Baekje: Map & History
Paekche or Baekje was a Korean kingdom located in southwestern Korea from 18 BCE to 660 CE.
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Paekche or Baekje was a Korean kingdom located in southwestern Korea from 18 BCE to 660 CE. It was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, together with Goguryeo and Silla. While the three kingdoms existed separately, Paekche had the largest population, at approximately 3,800,000, which was much larger than that of Silla and comparable to that of Goguryeo.
Modern Countries Once Part of Baekje
At its mapped extent, Baekje covered territory in 1 present-day country. The period shown is when the mapped borders include that country, and the note says how much of it.
States and Provinces
Largest Present-Day Cities in Its Territory
Each opens on the live map inside Baekje's borders of that time.
Derived by testing mapped cities against this polity's dated territorial polygons, so the list is indicative and follows the borders in the source dataset.
Baekje in Depth
History
Paekche was mainly composed of the indigenous populations of the previous Mahan confederacy and the Koreanic Yemaek people from Goguryeo and Buyeo. In addition, smaller migrations happened via the inhabitants of the Jin state and the Lelang Commandery through trade and conquest, who were also admitted into the polities of Paekche.
According to the Samguk sagi, Paekche was founded in 18 BCE by King Onjo, who led a group of people from Goguryeo south to the Han basin. Jumong had left his son Yuri in Buyeo when he left that kingdom to establish the new kingdom of Goguryeo. Jumong became King Dongmyeong, and had two more sons with Soseono, Onjo and Biryu. Upon Yuri's later arrival in Goguryeo, Jumong promptly appointed him crown prince.
Military
The town leaders and its subjects participated in the military of Paekche on a local level, and loot and captives were distributed among them. The subjects usually worked in the supply division. The position of Jwajang led the military. Geunchogo established the division of central military and local militaries. The people of Paekche usually served in the military for three years. As Paekche entered the Sabi period, the military was divided into the royal private guard, the capital central military and the local military. The royal private guard handled matters such as protecting the palace. The weapons available to the soldiers were diverse.
Language and culture
Paekche was established by immigrants from Goguryeo who spoke what could be a Buyeo language, a hypothetical group linking the languages of Old Chosŏn, Buyeo, Goguryeo, and Paekche. In a case of diglossia, the indigenous Samhan people, having migrated in an earlier wave from the same region, probably spoke a variety of the same language. Kōno Rokurō has argued that the kingdom of Paekche was bilingual, with the gentry speaking a Buyeo language and the common people a Han language. A view was proposed by Alexander Vovin, who noted that Japonic languages were spoken in the Tamna Kingdom on modern-day Jeju before the arrival of Koreanic, noting the presence of a Japonic substratum in the Jeju language.
Legacy
Paekche was briefly revived in the Later Three Kingdoms of Korea period, as Unified Silla collapsed. In 892, General Kyŏn Hwŏn established Later Paekche, based in Wansan (present-day Jeonju). According to the Samguk Sagi, Kyŏn Hwŏn vowed to avenge King Uija and Paekche's defeat when he established his state and capital's location. Although Kyŏn Hwŏn rallied the Paekche people and won numerous victories against Silla and Goryeo, Later Paekche later fell in 936 to King Taejo of Goryeo.
In contemporary South Korea, Paekche relics are often symbolic of the local cultures of the southwest, especially in Chungnam and Jeolla.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Paekche (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Baekje: Key Facts
| Capital | Wiryeseong |
|---|---|
| Founded | 18 BCE |
| Dissolved | 660 CE |
Preceded by
- Mahan confederacy
Succeeded by
Facts from Wikidata Q28428 (CC0).
Baekje Map Over Time
Dated world maps on which Baekje appears, with the other states of the time.
Baekje Timeline
Key historical inflections from foundation to peak territorial expansion
Expansion to peak recorded area of 49,731 km² in 369 CE.
Baekje: Frequently Asked Questions
When did Baekje exist?
Baekje is dated to 347 CE – 660 CE, in the Classical Antiquity era.
What was the capital of Baekje?
The capital of Baekje was Wirye, (18 BCE – 475 CE), Gomnaru/Ungjin, (476–538), Sabi/Soburi, (538–660).
How large was Baekje at its peak?
At its peak in 369 AD Baekje covered about 49,731 km².
How did the map of Baekje change over time?
Baekje appears on 3 dated world maps in the atlas, from 400 CE to 600 CE. Each shows its borders in that year next to the other states of the time.