The Yemaek or Yamaek are an ancient tribal group native to the northern

Korean Peninsula Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically divided at or near the 38th parallel between North Korea (Dem ...

and

Manchuria Manchuria is a historical region in northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day northeast China and parts of the modern-day Russian Far East south of the Uda (Khabarovsk Krai), Uda River and the Tukuringra-Dzhagdy Ranges. The exact ...

and are commonly regarded as the ancestors of modern

Koreans Koreans are an East Asian ethnic group native to the Korean Peninsula. The majority of Koreans live in the two Korean sovereign states of North and South Korea, which are collectively referred to as Korea. As of 2021, an estimated 7.3 m ...

. The Yemaek have ancestral ties to multiple kingdoms in

Northeast Asia Northeast Asia or Northeastern Asia is a geographical Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia. Its northeastern landmass and islands are bounded by the Pacific Ocean, North Pacific Ocean. The term Northeast Asia was popularized during the 1930s by Ame ...

including

Gojoseon Gojoseon (; ), contemporary name Joseon (; ), was the first kingdom on the Korea, Korean Peninsula. According to Korean mythology, the kingdom was established by the legendary king Dangun. Gojoseon possessed the most advanced culture in th ...

Buyeo Buyeo (; ; ), also rendered as Puyŏ or Fuyu, was an ancient kingdom that was centered in northern Manchuria in modern-day northeast China. It had ties to the Yemaek people, who are considered to be the ancestors of modern Koreans. Buyeo is ...

Goguryeo Goguryeo (37 BC – 668 AD) (; ; Old Korean: Guryeo) also later known as Goryeo (; ; Middle Korean: 고ᇢ롕〮, ''kwòwlyéy''), was a Korean kingdom which was located on the northern and central parts of the Korea, Korean Peninsula an ...

, and multiple tribes including Okjeo, Dongye, Yangmaek (양맥; 梁貊) and the Sosumaek (소수맥; 小水貊).

History

The Yemaek are believed to be the mix of the ''Ye'' (濊) and ''Maek'' (貊) people. He Qiutao (何秋涛) believes ''Ye'' is the short name of

. According to Chinese Records of Three Kingdoms, the ''Ye'' worshiped tigers. The Chinese characters 貊 and 貉, which were used to transcribe ''Maek'', were also used as a

homophonic Homophony and Homophonic are from the Greek language, Greek ὁμόφωνος (''homóphōnos''), literally 'same sounding,' from ὁμός (''homós''), "same" and φωνή (''phōnē''), "sound". It may refer to: *Homophones − words with the s ...

phonetic loan character to write 貘, meaning "white

leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant cat species in the genus ''Panthera''. It has a pale yellowish to dark golden fur with dark spots grouped in rosettes. Its body is slender and muscular reaching a length of with a ...

"; however, Guo Pu believes 貘 means a kind of bear, now identified as the

giant panda The giant panda (''Ailuropoda melanoleuca''), also known as the panda bear or simply panda, is a bear species endemic to China. It is characterised by its white animal coat, coat with black patches around the eyes, ears, legs and shoulders. ...

. Gomnaru, the capital of the Baekje Kingdom with ancestral ties to the Yemaek, means "bear port". Historians suggest tigers and bears may have been

totem A totem (from or ''doodem'') is a spirit being, sacred object, or symbol that serves as an emblem of a group of people, such as a family, clan, lineage (anthropology), lineage, or tribe, such as in the Anishinaabe clan system. While the word ...

s worshiped by ''Ye'' and ''Maek'' tribes. The Chinese character 狛, a variant form 貊 for ''Maek,'' is used in the

Japanese language is the principal language of the Japonic languages, Japonic language family spoken by the Japanese people. It has around 123 million speakers, primarily in Japan, the only country where it is the national language, and within the Japanese dia ...

to transcribe ''Koma'' (''cf.''

Komainu , often called lion-dogs in English, are statue pairs of lion-like creatures, which traditionally guard the entrance or gate of the shrine, or placed in front of or within the ''honden'' (inner sanctum) of Japanese Shinto shrines. Symbolic mea ...

). ''Koma'' is sometimes written with the characters 高麗 " Go(gu)ryeo,

Goryeo Goryeo (; ) was a Korean state founded in 918, during a time of national division called the Later Three Kingdoms period, that unified and ruled the Korea, Korean Peninsula until the establishment of Joseon in 1392. Goryeo achieved what has b ...

." The similarity between the pronunciation of ''Koma (bear)'' and ''gōm (bear)'' is notable. A recent study believes the ancestor of ''Maek'' (貊) is the Bal (發). According to

Records of the Grand Historian The ''Shiji'', also known as ''Records of the Grand Historian'' or ''The Grand Scribe's Records'', is a Chinese historical text that is the first of the Twenty-Four Histories of imperial China. It was written during the late 2nd and early 1st ce ...

, the

Balhae Balhae,, , ) also rendered as Bohai or Bohea, and called Jin (; ) early on, was a multiethnic kingdom established in 698 by Dae Joyeong (Da Zuorong). It was originally known as the Kingdom of Jin (震, Zhen) until 713 when its name was changed ...

people lived next to the Shanrong nomads and the

Sushen Sushen is the historical Chinese name for an ancient ethnic group of people who lived in the northeastern part of China (in the area of modern Jilin and Heilongjiang) and what is in modern times the Russian Maritime Province and some other Si ...

. According to Guanzi, the Bal-Joseons once sold patterned fur skins and visited the Royal Court. Written in the

Yi Zhou Shu The ''Yi Zhou Shu'' () is a compendium of Chinese historical documents about the Western Zhou period (1046–771 BCE). Its textual history began with a (4th century BCE) text/compendium known as the ''Zhou Shu'' ("Book of Zhou"), which was possib ...

