East Asia during this era. e beauty of a sculpture expressed the whole life and/or
the context of life. Spirit was expressed by body of human characters: gentleness is
Wo nm an ( 󰰰), but Muae (󰹒󱖾) refers to values not involved with form and posture
in a standing statue and a thinking Buddhist image. Hwahab () is a kind of aes-
thetic value of balance and harmony appearing in statues of the Buddha.25 e three
parts -arrangement of the Mireuksa temple is unique in East Asia and supposed to be
inuenced by the three times preaching Maitreya Buddha aer his enlightenment at
the beginning of the th century. e central Buddha image is similar to the Maitreya
23 󶐽󶖬󶭓󶟟󶧹󷓕: 󲺳󰛄󰘷󰱗󲅛󲬌󲂣󱰴󲂯󲽬󱪈󰙓 󱕳󰱃 (PARK Sun -HeeKIM Dong-
-Sil, !e Formation and Development of Ancient Korean Traditional Food), in: Journal of Dan-
gun Studies (󰘷󲇇󱩷󰰿󰛇󲺰), Vol. 23, No. 11, 2010, pp. 3997.
24 󲚳󱪈󲂗: 󱕏󱋌󱨃 󱛟󱨘, 󱖈󲅳 󱛟󰚧󲇇󰕘, 󲅛󱛟, 󱫣󲇇 󰧯󱕳, 󱕏󱋌󱛟󱨘 (SONG Eun Choe, Bud-
dhist Image of Mireuksa Temple, Image Tile, Baekche Buddhist Sculpture, Maitreya Buddha Im-
ages), in: PAEKCHE -MOONHWA: (e Journal of Paekche Culture (󱖈󲅳󱒏󲾫), Vol . 43,
2010, pp. 123158.
25 󲃋󲻋󲉓: 󱨓󰛄󱰳󰱗 󱛟󱨘󲂯󱕏󲂯󱰴󱽇󰛃 (HAIJU Lee, A Study on Aesthetic Consciousness of
Buddha in the !ree Ki ngdom s of An cient Korea), in : Di ss e rt at io n of D an ko ok U ni ver s it y G r ad -
uate School (󰰿󰛄󰱗󲺰󰚧󰱗󲺰󲀧󱕬󱨃󲺰󲁛󰫓󱒏), 2013, pp. 222239.
PÁL KOUDELAJINIL YOO 17
Buddha images in Silla and Sui China. Many of the sculptures in Paekche were made
of clay rather than other materials, showing advanced technique.26
Silla’s Buddhism adopted by king Pŏphŭng stated a new social structure system,
the kolp’um or bone -rank system (a type of hereditary bloodline system) in 
AD which became the basis of Silla’s later social structure. Since  AD Silla king
Pŏphŭng adopted the reign era titled Kŏnwŏn (Establishing Prime) stating Silla’s in-
dependence and equality to China (only Chinese Emperors were named aer an era).
But Silla was still smaller than Koguryŏ and underdeveloped compared to Paekche or
Koguryŏ. Aer all China was divided and in turmoil at that time and this name can
only be regard as an inuence of the Chinese ruling style. Conquering and enlarging
Silla begun from Pŏphŭng’s reign ruling Pon Kaya rst.
KOREANCONTRIBUTIONTOJAPAN’SCULTUREANDSOCIETY
Researching Buddhist or other philosophical and cultural inuences of Korea on Ja-
pan begun in the s by noticing that a collection of treaties had been carried to Ja-
pan by Japanese monks who had been scholars in Silla. Studies of general inuence
of Silla followed in the s, rst of all the life of Shotoku Taishi and the develop-
ment of arts, but only concentrating on the forms of statues and on manuscripts, es-
pecially of Buddhism. It was shown that the Avatamsaka Sutra inspired the Kegon
School (Hwa’eom jong) and that the later building of the Todai -ji Buddhist Temple
in Nara ( AD) was inspired by Sillan Buddhism. e latest studies have shown the
inuence of Wonhyo and Taehyeon, just like the Chinese master Fazang, on Japanese
Buddhism. Other Buddhist traditions like the Yogacara (Hossō -shū) of Nara had con-
nected to Korean philosophic waves of the period and the ‘Consciousness only’ ten-
dency ruled the whole of East Asian Buddhism in this era.27
Buddhism arrived in Japan in  AD through Paekche as current studies have
proofed on Japans’ World Heritage listed monuments and buildings,28 and all three
states contributed to format religious life: the six sects in Japan until the Nara period.
