Yamatonoaya clan

Yamatonoaya
東漢
Omiashi-jinja of the Yamatonoaya clan.
Home province
TitlesVarious
FounderAchi no Omi (disputed)
Cadet branches
  • Sakanoue clan
  • Aratai clan
  • Fumi clan
  • Ikebe clan
  • Min clan

Yamatonoaya clan (東漢氏, Yamatonoaya-shi) was an immigrant clan from Korea that was active in Japan since the Kofun period according to the Kojiki (712), Nihon Shoki (720), and Shoku Nihongi (797).

Origins

According to ancient Japanese records, Nihon Shoki and Kojiki, Yamatonoaya clan was one of the many clans that arrived from the Korean kingdoms during the reign of Emperor Ōjin.[1][2] It is said that the clan came from Baekje alongside their ancestor, Achi no Omi and his son, Tsuga no Omi.

20th year, Autumn, 9 month. Achi no Omi, ancestor of the Atahe of the Aya of Yamato (Yamatonoaya), and his son Tsuga no Omi immigrated to Japan, bringing with them a company of their people of seventeen districts.[3]

— Nihon Shoki

It is said that the clan started off small but gradually grew as other clans integrated themselves to the clan, later becoming one of the most influential clans in Japan.[1]

It is also said that "Hinokuma no Sato (檜前郡鄕)", present day "Hinokuma [ja] (檜前)" of Nara prefecture was a place Yamatonoaya clan had jurisdiction over as well as being a well-known "Baekje town" also known as "Kudara no Sato (百済の里)" in Japanese.[4]

Main article: Shinsen Shōjiroku

Although oldest sources such as the Kojiki (712) and Nihon Shoki (720) state that the clan and its founder, Achi no Omi, originate from the kingdom of Baekje, the Shoku Nihongi (797) claims that Achi no Omi was a descendant of Emperor Ling of Han. Later, according to the Shinsen Shōjiroku (815), it states that he was rather a descendant of Emperor Xian of Han.[Notes 1] However, it is believed that the claims of his supposed royal heritage is an embellishment to make him seem more important and influential as his name is recorded under "King Achi (阿智王)" (instead of his given name) likely to emphasize on the idea that he was of nobility.[Notes 2] In actuality, the general consensus by modern historians is that Achi no Omi was likely a fictional individual.

According to Teiji Kadowaki [ja] (門脇禎二) at Kyoto University, the name "Yamatonoaya" was widely used by Korean immigrants to apply dominance in their newly found home.[1] Similarly with the Hata clan from Silla being wrongfully credited as a kingdom from the Qin dynasty, Yamatonoaya clan is thought to have been misinterpreted as a clan from the Han dynasty and was wrongfully credited as such when in fact, they were originally from Baekje[5] or more recently, Gaya based on historical and archaeological evidence.[6]

Etymology

Main articles: Ara Gaya, Mimana, and Peninsular Japonic

Modern Japanese historians theorized that Yamatonoaya clan and its founder Achi no Omi, originated from the Gaya confederacy, specifically from the kingdom of "Aya (安邪)" or "Anra (安羅)" (old name for Ara Gaya) where the placename became the etymology of the Aya clans.[6][7][8][9] According to the theory, the immigrants brought many Baekje technologies from Ara Gaya[Quotes 1][9] and were considered as close kin to the people of Baekje.[Quotes 2][6] Some nationalist historians used this to support the claims over the Mimana controversy stating that Mimana (Gaya) was in fact Japanese due to the relations between the kingdom of Aya and the Aya clans of Japan.[Quotes 3][8] Despite the lukewarm reception in Korea, evidence alludes to the possibilities of Japanese speakers in the region.[10][11]

In recent times, the character for "Aya (漢)" is analogous with the ancient Han dynasty, hence why the character is heavily associated with China today. However, looking at the character's etymology, it is believed to have been used more leniently than its modern equivalent. The pronunciation of "Aya (あや)", as mentioned above, is believed to have derived from the "kingdom of Aya (安邪国)" and was only given the character of Han (漢) later on. Similar to "Hata (はた)" being written as "Qin (秦)" but having roots in the Koreanic word "Pada/Hada (波多)",[12] and "Kara (から)" being written as "Tang (唐)" but having roots in the "kingdom of Kara (加羅国)",[13] it is believed to have been directly associated with Korean kingdoms at first, then later expanded to China over several millennia, adopting different characters and interchanging when necessary.[Notes 3]

