Mar 16, 2023
This episode covers the fate of Nimna, aka Mimana or Imna, and the general destruction and subjugation of the various states on the Korean peninsula between Silla and Baekje, along with the rise of Silla as a a true power. Using references in the Samguk Sagi along with the Nihon Shoki we will try to puzzle out just what was happening in this chaotic but important period.
For more, see https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode-82
Rough Transcript:
Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo’s Chronicles of Japan. My name
is Joshua and this is episode 82: The Fate of Nimna.
Before we get into this episode a few notes. First off, this
episode deals with war and with the trauma that brings, to include
issues of death, sexual assault, and enslavement. I’ll try to
be delicate, especially where we don’t need it to get the larger
story, and perhaps reference some of it more fully in the show
notes at SengokuDaimyo.com/podcast, so go there for more
information. That said, I don’t want to just gloss over it,
either—these were violent times and history often deals with
subjects we’d rather not talk about. We just don’t have to
sensationalize it, either.
As we discussed last episode, we are into the reign of Ame
Kunioshi, aka Kimmei Tennou. According to the dates given in
the Nihon Shoki, Ame Kunioshi, the youngest son of Ohohodo no
Ohokimi, aka Keitai Tennou, reigned from 539 to his death in 571.
Thirty two years is a respectable reign for any sovereign,
especially considering that two of his half brothers had taken the
throne ahead of him. Add to this the thought that he may have
been co-ruling in some capacity even before then and it is little
wonder that he has quite the entry in the Chronicles.
And yet, most of his entry is taken up with an almost singular
focus on one thing: Nimna, the polity on the Korean peninsula
that is also known as Mimana in Japanese or Imna in modern
Korean.
We’ve talked about Nimna in the past, and it is more than a little
controversial. Sometimes it is ignored as a complete
fabrication of the Japanese chroniclers, and other times it is
equated with the larger Kara confederation. I suspect the
truth lies in a complicated middle ground that cannot be fully
explained as we only have external accounts regarding its
existence.
For my part, I think there is enough evidence to suggest that Nimna
was a real place, and a place of some import, as it shows up in
things like the Gwangaetto Stele, as well as in some of the Sinitic
records as well, so it isn’t something that the writers completely
made up. At the same time, any talk of “Mimana Nihonfu”
suggesting direct control by Japan or Yamato is just as likely made
up to support Yamato’s own causus belli, and may have even been
included in some of the earlier documents that the Chroniclers
themselves were drawing from. There is also the possibility
that the term “Nimna” was no longer in use, but still referenced by
Yamato, much as they tended to refer to anything in the Yangtze
river basin as Kure, or Wu, referencing an old dynasty that had
long since been supplanted by others.
A lot of what we read about Nimna comes from the Baekje records
that the Chroniclers frequently quoted. Unfortunately, there
is no extant copy of this record, and all that we have is the
fragments quoted in the Nihon Shoki, where the Chroniclers
frequently embellished the accounts. They would often equate,
for instance the Wa ethnonym—that is the term “Wa” used to refer to
people of ethnic Wa descent—as an automatic reference to actual
subjects of Yamato. It is much more likely that there were a
variety of ethnic Wa polities—or at least multi-ethnic states with
a sizeable Wa population—on the peninsula and the archipelago,
outside of those territories directly controlled by Yamato, though
by the time the Chroniclers were writing Yamato really was the only
“Wa” polity around, at least of any major consequence. At the
time, though, Yamato likely held a place of prominence and even
immense influence across the various Wa polities on the archipelago
and, possibly, on the peninsula, but things weren’t as cut and
dried as we tend to think of it regarding states and countries
today.
It is quite possible—even likely—that Nimna was important to
Yamato, and most especially to the trade that occurred between
Yamato and the rest of the continent. Based on various
descriptions, Nimna, or the territory defined as such, bordered
both Baekje and Silla, and it may have been made up of smaller
polities, possibly with a core polity of Nimna at its head. I
could even conceive that there may have been a semi-permanent
Yamato embassy set up in Nimna—and possibly with the various other
polities as well, though the idea that Yamato was actually
controlling these states seems to be too much overreach, to me.
