Geumgwan Gaya (), also known as Bongaya () or Garakguk (), was the ruling city-state of the Gaya confederacy that existed from 43 to 532 CE, during the Three Kingdoms period, in Korea. It is believed to have been located around the modern-day city of Gimhae, Southern Gyeongsang province, near the mouth of the Nakdong River. Due to its geographic location, this kingdom played a dominant role in the regional affairs from the Byeonhan period onward to the end of the Gaya confederacy.

Creation myth

The creation myth of Geumgwan Gaya is a myth about King Gim Suro, the progenitor of Geumgwan Gaya and the progenitor of the Gimhae Kim clan. This story is written in The Garak Gukgi (가락국기) of the "Samguk Yusa" Volume 2. This story tells that the six eggs turned into boys, and they became founders of each country of the Gaya confederacy.

History

It is the same as the 'Dangun Myth', 'The Myth of King Dongmyeong', and 'The Myth of Bak Hyeokgeose' in that it is a founding myth. However, it is different from the others in terms of the sequential structure of the biography leading to birth and death. 'The Myth of King Dongmyeong' and 'The Myth of Seok Talhae' are structured in the ordeal of birth due to paternal infidelity and the ordeal and struggle to become the founder of a nation. On the other hand, 'Bak Hyeokgeose Myth' and 'The Myth of King Suro' deny both paternal and maternal lineage, but they have no struggle to rise to the throne as the founder of a nation without going through the ordeal of birth. The former can be defined as 'the myth of the illegitimate child type' and the latter as the 'myth of the foster child type'. From this point of view, 'The Myth of King Suro' can be said to be a founding myth and a progenitor myth, as well as a myth that reflects the collective unconsciousness of the foster child. According to the Samguk Yusa, Geumgwan Kaya was made of 9 villages united by King Suro of Gaya. His wife and queen Heo Hwang-ok, whom he married in 48 AD, is believed to be from an Ayuta kingdom. As a confederacy of city states, Gaya rose to prosperity due to sea port trade with Japan and other states as well with land trade with China in the north.

According to the Records of the Three Kingdoms, It is presumed the four countries, Sinunsin (, Anra (安邪踧支濆), Sinbunhwal (臣離兒不例) and Geumgwan (拘邪秦支廉), had a superior position in the southern peninsula around the 3rd century.

Religion

Centuries after Buddhism originated in India, Mahayana Buddhism arrived in China through Silk Road transmission of Buddhism in 1st century CE via Tibet, then into the Korean peninsula in the 3rd century CE during the Three Kingdoms period from where Buddhism was transmitted to Japan. In Korea, Buddhism was adopted as the state religion by three constituent polities of the Three Kingdoms period: first by the Goguryeo ruling tribe of Geumgwan Gaya in 372 CE, then by Silla in 528 CE, and lastly by Baekje in 552 CE.

  • Geumgwan Gaya (lit. Gaya Confederacy) or Bon Gaya (lit. Original Gaya) era
  1. King Suro
  2. King Geodeung
  3. King Mapum
  4. King Geojilmi
  5. King Isipum
  6. King Jwaji
  7. King Chwihui
  8. King Jilji
  9. King Gyeomji
  10. King Guhyeoung

Decline

Geumgwan Gaya declined due to the wars with Japan and the tribes in north. Its various constituent city statelets fell one by one to Silla. (perhaps because by that time, a major house of Silla, of the Gyeongju Kim clan, was related to the Gaya royal house, which was the Gimhae Kim clan) and given the rank of "true bone," the second-highest level of the Silla bone rank system. General Kim Yu-sin of Silla (also of the Gimhae Kim clan) was a descendant of the last king of Gaya.

<gallery>

File:Gayahorsearmor.JPG|Gaya horse armour

File:GayaironarmorFINAL.JPG|Gaya armour

File:PressapochistaA.jpg|Gaya crown

File:Duck-shaped pottery 오리형 토기.jpg|Gaya pottery

</gallery>

See also

  • History of Korea
  • List of Korean monarchs
  • Daegaya
  • Suro of Geumgwan Gaya
  • Gimhae Kim clan

References