Similar usage of Chinese characters has been observed in Korean as well, with Koreans using "Han (韓/漢/幹/刊)" to represent the native word "Han (한)" meaning "big" or "grand" using the Idu system.[14] Interestingly, the native Korean word "Han" which is directly associated with the Samhan or "three Hans" of Korea, is believed to be the root of the word "Kara" in Japanese as the word "Han" would have been pronounced as "Kar" in Old Korean. Therefore, pronunciations such as "Aya/Hata/Kara" (despite stemming from different roots) were likely brought over by Korean immigrants, whose descendants later incorporated more influential characters to better represent themselves.

Relations with the Aya clan and other immigrant clans

Japanese scholars have indicated that Yamatonoaya clan and other "Aya (漢)" clans were all related and that they were generally classified under the same ethnic group.[5] These mainly included: the Aya clan (漢氏), the Yamatonoaya clan (東漢氏/倭漢氏) and the Kawachinoaya clan (西漢氏/河内漢氏). It is said that Yamatonoaya clan, Aya and Kawachinoaya, though not from the same founder, were ethnically related,[5] most likely all immigrating from Baekje. This is due to clans with similar names, such as the Ayahito clan (漢人氏) coming from Baekje.[Notes 4]

Kawachinoaya clan in particular, is thought to be related with the Yamatonoaya clan. The clan was one of the clans first founded by the scholar Wani (alongside clans such as the Kawachinofumi clan (西文氏)) who arrived in Japan from the kingdom of Baekje who helped spread the use of the Chinese Writing system in Japan. According to Japanese scholars, Wani and Achi no Omi founded Kawachinoaya and Yamatonoaya clan respectively, both being of Baekje origin and influential ethnic Koreans in Japan at the time. They shared the same character "Aya" but separated one another with the use of cardinal directions ("Kawachi/西" meaning West and "Yamato/東" meaning East) as Wani's Kawachinoaya clan resided in "Furuichikoori (河内国古市郡)", (present day Furuichigun [ja] (古市郡) in Osaka) located in the west of Japan, while Achi no Omi and his Yamatonoaya clan resided in the Yamato Kingdom found in the east.

Yamatonoaya clan also had a related clan called the Sakanoue clan (the clan that Sakanoue no Karitamaro hails from) which was once part of the bigger and more influential Yamatonoaya clan, but later broke off to form a clan of their own.

After the formation of the clans, the next immigrants were mainly called "Imaki no Ayahito (今来漢人/新漢人)" lit. 'Korean people who have just arrived'.

Achievements

It is written both in Nihon Shoki and Kojiki that the clan specialized in architecture and carpentry.[15][16]

There were also heavily militarized, often guarding and protecting high-ranking members of the Soga clan[17] who also had deep connections with the Korean peninsula, specifically the kingdom of Baekje.[18]

Legacy

On top of being one of the most influential immigrant clans in Japan, clans related to Yamatonoaya became much more prominent after its fall.

The clan was divided into clans with distinct surnames, such as the aforementioned Sakanoue clan, the Fumi clan (書氏), the Min clan (民氏), the Ikebe clan (池辺氏), and the Aratai clan (荒田井氏).

