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International Journal of Korean History (Vol.16 No.1, Feb. 2011) 25 A Criticism of Edwin O. Reischauer’s Pronouncements on Ancient Korea-Japan Relations Choi, Jae-seok (Ch’oe Chaesŏk)* Foreword As is well-known, Edwin O. Reischauer was University Professor at Harvard and was United States Ambassador to Japan from 1961 to 1966. This paper aims to examine the ancient Korea-Japan relations as mentioned in his book entitled The Japanese (Charkes E., 1977, Tokyo: Tuttle), which is said to have been a best seller in the United States. Being an American best seller, the book is supposed to have been read widely all over the world as well as in Europe. Now, if that history book has distorted parts in it, chances are that most readers must have accepted that distortions as true without questioning. As a matter of fact, this book by Reischauer is no exception to the general rule among Japanese ancient historians' practices of historical distortions,1 at times even overshadowing them. Although it is more than thirty years since the book was first published, I couldn't sit idle by and just watch. That is why I have taken up my pen to write my paper. Including this paper, I have written four critical articles on Western scholarship on ancient Korean-Japanese relations.2 * Professor emeritus, Department of Sociology, Korea University 26 A Criticism of Edwin O. Reischauer’s Pronouncements on Ancient Korea-Japan Relations On Ancient Burial Mounds On ancient Japanese burial mounds, Prof. Reischauer has this to say. A 1 During the next three centuries (3rd, 4th, and 5th) many large burial mounds were built throughout the western two-thirds of the islands, suggesting considerable concentrations of wealth and power in the hands of a military aristocracy. (p. 42) As seen in the above quotation from Reischauer's aforementioned book, it seems he takes for granted that those ancient tombs belonged to privileged Japanese aristocracy, but I regret to say that nothing could be farther from the truth. If the cases of hitherto excavated burial chambers with a laterally attached entrance corridor with relics such as ceramic earthenware, U-lettered plow tops, harness, etc. were to be marked on a map of Japan, the whole Japanese islands would be covered with alien tombs. All relics excavated from so-called Japanese emperors' mausoleums were very similar to those unearthed from ancient tombs in the Korean Peninsula. 3 It follows, therefore, that the ancient burial mounds were not of the privileged Japanese aristocracy but of the influential and powerful immigrants from the Korean Peninsula. In this connection, it is natural that we should be reminded of the fact that many place-names of ancient Japan were named after the ancient kingdoms of the Korean Peninsula - Silla, Baekje (Kudara), Kogurŏ, and Kaya.4 Those immigrants used to call various places by the names of their homelands - the village they lived in, the mountains they looked up at, bridges, Buddhist temples, posts, pastures, ferry stations, harbors, and what not. Examples include such place names as Shiragimura (Silla chon) or, Kudaramura (Paekche chon). Choi, Jae-seok 27 Japan’s Political Milieu Up Till the Sixth Century In the first place, let's hear what Reischauer has to say about Japan's political background until the sixth century. His avowals are the following B1, B2, and B3. B 1 By the sixth century a group centered in the small Yamato or Nara Plain, which lies across a range of hills a little to the east of Osaka, had established clear leadership over most if not all of western Japan. B 2 Most of the land remained under the control of semi- autonomous tribal units called uji, which were bound to the ruling family of the Yamato group by mythological ties and real or fictitious bonds of kinship. (p. 42) B 3 Our first clear view of the Japanese is offered by Chinese records of the third century A.D. They are described as having sharp class divisions and living by agriculture and fishing. They were divided into a hundred or more tribal units under female or male chieftains of semi-religious status. What the records call the “queen's country” had a certain hegemony over the others. The presence of women rulers suggest an originally matriarchal system, which fits well with the mythological tradition of the descent of the historical imperial line from the sun goddess. (p. 42) Reischauer's pronouncements above may be summed up as follows: (1) Before the sixth century (until the end of the fifth century) a powerful family existed in the Nara Plain to govern the whole western Japan. (2) Uji, semi-autonomous tribal units inhabiting certain districts and sharing a common language and religion, administered most of the Japanese islands. 