Abstract

This paper aims at exploring the international situation of East Asia in the late 3rd century and the change of Goguryeo society at that time. For this aim, the views and positions of Yangmaek(梁貊) and Suksin(肅愼) that were on the borders of Goguryeo and East Asia are emphasized. The Struggles of Yangmaek and Suksin can be found in “Goguryeo’s Records(高句麗本紀)” of Samguk sagi(三國史記). The invasion of Suksin and the military activities of Dalga(達賈) in 280 which is seen in the article of 11th year of King Seocheon(西川王) were parts of it. Yangmaek of that period was a tribe of the west of Goguryeo that lived in the eastern part of the Liaodong Peninsula. Suksin belonged to the same political force of King of Suksin, Yok(褥) in the Book of Jin(晉書) and Suksin gukgi(肅愼國記), and was a school of Yilou(挹婁) that lived in northeastern Goguryeo. Yangmaek was governed as a different tribe-subjugated people of Goguryeo since the middle of the 2nd century, and the exploitation of Yangmaek was stronger than that of general people. The Struggle of Yangmaek was a resistance to it. In contrast, Suksin was an outside being of Goguryeo until the late third century. Suksin, however, was pressured and pushed against Goguryeo’s Northeastern domination in the late third century, but fight against it. This was the struggle of Suksin. These two struggles were separate events, but there was something in common that they resisted Goguryeo in response to the Eastern policy of Western Jin(西晉) in the late 3rd century. It was the way Yangmaek and Suksin read and actively responded to the international situation in East Asia. Through these struggles, Goguryeo could be isolated internationally if the various forces of East Asia, including not only Yangmaek and Suksin, but also related Western Jin and Buyeo(夫餘), put pressure on Goguryeo. In this regard, Goguryeo named it the struggles of Yangmaek and Suksin, and seemed to remember it as a serious national crisis until later. Since the late third century, Yangmaek was changed to the general people of Goguryeo. Most of the Suksin people still existed as different tribe-subjugated people, but the exploitation and discrimination against them was relaxed. This was reflection of the historical experience gained through the struggles. The exploitative domination based on military control caused resistance, which could lead to national crises. Resistance was the result of political and social growth. The struggles of Yangmaek and Suksin shows the growth of the different tribe-subjugated people and the history of resistance that changed the society of Goguryeo.

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