View source for Samhan

{{short description|Period of Korean history}}
{{for|the Gaelic festival|Samhain}}
{{Infobox Korean name/auto
|image=Samhan.PNG
|caption=Map of the approximate locations of the confederacies
|hangul=^삼한
|hanja=三韓
}}
'''Samhan''', or '''Three Han''' ({{Korean|hangul=삼한|hanja=三韓}}), is the collective name of the [[Byeonhan confederacy|Byeonhan]], [[Jinhan confederacy|Jinhan]], and [[Mahan confederacy|Mahan]] confederacies that emerged in the first century BC during the [[Proto–Three Kingdoms period|Proto–Three Kingdoms of Korea]], or Samhan, period. Located in the central and southern regions of the [[Korea|Korean Peninsula]], the Samhan confederacies eventually merged and developed into the Baekje, Gaya, and Silla kingdoms.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Injae |first1=Lee |last2=Miller |first2=Owen |last3=Jinhoon |first3=Park |last4=Hyun-Hae |first4=Yi |title=Korean History in Maps |date=2014 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9781107098466 |page=18 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=46OTBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA18 |access-date=16 April 2019 |language=en}}</ref> The name "Samhan" also refers to the [[Three Kingdoms of Korea]].<ref name="kyunghyang">{{cite news |author=이기환 |script-title=ko:[이기환의 흔적의 역사]국호논쟁의 전말…대한민국이냐 고려공화국이냐 |url=http://news.khan.co.kr/kh_news/khan_art_view.html?artid=201708300913001&code=960100&www |script-newspaper=ko:경향신문 |trans-newspaper=[[Kyunghyang Shinmun]] |access-date=2 July 2018 |language=ko |date=30 August 2017}}</ref>

''Sam'' ({{lang|ko|三}}) is a [[Sino-Korean vocabulary|Sino-Korean word]] meaning "three" and ''Han'' is a Korean word meaning "great (one), grand, large, much, many".<ref>{{Citation | url = https://ko.dict.naver.com/detail.nhn?docid=41454800 | title = Naver Korean dictionary}}</ref> ''Han'' was transliterated into Chinese characters {{lang|ko|韓}}, {{lang|ko|漢}}, {{lang|ko|幹}}, or {{lang|ko|刊}},{{Citation needed|date=April 2019}} but is believed by foreign linguists to be unrelated to the ''Han'' in [[Han Chinese]] and the Chinese kingdoms and dynasties also called ''Han'' (漢) and ''Han'' (韓). The word ''Han'' is still found in many Korean words such as ''Hangawi (한가위)'' — archaic native Korean for [[Chuseok]] (秋夕, 추석), ''Hangaram (한가람)'' — archaic native Korean for [[Han River (Korea)|Hangang]] (漢江, 한강), ''Hanbat (한밭)'' — the original place name in native Korean for [[Daejeon]] (大田, 대전), ''hanabi'' (하나비) — a [[Joseon]]-era (Late Middle Korean) word for "grandfather; elderly man" (most often 할아버지 ''harabeoji'' in present-day Korean, although speakers of some dialects, especially in North Korea, may still use the form ''hanabi''). ''Ma'' means south, ''Byeon'' means shining and ''Jin'' means east.<ref>{{cite thesis |url=http://www.mosan.or.kr/book/2/14.pdf |script-title=zh:在韓國使用的漢字語文化上的程 |trans-title=A Historical Study on the Culture in Chinese Characters in Korea  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722141342/http://www.mosan.or.kr/book/2/14.pdf |archive-date=2011-07-22 |url-status=dead |language=zh |author=Lu Guo-Ping }}</ref>

