Story of Baekje

Baekje was said to have the most delicate and sophisticated culture among the ancient Korean Peninsula countries. Baekje was founded in BC18 and collapsed in 660.

It is said that the founder of Baekje was Onjo, the son of Soseono, the remarried woman of Jumong. Before the establishment of Goguryeo, Jumong married Yesoya and gave birth to Yuri. When Yuri came to Jumong as an adult, Jumong chose Yuri as his successor. Biryu and Onjo, sons of Soseono, were disappointed and left Goguryeo to build a new state. Biryu and Onjo brothers came down to the south together. Biryu established a country in Incheon, and Onjo established a country in Wirye (estimated Hanam, Gyeonggi-do). Biryu, who founded the country in Incheon, committed suicide due to poor management of the country, and the country was merged with his younger brother Onjo. The areas including the Han River basin, the center of Baekje, were the areas of Mahan. Mahan was a coalition of 54 countries and its head was a Mokji country. Baekje began as a member state of the Mahan Federation, destroying the Mokji and subjugating all the small Mahan kingdoms to take autonomy.

Baekje did not have much conflict with Goguryeo until her heyday. However, in 369, King Go Kukwon of Goguryeo attacked Baekje during King Geunchogo's reign, and the quarrel between Baekje and Goguryeo began. Two years later, King Geunchogo advanced to Pyeongyangseong Fortress in Goguryeo and expanded his territory to Hwanghae-do. In the process, Goguryeo suffered the humiliation of the death of King Go kuwon (371).

However, Baekje's kingship was not strong. Baekje consolidated Mahan, but local forces still tried to gain independence. In some cases, they were not helped by local forces during the war against Goguryeo, so they were helped by Silla and Japan. On the contrary, Goguryeo and Silla had strong kingship, which made it easy to mobilize local forces for war. This was the first cause of the fall of Baekje among the three kingdoms. Baekje herself was a powerful country, but Baekje's problem was that she continued to be politically unstable and that local forces frequently betrayed her. It was the alliance with Japan that Baekje chose to overcome this. she was Japan's first country, Yamato. Baekje believed in Japan and valued her alliance with Japan more than the local forces that betrayed her. She then used the Japanese in the wars against Goguryeo and Silla.

Baekje was also an absolute necessity for Japan. Until the 4th century, Yamato was a small confederate state, but had close political partnerships with Baekje and Gaya, and quickly introduced various advanced cultures such as writing, ironware, architecture, and agriculture. During this period, Baekje's civil engineering, iron making, horses, candles, weaving, medicine, and music were very diverse, most of which were necessary for life. This shows that the Japanese society has adopted a culture from Baekje that is necessary for everyday life and can increase productivity. Since then, Yamato has become so strong that other tribal countries and federations in Japan cannot overcome her. Based on this, tribal states and federations that existed in other regions, such as Jubu, Shikoku, Sanin, and Kanto, were subjugated one after another, and by the 7th century, they were able to integrate large areas ranging from northwestern Kyushu to Kanto. Baekje and Japan maintained a partnership through a marriage alliance.

The close alliance between Baekje and Japan appears to be actively helping Baekje by sending support troops to the kingdom when she attacks Silla. In addition, when Baekje was destroyed by Silla, Japan poured all its energy into the Battle of the Baekgang River to revive Baekje. In fact, it was also in Japan that Baekje residents lost their country and many of them newly settled down.