Prior to 539, we are told that Nimna had been incorporated into
Silla’s territory, around 532, and Aston notes that in the Tongkam
the name “Nimna” doesn’t show up after that date. This is
also one of the dates generally accepted for the end of any
independence of the Kara confederacy as a whole, and when Geumgwan
Kara is said to have submitted to Silla.
As for the presence of ethnic Wa people on the peninsula, that does
seem fairly well-established, assuming some accuracy to the Baekje
record being quoted in the Nihon Shoki. There are several
members of various families listed in the accounts that feel as if
they are clear references to people of ethnic Wa descent.
These are listed alongside other family names—likely of
Baekje, Silla, or similar backgrounds. People like Mononobe
no Makamu, who is listed as having the Baekje court rank of
“Siteok” and who is being sent by Baekje with another envoy, whose
name is something like Chinmu Kwimun. There is also a “Ki no
Omi” who is listed as a Baekje envoy with the Baekje court rank of
“Nasol”, who was also sent with other Baekje envoys to the country
of Ara, or Alla. There is speculation by a later commentator
that Ki no Omi may have been the son of a courtier who had been
sent on one of the expeditions from the archipelago, and a Baekje
woman. Then there is “Charomato”, who apparently was born of
a “Korean” mother—likely meaning ethnically from the peninsula, but
not of Wa descent. Charo Mato held the title of Ohomuraji,
meaning the head of a prestigious family, but also held the rank of
Namanye in Silla and went around wearing quote-unquote “foreign
dress”, and yet the records still identify him as being of Wa
descent.
While we’ve discussed the possibility that there were enclaves of
Wa in the peninsula since ancient times it is also possible that
members of families from the archipelago emigrated to the peninsula
for one reason or another. For example, we have Kawachi no
Atahe. This individual is noted in the Chronicles as the
“Japanese authority” in the country of Ara, sometimes called Alla,
which was one of the polities that was apparently lumped into the
larger Kara confederacy. At the same time, it looks like
Kawachi no Atahe may have been someone who had been exiled from
Yamato—or somewhere in the archipelago—suggesting that he wasn’t
actually a “Japanese authority” but rather that he was probably a
local official who happens to be of Wa descent. In the case
of a name like “Kawachi no Atahe”, that certainly appears to be a
locative in the Yamato area, of course, but the whole story leaves
me with questions.
Now, as I stated, much of this information comes from the Baekje
records that the Chroniclers then embellished. For example,
the Chroniclers couch almost all of Baekje’s interactions as being
subservient to Yamato, rather than as those of an independent ally,
and so as we look at this account, I’m going to try my best to
address what is going on without too much of the Chroniclers’
biases coming through. But without independent confirmation
from another source, that can be somewhat difficult, as many of the
stories here are not found in the remaining records in the Samguk
Sagi or Samguk Yusa, for example.
Now I’d like to start with something out of the Samguk Sagi, which
tells us that in 502 the country of Silla finally came to be known
by that name. Up to that point it had been known as Sara or
Saro, evolving as it had from a coalition of about six city-states
on the eastern edge of the Korean peninsula.
As you may recall, during the reign of Ohodo, aka Keitai Tennou,
there was discussion of Yamato hosting talks in Ara around 514.
In reality, those were probably talks hosted by Ara itself,
which seems to have risen to some prominence at this point.
We talked about that back in episodes 76 and 77.
Later, in 529, Baekje gained access to a port to better facilitate
communication with their ally, Yamato. This is presented as a
gift by Yamato to Baekje, but apparently the King of Kara had other
ideas. They had already been on friendly terms with Silla
since at least 527, and it seems that after this they turned even
more towards Silla’s embrace. Indeed, the Silla annals in the
Samguk Sagi tell us that Geumgwan Kara requested a Silla princess
around this time, an event that is also recorded in the Nihon
Shoki, and would suggest that they were looking for a marriage
alliance to cement their position with their powerful Silla
neighbor. What began as a marriage alliance, however, quickly
turned into outright subjugation by 532. Ara, likewise, seems
to have been in Silla’s sphere of influence, if not outright
subjugated, by that point, at least if the Nihon Shoki is to be
believed. Many considered this the point at which the Kara
confederacy had been dissolved, though some histories consider that
the individual polities retained some level of independence,
resisting complete absorption for another generation or two, until
about the early 560s.
