A History of Japan: From Stone Age to Superpower Read Online Free PDF Page B

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    Some believe that Sjin may have been the leader of a group of fourth-century invaders from Korea known as the ‘horse-riders’, and that it was these horse-riders who established the Yamato state. 40 The scenario of ancient Japan coming under at least the partial authority of people from Korea is not at all impossible, for even if Sjin himself was not a Korean, and even if there was no actual conquest by horse-riders coming from or through the Korean Peninsula, there was certainly a strong and generally amicable link between ancient Yamato Japan and the Korean kingdoms of Paekche (Baekje) and Koguryo (Goguryeo), including among the aristocratic class and indeed the ruling class (for example the Soga family and Prince Shtoku, discussed presently).
    Whether founded by Koreans or Japanese or a combination of both, the Yamato clan increased their power and authority by a gradual process of degree. In this they relied heavily on negotiation and persuasion – and no doubt threat and coercion – rather than simple military confrontation. Their preferred method seems to have been to incorporate local chiefdoms already established in Yayoi times, and give the chieftains themselves places within the Yamato hierarchy. Ranks and titles were used by the Yamato court to give potentially troublesome members of formerly independent local regimes a personal stake in the emerging imperial system. 41
    The tactic of where possible incorporating a powerful threat rather than directly confronting it, and of drawing on a potential opponent’s strengths rather than trying simply to destroy them, is still widely seen today as a basic Japanese preference. 42 Its identification at such an early stage of Japanese history is testimony to the depth of such a tradition.
    The ranks and titles given to those local kings and chiefs incorporated into the Yamato camp were important in a status-conscious age. The Yamato administrative system was strongly hierarchical. 43 This too is a continuing characteristic of Japanese preferences.
    Exact dates remain unclear. It is probable that during the fourth and fifth centuries Yamato authority was not absolute but rather ‘first among equals’ among a coalition of clans. By the early sixth century, however, the Yamato imperial family seems to have emerged as the single prevailing line. It was at this point that rulers of the Izumo region started to send tribute to the Yamato ruler. 44
    A sense of statehood is also suggested in a poem attributed to the late-fifth-century emperor Yryaku (r.456–79): 45
Your basket, with your pretty basket,
Your trowel, with your pretty trowel,
Maiden, picking herbs on this hillside,
I would ask you: Where is your home?
Will you not tell me your name?
Over the spacious Land of Yamato
It is I who reign so wide and far,
It is I who rule so wide and far.
I myself, as your lord, will tell you
Of my home, and my name.
     
    The Yamato state soon entrenched its position by the adoption and promotion of Buddhism. This was especially favoured by the Soga, a particularly powerful clan within the Yamato structure. The Soga were of Korean descent, like many of the aristocratic families of the day, and probably felt more of an affinity with Buddhism than did native Japanese. It was from Korea – specifically priest-scholars from the Korean kingdom of Paekche – that Buddhism was introduced in the mid-sixth century. Its adoption was greatly aided by the practice of writing, which had also been introduced by scholars from Paekche a century earlier. 46
    The Soga saw Buddhism as a means of developing a state religion that would further their political control, which by means such as inter-marriage they were starting to assert over the imperial family. They were undoubtedly a persuasive element in the acceptance of the religion by the imperial family from Emperor Ymei (r.585–7) on.
    For its part, the imperial line also saw Buddhism as politically very useful. It provided a unifying ideology