History of Oka

660 BC - 57AD Seojin period 서진
The Seojin period is traditionally dated from 300 BC to 300 AD. The earliest archaeological evidence of the Seojin is found on northern Beito, but that is still debated. Seojin culture quickly spread to the rest of the island of Beito and Haito. A recent study that used accelerator mass spectrometry to analyze carbonized remains on pottery and wooden stakes, suggests that they dated back to 900–800 BC, 500 years earlier than previously believed. The Seojin arrived to Oka via japan, but their ethnic origin is unique, indeed they share more resemblances to the Ainu people than Japanese. Archaeological evidence supports the idea that during this time, an influx of farmers from the Asian continent to Oka absorbed or overwhelmed the native hunter-gatherer population.



The period's name means "First men". They were found in the Kowu suburb of Renagawa where archaeologists first uncovered artifacts and features from that era. Distinguishing characteristics of the Seojin period include the appearance of new Seojin pottery styles and the start of an intensive rice agriculture in paddy fields. A hierarchical social class structure dates from this period. Techniques in metallurgy based on the use of bronze and iron were also introduced to Oka in this period. Seojin Pottery was simply decorated and produced using the same coiling technique previously used in Jōmon pottery over in Teiko. Seojin craft specialists made bronze ceremonial bells (Jubon), mirrors, and weapons. By the 1st century AD, Seojin farmers began using iron agricultural tools and weapons.

As the Seojin population increased, the society became more stratified and complex. They wove textiles, lived in permanent farming villages, and constructed buildings with wood and stone. They also accumulated wealth through land ownership and the storage of grain. Such factors promoted the development of distinct social classes. Contemporary Chinese sources described the people as having tattoos and other bodily markings which indicated differences in social status. Seojin chiefs, in some parts of Beito, appear to have sponsored, and politically manipulated, trade in bronze and other prestige objects. That was possible by the introduction of an irrigated, wet-rice culture from the Yangtze estuary in southern China. Wet-rice agriculture led to the development and growth of a sedentary, agrarian society in Oka. Local political and social developments in Oka were more important than the activities of the central authority within a stratified society.

Okataian Austronesians
The Okataian Austronesians mainly lived in stationary village sites surrounded by defensive walls of bamboo. The village sites in southern Oka, near Maen were more populated than other locations. Some villages supported a population of more than 1,500 people, surrounded by smaller satellite villages. Villages were constructed of dwellings made of thatch and bamboo, raised 2 m (6.6 ft) from the ground on stilts, with each household having a barn for livestock. A watchtower was located in the village to look out for headhunting parties from the Highland peoples. The concept of property was often communal, with a series of conceptualized concentric rings around each village. The innermost ring was used for gardens and orchards that followed a fallowing cycle around the ring. The second ring was used to cultivate plants and natural fibers for the exclusive use of the community. The third ring was for exclusive hunting and deer fields for community use. The Plains Aborigines hunted herds of spotted Okataian sika deer, Sambar deer, and Reeves's muntjac as well as conducting light millet farming. Sugar and rice were grown as well, but mostly for use in preparing wine. In another site in Yujo, remains of a more developed aborigine society have been discovered. The city of Bowan, was the first ever site discovered, where remains of both Austronesian and Seojin were found, the remains are from a later period however, and seem to depict a commercial city.

Criticism
Critics do not agree on the terminology, as archaeological evidence shows that the Austronesians had become as advanced as the Seojin. Often they criticize that the history has been too focused on the north, therefor certain historians refer to the southern people as Namjin.

57AD - 225AD Taou period 따


Oka, as a vassal state of China, the King of Oka gold seal is issued by Emperor Guangwu of Han to the coalition of Okatian states on the northern Island (Beito) The earliest written records about people in Oka are from Chinese sources from this period. Tao, the Okataian pronunciation of an early Chinese name for Oka, was mentioned in 57 AD; the Bei state of Tao received a golden seal from the Emperor Guangwu of the Later Han dynasty. This event was recorded in the Hou Han Shu compiled by Fan Ye in the 5th century. The seal itself was discovered in southern Beito in the 18th century. Tao was also mentioned in 257 in the Wei Zhi, a section of the San Guo Zhi compiled by the 3rd century scholar Chen Shou.

Early Chinese historians described Taou as a land of hundreds of scattered tribal communities rather than the unified land with a 700-year tradition as laid out in the 8th-century work Ko Sanko, a partly mythical, partly historical account of Oka which dates the foundation of the country at 660 BC. Archaeological evidence also suggests that frequent conflicts between settlements or statelets broke out in the period. Many excavated settlements were moated or built at the tops of hills. Headless human skeletons discovered on the Mowan site are regarded as typical examples of finds from the period. In the coastal area of the Inland Sea, stone arrowheads are often found among funerary objects.

Third-century Chinese sources reported that the Tao people lived on raw fish, vegetables, and rice served on bamboo and wooden trays, clapped their hands in worship (something still done in Tansei shrines today), and built earthen-grave mounds. They also maintained vassal-master relations, collected taxes, had provincial granaries and markets, and observed mourning. Society was characterized by violent struggles.

the Tansei Mythology
During the Taou period the specifity of the Okataian climate became the foundation of their distinct philosophy and mythology. In Okataian mythology, the people of Oka settled on this islands by the command of the celestial king Ren (렌). In counterpart the Okataian people were cast a spell by the celestial king Jao (자오) for having built a castle on the remains of his dead dragon 'ryusei'. The king punished the people by sending earthquakes and typhoons. The mission of the Okataian people is to hold the Islands until Ren beats Jao and delivers the islands and returns to human form to deliver the people from the spell.

Only through dreaming can high priests contacts Jao's army and commands, founding the cornerstone of the Tansei religion (탄세이) That asserts that all of conditioned existence, without exception, is "transient, evanescent, inconstant". All temporal things, whether material or mental, are compounded objects in a continuous change of condition, subject to decline and destruction. Resarchers claim Tansei was an early interpretation of Buddhism, The Buddha taught that because no physical or mental object is permanent, desires for or attachments to either causes suffering (dukkha). Understanding Anicca and Anatta are steps in the Buddhist’s spiritual progress toward enlightenment.

Tansei priests were the first leaders of the nations under the Taou period (따) and eventually priest Kangan of Hsa became the first self king of Oka when he claimed the seal in 63 and Hsagu, nowadays Tengoku became capital. Consequently Hsa went in war with Ko and Wa. The Kangan war became one of the first wars to unify Oka, with most Beito under the control of Hsa

Assimilation of the Austronesians
Multiple wars and mixing in the Taou period assimilated the Austronesian population with the formerly Seojin