e Sanron and Jojitsu Schools of Nanto Buddhism derived from the Sanron School of
Paekche and Koguryŏ; Sanron was a Madhyamika school which developed in China
and were based on two discourses by Nagarjuna and one by Aryadeva. e Hossō
School was based on the teachings of the Shelun School of Silla and inuenced also
by the Wonchuk ( AD) mentioned above and Do -jung’s, even though Hossō
26 󲚳󱪈󲂗: 󱕏󱋌󱨃 󱛟󱨘, 󱖈󲅳 󱛟󰚧󲇇󰕘, 󲅛󱛟, 󱫣󲇇 󰧯󱕳, 󱕏󱋌󱛟󱨘 (SONG Eun Choe, Bud-
dhist Image of Mireuksa Temple, Image Tile, Baekche Buddhist Sculpture, Maitreya Buddha Im-
ages), in: PAEKCHE -MOONHWA: (e Journal of Paekche Culture (󱖈󲅳󱒏󲾫), Vol . 43,
2010, pp. 123158.
27 󲚳󱽇󱰴: 79󱥭󰙥󱬕󰾱󱹵󱾱󱔭󱾍󱖽󰖅󰖅󱆍󱸅󰬵󲶑 󱽇󰛃󰴰󲻼 󰗗󲫷 (CHOE Yeons hik, A Sur-
vey of the Studies on Korean -Japanese Buddhist Exchanges from 7th9th Century), in: Critical Re-
view for Buddhist Studies (󱛟󰚧󲺰 󱇡󱘥), Vol. 8, 2010, pp. 931.
28 󲃋󰰻󲀋: 󲃓󱙏 󱪏󰘛󱒏󲾫󲁷󱨇 󱫤󲂯 󱖈󲅳󱛟󰚧 (DA Un Lee, Baekje Buddhism in World Heritage
of Japan), in: Won -Buddhist !ought & Religious Culture (󲀧󱛟󰚧󱨃󱨘󰙓 󲇜󰚧󱒏󲾫), Vol . 45,
2010, pp. 553579.
18 PRAGUE PAPERS ON THE HISTORY OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 2/2014
was introduced to Japan in  AD by Dōshō who had travelled to China to study un-
der Xuanzang. Silla’s Hossō scholar Wonhyo (󰏺) ( AD) founded the Kegon
School and was a representative of Silla’s Huayen. Wonhyo was such an inuential
monk that of his eighty works the ones on the Nirvāṇa Sūtra and the Awakening of
Faith became classics even in China and Japan. Chinese masters such as Fazang, Li
Tongxuan, and Chengguanwere were inuenced by Wonhyo. Cittamatra monks Go-
myo and Shinei in Japan worked under the direction of the Silla Cittamatra School
and Cittamatra scholars studied at the Kusha School supported by Dharma preacher
Jipyong. Even the Ritsu School, founded in  by Jianzhen visiting Japan, had roots
in Paekche and Silla Buddhism.29
Damjing ( AD), who was a Buddhist monk and painter of the Koguryŏ
Kingdom, travelled to Japan, contributing to the development of Japan’s culture and
technology. He was invited to Japan in  AD to paint the murals of the shrine at Po-
bryung Temple in the Nara prefecture. e tomb was built by Korean architects. e
mural’s twelve sides show a typical Koguryŏ style with bright colours and a harmonic
composition. Tamjing invented paper making and colouring to Japan and also carried
ink and the technology of water -mills there.30
In  AD, a monk called Hyeja went to Japan and became a prominent advisor to
Prince Shotoku ( AD). Pri est H yegwa n int rod uced the Samn on ( ree Treatises)
school of Buddhist philosophy to Japan in  AD. Gyeon -deung helped spread Kojo-
mondo but Uisang (󲂯󱨘) ( AD) from Huayan started to make more complex the
Kegon School connected to Wonhyo and Fazang along with the contribution of Uiyeong
cittamatra scholar to Saicho’s ( AD) Tendai School. Saicho mainly based his school
of Tendai on the Chinese Tiantai tradition he studied during his trip to China, beginning
in  AD. Gyeon -deung wrote perhaps one of the most inuential books at that time
about how to reach Buddhahood.31 Uisang and Wonhyo were close friends and Uisang
studied also in China (his master was Zhiyan there) and was a colleague of Fazang there.
