Journey to Baekje

Journey to Baekje

By Steven L. Shields

I recently took a trip to the ancient Baekje Kingdom (18 BCE-660 CE). What a trip it was! No, I didn't do time travel in the sci-fi sense. But it was a trip back in time _ 2,000 years. I covered about 600 years in just a few days.

Baekje's written records are long gone, but the archaeological record is extensive and rich with information. Early Japanese and Chinese records provide some information. We do have the all-too-brief "Baekje Sillok," but it was copied or redacted from earlier records. Some information is engraved on metal artifacts that were found in tombs.

Baekje's earliest years were in the environs of modern Seoul. First, south of the Han River, possibly near Hanam City. After only a few years, the capital moved to Mount Bukhan, where they built a walled fortress.

Finally, Wiryeseong was built on the south bank of the Han River, encompassed partly now by Olympic Park. The capital remained there until 475 CE.

My journey began at the marvelous Seoul Baekje Museum tucked on the side of Olympic Park in southeastern Seoul. This museum is a remarkable gem. The museum recounts the story of the founding of the Baekje Kingdom, and its capital city, Wiryeseong, which was nearby.

Walks through the surrounding area have been well-mapped. A nice walk to the west brought me to one of two tomb parks. The first was to Bangi-dong, where several tombs from Baekje and Unified Silla have been discovered and preserved.

Not far from there is Seokchon-dong, where several large stone platform tombs have been preserved. From Seokchon-dong, eastward through the high rises, to the museums in Olympic Park, and on to Pungnaptoseong (the likely fortress around Wiryeseong), there are many Baekje locations.

For its first 200 years, Baekje was a poor country that struggled to feed its people. Disease and natural disasters plagued the kingdom. Over the years, Baekje eventually united or absorbed many adjacent states (at one time there were 54 autonomies on the peninsula).

Goguryeo, to the north, became a force to contend with, and by 475 CE, that kingdom had captured the northernmost parts of Baekje, including the Seoul environs. The capital was moved to Ungjin (now Gongju). Sixty-three years later, the capital was moved further south to Sabi (now Buyeo).

At Ungjin (Bear Landing _ there's a great story about a she-bear hooking up with a fisherman, but when he escaped, the she-bear and her cubs drowned themselves in the river), the kingdom reached its golden era.

When King Muryeong's tomb was accidentally rediscovered at Gongju in the early 1970s, Korea's archaeologists were ecstatic. Here was a fully preserved tomb that had never been looted. The Gongju National Museum has the contents of the tomb on display in a massive exhibit hall. It's just incredible.

Muryeong was succeeded in 523 by King Seong, who continued the glory days of the kingdom. King Seong effected a unified administrative system that was a very effective government system. He was decades ahead of his counterparts in the other peninsular kingdoms.

King Seong also gave royal patronage to Buddhism, the first Korean kingdom to do so. Baekje was wealthy and powerful. Baekje art is incredibly beautiful. There are many well-executed artifacts in the museums.

King Seong presided over extensive cultural exchanges with Japan, including sending the first Buddhist missionaries there. Many colonists went to Japan.

Some scholars suggest that Baekje may have, in fact, presided over parts of Japan, in the environs of Osaka, with the Baekje crown prince as regent. Such a possibility may explain why thousands of Baekje refugees fled there when the kingdom fell in 660 CE.

In 538 CE King Seong moved the capital to Buyeo. Seong's successors were unable to maintain the kingdom. King Mu (r. 600-641) allowed the aristocracy to regain control, discarding King Seong's advanced government system.

King Mu ignored the national defense and spent vast sums on building new palaces and temples. King Euija, the 31st and last king of Baekje (r. 641-660) waged small wars against neighboring Silla. Silla retaliated by allying with the Tang Dynasty of China.

In 660 tens of thousands of soldiers besieged Buyeo on land and river (nearby White Horse River). The palaces were burned, either by the invaders or by the defenders (in a "scorched earth" policy).

The Baekje army disintegrated, King Euija and the crown prince fled to Gongju (where they were captured a few days later). Legend says that 3,000 court ladies jumped off the cliff of the Buyeo fortress above the city, and died in their fall to the river. Nakhwa-am (Falling Flower Rock) is probably the most visited place in all of the remnants of the Baekje kingdom.

Baekje is profoundly important in the history of both Seoul and the Korean Peninsula. It's not on the well-beaten tourist path. Gongju and Buyeo are both quiet towns, both of which have a sad history.

But a few days reliving the past is a rewarding experience. I plan to go again and continue my exploration and appreciation of this once great kingdom.

Steven L. Shields lived in Korea for several years in the 1970s and 1990s to 2000s. He served as copy editor of The Korea Times in 1977. He is a retired clergyman and a life member of the Royal Asiatic Society-Korea Branch. He can be reached at slshields@gmail.com.