, there are the ''Ye'' and ''Bal'', but no ''Maek''. Due to this, it is believed

people and

may have lived in adjacent areas. The main culture is the Seodansan culture. Korean historians believe the Yemaek established their cultural zone in the 12th to 10th century BC. These tribes began to grow more heterogeneously by the 7th and 8th centuries BC due to different geographical and environmental circumstances. The Yemaek are believed influenced by the Mongol-Siberian nomadic cultures and that their ethnic origins were distinct from those of the

Han Chinese The Han Chinese, alternatively the Han people, are an East Asian people, East Asian ethnic group native to Greater China. With a global population of over 1.4 billion, the Han Chinese are the list of contemporary ethnic groups, world's la ...

. By the late

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

and

Early Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progr ...

, the Yemaek were technologically and culturally influenced by ancient

who introduced ironmaking technology to them. In 705 BC, the Shanrong nomads (山戎) planned to plunder the Yan, Qi and Zhao kingdoms in the Guzhu text(孤竹國). However, these nomads were defeated by the allied Yan and Qi (660 BC) and were pushed north. There were many northern peoples within the Shanrong Alliance for plunder, one of them is believed to be the '' Bal'' (發). After the Gojoseon–Yan War and Han conquest of Gojoseon, the Bal people (發) moved east and became absorbed into the ''Maek'' tribe. It is believed the

, the first Korean kingdom in history, was established by the Yemaek. :*According to Chinese record

Shiji The ''Shiji'', also known as ''Records of the Grand Historian'' or ''The Grand Scribe's Records'', is a Chinese historical text that is the first of the Twenty-Four Histories of imperial China. It was written during the late 2nd and early 1st cen ...

, to the east of the

Xiongnu The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of Nomad, nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese historiography, Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu, t ...

people lived the Yemaek and

. :*Tombstone of Yeon Namsan (연남산) found in

Luoyang Luoyang ( zh, s=洛阳, t=洛陽, p=Luòyáng) is a city located in the confluence area of the Luo River and the Yellow River in the west of Henan province, China. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zheng ...

writes that the son of

leader

Yeon Gaesomun Yeon GaesomunSome Chinese and Korean sources stated that his surname was Yeongae () and personal name was Somun (), but the majority of sources suggest a one-syllable surname and a three-syllable personal name. (; 594–666) was a powerful mili ...

Joseon Joseon ( ; ; also romanized as ''Chosun''), officially Great Joseon (), was a dynastic kingdom of Korea that existed for 505 years. It was founded by Taejo of Joseon in July 1392 and replaced by the Korean Empire in October 1897. The kingdom w ...

. :*In

Dangun Dangun or Tangun (; ), also known as Dangun Wanggeom (; ), was the legendary founder and first king of Gojoseon, the first Korean kingdom. He founded the first kingdom around the northern part of the Korean Peninsula. He is said to be the "gra ...

's legend of the creation of

, a tiger and bear pray to Hwanung that they may become human but promised to stay in a cave eating only garlic and mugwort, however, while the tiger gave up and left the cave, the bear remained and in 21 days transformed into a woman who later married Hwanung. She then gave birth to Dangun Wanggeom, who is believed to symbolize the combination of ''Ye'' and ''Maek'' tribes into one Yemaek tribe. Japanese researcher Shiratori Kurakichi is the first to connect between Yemaek tribal people and the origins of the " Korean race." He believed that Korean racial origins can be traced to

and treated the ''Ye'' and the Yemaek as a single racial entity. However, Pai argues that the ''Ye'' or ''Maek'' could not have referred to a homogeneous tribe or racial unity, or a unified state. Chinese records were inconsistent and frequently mentions ''Ye'' without any connections to ''Maek''.

Language

It is believed the replacement of the native Yemaek and

language Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed language, signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing syste ...

s in the existing three kingdoms was accelerated by the southward expansion of a large number of northern people in the late 3rd century. Currently, there are academic attempts to recover Yemaek language based on

toponym Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''wikt:toponym, toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage, and types. ''Toponym'' is the general term for ...

fragments recorded in the Samguk Sagi from occupied areas of

and the Buyeo-Baekje.

Legacy

According to Samguk Sagi, Silla Kingdom was established by the Six Clans of Saroguk who were

of origin. The Royal Seal of Ye (예왕지인; 濊王之印), used previously by Buyeo Kings, was found in the Silla Kingdom (19 AD) and was presented for King Namhae Chachaung. The

Baekje Baekje or Paekche (; ) 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 were in separate existence, Baekje had the h ...

and Gaya are all believed to have originated from the Yemaek tribes. The Yemaek culture is seen as ancestral to the modern

Culture of Korea The traditional culture of Korea is the shared cultural and historical heritage of Korea before the division of Korea in 1945. Since the mid-20th century, Korea has been split between the North Korean and South Korean sovereign state, stat ...

. Historian Sang-Yil Kim claims the Yemaek did also influence

Chinese culture Chinese culture () is one of the Cradle of civilization#Ancient China, world's earliest cultures, said to originate five thousand years ago. The culture prevails across a large geographical region in East Asia called the Sinosphere as a whole ...

and had an overall large cultural impact in all of

, and that some other related ancestry around

East Asia East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...

are the

Dongyi The Dongyi or Eastern Yi () was a collective term for ancient peoples found in Chinese records. The definition of Dongyi varied across the ages, but in most cases referred to inhabitants of eastern China, then later, the Korean peninsula and Jap ...

, and some of which were of proto-Korean origin.

References

{{Korean peoples Early Korean history Ancient peoples of Korea History of Manchuria Ethnic groups in Chinese history Former confederations

History

Language

Legacy

See also

References