Japanese monks studied directly in Sui and Tang China but their main routes were
through Korea.32 Buddhist thought introduced to Japan was basically from the Chi-
nese Sanlun (󲠇) thought received by Paekche monks in the early period of the
ree Kingdoms Era.33 However we can nd Koguryŏ inuence on Japanese Bud-
dhism too. e afore -mentioned Hyeja (󲽳󲃧), the Koguryŏ monk was the very rst
29 󰞗󲗳󲺰: 󰘷󰱗 󲺳󰛄󱛟󰚧󱾗 󰧿󰴛󲁸󲇜󲂯 󲅛󰕳 (CHEON Hak Kim, Early Korean Buddhism and
Nanto Buddhism in Japan), in: Oriental Studies (󶖬󶠚󷌸), Vol. 23, 2012, pp. 185214.
30 󲺳󱏜󲾯: 󰘷󰱗󲃓󱙏󲂯 󲗷󲺰󱨃󱨘 󱕳󲅛󱼧 󲉗 󲇇󱩷󱕓󲇈󲂯 󱽘󲻼 (MYEONG Hwan Han, Chosun
Nation’s Influence on Philosophic Ideas of Ancient Japan), in: Toegye Studies and Korean Cul-
ture (󷊎󶋨󷌸󰙓󷍉󶏒󶞬󷐣), No. 352, 2004, pp. 2331.
31 󰞗󲗳󲺰: 󰘷󰱗 󲺳󰛄󱛟󰚧󱾗 󰧿󰴛󲁸󲇜󲂯 󲅛󰕳 (CHEON Hak Kim, Early Korean Buddhism and
Nanto Buddhism in Japan), in: Oriental Studies (󶖬󶠚󷌸), Vol. 23, 2012, pp. 185214.
32 󲅬󱘨󱨓: 󰘷󰱗 󲺳󰛄󰙓󲃓󱙏󲂯󱛟󰚧󰚧󱊯 (JUNG Byung -Sam, !e Influence of Buddhism from
Ancient Korea to Japan), in: Journal of Society for Korean Ancient History (󷍉󶏒󶋵󶕕󶥌󶱎
󶎾), Vol. 27, 2002, pp. 111140.
33 󲚳󱽇󱰴: 󱖈󲅳 󲻹󰙥󱾍 󱛟󰚧󲺰󲂯 󲅛󰕳󰙓󲅬 (CHOE Yeon -shik, Buddhist !oughts in Late
Baekje Dynasty), in: Journal of the Korean Society for Buddhist Studies (󱛟󰚧󲺰󱽇󰛃), Vol.
28, 2011, pp. 189224.