In the current reign, things start out in 540, one year into Ame
Kunioshi’s rule. King Seong of Baekje brought together a
bunch of representatives of the smaller polities, ostensibly to
talk about re-establishing Nimna. This is sometimes known as
the Sabi conferences, named for the Baekje capital where they
likely occurred. Against the backdrop of Silla expansion,
Baekje wanted to prop up some of the buffer states in between the
two kingdoms. They urged on Nimna at multiple times to
re-establish themselves, promising aid, but Ara seems to have
balked and suggested a more diplomatic route. This may have
been because they were already on the side of Silla—Baekje
certainly makes that accusation of Kawachi no Atahe, who held some
influence in Ara.
The Chronicles claim Baekje did this to carry out the whim of the
Yamato court. In fact, however, it is much more likely that
they were playing their own chess game with Silla. The extent
to which their ally, Yamato, was actually involved is hard to say.
Certainly we have examples of Baekje and Silla making their
own alliances. For example, in 525, Baekje records that they
exchanged gifts of friendship with Silla, though Best, who
translated the records, suggests that this may be misplaced,
chronologically, as there is no corresponding record in the Silla
annals of the Samguk Sagi. Then of course in 530, the Nihon
Shoki notes that Silla and Baekje teamed up against a rogue Wa
commander, Kena no Omi, but then in 537, we have Yamato supporting
Baekje against a supposed Silla-Goguryeo alliance.
All of these shifting alliances make the accounts read like two
very different stories that have been intertwined. On the one
hand is the story of Baekje, trying to help the mighty Yamato
restore the innocent country of Nimna, despite the pernicious
interference of the irreverent Silla. On the other hand we
see friendly—or at least tolerable—relations between Silla, Baekje,
and Yamato, each agreeing to meet with each other and even ally
with the other as the need arose. Unfortunately, we aren’t
given many of the deeper thoughts or reasonings, but I lean towards
discounting many of the stories that make Silla out to be the bad
guy for everything. In fact, it is much more believable that,
rather than overarching themes it was a much more complicated and
even local situation, where alliances were more matters of
convenience and where even during war the various states kept up
some kind of dialogue. In addition, we have to remember the
biases of Chroniclers who knew what was coming—in the 7th and 8th
century it was Silla who was Yamato’s rival, and so here we see
them, with the benefit of hindsight, building up to that conflict,
which may mean an overemphasis on the threat Silla posed at the
time.
As for ethnic Wa involvement in events on the peninsula, while they
were not all the responsibility of Yamato, there may be more than a
few that were. After all, there were those from Yamato who
had been sent on raiding parties and in warbands for one reason or
another over the past couple centuries. Then there were
various envoys, who could spend considerable amounts of time in a
foreign land and even settle down and have kids.
There was also likely another reason for people to move from the
archipelago, which was the expansion of Yamato’s own power.
As Yamato exerted greater and greater centralized control,
anyone on the outs with the ruling authorities may have wanted to
seek refuge elsewhere, and given the fluid nature of things at this
point in time, it doesn’t seem unreasonable that they may have
moved to Baekje, Silla, or even to some of these states in between.
Once there, if they had administrative experience, perhaps
they were able to find a place for themselves in their new home’s
own government structure. The Nihon Shoki records plenty of
examples of Baekje, Silla, and even Goguryeo people coming to live
in the island chain, so why wouldn’t some people go in the other
direction?
This could also explain Yamato’s own somewhat laissez-faire
attitude towards Baekje’s considerable entreaties to get a handle
on the various Wa people on the mainland, given that they probably
had no way to actually compel them to return, let alone listen to
what they said. This was likely a source of consternation for
the peninsula, much as various pirates and similar independent
adventurers would be in later centuries, when the central
government often could not, or simply would not, rein in the
excesses of those on the periphery.
The Yamato court may have also endorsed the behavior of these
various Wa folks to some extent. There are hints that they
were in close contact with Silla as well as Baekje, though the
relationship does feel more tense, in general. We have to remember
that our Chronicles are largely from either early Japanese sources
or from Baekje sources viewed through an early Japanese lens.
Meanwhile the Samguk Sagi tends to take a very pro-Silla
point of view, while the other entities involved don’t get much of
a voice at all.
