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Balhae flourished into a prosperous country in the east after its tenth ruler King Seon (宣王) rose to the throne in 818. Yeomju Castle was the eastern exit of Balhae leading to Silla and Japan, which made it natural for diverse East Asian cultures to converge at the castle and help Balhae develop into a dynamic country. This is why the past, present, and future of the Korean nation seems to loom before me whenever I visit the castle site. A site that has now become a fragile cradle of the dispersed Korean diaspora. Hundreds of years after the fall of Balhae, the kingdom’s remains are now being managed across the territories of China, Russia, and North Korea. Because records directly left by the people of Balhae have not yet emerged, studies about the kingdom must rely on excavating remains. However, Primorsky Krai of Russia is the only place where South Koreans are allowed to directly engage in excavations, which makes projects at the Yeomju Castle site a treasure trove for studying the history of Balhae.

Mentions of Yeomju Castle in literature became a reality when Russian scholars began excavating the site in 1980. That is why the newly published “Tales of Balhae's Yeomju Castle” outlines research findings amassed since the early stages of excavation performed by Russian scholars. Plus the book uses various photos and other visual sources in order to give a comprehensive introduction to the historical archaeology of Yeomju Castle. The tales described in the book were gathered by those who participated in excavations at Kraskino from the Northeast Asian History Foundation and the Institute of History, Archaeology, and Ethnography of the Peoples of the Far East, which belongs to the far eastern branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. I authored the book's manuscript along with E. I. Gelman, A. L. Ivliev, E. V. Astashenkova, and Y. E. Piskareva from the Institute of History, Archaeology, and Ethnography of the Peoples of the Far East. These co-authors are the very same Russian colleagues I worked with on excavations and studies at Primorsky Krai I've been part of since 1992. The book begins by noting the progress and significance in conducting joint excavations for the past twenty or so years. It then moves on to provide an archaeological overview of Yeomju Castle’s nature and structure and introduces archaeological findings that fall under each chapter’s theme.

Memories of and Prospects for Excavation

The book’s first chapter gives an overview of the historical archaeology of Yeomju Castle by describing the developments in the castle’s excavation and an outline of the castle’s history including its construction. The chapter informs when the castle was rediscovered and how excavations of the site have proceeded thus far. The section titled “The Developments and Course of Excavating Yeomju Castle” classifies the developments of the site's excavation into three different stages: the first stage between the 1980s and 1990s, the second stage during the 2000s, and the third stage leading up to today. The next section presents the castle in Kraskino, Primorsky Krai from a historical perspective to explain that the castle used to belong to a district of the eastern capital of Balhae called Donggyeong yongwonbu. The section also offers a historical overview of the castle’s rediscovery and excavation. The first chapter’s final section on the Kraskino castle’s construction explains how the structure of the castle walls and their extension inherited the experience and traditions of the ancient Korean kingdom of Koguryo.

Findings from excavating Yeomju Castle are introduced from the second chapter onward according to each section’s theme. The section “The Dawning of Yeomju Castle’s Excavation” covers traces of the temple, residences, and buildings that used to exist inside the castle and looks at handicrafts Balhae people used to produce there. The section “The Temple Site in Kraskino” features a summary of the remains and relics related to the temple that began to be excavated by Russian scholars in 1980. The section on residences and buildings includes a detailed explanation of Balhae’s underfloor heating culture, while the section on handicrafts demonstrates that products manufactured at Yeomju Castle had been much more sophisticated than those from other regions nearby.

How Balhae People Lived at the Castle

While the first two chapters fall under the dawning of Yeomju Castle's excavation, the next two chapters discuss how people actually lived at the castle. The third chapter's theme involves the castle's entertainment culture and its first section "Balhae Expressions and Decorative Art" looks at how Balhae people expressed their thoughts and reflected them in the discovered relics. The mix of eastern and western cultures that occurred at Yeomju Castle resulted in the various methods of expression used to decorate relics, showing how Balhae's culture flourished as a prosperous country in the east. The next section focuses on identifying traditional elements of the Mohe present in Balhae remains found at the castle site. Archaeological discoveries from the site hint that Balhae had accepted the Mohe culture and developed it into multiple layers. The section "Balhae's Entertainment Culture" examines what Balhae people enjoy doing for entertainment. The section introduces the Gonu board and pieces as well as other relics related to sports like Chukguk and Gyeokgu that were uncovered among the remains of a room surrounded by walls made out of tiles. The fourth chapter delves into livelihood and trade at the castle, which served as a hub for the exchange of eastern and western cultures from being situated at the eastern end of Balhae. The chapter's first section on the livelihood of people at Yeomju Castle offers an ecological analysis of excavated relics. The chapter's second section looks at excavated farming tools like plowshares, scythes, and shovels or fishing equipment such as fish hooks, harpoons, and objects used to hold down fishing nets. The section also presents hunting tools or weapons like spears, spearheads, arrowheads, and scaled armor as well as other tools such as axes, saws, chisels, adzes, and knives, not to mention wheel axles and nails used to make carts. The fourth chapter's final section considers relics excavated from the castle site as evidence that Balhae actively engaged in exchanges with foreign countries and that Yeomju Castle had been a hub for land and sea routes leading to the western and northern regions, Tang China, and Unified Silla.

Cradle of the Korean Diaspora

This publication is the first co-authored book to feature Yeomju Castle and the culture Balhae people lived in. Excavation findings have been thematically rearranged so that the book may serve as a fundamental source for studying Balhae history. The various relics uncovered from excavations amply suggest that at least while the castle remained intact, it played a vital role in the lives of people who resided there as well as in East Asia as a cultural hub. The book will therefore be the first step toward broadening one's historical and archaeological understanding of Balhae's Yeomju Castle. May it be a supplement to the current lack of studies on Balhae history and be used as resource that strengthens the significance of Yeomju Castle in East Asia.