Byeonhan confederacy

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Byeonhan confederacy
Hangul:	변한 or 변진
Hanja:	弁韓 or 弁辰
Revised Romanization:	Byeonhan or Byeonjin
McCune-Reischauer:	Pyŏnhan or Pyŏnchin

Byeonhan, also known as Byeonjin, was a loose confederacy of chiefdoms that existed from around the beginning of the Common Era to the 4th century in the southern Korean peninsula. Byeonhan was one of the Samhan (or "Three Hans"), along with Mahan and Jinhan.

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1 History
2 Culture and trade
3 Member statelets
4 See also
5 References

[edit] History

This early part of the Three Kingdoms period is sometimes called the Proto-Three Kingdoms period.

Byeonhan, like the other Samhan confederacies, appear descended from Jin state of southern Korea. Following the fall of Gojoseon and establishment of the Chinese commanderies in the northern part of the Korean peninsula in 108 BC, refugee migration and cultural transmission continued to transform the region.

Archeological evidence indicates an increase in military activity and weapons production among the Byeonhan in the 3rd century, especially an increase in iron arrowheads and cuirasses (Barnes 2000). This may be associated with the decline of Byeonhan and the rise of the more centralized Gaya Confederacy, which most Byeonhan states joined. Gaya was subsequently annexed by Silla, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea.

[edit] Culture and trade

The Chinese record San guo zhi states that the language and culture of Byeonhan was essentially the same as Jinhan, and archeological artifacts show little difference. Byeonhan may have simply referred to the chiefdoms in the south and west of the Nakdong River valley which were not formal members of the Jinhan confederacy.

According to the 3rd century Chinese chronicle Wei Zhi, Byeonhan was known for the production of iron; it exported iron to the Chinese commanderies to the north, Yamato Japan and the rest of the Korean peninsula. It was also a center of stoneware manufacture.