Speaking of which, there are three other polities mentioned in the
attempt to reestablish Nimna and to allow the various members of
the Kara confederation to have their independence back. One
of these we know as “Teokkwithan”, which we are told lay between
Kara and Silla, and so without aid from a powerful neighbor, like
Nimna, it was constantly harassed. Then there is South Kara,
which was small and weak, and without any real allies that it could
call on. While we don’t know the exact situation, one assumes
it was probably on the coast, again near Kara and Silla. Then
there was the state of Chaksyun, which is frankly depicted as evil
and double dealing, and thus basically deserving of their eventual
fate.
I can’t help but wonder if, in a way, these aren’t just general
stand ins for the stories that happened again and again, both in
the peninsula but also in the archipelago. Smaller polities
ended up as pawns, and often became the ground on which the more
powerful states would fight. That meant that most of the
damages would accrue to the local lands, and whatever the motives
might have been of Silla, Yamato, or Baekje, that was likely
disastrous for the local population, and only further hindered
their own growth.
Now Baekje regularly tried to entreat Nimna to side with them and
to effectively break away from Silla control, but there is plenty
of evidence that at least some in Nimna were willing partners with
Silla. Baekje complains, for example, about one individual,
named Isumi, whom we are told is the Omi in Nimna—possibly
referring to his role as a minister, or else a mistranslation of
the name Isumi no Omi, I’m not quite sure. He is accused, by
Baekje, of conspiring with Silla to attack.
At the same time, recall that Baekje had annexed territory from
Nimna, and refused to give it back, claiming that it was necessary
as a buffer in case Silla decided to attack them. Really, I
don’t see any shining examples of virtue in any of this.
Baekje eventually decided to set up its own fortresses along the
river between Ara and Silla—presumably with Ara’s support.
Tensions were certainly ramping up, and Baekje’s own
reasoning for setting up the fortresses was to make it impossible
for the Silla farmers on the other side of the river—presumably the
Nakdong river at this point—to be able to tend to their fields.
The reasoning given is that if Silla found it too difficult
they would just give up the fortresses they themselves had erected
and the independent buffer state of Chaksyun, which Silla had also
swallowed up, could be restored.
Here I’d like to give a blow by blow of what happened, but we have
too much happening too quickly. Besides the confrontation
between Baekje and Silla over control of the various territories
between them, there was still a threat from Goguryeo at the head of
the peninsula. In about 546 a succession dispute in Goguryeo
led to fighting between some of the elite factions in the court
over their preferred candidates to the throne, leading to massive
conflict. Several years later, Goguryeo was again threatening
areas to the south, possibly with the support of some of the
smaller polities, such as Ara, who may have been looking to break
out from both Baekje and Silla control. In response, Baekje
appears to have requested assistance from Yamato, but the nature of
travel across the straits meant that any troops were slow in
coming. This may be why Korean sources like the Tongkam note
that Baekje allied with Silla to help stop the Goguryeo threat.
This appears to go back to a long standing agreement between Baekje
and Silla, to at least 493, where they mutually agreed to push back
against Goguryeo, even as they continued to bicker with each other
over the territories in their own regions.
During this latest Goguryeo incursion, Baekje even laid some blame
on the quote-unquote “Wa authorities” in Ara, whom they blamed for
calling Goguryeo to come in the first place. Yamato, for
their part had to deny any complicity—they certainly hadn’t egged
on Ara to call for Goguryeo to come help. In fact, Yamato was
intending to send their own people to Ara to help repopulate the
country.
If this all feels like a mess, that really is the sense I’m
getting. There was a lot happening, and things could change
at a moments notice. Through it all, though, Yamato and
Baekje maintained good relations, even if they didn’t always agree.
By 551, it appears as though Baekje and Silla had pushed back on
Goguryeo, forcing them to abandon Hansyeong, aka Seoul and later
the area known today as Pyongyang. In 552, Baekje abandoned
Hansyeong and Silla occupied it, and possibly the Pyongyang area as
well, setting up two towns known as Utopang and Nimipang.
In 553, Baekje was requesting more troops from Yamato, and five
months later an emissary was on his way back to Baekje with
equipment and promises of troops. In the meantime it seems
that Silla had been busy allying themselves with Goguryeo, and it
looked like they were planning to attack Baekje. And so
Prince Yeochyang, son of King Seong of Baekje led troops against
Goguryeo.