Many historians have suggested that the word ''Han'' might have been pronounced as ''Gan'' or ''Kan''. The [[Silla]] language had a usage of this word for king or ruler as found in the words 마립간 (麻立干; Maripgan) and 거서간 / 거슬한 (居西干 / 居瑟邯; [[Hyeokgeose of Silla|Geoseogan / Geoseulhan]]). Alexander Vovin suggests this word is related to the Mongolian ''[[Khan (title)|Khan]]'' and Manchurian ''Han'' meaning ruler, and the ultimate origin is [[Xiongnu]] and [[Yeniseian languages|Yeniseian]].<ref name=vov>{{cite journal |title=Once again on the etymology of the title ''qaγan'' |author-link=Alexander Vovin |last=Vovin |first=Alexander |journal=Studia Etymologica Cracoviensia |volume=12 |year=2007 |url=http://ejournals.eu/sj/index.php/SEC/article/viewFile/1100/1096 |pages=177–187}}</ref>

The Samhan are thought to have formed around the time of the fall of [[Gojoseon]] in northern Korea in 108 BC. [[Kim Bu-sik]]'s ''[[Samguk sagi]]'', one of the two representative history books of Korea, mentions that people of Jin Han are migrants from Gojoseon, which suggests that early Han tribes who came to Southern Korean peninsula are originally Gojoseon people; this coincides with the state of [[Jin (Korean state)|Jin]] in southern Korea also disappearing from written records. By the 4th century, Mahan was fully absorbed into the [[Baekje]] kingdom, Jinhan into the [[Silla]] kingdom, and Byeonhan into the [[Gaya confederacy]], which was later annexed by Silla.

Beginning in the 7th century, the name "Samhan" became synonymous with the Three Kingdoms of Korea. The "Han" in the names of the [[Korean Empire]], ''Daehan Jeguk'', and the [[South Korea|Republic of Korea]] (South Korea), ''Daehan Minguk'' or ''Hanguk'', are named in reference to the Three Kingdoms of Korea, not the ancient confederacies in the southern Korean Peninsula.<ref name="kyunghyang" /><ref name="chosun">{{cite news |author=이덕일 |script-title=ko:[이덕일 사랑] 대~한민국 |url=http://news.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2008/08/14/2008081401512.html |newspaper=[[The Chosun Ilbo]] |date=14 August 2008 |access-date=2 July 2018 |language=ko}}</ref>

== Etymology ==
"Samhan" became a name for the [[Three Kingdoms of Korea]] beginning in the 7th century.<ref name="kyunghyang" />

According to the ''[[Samguk sagi]]'' and ''[[Samguk yusa]]'', [[Silla]] implemented a national policy, "Samhan Unification" ({{Korean|삼한일통|三韓一統|labels=no}}), to integrate [[Baekje]] and [[Goguryeo]] refugees. In 1982, a memorial stone dating back to 686 was discovered in [[Cheongju]] with an inscription: "The Three Han were unified and the domain was expanded."<ref name="kyunghyang" /> During the [[Unified Silla|Later Silla]] period, the concepts of Samhan as the ancient confederacies and the Three Kingdoms of Korea were merged.<ref name="kyunghyang" /> In a letter to an imperial tutor of the Tang dynasty, [[Ch'oe Ch'i-wŏn]] equated Byeonhan to Baekje, Jinhan to Silla, and Mahan to Goguryeo.<ref name="chosun" /> By the [[Goryeo]] period, Samhan became a common name to refer to all of Korea.<ref name="kyunghyang" /> In his Ten Mandates to his descendants, [[Taejo of Goryeo|Wang Geon]] declared that he had unified the Three Han (Samhan), referring to the Three Kingdoms of Korea.<ref name="kyunghyang" /><ref name="chosun" /> Samhan continued to be a common name for Korea during the [[Joseon]] period and was widely referenced in the [[Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty|Annals of the Joseon Dynasty]].<ref name="kyunghyang" />

