War and Ritual in Ancient Korea: From the Bronze Age to the Three Kingdoms Era

Abstract

Since the 1990s, the discovery of Korean Bronze Age village remains has resulted in close attention to the relationship between agrarian settlements and primitive wars. The characteristics of primitive wars during the Bronze Age, which featured stones as the main weapon of choice, differed from those of the wars by ancient states conducted with iron weapons. The features of such primitive wars that used stones as their weapon may be ascertained from the tradition passed down to the modern era known as seokjeon (stone battle). The kings of ancient states can be perceived as having been newly established supreme rulers that emerged when heads of primitive societies. The war, determined by the king of ancient state, was a sort of ideological political ritual, not the simple physical expression of social conflicts. A pertinent example in ancient Korea of war being conducted as a state ritual led by the royal power occurred during the reign of King Jinheung of Silla (540-576). Such wars featured moralistic, ritual, and religious overtones to the nobles as well as the people. More precisely, they were sacred wars meant to protect the state. These wars were implemented as religious rituals designed to protect the royal power and the state.