Parhae
Parhae, also rendered as Bohai or Balhae, and called Jin early on, was a multiethnic kingdom established in 698 by Tae Choyŏng. It was originally known as the Kingdom of Jin until 713 when its name was changed to Parhae. At its greatest extent it corresponded to what is today Northeast China, the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and the southeastern Russian Far East.
Parhae's early history involved a rocky relationship with the Tang dynasty that saw military and political conflict, but by the end of the 8th century the relationship had become cordial and friendly. The Tang dynasty would eventually recognize Parhae as the "Prosperous Country of the East". Numerous cultural and political exchanges were made. Parhae was conquered by the Khitan-led Liao dynasty in 926. Parhae survived as a distinct population group for another three centuries in the Liao and Jin dynasties before disappearing under Mongol rule.
The history surrounding the origin of the state, its ethnic composition, the modern cultural affiliation of the ruling dynasty, the reading of their names, and its borders are the subject of a historiographical dispute between Korea, China and Russia. Historical sources from both China and Korea have described Parhae's founder, Tae Choyŏng, as related to the Mohe people and Goguryeo.
Name
Parhae was founded in 698 by Tae Choyŏng under the name , read as tsyinH in Middle Chinese. The kingdom's name was transcribed as in Chinese, with the same Middle Chinese reading as.In 713, the Tang dynasty bestowed the ruler of Jin with the noble title "Prince of Commandery of Bohai ". In 762, the Tang formally elevated Parhae to the status of a kingdom. The kingdom's territories did not overlap with the Bohai Commandery. According to Jin Yufu, the Tang referred to the state as Mohe until 713, and "Parhae" was possibly used as a different transcription of the same name. According to the New Book of Tang, the state was called Mohe before it received investiture from China and assumed the name Bohai. Linguists Karl Heinrich Menges and Roy Andrew Miller raised another theory, suggesting that the name Parhae had an underlying native name which was cognate to Manchu butha.
The transcriptions Bohai, Po-hai, and Balhae are also used in modern academia. Most Western-language scholarship have opted for Bohai except in the field of Korean studies; however, some scholars have chosen the Korean romanization to avoid a "Chinese" narrative spread by the usage of pinyin romanization. According to Pamela Kyle Crossley, neither Chinese or Korean transliterations can be correct. She chose to use modern Chinese transliteration "to indicate that the only referent we have is Chinese characters". Jesse D. Sloane chose to use "Parhae" because it was not covered in depth in the state-mandated curriculum of China, but used Chinese romanization for all other terms related to Parhae that appeared in Chinese sources first. Neither Crossley or Sloane meant to depict Parhae as essentially Chinese but used Chinese romanization out of convenience and to acknowledge the transnational origins of Parhae discourse.
History
Origin
In 696, Li Jinzhong of the Khitans along with his brother-in-law Sun Wanrong rebelled against Tang hegemony, killed an abusive Tang commander, and attacked Hebei. Li died soon after and Sun succeeded him, only to be defeated by the Second Turkic Khaganate. The population of Yingzhou fled eastward toward the Liao River during the turmoil. The Tang tried to appease Tae Chungsang and Kŏlsa Piu, two local leaders, by granting them the titles of Duke of Zhen and Duke of Xu respectively. Geolsa Biu rejected the offer but was soon defeated by a Tang force led by Li Kaigu, while Tae Chungsang fled with his followers but also died around the same time. Tae Chungsang's son, Tae Choyŏng, left the Liao River valley for Mt. Tianmen. There, he dealt a heavy defeat to the Tang forces at the Battle of Tianmenling, after which he led his followers to set up a state. In 698, Tae Choyŏng declared himself King of Zhen.Another account of the events suggests that there was no rebellion at all, and the leader of the Sumo Mohe rendered assistance to the Tang by suppressing Khitan rebels. As a reward the Tang acknowledged the leader as the local hegemon of a semi-independent state.
In diplomatic communications between Silla and Jin, Silla attempted to confer investiture to Tae Choyŏng with the title of a fifth rank official: "Dae achan". Silla conferred this mid-ranking investiture partially out of a sense of superiority, but also because Parhae was a relatively new kingdom whereas Silla had been centuries old. The people of Jin did not know the system of ranks used in Silla and thus accepted the title. After a while, Tae Choyŏng realized the meaning of the title and sought to change Parhae's international status. In 713 or 714, the Tang dynasty recognized Tae Choyŏng as the "Prince of Bohai ", the name for the sea surrounding Liaodong and Shandong.