In China, the Three Kingdoms of Korea were collectively called Samhan since the beginning of the 7th century.<ref name="National">{{cite web |title=고현묘지명(高玄墓誌銘) |url=http://gsm.nricp.go.kr/_third/user/frame.jsp?View=search&No=4&ksmno=7190 |website=한국금석문 종합영상정보시스템 |publisher=National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage |access-date=10 September 2018}}</ref> The use of the name Samhan to indicate the Three Kingdoms of Korea was widespread in the [[Tang dynasty]].<ref name="kwon">{{cite journal |first1=Deok-young |last1=Kwon |trans-title=An inquiry into the name of Three Kingdom(三國) inscribed on the epitaph of T'ang(唐) period |script-title=ko:唐 墓誌의 고대 한반도 삼국 명칭에 대한 검토 |journal=The Journal of Korean Ancient History |date=2014 |volume=75 |pages=105–137 |url=http://www.dbpia.co.kr/Journal/ArticleDetail/NODE02486618 |access-date=2 July 2018 |language=ko |issn=1226-6213}}</ref> Goguryeo was alternately called [[Mahan confederacy|Mahan]] by the Tang dynasty, as evidenced by a Tang document that called Goguryeo generals "Mahan leaders" ({{Korean|마한추장|馬韓酋長|labels=no}}) in 645.<ref name="National" /> In 651, [[Emperor Gaozong of Tang]] sent a message to the king of Baekje referring to the Three Kingdoms of Korea as Samhan.<ref name="kyunghyang" /> Epitaphs of the Tang dynasty, including those belonging to Baekje, Goguryeo, and Silla refugees and migrants, called the Three Kingdoms of Korea "Samhan", especially Goguryeo.<ref name="kwon" /> For example, the epitaph of Go Hyeon ({{Korean|고현|高玄|labels=no}}), a Tang dynasty general of Goguryeo origin who died in 690, calls him a "Liaodong Samhan man" ({{Korean|요동 삼한인|遼東 三韓人|labels=no}}).<ref name="National" /> The [[History of Liao]] equates Byeonhan to Silla, Jinhan to Buyeo, and Mahan to Goguryeo.<ref name="chosun" />

In 1897, [[Gojong of Korea|Gojong]] changed the name of Joseon to the [[Korean Empire]], ''Daehan Jeguk'', in reference to the Three Kingdoms of Korea. In 1919, the [[Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea|provisional government]] in exile during the [[Korea under Japanese rule|Japanese occupation]] declared the name of Korea as the Republic of Korea, ''Daehan Minguk'', also in reference to the Three Kingdoms of Korea.<ref name="kyunghyang" /><ref name="chosun" />

== Three Hans ==
{{main|Byeonhan confederacy|Jinhan confederacy|Mahan confederacy}}
{{History of Korea}}

The Samhan are generally considered loose confederations of walled-town states. Each appears to have had a ruling elite, whose power was a mix of politics and [[shamanism]]. Although each state appears to have had its own ruler, there is no evidence of [[Order of succession|systematic succession]].

The name of the poorly understood [[Jin (Korean state)|Jin state]] continued to be used in the name of the Jinhan confederacy and in the name "Byeonjin," an alternate term for Byeonhan. In addition, for some time the leader of Mahan continued to call himself the King of Jin, asserting nominal overlordship over all of the Samhan confederations.

[[Mahan confederacy|Mahan]] was the largest and earliest developed of the three confederacies. It consisted of 54 minor statelets, one of which conquered or absorbed the others and became the center of the [[Baekje]] Kingdom. Mahan is usually considered to have been located in the southwest of the Korean peninsula, covering [[Jeolla Province|Jeolla]], [[Chungcheong Province|Chungcheong]], and portions of [[Gyeonggi Province|Gyeonggi]].

[[Jinhan confederacy|Jinhan]] consisted of 12 statelets, one of which conquered or absorbed the others and became the center of the [[Silla]] Kingdom. It is usually considered to have been located to the east of the Nakdong River valley.

[[Byeonhan confederacy|Byeonhan]] consisted of 12 statelets, which later gave rise to the [[Gaya confederacy]], subsequently annexed by [[Silla]]. It is usually considered to have been located in the south and west of the [[Nakdong River]] valley.