PÁL KOUDELAJINIL YOO 19
of Koguryŏ priests to travel to Japan, in  AD. He was the teacher of Buddhism to
Prince Shotoku ( AD). e prince was not only an active Buddhist but wrote
commentaries on the Lotus Sutra and others. Hyeja lived at the Temple of Hōkō -ji
(󰨆󱼹) (today Ango -in (󳎓)) with another Korean priest Esō who came from
Paekche. ey were called Sanpō no Tōryō (󰘐󰖲), which means ‘e leader
of three treasures’. Hyeja lived in Japan for twenty years in very close connection to
Shotoku. He erected the Asoka statue and Koguryŏ helped nance it. at time cul-
tural connections strengthened between Korea and Japan: the ne artist and priest
Damjing from Koguryŏ— mentioned above— brought several art pieces and furni-
ture to Japan. Techniques, design, artistic and building characters of Koguryŏ ap-
peared in Japan: Do -Ri originated from Korea for example.34
In Japan, octagonal traces were found of the Asuka era, mostly Buddhist religious
buildings. e two octagonal structures in Naniwa -palace (󳐔󰨓) are still under
discussion but the two structures of Hōryūji (󰨆󳎷), and Yumedono (󰣰) and
an octogonal circular hall in Eizanji (󰛟) are not Buddhist and that could mean
a strong inuence of Buddhist architecture and religious traditions on other cultural
components of contemporary society e.g. Shintoism.35
Music, warfare and chopsticks were also inuenced in Japan. Gairaigakubu de-
rives from the folk music of the Tang China and became ceremonial music in Ja-
pan based on the seven note scale and had a common regular form of rhythm but is
formed with two separate emphases. Its musical instruments also originated from
China but changed a lot during the transition through Korea.36
Recent research based on excavated wooden manuscripts in Japan shows Korean
inuence on the formation of Japanese writing. Korean immigrants carried a highly
developed drawing and writing culture into Japan both in literary arts and religion
but as long as monks returned to Korea aer their mission other immigrants assimi-
lated into Japanese society. Drawing up diplomatic documents and administration of
documents by the royal family members and the ruling class members shows a tech-
nique of Korean origin, comparing wooden documents carried from Korea to Japan
to original Japanese documents of the time.37
Cultural inuence and connection between Japan and Korea went both ways
and exchange of material goods took an important role in it. As long as Korea sent
34 󱒏󱏜󰱗: 󶓸󶖃󶠆󶫚󶮀󱾩 󶺕󶢪󶣼󶦢󱼧 󱕏󲞳 󱽘󲻼 ( MUN Myo ng -Dae, !e Koguryo’s Influence to
Japan in the Buddhistic Statues), in: Baeksan Hakbo (󶨤󶭣󷔖󶩩), Vol. 67, 2003, pp. 544555.
35 󲚳󰙨󱰴: 󲺳,󲉨,󲃓 󰘷󰱗󲂯 󲅳󱨃󲅳󰴛 󱞛󰚧󱽇󰛃  󲱫󰕘󰗋󱒓󲌗󱋓 󲉨󱱃󲂓󱆳 (KWANG
Shik Choe, Comparison Studies of Ancient Korean, Chinese, Japanese Religious ServiceFo-
cusing on the Octagonal Structures), in: Prehistory and Ancient History (󶯙󶬪󱹵󶓓󶜳),
2007, pp. 257276.
36 󲚳󲉗󲃓: 󲺳󰛄󰙓 󱾱󱔭󱾍 󱺛󱺜 󱞛󰚧 󱽇󰛃󶦊󶥥󷆬󶠻󶵛󰙓󶻰󶵛󶥽󱋓 󲉨󱱃󲂓󱆳. (CHOI Jun
Il, Research of the Comparison of the Ceremonial Music of Korea and Japan: Focusing on Mun-
myojehryeak and Gairaigakubu), in: Dissertation of Chugye University for the Arts Gradu-
ate School (󲛫󰘛󱽟󱭷󰱗󲺰󰚧 󰱗󲺰󲀧), 2010, p. 73.
37 󶹘󶊰󶨰: 󶋵󶕕󷔧󷁳󱾍󶦊󷂒󶦊󷘁󶕡󶢅󱹵󶥖󶏥 (LEE Kyoung -sup, Wooden Documents and the
Interchange of Wri"en Culture between Korea and Japan in the Ancient Times), in: (e Journal
of the Center of Research for Silla Culture (󶭀󶗖󶞬󷐣), Vol. 34, 2009, pp. 267312.
