Kofun Period

The is an era in the history of Japan from around 250 to 538. The word ''kofun'' is Japanese for the type of Burial Mound s dating from this era. Kofun period follows the Yayoi Period . Kofun and the subsequent Asuka Period s are sometimes referred to collectively as the Yamato Period .

Archeological evidence indicates contacts between southern Korea and Japan from a very early period. Until elements of Northeast Asia n, Chinese , and Korea n civilization were introduced to the Japanese Archipelago in waves of migration, the latter was inhabited by the hunter-gatherer Jomon people consisting of Ainu and Malayo-Polynesian people. Most scholars believe that there were massive transmissions of technology and culture from Korea to Japan which is evidenced by material artifacts in tombs of both states in the Proto-Three Kingdoms Of Korea and Kofun eras, and the later wave of Baekje immigrants to Yamato. This view was popularized in Japan by Egami Namio 's theory of a powerful horse-riding race from the north who brought about the dramatic change from Jomon to Yayoi culture.

KOFUN TOMBS

, Osaka , 5th century.]]
The Kofun period (c. 250–538) takes its name (古墳, '' rituals and distinctive earthen mounds. The mounds contained large stone burial chambers. Some are surrounded by Moat s.

Kofun came in many shapes, with round and square being the simplest. A distinct style is the keyhole kofun ( ''zenpō kōen fun''), with its square front and round back. Many kofun were natural hills, which might have been sculpted to their final shape. Kofun range in size from several meters to over 400 Meter s in length.

By the late Kofun period, the distinctive burial chambers, originally used by the ruling elite, were also built for commoners.

The biggest kofun are believed to be the tombs of local monarchs like Ōjin and Nintoku . Kofun are also classified according to whether the entrance to the stone burial chamber is vertical (縦穴 ''tate-ana'') or horizontal (横穴 ''yoko-ana'').

KOFUN SOCIETY

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Korean migration

The archeological record and ancient Chinese sources indicate that the various tribes and chiefdoms of Japan did not begin to coalesce into states until 300, when large tombs begin to appear while there were no contacts between the Wa and China. Some describe the "mysterious century" as a time of internecine warfare as various chiefdoms competed for hegemony on Kyushu and Honshu. {Link without Title} . A unified Yamato state may have coincided with large migration of Korea's Baekje people at the end of the fourth century

"Japan of the Kofun Period was very positive towards the introduction of Korean culture". Not only are there many material objects from China and Korea that were exported to Japan such as bronze mirrors, iron, and pottery, Kofun key-hole shaped tombs and Haniwa , two features once thought to be unique to Japan, have been discovered in Korea. Ceramic manufacturing in Kiln s and horse-riding are two important technologies transmitted to Japan by Korean immigrants. {Link without Title} .

Iron working technology was introduced into Japan from Korea around 300. Korea was an important source of iron ingots to Japan and the Koreans were famous for the iron-working skills in that time period. Korean paintings in Goguryeo tombs had important influences in Japan. [http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1091 . Decorated tombs and painted tumuli which date from the fifth century and later found in Japan are generally accepted as Korean exports to Japan. The Takamatsuzuka tomb even has paintings of woman dressed in distinctive Korean pleated skirts. [http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&vid=ISBN0824820304&id=dCNioYQ1HfsC&dq=kofun+tumuli+korea&lpg=PA95&pg=PA95&sig=pklpAbfrrspwFUtncGBqMy1dks0].

Yamato links to the mainland and the Liu Sung Dynasty in 425 and 478 were facilitated by the maritime knowledge and diplomatic connections of Baekje. {Link without Title} .

During the Kofun period, a highly aristocratic society with Militaristic rulers developed.
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The Kofun period was a critical stage in Japan's evolution toward a more cohesive and recognized state. This society was most developed in the Kinai Region and the easternmost part of the Inland Sea . Japan's rulers of the time even petitioned the Chinese court for confirmation of royal titles.

LANGUAGE

Little evidence remains of the languages spoken in the ancient Korean kingdoms. Chinese, Korean and Japanese wrote accounts of history mostly in Chinese characters, making original pronunciations difficult to trace. Some linguists believe that modern Japanese evolved from the version of Korean spoken in Goguryeo and Baekje of Korea, while modern Korean is closer to that of Silla .