== Geography ==
The exact locations occupied by the different Samhan confederations are disputed. It is also quite likely that their boundaries changed over time. ''[[Samguk sagi]]'' indicates that Mahan was located in the northern region later occupied by [[Goguryeo]], Jinhan in the region later occupied by [[Silla]], and Byeonhan in the southwestern region later occupied by [[Baekje]]. However, the earlier Chinese ''[[Records of the Three Kingdoms]]'' places Mahan in the southwest, Jinhan in the southeast, and Byeonhan between them.

Villages were usually constructed deep in high mountain valleys, where they were relatively secure from attack. Mountain fortresses were also often constructed as places of refuge during war. The minor states which made up the federations are usually considered to have covered about as much land as a modern-day [[Myeon (administrative division)|''myeon'']], or township.

Based on historical and archeological records, river and sea routes appear to have been the primary means of long-distance transportation and trade (Yi, 2001, p.&nbsp;246). It is thus not surprising that Jinhan and Byeonhan, with their coastal and river locations, became particularly prominent in international trade during this time.

== Languages ==
{{main article|Han languages}}

One of the most prominent leader of the Han ([[Korean language|Korean]]: 한; 韓) Immigration was [[Jun of Gojoseon|King Jun of Gojoseon]] from the northern Korea, having lost the throne to [[Wiman of Gojoseon|Wiman]], fled to the state of [[Jin (Korean state)|Jin]] in southern Korea around 194 - 180 BC.<ref>{{cite book |first=Gina Lee |last=Barnes |title=State Formation in Korea: Historical and Archaeological Perspectives |publisher=Psychology Press |year=2001 |isbn=0700713239 |pages=29–33}}</ref> He and his followers established [[Mahan confederacy|Mahan]] which was one of the Samhan ("Three Hans"), along with [[Byeonhan confederacy|Byeonhan]] and [[Jinhan confederacy|Jinhan]]. Further Han(韓) migration followed the fall of Gojoseon and establishment of the Chinese commanderies in 108 BC.

The [[Han languages|Samhan languages]] ([[Korean language|Korean]]: 삼한어; 三韓語) were a branch of the ancient [[Koreanic languages]],<ref name="Indiana">{{citation |year=2014 |title=Multitree: A digital library of language relationships |location=Bloomington, Indiana |publisher=Department of Linguistics, The LINGUIST List, Indiana University |url=http://multitree.org/}}</ref><ref name=Kim2003>{{cite book |last=Kim |first=Nam-Kil |year=2003 |chapter=Korean |editor-last=Frawley |editor-first=William J. |title=International Encyclopedia of Linguistics |volume=1 |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=366–370}}</ref><ref name=Kim2009>{{cite book |last=Kim |first=Nam-Kil |year=2009 |chapter=Korean |editor-last=Comrie |editor-first=Bernard |title=The World's Major Languages |edition=2nd |location=London |publisher=Routledge |pages=765–779}}</ref><ref name=LeeRamsey2011>{{cite book |last1=Lee |first1=Ki-Moon |last2=Ramsey |first2=S. Robert |year=2011 |title=A History of the Korean Language |publisher=Cambridge University Press}}</ref><ref name="Crannell">{{cite book |title=Voice and Articulation |first=Kenneth C. |last=Crannell |year=2011 |publisher=Wadsworth Company}}</ref><ref>{{citation |title=Studies on the phonological system of Korean |author=Kim Wan-jin |year=1981 |publisher=Ilchogak}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Community languages: a handbook |first1=Barbara M. |last1=Horvath |first2=Paul |last2=Vaughan |year=1991 |publisher=Multilingual Matters}}</ref> referring to the non-Buyeo Koreanic languages,<ref name="Indiana" /> once spoken in the southern [[Korea|Korean Peninsula]], which were closely related to the [[Puyŏ languages|Buyeo languages]].<ref name="Crannell" />