Notable members

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c 森浩一, 門脇禎二 (1997). 渡来人 : 尾張・美濃と渡来文化. 春日井シンポジウム (in Japanese). 大巧社. ISBN 4924899232. JPNO 99011294.
  2. ^ 『古代国家と天皇』創元社、1957年
  3. ^ Nihon Shoki X:13; p.264
  4. ^ 高橋, 崇 (1986-07-01). 坂上田村麻呂 (新稿 ed.). 吉川弘文館. pp. 3–4. ISBN 978-4-642-05045-6.
  5. ^ a b c Takaoka, Nobuyuki; 片岡, 伸行 (2023-07-31). "神々のルーツ 明日香の地と「今木神」 – 全日本民医連". www.min-iren.gr.jp (in Japanese). Japan Federation of Democratic Medical Institutions (全日本民主医療機関連合会).
  6. ^ a b c Suzuki, Takeju (1975). 偽られた大王の系譜 [Falsehoods of the great ruler] (in Japanese). the University of Michigan. p. 94.
  7. ^ Ishiwatari, Shin'ichirō (1988). 日本古代王朝の成立と百済 [The formation of ancient Japanese clans and Kudara] (in Japanese). アジア史研究会. p. 162.
  8. ^ a b Suwa, Haruo (1993). 倭族と古代日本 [Yamato people and ancient Japan] (in Japanese). p. 144. ISBN 9784639011910.
  9. ^ a b Takemitsu, Makoto (2013). 真説日本古代史 [Truth behind ancient Japan] (in Japanese). PHP研究所. p. 123. ISBN 9784569810751.
  10. ^ Janhunen, Juha (2010). "RECONSTRUCTING THE LANGUAGE MAP OF PREHISTORICAL NORTHEAST ASIA". Studia Orientalia 108 (2010). ... there are strong indications that the neighbouring Baekje state (in the southwest) was predominantly Japonic-speaking until it was linguistically Koreanized.
  11. ^ Vovin, Alexander (2013). "From Koguryo to Tamna: Slowly riding to the South with speakers of Proto-Korean". Korean Linguistics. 15 (2): 222–240.
  12. ^ "弓月の君秦氏の謎 | 秦歴史文化遺産保存". www.kibinosato-hada.com (in Japanese).
  13. ^ 『デジタル大辞泉』 "Digital Daijisen" (by 小学館/SHOGAKUKAN) at Goo Dictionary
  14. ^ Hence, why "韓", a character heavily associated with modern Korea, was not always used in more ancient words such as "Han (漢) river", "Hallasan (漢拏山)" or "Hansho (漢쇼)", all meaning "grand" (grand river/grand mountain/grand cow) rather than the Han dynasty.
  15. ^ "Nihon Shoki", Encyclopedic Dictionary of Archaeology, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 935–936, 2021, doi:10.1007/978-3-030-58292-0_140217, ISBN 978-3-030-58291-3
  16. ^ Yasumaro Ō (2014). The Kojiki : an account of ancient matters. Translated by Gustav Heldt. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-53812-1. OCLC 899002167.
  17. ^ 上田, 正昭 (1965-06-01). 帰化人 : 古代国家の成立をめぐって (中公新書, 70 ed.). 中央公論社. pp. 76–77. ISBN 4121000706.
  18. ^ "History of Nara". Archived from the original on 2007-02-10. Retrieved 2023-09-15.
  1. ^ However, this is believed to be a parroting of the previous claim made in the Shoku Nihongi since Emperor Xian and Ling were blood relatives with Emperor Xian being Emperor Ling's son.
  2. ^ Similar embellishment happened with Yuzuki no Kimi as "King Yuzuki (弓月王)" of the Hata clan.
  3. ^ In fact, pronunciation like "Kara (から)" is shared among all three Chinese characters: 韓/漢/唐.
  4. ^ The Ayahito clan claimed descent from Tayaka (多夜加), an individual from Baekje. However, some speculate that his name was a translation of Daegaya, due to phonetic similarity and the very nature of Aya-related clans having roots in Gaya more than the self-proclaimed kingdom of Baekje.
  1. ^

    『安羅国から移住してきた東漢氏は百済の技術をもっていた。』

    "Yamatonoaya clan, being immigrants from the kingdom of Anra (Ara Gaya), brought with them the technologies of Baekje."

    — Makoto Takemitsu
  2. ^

    『東漢氏は百済=安羅系の、朝鮮半島からの来住者たちなのである。』

    "The Yamatonoaya clan was 'Baekje and/or Anra (Ara Gaya)' descent who had immigrated from the Korean Peninsula."

    — Takeju Suzuki
  3. ^

    『「安羅日本府」と改称し、さらに《書紀》が「任那日本府」と改めたのであります。』

    "The name "Mimana of Japan" was in fact "Anra (Ara Gaya) of Japan" before it was rewritten in the (Nihon) Shoki."

    — Haruo Suwa
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