This is one of the first in depths accounts we actually get of the
fighting, although it still remains focused on the personal.
In this case the focus is on the prince, who led his troops
out to a large plain and set up entrenchments, presumably to await
the arrival of their Goguryeo opponents.
They were not disappointed. Local boys, possibly overseeing
their herds or tending the fields, had seen the arrival of the
Baekje troops and sent word, and overnight an army had appeared.
Prince Yeochyang had heard the sound of instruments in the
night, but could see nothing. He had his own men beat their
drums in response and they kept a strict watch.
The next morning they saw the Goguryeo troops arrayed around them,
with banners covering the fields as a hill is covered with green
foliage—or so the Chronicles tell us. A man approached on
horseback, and we are told that he wore a gorget, or neckguard, and
was accompanied by two others who carried instruments, like
cymbals, and two more that were adorned with leopards tails in some
fashion. This Goguryeo honor guard indicated someone of rank
and status who had come for initial parlay.
The Goguryeo prince asked whom they were fighting. Yeochyang
answered that he was of the “same name” as they were—that is, he
called on his claim to a common Buyeo ancestry with Goguryeo—and
mentioned that his rank was that of Hansol, and he was 29 years
old. Likewise the Goguryeo prince responded with his own
details, which are not recorded, and then they got things
started.
First, before the battle, they set up a marked area of the field.
Here the two princes would do single combat before the rest
of the battle would commence. And so the Baekje and Goguryeo
princes fought. Eventually, the Baekje prince knocked his
opponent from his horse with his spear, killed him, and cut off his
head, raising it on his spearpoint and showing it off to his
troops. This gruesome display was met with joy by his own
troops, but I daresay not so well on the other side. After
that, the rest of the forces engaged, and Baekje eventually pushed
back the Goguryeo forces.
So why tell you all of that? There isn’t a single mention of
Yamato, and this is all happening in the north. Okay, it is
in the Chronicles, but why does that matter to us? Heck, why
did it matter to the Chroniclers?
Well, we could point to how Yamato used the Baekje records as if
they were an extension of their own power and hegemony, and
therefore a Baekje victory was a Yamato victory in their eyes.
This may also be taken out of context as an effort to support the
view that Silla and Goguryeo were allying. In his translation
of the Baekje annals in the Samguk Sagi, Jonathan Best points out
that Silla had been attacking Goguryeo only a year or two
earlier—would they really be allying against Baekje at this point?
They don’t appear to have given up the territory they gained
from Goguryeo, and so I have to wonder if this doesn’t come from
earlier, when a Baekje-Silla alliance took Hansyeong and then the
area of modern Pyongyang from Goguryeo control.
Regardless, what interests me, besides the fact that it is one of
the few accounts of an actual battle, sparse and biased as it may
be, is that the form of battle shown here is remarkably similar to
something we see later, in the Heian and Kamakura periods, with the
rise of the samurai warriors. It is the concept of single
combat, and even the announcing of names. This was key,
particularly in times when you didn’t always know who was who on
the battlefield. First things first—is this an enemy in front
of you, or an ally? And where did they come from and what was
this all about? These are not questions easily answered by
the dead, and where is the prestige in defeating an unknown
enemy?
All that said, did it really happen like this? Did they
honestly have these kinds of norms around fighting, at least on the
peninsula? Quite possibly they did, at times, though it is
also just as possible that this was more of a literary device than
anything else—something to let the reader know what was going on
and who was involved.
This also seems to kick off the wars in earnest. Up to this
point, a lot of the fighting, assuming it happened, was largely
off-screen, so to speak, with a focus on more diplomatic efforts,
or simply the building of fortresses. It is not dissimilar to
the early setup in a game, though this was no laughing matter.
Outside of the glory or derision given to individuals in the
pages of these historical records, we can’t forget that there was a
very real and human cost in what was happening. Fighting
meant death and destruction, and displaced people across the
peninsula. We see them coming to the archipelago and being
settled in various areas, but we also see people enslaved and
offered as diplomatic gifts. These are people who were forced
from their homes and their lives all because of aspirations of the
powerful elites who directed soldiers to fight and die at their
behest. We may not always see it, but as we listen to what
was happening, let’s not forget the human toll around all of
this.