The Samhan languages were spoken in the [[Mahan language|Mahan]], [[Byeonhan confederacy|Byeonhan]] and [[Jinhan confederacy|Jinhan]].<ref name=Kim2003/><ref name=Kim2009/><ref name=LeeRamsey2011/> The extent of [[Han languages]] is unclear. It is generally accepted as including [[Old Korean|Sillan]], and may also have included [[Baekje language|the language(s) spoken in Baekje]]. A number of researchers have suggested that [[Baekje]] may have been bilingual, with the ruling class speaking a [[Puyŏ language]] and the commoners speaking a Han language.{{sfnp|Kōno|1987|pp=84–85}}{{sfnp|Kim|2009|p=766}}{{sfnp|Beckwith|2004|pp=20–21}}{{sfnp|Vovin|2005|p=119}}

Linguistic evidence suggests that [[Japonic languages]] (see [[Peninsular Japonic]]) were spoken in large parts of the southern [[Korean Peninsula]], but its speakers were eventually assimilated by [[Koreanic languages|Koreanic-speaking peoples]] and the languages replaced/supplanted.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Janhunen|first=Juha|date=2010|title=RECONSTRUCTING THE LANGUAGE MAP OF PREHISTORICAL NORTHEAST ASIA|url=|journal=Studia Orientalia 108 (2010)|volume=|pages=|quote=... there are strong indications that the neighbouring Baekje state (in the southwest) was predominantly Japonic-speaking until it was linguistically Koreanized.|via=}}</ref><ref>Vovin, Alexander (2013). "From Koguryo to Tamna: Slowly riding to the South with speakers of Proto-Korean". ''Korean Linguistics''. '''15''' (2): 222–240.</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Miyamoto |first=Kazuo |date=2022 |title=The emergence of 'Transeurasian' language families in Northeast Asia as viewed from archaeological evidence |journal=Evolutionary Human Sciences |language=en |volume=4 |pages=e3 |doi=10.1017/ehs.2021.49 |pmid=37588923 |pmc=10426040 |s2cid=246999130 |issn=2513-843X|doi-access=free }}</ref> Evidence also suggests that Peninsular Japonic and Koreanic languages co-existed in the southern Korean Peninsula for an extended period of time and influenced each other.{{sfnp|Janhunen|2010|p=294}}{{sfnp|Vovin|2013|pp=222, 237}}{{sfnp|Unger|2009|p=87}} As has been suggested for the later Korean kingdom of [[Baekje]],{{sfnp|Vovin|2005|p=119}}{{sfnp|Kōno|1987|pp=84–85}}{{sfnp|Kim|2009|p=766}}{{sfnp|Beckwith|2004|pp=20–21}} it is possible that the Samhan states were bilingual prior to the complete replacement of Peninsular Japonic by Koreanic languages.

== Technology ==
The Samhan saw the systematic introduction of [[iron]] into the southern Korean peninsula. This was taken up with particular intensity by the [[Byeonhan confederacy|Byeonhan]] states of the [[Nakdong River]] valley, which manufactured and exported iron armor and weapons throughout Northeast Asia.

The introduction of iron technology also facilitated growth in agriculture, as iron tools made the clearing and cultivation of land much easier. It appears that at this time the modern-day [[Jeolla Province|Jeolla]] area emerged as a center of [[rice]] production (Kim, 1974).

== Relations ==
Until the rise of [[Goguryeo]], the external relations of Samhan were largely limited to the Chinese commanderies located in the former territory of [[Gojoseon]]. The longest standing of these, the [[Lelang Commandery|Lelang commandery]], appear to have maintained separate diplomatic relations with each individual state rather than with the heads of the confederacies as such.

In the beginning, the relationship was a political trading system in which "tribute" was exchanged for titles or prestige gifts. Official [[Seal (emblem)|seals]] identified each tribal leader's authority to trade with the commandery.  However, after the fall of the [[Cao Wei|Kingdom of Wei]] in the 3rd century, [[Records of the Three Kingdoms|San guo zhi]] reports that the Lelang commandery handed out official seals freely to local commoners, no longer symbolizing political authority (Yi, 2001, p.&nbsp;245).