According to Alexander Kim, neither the Tang or Silla recognized Parhae as the successor of Goguryeo. The Tang considered it a dukedom while Silla considered it their vassal. South Korean historians such as Kim Eng Gug, however, believe that the Tang viewed Parhae as Goguryeo's successor. Between 713 and 721, Silla constructed a northern wall to maintain active defences along the border. The Tang later recognized Parhae as a kingdom in 762 but Silla continued to view Parhae as a rebellious vassal. However, Kim Eun Gug argues that the "bestowal of a fifth-rank position was an expression of Silla's confidence, and such an exchange would have been unimaginable if Silla and Parhae were in a hostile relationship." After Tang recognition of Parhae as a kingdom, Parhae diplomatic missions to Japan began to refer to the Parhae ruler as descended from Heaven. Japanese officials criticized these letters, revised them, and limited diplomatic missions from Parhae. A royal epitaph and Buddhist scripture confirm this designation for the ruler of Parhae.
Ethnic identity
The ethnic identity of Parhae's founder is controversial and disputed. Many Chinese, Korean, Russian, and Japanese scholars of Parhae believe its population was composed of Goguryeo remnants and Mohe tribes. Chinese scholars consider that Mohe people form the ethnic majority of Parhae, and arguments for this opinion are also viewed positively in Russia and in the West. While modern Korean scholars usually consider Parhae a Korean state and one of the Northern and Southern States of Korea. Russian and Chinese scholars reject this notion, echoing the position of historical Korean scholars such as Kim Pusik, author of the Samguk sagi.Some historians view this dispute as the polemics reflecting modern politics rather than historical evidence.
Historical sources give different accounts of Tae Choyŏng's ethnicity and background. Among the official dynastic history works, the New Book of Tang refers to Tae Choyŏng and his state as Sumo Mohe affiliated with Goguryeo. The Old Book of Tang also states Tae's ethnic background as Mohe but adds that he was gaoli biezhong. Literally speaking, biezhong means "separate kind." The term is interpreted as meaning "a branch of the Goguryeo people" by South and North Korean historians, but as "distinct from Goguryeo" by Japanese and Chinese researchers. According to Sloane, Tang sources divided Parhae's population into two categories, Goguryeo and Mohe. The royalty and upper class were composed of Goguryeo remnants while the majority of Parhae's population were Mohe. In a diplomatic mission to Japan in 727 or 728, the Parhae envoy said that Parhae has "recovered the lost land of Goguryeo and inherited the old traditions of Buyeo." Some consider this divide to be a cause of tension that contributed to Parhae's eventual downfall. Chinese scholars have made claims that Han Chinese were a part of the Parhae population, but apart from Goguryeo and Mohe, no other group is associated with the foundation of Parhae in Chinese, Korean, or Japanese sources.
According to Ch'oe Ch'iwŏn, the people of Parhae were Mohe. In the conflict between the joint Tang-Silla forces against Parhae, Silla described Parhae as "rebellious barbarians." Sillan aristocracy tended to view the Parhae population as consisting of solely Mohe people, but this could be due to the antagonistic relations between the two states causing the Sillan nobility to ignore Goguryeo elements of Parhae ethnic composition. The Ruijū Kokushi, a 9th-century Japanese text, says that when Parhae was founded, it spanned 2,000 li and was filled with villages, each of which were Mohe tribes. Japanese diplomatic communications with Parhae recognized it as a "state of Goryeo." In the early 12th century, the Jurchen leader Aguda sent ambassadors to the Liao dynasty to call on the Parhae people there to rebel against the Liao by appealing to a common origin between the Jurchens and Parhae. According to the appeal, both the Jurchens and Parhae people descended from the seven Wuji tribes. However, according to Alexander Kim, this only applied to the Mohe portion of Parhae's population and not the Goguryeo people, who were not included in the seven Wuji tribes. The Samguk sagi, written in the 12th century by Kim Pusik, did not consider Parhae a Korean state. The Samguk yusa, a 13th-century collection of Korean history and legends, describes Tae as a Sumo Mohe leader. However, it gives another account of Tae being a former Goguryeo general, citing a now-lost Sillan record. Kim considers this unlikely since Goguryeo fell in 668 while Tae died in 719, and young men could not receive the rank of general.
Russian scholars argue that the ethnic composition of Parhae cannot be determined with great precision because no materials exist that can confirm either the Chinese or Korean claims. Some Russian scholars claim Parhae as part of Manchurian history while others believe Parhae was neither a Korean state or Chinese province and there is no direct link between Parhae and either modern China or Korea. E. V. Shakunov believes that Parhae's population also consisted of elements from Central Asia such as Sogdians and Tocharians. Many Uyghurs fled to Parhae after the destruction of the Uyghur Khaganate in 840 but they failed to adapt to Parhae society and caused social unrest.
It is evident that Parhae had a diverse population, including other minorities such as Khitan and Evenk peoples. Archaeological evidence suggests that the Parhae culture was an amalgamation of High Tang Chinese, Korean, and Tungusic cultures.