28 A Criticism of Edwin O. Reischauer’s Pronouncements on Ancient Korea-Japan Relations (3) Uji ostensibly had a strong tie with the ruling family of the Yamato group by bonds of kinship, real or imaginary. (4) Uji was practically in charge of most of Japan. (5) According to the Chinese records, around the third century there existed a hundred or more tribal units in the Japanese islands, and among the chieftains there were women rulers, which coincided with the myth that the Japanese imperial lineage began with the sun goddess Amaterasu Ohmikami. As is indicated above, Reischauer is describing the history of Japan as if writing a novel instead of a history. I have yet to find a historian describing Japan's history with such a fictional pen even among the Japanese historians. Clearly unfounded is his statement that in pre-sixth- century Japan’s semi-autonomous community of uji practically ruled Japan. According to a Japanese dictionary, uji was a unit of ancient Japanese ruling class5 inhabiting a certain districts and having a common language and religion.6 Furthermore, there is some evidence to suggest that an early form of the Korean language was spoken in ancient Japan.7 The third-century Wa (Japan) were divided into a hundred-odd small states. Males had tattooed faces and arms wearing a loin cloth consisting of cloths bound together with a string, as they didn't know how to sew, while women had a hole made in the middle of a square cloth for the head and put it on like a poncho, with disheveled hair, always walking barefoot, according to a Chinese record.8 Insisting obstinately, however, that the Chinese records do say that there were a “queen's kingdom” and “female rulers”, Reischauer tries to justify as a historical person Amaterasu Ohmikami that figures in the made-up Japanese mythology. He adds that the Japanese the Chinese records mention must have been the natives of the Japanese islands because they had various traits distinct from Korean immigrants. The Chinese record in question, however, only mentions there being a hundred or more small states, not even hinting at a “queen's kingdom” or “female rulers”. As I mentioned earlier, since ancient Japan abounded with places Choi, Jae-seok 29 named after Baekje (Kudara), Silla, Koguryŏ, and Kaya, it would be reasonable for a man of sense to regard those small states as so many settlements set up by the collective immigrants from the four kingdoms in the Korean Peninsula. Ancient Korean had good reason to emigrate from their war-torn countries to the islands of peace and no war just beyond the sea. The middle of the fourth century which marked the beginning of the Kofun (ancient burial mounds) period saw mass immigration of Gaya people, and from the fifth century on a mass exodus of Baekje refugees immigrated to Japan in a series of waves.9 Although there is no record whatever of Gaya people administering Japan, the Nihonshoki abounds with records suggesting that Baekje administered Yamato-Wa (Japan) throughout the sixth century. 10 I regret to say, therefore, that the foregoing pronouncements of Reischauer's are so many fictions. Regarding Japan's political milieu preceding the sixth century I will deal with it in Korea-Japan Relations. On So-Called Prince Shotoku On Prince Shotoku Prof. Reischauer maintains as follows: C 1 From 593 to 622 the regent for his reigning aunt, he proved a great champion of the new religion and the continental civilization that accompanied it. (p. 43) C 2 Shotoku himself wrote commentaries on Buddhist scriptures and erected Buddhist monasteries. One of them, the serenely beautiful Horyuji near Nara, is noted for having the oldest wooden buildings in the world and a wealth of beautiful Buddhist images dating from this period. (pp. 43-44) C 3 Shotoku also dispatched embassies to the Chines capital to learn directly from this source of high culture, and he 30 A Criticism of Edwin O. Reischauer’s Pronouncements on Ancient Korea-Japan Relations began to copy Chinese political institutions and drafted a so-called “constitution,” embodying Buddhist and Chinese precepts. (p. 44) Reischauer's avowals may be summed up as follows: (1) From 593 to 622 Prince Shotoku became regent to the reigning Empress Suiko. (2) Prince Shotoku authored Buddhist books and founded the Horyuji Temple. (3) Prince Shotoku sent embassies to Tang China to directly import advanced Chinese political institutions, drafting the “Seventeen-Article Constitution.” Now let's examine whether or not Reischauer's pronouncements are valid. In the first place, the Horyuji Temple is known to have been constructed by Baekje people,11 so Prince Shotoku can never take the credit for erecting the celebrated monastery. According to the Nihonshoki, The Seventeen-Article Constitution was promulgated in April 604 (Suiko 12th year).

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