20 PRAGUE PAPERS ON THE HISTORY OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 2/2014
scholars, specialists or Buddha gures and cultural resources to Japan on back road
horses; ships with workers, bowls and arrows and soldiers with their military equip-
ment arrived to Korea. Paekche was Japan’s main partner especially in steel based
industrial development. In the second half of the th century Paekche started to lose
its inuential position but aer restoring the connections with China and Koguryŏ,
Paekche’s status was revived and relations with Japan were renewed.38
us immigrants in Japan appeared from both countries very soon but from
Koguryŏ only in the rst half of the th century. Aer Paekche weakened, exchange
between Koguryŏ and Japan increase d. Koguryŏ monks didn’t return home any more,
and played an important role in Buddhist life and artistry in Japan. In the case of
Prince Kibumi, member of the Imperial family, they became leaders of the envoys
to Tang China helping to convey Chinese culture directly from China to Japan. Tang
inuence on the Koguryŏ tradition appearing in Japan was shown in the case of the
Takamatsu and Kitora tomb murals by the motifs, composition and expression. De-
spite the newly emerging wish to express Japanese identity in artistry, and despite
the fact that these motifs were never found in Tang or Korea, the structure of the
tomb and the technique of the mural suggest that artisans and architects were of
Koguryŏ families and the owner might have been a Koguryŏ immigrant.39
SUMMARY
In conclusion, both Buddhist and other ideological components of life like Taoism
and Confucianism and also artistic development in Korea was greatly inuenced by
China. Cultural and economic exchange with Japan led to the transfer of Chinese and
Korean cultural components to Japan in dierent elds in the ree Kingdoms era.
Buddhist Schools, literacy or even administration in Japan wouldn’t have been able to
take form and evolve to the next period in this way without these inuences, directly
from China and indirectly from Korea. Along with travelling merchants, artisans and
monks, immigrants from Korea had an important role in shaping Japanese culture
during this period. Summarizing the latest results, it seems that the countries of the
whole of East Asia had very complex and dierentiated connections to each other and
inuenced one another.
ABSTRACT
is article is about the latest results of Korea’s transmitting role in the era of the ree Kingdoms
focusing on Buddhist thoughts and artistry. Our claim is to proof that China as the main source of
culture, Korea and Japan created an inuential circle in north -east Asia. Monks carried philosophy,
administrative system and artistry mostly but merchants, artisans were important participants of
38 󱕬󲽛󱭰: 6󱪏󰞇 󱖈󲅳󱾗 󲃓󱙏󲂯 󱒏󱒓 󰚧󱊯󱾗 󰝏󱖇󰘔 (PARK Hyun -Sook, !e Historical
Background of Exchange of Resources between Backjae and Japan in the 6th Century), in: Korean
Classics Studies (󱕓󲇈󱒏󲾫󱽇󰛃), Vol. 45, 2006, pp. 387412.
39 󲅛󲾏󲨳: 󲃓󱙏 󰘷󱫸󲙴,󲧻󲫷󱃓󰘷󱛛󱘔󲾫󱾗 󰘷󰛃󱅻 󱒏󲾫 (HO Tae Jeon, Murals of Japanese
Takamatsu Tomb & Kitora Tomb and Koguryo Culture), In: History and Boundaries (󱸢󱣡󱹵
󰓲󰓹), Vol. 81, 2011, pp. 127.
PÁL KOUDELAJINIL YOO 21
this cultural process too. e ree Kingdoms: Silla Paekche and Koguryŏ maintained cultural con-
nections with China and Japan severally but along with the progress of the inner connections and
the formation of the regional cultural characteristics a collective inuential area evolved during the
th to th centuries. We could use the latest archaeological evidences of architecture and graphic arts
but other also sources to conrm our new viewpoint.