The theory that the name of the former Japanese capital '' Nara '' came from the Korean word ''Nara'' ("country") is disputed. The Japanese word ''Nara'' may be related to the word ''Narashita'', meaning a flat place, as the city is located on a small flat plain in the mountainous region of Nara prefecture.

The Inariyami sword, made in either Korea or China (tentatively dated 471 or 531) contains Chinese character inscriptions in styles used in Korea. These "Koreanisms" of written Chinese are also found on the Eta Funayama Sword dated to about the fifth century. {Link without Title} .
Various inscriptions with the names of the authors such as bronze mirrors and swords have peninsular surnames or are explicitly Korean. Also, other Japanese artifacts display popular Baekje styles, such as the abbreviated form of "be" on swords, a stone monument in Tako and a Buddhist statute at Horyu-ji Temple.
{Link without Title} .

RULING CLASS

Many important figures in 's mother is known to be a Baekje descendant.

One-third of the noble families on a list compiled in 815 had their origins in China or Korea: 170 of the 1200 listed were from China, 240 from different parts of Korea. {Link without Title} . These immigrants received noble titles from the rulers of the Yamato, and were valued as experts, especially on iron-working, horseriding and writing.

Korean influence on Japanese laws is also attributed to the fact that Korean immigrants were on committees that drew up law codes. Eight of the 19 members of the committee drafting the Taiho Code were from Korean immigrant families while none were from China proper. Further, idea of local administrative districts and the tribute tax are based on Korean models. {Link without Title} .

Chinese chronicles make note that the horse was absent on the islands of Japan and they are first noted in the chronicles during the reign of Nintoku , most likely brought by Korean immigrants. The horse is one of the treasures that the king Silla presented the emperor according to the record of Nihonshoki . Irrigation , Sericulture , and Weaving were also brought to Japan by Korean immigrants who are mentioned in the ancient Japanese histories. {Link without Title} .

The Cavalry wore armour, carried Sword s and other weapons, and used advanced military methods like those of north-east Asia. Evidence of these advances is seen in funerary figures (called '' Haniwa ''; literally, clay rings), found in thousands of ''kofun'' scattered throughout Japan. The most important of the '' Haniwa '' were found in southern Honshu —especially the Kinai Region around Nara —and northern Kyushu . ''Haniwa'' grave offerings were made in numerous forms, such as horses, chickens, birds, fans, fish, houses, weapons, shields, sunshades, pillows, and male and female humans. Another funerary piece, the Magatama , became one of the symbols of the power of the imperial house. Much of the Material Culture of the Kofun period is barely distinguishable from that of the contemporaneous southern Korean peninsula, demonstrating that at this time Japan was in close political and economic contact with continental Asia (especially with the southern dynasties of China) through Korea. Indeed, bronze mirrors cast from the same mould have been found on both sides of the Korean Strait .

Torai-Jin

Chinese who naturalized in ancient Japan were called "Torai-Jin(渡来人)". They introduced a lot of Chinese cultures to Japan. Japan gave preferential treatment to Torai-Jin because the Yamato Court valued Chinese knowledge and culture.

Many important figures were also immigrants from China. Chinese immigrants also had considerable influence ording to the "Shinsen-Joujouroku" (新撰姓氏録), which was used as a directory of aristocrats. Yamato Imperial Court had officially edited the directory in 815, and 163 Chinese clans were registered.

Typical Clan is descendant Yamatonoaya-Clan (東漢氏) descendant of Emperor Ling of Han). This clan's leader was Achi-no-Omi (阿智使主). He introduced a hinese culture to Japan. In Emperor Kimmei's reign, according to the Nihongi, Hata clan ((秦氏) descendant of Descendant of Qin Shi Huang) introduced sericulture. Kawachino-Fumi clan ((西文氏 descendant of　Gaozu of Han) introduced the Chinese writing to the Yamato court. （Source By "Shinsen-Joujouroku (新撰姓氏録)"　）

Yamato court

While conventionally assigned to the period from 250 CE, the actual start of Yamato rule is disputed. The dynasty's supremacy was challenged throughout the period from Kibi Province (later Bizen and Bitchū) and it was only into the 6th century that the Yamato Clans could be said to have any major advantage over their neighbouring clans.

