Keynotes 3

 

 

Korea

ca. 5000 BCE     millet-based agriculture spread from China to Korea

[ 2333 BCE founding of the state of Choson according to a traditional myth of shamanistic origin: the first ruler is said to be the son of the heavenly king. The son wanted to live among men and with the permission from his father and 3,000 followers he descended from heaven and ruled over the people. He taught them agriculture and righteous living in a community.
A bear and a tiger who lived on his territory prayed to the ruler for permission to become human. The ruler consented but asked them to remain in a cave with little food for 100 days. While the tiger left the cave because he became hungry, the bear patiently waited until the 100 days were over. Therefore the bear was rewarded with the transformation into a woman. The woman prayed to become a mother and finaly gave birth to a son who became the first human king, Tan'gun, of Choson, the Land of Morning Freshness.

To commemorate the national creation myth October 3 is celebrated as the National Foundation Day.]

2000 BCE          domestication of pigs, sheep, goats

 

1100 BCE          beginning of rice cultivation and bronze technology

3^rd cent. BCE     iron technology

194 BCE           state of Choson with the capital Pyongyang founded by a refugee from

                       China who had rebelled against the Han Dynasty

128-109 BCE    Korea conquered and occupied by the Han Dynasty

after 220 CE    Korean territory remains politically independent from China. Four states

                       emerge: Koguryo, Paekche, Silla, Kaya (Mimana)

 

 

 

Japan

40,000 years ago: paleolithic cultures

6000 BCE   oldest Neolithic culture: Jomon-Culture (Ainu; cord-marked pottery; sunken-pit houses;

  hunting, gathering, fishing)

 

5^th cent BCE      iron swords, armor, agricultural tools; houses raised to ground level;

                         improved quality of pottery     

ca. 300 BCE      Yayoi-culture replaces Jomon culture: potter's wheel; rice cultivation; irrigation; use of

                         bronze for ceremonial objects; trade with China and Korea; 'provincial Korean'

ca. 3rd cent CE under Korean influence great tomb mounds for high-standing person are piled up in tomb building

 

3^rd cent CE The first written records of Japan are historiographical works written in Chinese characters:

 Kojiki ‘Record of Ancient Matters’

 Nihongi ‘History of Japan’; both records derive the origin of the Japanese

 ruler from the sun-goddess Amaterasu

 Emperor/empress are conceived as temporal, spiritual rulers who preside

 over the worship of Amaterasu and the deities of nature (‘kami’);

 the state cult is neither a fully developed religion, nor an organized

 philosophy propagating a moral code

late 5th cent CE   iron weapons and armor

 

until 6^th cent CE  strong relations with the southeast coast of Korea

6^th cent CE         Buddhism transmitted to Japan from Korea

until 9^th cent CE  immigration from Korea; Koreans were part of Japanese nobility and

    served as artisans (weavers, metallurgists etc.)

after 618 CE       Chinese cultural ideals –imported to Japan via Korea - gain most

    prominent influence in Japan