KEYWORDS
Cultural Transfer; ree Kingdoms; Paekche; Silla; Koguryŏ; Buddhism
Pál Koudela | Department of History and International Relations,
János Kodolányi University of Applied Sciences, Székesfehérvár, Budapest
Fürdő u. ,  Székesfehérvár, Hungary
pkoudela@yahoo.com
Jinil Yoo | Department of Hungarian Studies
Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Seoul
, Imun -ro, Dongdaemun -gu, Seoul, , Republic of Korea
yoojinil@hufs.ac.kr
Article
This article seeks to analyze how K-pop, (sub) musical genre born in South Korea, is able to portray reflexes of cultural hybridism in pop music and in South Korean identity. To this end, a survey of facts and historical data was carried out to demonstrate the cultural identity suppression suffered by the Korean people over the centuries, until its consolidation as an independent nation. Then, from the post-war context, an analysis is made of the North American influence on the country's trajectory in music and in the construction of its pop culture. Finally, the role of all these interferences in the solidification of the South Korean identity is investigated, as well as the role of globalization in the establishment of the K-popper subculture and the new position of the peninsular country in the world
Many of the sculptures in Paekche were made of clay rather than other materials, showing advanced technique
  • Sui Images In Silla
  • China
images in Silla and Sui China. Many of the sculptures in Paekche were made of clay rather than other materials, showing advanced technique. 26
Sanron was a Madhyamika school which developed in China and were based on two discourses by Nagarjuna and one by Aryadeva. The Hossō School was based on the teachings of the Shelun School of Silla and influenced also by the Wonchuk (613–696 AD) mentioned above and Do -jung's, even though
The Sanron and Jojitsu Schools of Nanto Buddhism derived from the Sanron School of Paekche and Koguryŏ; Sanron was a Madhyamika school which developed in China and were based on two discourses by Nagarjuna and one by Aryadeva. The Hossō School was based on the teachings of the Shelun School of Silla and influenced also by the Wonchuk (613–696 AD) mentioned above and Do -jung's, even though Hossō 26 :,,,, (SONG Eun Choe, Buddhist Image of Mireuksa Temple, Image Tile, Baekche Buddhist Sculpture, Maitreya Buddha Images ), in: PAEKCHE -MOONHWA: e Journal of Paekche Culture (), Vol. 43, 2010, pp. 123–158.
A Survey of the Studies on Korean -Japanese Buddhist Exchanges from 7 th –9 th Century
27 : 7–9 (CHOE Yeonshik, A Survey of the Studies on Korean -Japanese Buddhist Exchanges from 7 th –9 th Century), in: Critical Review for Buddhist Studies ( ), Vol. 8, 2010, pp. 9–31.
Baekje Buddhism in World Heritage of Japan), in: Won -Buddhist ought & Religious Culture (
  • Un Da
  • Lee
(DA Un Lee, Baekje Buddhism in World Heritage of Japan), in: Won -Buddhist ought & Religious Culture ( ), Vol. 45, 2010, pp. 553–579.
in: Oriental Studies (
Nanto Buddhism in Japan), in: Oriental Studies (), Vol. 23, 2012, pp. 185–214.
Buddhist oughts in Late Baekje Dynasty
  • Choe Yeon-Shik
(CHOE Yeon -shik, Buddhist oughts in Late Baekje Dynasty), in: Journal of the Korean Society for Buddhist Studies (), Vol. 28, 2011, pp. 189–224.
Wooden Documents and the Interchange of Wrien Culture between Korea and Japan in the Ancient Times
37 : (LEE Kyoung -sup, Wooden Documents and the Interchange of Wrien Culture between Korea and Japan in the Ancient Times), in: e Journal of the Center of Research for Silla Culture (), Vol. 34, 2009, pp. 267–312.
Chosun Nation's Influence on Philosophic Ideas of Ancient Japan), in: Toegye Studies and Korean Culture (
  • Han Myeong Hwan
: (MYEONG Hwan Han, Chosun Nation's Influence on Philosophic Ideas of Ancient Japan), in: Toegye Studies and Korean Culture (), No. 35–2, 2004, pp. 23–31.