The Chinese commanderies also supplied luxury goods and consumed local products.  Later [[Han dynasty]] coins and beads are found throughout the Korean peninsula. These were exchanged for local iron or raw [[silk]]. After the 2nd century CE, as Chinese influence waned, iron ingots came into use as [[currency]] for the trade based around Jinhan and Byeonhan.

Trade relations also existed with the emergent states of [[Japan]] at this time, most commonly involving the exchange of ornamental Japanese bronzeware for Korean iron. These trade relations shifted in the 3rd century, when the [[Yamato people|Yamatai]] federation of [[Kyushu|Kyūshū]] gained monopolistic control over Japanese trade with Byeonhan.

== See also ==
*[[History of Korea]]
*[[Names of Korea]]
*[[Han languages]]
*[[Three Confederate States of Gojoseon]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

== References ==
* {{citation
  | surname = Beckwith | given = Christopher I. | author-link = Christopher I. Beckwith
  | title = Koguryo, the Language of Japan's Continental Relatives
  | publisher = Brill | year = 2004 | isbn = 978-90-04-13949-7
  | postscript = .
  }}
*{{cite journal |last=Kim |first=Jung-Bae |year=1974 |title=Characteristics of Mahan in ancient Korean society |journal=Korea Journal |volume=14 |issue=6 |pages=4–10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050530105415/http://www.ekoreajournal.net/archive/detail.jsp?VOLUMENO=14&BOOKNUM=6&PAPERNUM=1 |url=http://www.ekoreajournal.net/archive/detail.jsp?VOLUMENO=14&BOOKNUM=6&PAPERNUM=1 |archive-date=2005-05-30 |url-status=dead}}
* {{citation
  | surname = Kōno | given = Rokurō
  | title = The bilingualism of the Paekche language
  | journal = Memoirs of the Research Department of the Toyo Bunko 
  | volume = 45 | year = 1987 | pages = 75–86
  | postscript = .
  }}
*{{cite book |last=Lee |first=Ki-baik |year=1984 |title=A New History of Korea |translator1=E.W. Wagner |translator2=E.J. Schulz |edition=based on 1979 rev. |location=Seoul |publisher=Ilchogak |isbn=89-337-0204-0}}
* {{citation
  | surname = Unger | given = J. Marshall | author-link = James Marshall Unger
  | title = The role of contact in the origins of the Japanese and Korean languages
  | location = Honolulu | publisher=University of Hawaii Press | year = 2009
  | isbn = 978-0-8248-3279-7
  | postscript = .
  }}
* {{citation
  | surname = Vovin | given = Alexander | author-link = Alexander Vovin
  | title = Koguryŏ and Paekche: different languages or dialects of Old Korean?
  | journal = Journal of Inner and East Asian Studies | year = 2005
  | volume = 2 | number = 2 | pages = 107–140
  | postscript = .
  }}
* {{citation
  | surname = Vovin | given = Alexander
  | title = From Koguryo to Tamna: Slowly riding to the South with speakers of Proto-Korean
  | journal = Korean Linguistics | year = 2013 | volume = 15 | issue = 2 | pages = 222–240
  | doi = 10.1075/kl.15.2.03vov
  | postscript = .
  }}
*{{cite journal |last=Yi |first=Hyun-hae |year=2001 |title=International trade system in East Asia from the first to the fourth century |journal=Korea Journal |volume=41 |issue=4 |pages=239–268 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050530102744/http://www.ekoreajournal.net/archive/detail.jsp?VOLUMENO=41&BOOKNUM=4&PAPERNUM=11 |url=http://www.ekoreajournal.net/archive/detail.jsp?VOLUMENO=41&BOOKNUM=4&PAPERNUM=11 |archive-date=2005-05-30 }}

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[[Category:Samhan| ]]
[[Category:Early Korean history]]
[[Category:Ancient peoples of Korea]]
[[Category:Former countries in Korean history]]
[[Category:Former countries in East Asia]]
[[Category:Former confederations]]