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Buyeo (state)

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Korean name
Hangul: 부여
Hanja: 夫餘
McCune-Reischauer: Puyŏ
Revised Romanization: Buyeo
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese: 夫餘
Simplified Chinese: 夫餘
Hanyu Pinyin: Fūyú
Wade-Giles: Fu1-yü2

Buyeo (Fuyu in Chinese) was a Korean kingdom established in northern part of northeatern China, 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 285, Dongbuyeo (East Buyeo) branched out, after which the original Buyeo is sometimes referred to as Bukbuyeo (North Buyeo). “Jolbon Buyeo” apparently referred to the incipient Goguryeo or its capital. In 538, Baekje renamed itself Nambuyeo (South Buyeo).

"Buyeo" may also refer to a Baekje surname or Buyeo County in South Korea.

History

History of Korea Gojoseon, Jin
Proto-Three Kingdoms:
 Buyeo, Okjeo, Dongye
 Samhan
Three Kingdoms:
 Goguryeo
 Baekje
 Silla, Gaya
Unified Silla, Balhae
 Later Three Kingdoms
Goryeo
  Khitan wars
  Mongol invasions
Joseon
 Seven Year War
 Korean Empire
Japanese rule
 Provisional Gov't
Divided Korea
 Korean War
North, South Korea Timeline
Military history
List of Monarchs [[Portal:Korea>Korea Portal]]

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 59 BC by King Haeburu of Buyeo, although it is not clear whether occasional reference to North Buyeo (北夫餘,북부여) is a separate country. Korean records seem to indicate that either: 1. Buyeo later became known as North Buyeo when East Buyeo separated from it, or 2. the original Buyeo was conquered or replaced by Haeburu, 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 Weichoutai (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 some accounts, Buyeo was divided into two countries, Bukbuyeo and Dongbuyeo. Dongbuyeo was established eastward to the land of Woju (沃沮) around modern-day Yanbian. Its rulers submitted to Bukbuyeo, and thus used the title Wang ("king"). Dongbuyeo, ruled by the heirs of Emperor Haemosu, was destroyed by Goguryeo.

Dates of founding (108 BC or 285 AD) and its fall (22 AD or 494 AD) conflict in different accounts.

Jolbon Buyeo

Some Korean records name a “Jolbon Buyeo” (卒本夫餘, 졸본부여), apparently referring to the incipient Goguryeo or its capital city, and indicating that the founder of Goguryeo was the son of the founder of Buyeo, and step-brother of the founder of East Buyeo (although other records contradict this).

King Dongmyeong is said to have descended from a branch of Buyeo, but records conflict on the exact relationship: a son of the North Buyeo's king, or son-in-law of Jolbon Buyeo's king, or merely married to a Buyeo woman. Goguryeo may have been founded in Jolbon Buyeo territory, and had a close early relationship with East Buyeo. Goguryeo eventually united all the territories of Buyeo and Okjeo.

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.

Since then, Buyeo was torn between big powers, and ravaged during the waves of movement of northern nomadic peoples into China. 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.

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 northeatern China. Their manners and 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.

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 northeatern China 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. [link]

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 King Dongmyeong, founder of Goguryeo. Baekje officially changed its name to Nambuyeo (남부여, 南夫餘 "South Buyeo") in 538.

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