Coming back off of his victory in late 553, Prince Yeochyang
continued his offensive against the Silla, this time taking the
fight to them, directly. They sent for the Wa troops that had
been gathered in Tsukushi and Baekje sent a general with Mononobe
no O to ask for even more. In early winter, they were ready
to begin their assault. Baekje and Yamato troops assaulted
Silla, but it wasn’t enough. This may account for a record in
the Samguk Sagi which claims that Silla seized the northeastern
border region of Baekje in that year, incorporating it into its own
domain.
The records say Baekje sent 10,000 men in their fight to
quote-unquote “assist” Nimna, but they needed more, and Baekje sent
a request along with gifts to Yamato to presumably help offset the
costs.
Yeochyang then headed back to the front with Silla and there he
built a fortification at a place the records called Kutamura.
King Seong, worried for his eldest son, decided to go to the
front to see him there. The Samguk Sagi says that he assumed
personal command of a force of about fifty thousand foot and
mounted soldiers, and attacked the fortress of Mt. Kwanson along
with “Karyang”, which some have identified as Kara troops, though
it could be a reference to any number of troops from the areas in
between Bakeje and Silla, I would think. The Silla military
governor of the recently annexed Baekje territories came down to
assist. During the combat, which seemed to be leaning in
Baekje’s favor, a Silla leader named Todo made a sudden attack
which ended up killing King Seong. This caused the army to
break and the Silla troops pursued them. The records say they
beheaded around 30,000 Baekje soldiers and four of the highest
ranking nobles.
In the Nihon Shoki, they note this battle as well, though not quite
in the same detail, simply stating that Silla brought all of their
forces to bear on the king. They also mention that he was
captured and beheaded, with Silla keeping his head, but eventually
sending his bones back to be buried.
Prince Yeochyang, meanwhile, found himself surrounded, and
according to the Nihon Shoki it was a man—or perhaps several
men—from Tsukushi, aka Kyuushuu, who began to fire arrows so fast
that they were able to open a hole in the opposing lines, allowing
Yeochyang to escape. Here, instead of pursuing the fleeing
troops, the Nihon Shoki claims they held off because of fear of
Yamato, which sounds more like embellishment by the
Chroniclers.
Following that defeat, Prince Yeochyang sent his younger brother,
Prince Kye, to the Yamato court to inform them that their father
had been killed and request more troops to avenge him. Soga
no Iname, the Ohomi, consoled Prince Kye. He then hearkened
back to the time of Wakatakeru no Ohokimi, aka Yuuryaku Tennou, and
suggested that they should build a shrine to Ohonamuchi no Kami and
worship him once more.
This last part probably seems a bit odd. As we’ll discuss
later, Soga no Iname by this point had been selected to help
experiment with Buddhism and Buddhist practices, but a lot of
Yamato decisions still balanced elements of practical and strategic
thinking with elements of kami worship. Without the kami on
your side, there was very little that you could accomplish.
This also would seem to be further evidence of links between the
kami worshipped in Japan and peninsular practices. Aston
suggests there is a link here with the peninsular worship of
Tankun, the legendary heavenly progenitor of Gojoseon.
Ohonamuchi, as you may recall, had ties with Izumo, but
worship of Ohonamuchi may have either come from or spread to the
peninsula as well. The idea of a “Great Land Holder” seems to
be a fairly nebulous and not particularly location-specific
concept. Whether or not there is a link with Tankun is,
perhaps though, a tenuous assumption to make.
It seems that there was some urging by Soga no Iname to join common
worship to help bring about victory, though it is unclear if Prince
Kye actually took him up on this suggestion. By this point,
Baekje was fairly well immersed in Buddhism and the ruling elite
were practicing Buddhists, though as we will talk about in later
episodes, Buddhism doesn’t necessarily require that people abandon
the worship of local gods, though there often is some amount of
conflict between the two.
