The Relation to Namje

Namjeseo (Chronicle of Namje) Vol. 58, a series of biographies No. 39, writes down as follows: “Garakguk is an ethnic group of the Three Hans. In 479 (the first year of the reign of King Geonwon) the envoys of Haji (the king of Gara) came here and offered tribute.

King Geonwon awarded a protocol and said that ‘the barbarians who are in the distance came to be enlightened since a broad-minded man at last acceded to the throne. Haji (the king of Gara) visited and offered presents in the distance of the east. It is right for him to receive the title of Boguk-janggun-bon-gukwang.’”

We can know through this article that in 479 Daegaya sent envoys to Namje and received the title of Boguk-janggun-bon-gukwang. That is, Daegaya exchanged with the Nam Dynasty of China. This shows that Daegaya had independent power to exchange with China. Such independent power enabled Daegaya to strength its international position.

The external exchange in the ancient society was an important variable of culture change beyond the simple dimension of the exchange of goods and had a close relation to the growth of political power, at the same time.

This article described Daegaya as a dependency of China, but their superior and inferior relations were simply ideological. It is believed that Daegaya utilized the exchange with China as an opportunity to accept the advanced civilization, but a more important thing was to show its superiority to the neighbouring Gaya states.

One regards Garaguk in the historical material as Gayaguk in Gimhae or Allaguk in Haman because of the fact that Daegaya would have been difficult to exchange with China. However, in the late fifth century, since Daegaya was influencing as far as the Hadong region in the mouth of the Seomjingang it was possible for Gaya to exchange with China. The fact that Daegaya in inland exchanged with China suggests that Daegaya already grew as a strong state.

The title of ‘Boguk-janggun’ that Haji (the king of Daegaya) received corresponds to the third grade in the official rank of Namje. The kings of Goguryeo, Baekje and Wae received the second grade, such as Pyogi-daejanggun and Jindong-daejanggun.

Hence, the grade of the king of Daegaya is lower than that of these kings. However, considering that the king of Daegaya received such a title through the first dispatch of envoys, it implies that Namje recognized that the international position of Daegaya is considerably high.

In 479, the fact that Daegaya sent envoys to Namje and offered tributes and received the title of Boguk-janggun-bon-guk-wang indicates that Daegaya was officially recognized as one of the influential political forces in the Korean peninsula. Daegaya therefore obtained an outcome to display that it is the most representative state among several Gaya states.