Buyeo, Goguryeo, Okjeo, Dongye and Samhan

In Dongye, anyone who crossed into another clan's hills and rivers had to pay in slaves, cattle or horses; the rule was called chaekhwa.

As iron tools spread, new states appeared across Manchuria and the peninsula. Korean archaeologists usually begin the Early Iron Age around 300 BCE; the Encyclopedia of Korean Culture dates that first phase from about 300 BCE to around the turn of the era (or to 100 BCE, by another count), while older textbooks speak of iron arriving in the 5th century BCE. Either way, the centuries around the fall of Gojoseon were crowded with peoples whose customs were recorded by Chinese historians. This unit visits five of them, from north to south.

Buyeo

Buyeo grew on the plains of the Songhua River in Manchuria. It farmed and raised livestock, and was known for horses, jade and furs. It used the title of king as early as the early 1st century and dealt with China as a state. Under the king were officials named after animals: the horse ga, cattle ga, pig ga and dog ga. These ga each ruled a separate region, the sachuldo, and with the king's own central area they made five divisions. They could choose a king, and if floods or drought ruined the harvest they could blame him for it. Buyeo had a law of four articles, much like Gojoseon's: a thief repaid twelve times the value. In the twelfth month it held a festival to heaven called yeonggo, when people sang and danced and prisoners were set free. Pressed by the Xianbei in the late 3rd century, Buyeo declined and was absorbed by Goguryeo in 494.

Goguryeo

Goguryeo was founded, by tradition in 37 BCE, by Jumong, who fled south from Buyeo. Its first home at Jolbon was all mountains and deep valleys, where hard work still did not bring enough food, so from the start it pushed outward, attacking Han commanderies and taking tribute from Okjeo. Like Buyeo it had great chiefs under the king, and serious criminals were judged by a council of nobles. In the tenth month it held a harvest festival to heaven called dongmaeng and honoured Jumong and his mother, Lady Yuhwa.

Okjeo and Dongye on the east coast

Okjeo and Dongye lay along the east coast, in today's Hamgyong and northern Gangwon. Squeezed by Goguryeo, they never formed a larger kingdom; each town was led by its own chief. Okjeo had fertile land and plenty of fish and salt, which it had to send to Goguryeo as tribute. It practised minmyeoneuri, taking a future bride into the groom's family as a girl. When someone died the body was buried for a time, then the bones were gathered into a large wooden family tomb. Dongye wove silk and hemp and was known for a bow called dangung, small horses called gwahama, and the skins of sea creatures. It held a festival to heaven, mucheon, in the tenth month. People married outside their own clan, and the hills and rivers of each clan were respected: trespassers paid under the chaekhwa rule.

Samhan in the south

South of the Han River lay Jin, which grew into three leagues: Mahan, Jinhan and Byeonhan. Mahan, the largest, had 54 small states in today's Gyeonggi, Chungcheong and Jeolla; Jinhan and Byeonhan had twelve each, around Daegu and Gyeongju and around Gimhae and Masan. Besides political chiefs there were priests called cheongun, who led rites in a sacred area called sodo. Chiefs had no power there; even a criminal who fled into a sodo could not be seized. Samhan farmed with iron tools and built reservoirs; Byeokgolje in Gimje and Uirimji in Jecheon date back to this time. Byeonhan produced so much iron that it exported it to Nangnang and Japan and used it like money. Festivals were held after sowing in the fifth month and after harvest in the tenth. In time Baekje grew out of Mahan, Silla out of Jinhan's Saro, and the Gaya league out of Byeonhan.