Later that year, back in Baekje, with the mourning ceremonies for
the late King Seong concluded, Prince Yeochyang announced a desire
to retire from the world and practice religion for the sake of his
father. This practice of taking the robes of a monk and
making merit for one’s father is not uncommon in some Buddhist
traditions. Certainly in Japan it became the norm for
sovereigns to retire and to take Buddhist vows, but that was
typically after they had reigned for some period of time—and it was
rarely a full withdrawal from the world. As it was,
Yeochyang’s own court protested that while it might be the filial
and Buddhist thing to do, he had to also think about the state of
the nation as a whole. Instead, they suggested that he have
100 people quote unquote “enter religion”—which would seem to mean
that they were forcibly tonsured—on his behalf, presumably to make
merit for him and his father while he ran the country.
Both the Nihon Shoki and the Samguk Sagi have something of a pause
here, at least for a few years. Baekje had received a pretty
terrible defeat at the hands of Silla, and along with internal
issues of getting everything back under control, it may have been a
period of rebuilding. In Yamato, they note the arrival of
several succeeding envoys from Silla who were basically given the
cold shoulder. Silla seems to have then given up diplomatic
relations for a while and worked, itself, to fortify its borders.
The Chroniclers of course note that this was because they
feared a Yamato invasion, and there may be something to that—not so
much that they feared being overrun, but historically raids by Wa
sailors against the Silla coast were not uncommon occurrences.
In 561 the Samguk Sagi once again notes Baekje dispatching troops
to raid and plunder Silla’s territory. The Silla annals note
this in 562, which may simply be the difference between when Baekje
began to gather troops and when they actually attacked.
Baekje lost 1,000 soldiers in that debacle.
That same year, the Samguk Sagi notes that Kara rebelled and that a
Silla force was sent to put down the rebellion. In the Nihon
Shoki, it is said that Nimna was destroyed by Silla this year, and
a comment included in the Nihon Shoki states that this included
Kara, Ara, Saiki, Tara, Cholma, Kocchi, Chatha, Sanpanha, Kwison,
and Imnye—10 states, in total. Quoting the Tongkam, Aston
says that the sources only mention Great Kara, or Daegaya.
Here, again, we see confusion in the sources, but it does seem that
there was some rebellion, perhaps, in the area that Silla had
conquered. According to the Nihon Shoki, Yamato sent troops
to the front lines to help support Nimna against Silla, working
with their ally, Baekje, who was just off their own defeat.
To compound matters, an envoy from Yamato to Baekje ended up
losing a letter as well as some of the bows and arrows he was
transporting along the way, and these fell into the hands of Silla,
which gave them crucial intelligence on what was being planned.
The Yamato generals for this endeavor were Ki no Womaro no Sukune
and Kawabe no Omi no Nihe. Ki no Womaro appears to have had
some early successes, and he encouraged the troops. Kawabe no
Nihe, however, was inexperienced—apparently he was appointed
because of his position in the court, rather than his military
expertise.
During one of the encounters with the Silla troops, he had them
pinned down, and they raised a white flag, a symbol—even back
then—of a desire for a ceasefire to talk terms and possibly
surrender. Nihe, however, was unaccustomed to warfare, and
when he saw them wave the white flag he raised his own white flag
in response, apparently thinking that it would stop the fighting.
To the Silla troops, however, it looked like he was giving up
as well, and so they lowered their flag and redoubled their
efforts. Silla eventually routed the Yamato vanguard and many
were injured. Some commanders even abandoned their troops,
rushing back to the safety of their own fortifications.
Nihe survived, withdrawing to a nearby plain, but his troops’
confidence in him as a leader was shot, and they stopped listening
to him. With little to no unit cohesion, they became easy
prey for Silla forces, who rounded them all up, including the camp
followers and Nihe’s own wife, who was there with him. Her
name was Mumashi Hime, daughter of Sakamoto no Omi.
Here I’m going to take a pause on what happened next. Let’s
just say that Nihe continued his less than heroic streak and that
his wife paid the price. I’ll have more in the show notes at
SengokuDaimyo.com/podcast, but we really don’t need to go into the
gory details of it all here to get the bigger picture, as I really
just want to set up what comes next.
You see, in contrast to Nihe’s behavior is the story of another man
named Mitsugi no Kishi no Ikina. Ikina refused to submit to
Silla. Threatening him with death the Silla commander made
him remove his trousers. He then tried to force him to
humiliate himself by pointing his posterior towards Yamato and
crying out, and I quote: “Yamato Generals, Bite my A**!”. And
yes, that is what the Chronicles say happened. Apparently
that phrase is more universal than one might have suspected.