The Yamato Polity , which emerged by the late 5th century, was distinguished by powerful clans. Each clan was headed by a Patriarch who performed sacred rites to the clan's '' Kami '' to ensure the long-term welfare of the clan. Clan members were the aristocracy, and the kingly line that controlled the Yamato court was at its pinnacle.

The Kofun period of Japanese culture is also sometimes called the Yamato period by some Western scholars, since this local chieftainship arose to become the Imperial dynasty at the end of the Kofun period. Yamato and its dynasty however were just one rivalling polity among others throughout the Kofun era. Japanese archaeologists emphasise instead the fact that in the early half of the Kofun period other regional chieftainships, such as Kibi , near modern day Okayama , were in close contention for dominance or importance.
and Stirrup s, 6th century.]]

The Yamato Court ultimately exercised power over clans in Kyushu and Honshu , bestowing titles, some hereditary, on clan chieftains. The Yamato name became synonymous with all of Japan as the Yamato rulers suppressed the clans and acquired agricultural lands. Based on Chinese models (including the adoption of the Chinese Written Language ), they started to develop a central administration and an imperial court attended by subordinate clan chieftains but with no permanent capital.

The Yamato court had ties to the Korea n Gaya Confederacy , called ''Mimana'' in Japanese. There is archaeological evidence from the Kofun tombs, which show similarities in form, art, and clothing of the depicted nobles. Based on the Nihonshoki , Japanese Kokugaku historians claimed Gaya to be a colony of the Yamato state, a theory that is now widely rejected. More likely all these states were tributaries to the Chinese Sui and Tang dynasties to some extent.

Territorial expansion of Yamato

In addition of archaeological findings showing a local monarchy a the today (the eastern part of the today Shimane Prefecture ). Another frontier, in Kyushu , apparently was somewhere north of the today Kumamoto Prefecture . The legend specifically states that there was an eastern land in Honshu "whose people disobeyed the imperial court", against whom Yamatotakeru was sent to fight. That rivalling country may have been located rather close to the Yamato nucleus area itself, or relatively far away. The today Kai Province is mentioned as one of the locations where prince Yamatotakeru sojourned in his said military expedition.

TOWARDS ASUKA PERIOD

Kofun period changed into Asuka Period in mid-6th century CE (traditionally in 538), by the introduction of Buddhism. Chinese Writing and Buddhism were introduced by Baekje , a Korean kingdom.

HISTORY TEXTS

Many Koreans, Westeners and some Japanese raise questions about the completeness, objectivity, and reliability of the surviving version of these Japanese sources. They argue early parts of Kojiki and Nihongi were fabricated or exaggerated by the Yamato court to legitimize its rule.

Kojiki and Nihongi , Japanese history chronicles, state that the Yamato kingdom had always influenced events in Korea by sending in troops, sometimes as many as 100,000, and maintained an Outpost in Korea. They also state that the Kammu's mother's clan was given the status of a retainer under the emperor after the Baekje kingdom fell. These claims are viewed by many different scholars as unsupported Propaganda .

Thus, a myth that Jingu conquered parts of Korea in the Kojiki is rejected as fairy tale inserted by Yamato scholars because of later tense relations between Silla and Yamato .

Most scholars agree that the founding date of Japan as 660 BCE and the first thirteen emperors of Japan are mythical and not based on historical fact. Additionally, the Nihongi attributes dates two sexagenary cycles or 120 years of history before they actually happened to make the relatively young Yamato state as respectable as contemporaneous Korean and Chinese states which shows another evidence of bias of the writers. (A sexagenary cycle of sixty years was used to keep a measure of time on a calendar.)

Many of the myths of these two histories also have many similarities with traditions in China, Manchuria, and Korea.

SEE ALSO

History Of Japan

Tumulus

REFERENCES

- Japan

NOTES

< "http://wwwinformationdelightinfo/encyclopedia/entry/Vrhbosna/Yayoi" class="copylinks">Yayoi History Of Japan Asuka Period >

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Kofun Period