Aston even makes the comment that there wasn’t really a good
word for “Kiss” in Old Japanese and that “Bite” was probably the
equivalent for the times. Either way, I think you get the
meaning. Anyway, even threatened with death Ikina refused to
submit, and instead he cried out “Let the King of Silla Bite my
A**!”
Well things went downhill from there, and the Silla forces put him
to death, along with his son, who had run out to comfort him.
There is a song given for his wife, Ohobako, who had also
been captured with him, which comes down to us as:
“Karakuni no / Kinoe ni tatashi / Ohobako wa / Hire Furasu miyu /
Naniwa ni mukite”
“Standing on the walls of the country of Kara, Ohobako is seen to
wave her scarf, turning towards Naniwa”
In the end, the sources agree that Silla was victorious. The
rebellious regions submitted and Yamato troops withdrew.
There were no more major conflicts noted with Silla after that, at
least not during Ame Kunioshi’s reign.
There is one more martial account, however, and it immediately
follows on the footsteps of the disastrous raid of 562.
Thousands of Yamato troops, working with help from Baekje and
under the command of Ohotomo no Sadehiko, son of Ohotomo no
Kanamura, attacked a city in Goguryeo territory where the King
himself was staying. The king fled, and Sadehiko returned
with numerous items of loot. These included a rich brocaded
curtain that had been found in the king’s chambers, which was
gifted to the sovereign. In addition, he gifted to Soga no
Iname, the Oho-omi, and apparently the most powerful person at
court at this point, two suits of armor, two swords mounted in
gold, three copper bells with chasings, two flags of various
colors, and a beautiful woman and her attendant, who had been
captured and enslaved in the fighting. There was also an iron
building—possibly like a shrine—that had been taken from a tower in
the city and which was for a while kept in Chouanji temple, but by
the time that the Chroniclers were recording the Nihon Shoki nobody
was quite sure where that was or what had happened to it.
This seems odd to follow on to the disaster of the raid on Silla
and the utter subjugation of the various states between Silla and
Baekje, and it isn’t referenced in the Samguk Sagi at all.
Then again, there is a general lack of any references at this
point, so that may not mean as much as it seems. It could be
that this was placed here just to provide some kind of victory in
the face of such a crushing defeat by Silla. Then again, it
is quite possible that Yamato and Baekje troops did use the
opportunity to attack a Goguryeo that was still weakened and
reeling from its losses to the Baekje Silla alliance years
earlier.
Speaking of which, whatever alliance Baekje and Silla may have had,
the annexation of all of the Kara states by Silla had put an end to
it. Now Baekje and Silla shared a common border, with no
buffer states between them. It was clear that Silla was now
Baekje’s number one rival, as opposed to the weakened Goguryeo.
From the beginning of Ame Kunioshi’s reign to now, whether or
not Yamato had actually played a significant part in it, it was
clear that the balance of power had shifted, and Silla was a rising
threat.
Still, Yamato had big dreams—perhaps bigger than they could
accomplish on their own. In 571, Ame Kunioshi passed away.
As he lay dying, he urged his successor, Crown Prince
Nunakura Futotamashiki, aka Bidatsu Tennou, to continue to fight to
re-establish Nimna, which would become something of a causus belli
through at least the reign of Toyomike Kashikiyahime, aka Suiko
Tennou, with the last reference being made in the second year of
Taika, or about 646, a good 75 years later. Notably, this
deathbed request is the only real mention of Nimna in the Sendai
Kuji Hongi, and some of have suggested that many of the more florid
embellishments may have come from about the time of Kashikiyahime,
to help justify her court’s own military campaigns.
Based purely on the conflict over Nimna and the other states
collectively known as the Kara or Gaya Confederation, it would seem
like this period was a huge loss for Yamato. And yet the
close cooperation and dialogue with Baekje brought numerous gifts
to the islands. This included further teachings from the
continent that would help continue to shape the Yamato court with
greater and more effective technologies that would strengthen the
central government. And then there was the introduction of
Buddhism, which also had come around this time, and which will be
the subject of our next episode.
Until then, thank you for listening and for all of your support.
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