History of Tsushima

The history of Tsushima is long and well-recorded yet surprisingly mysterious to most outsiders. Spanning thousands of years from before the Common Era to the modern day, the history of Tsushima is usually divided into certain periods.

The Period System
Historical Tsushiman chronology has traditionally divided its country's history into periods, roughly coinciding with the periods of Austronesian colonization, Chinese domination, Japanese domination, and Mongol and Wokou domination. This would become standardized during the Dutch colonization of Tsushima and Jeju with historian Nicolaas van der Velde labelling these the "Pre-Sinitic", "Sinitic", "Japonic", and "Mongolo-Piratic" periods. The terminology would vary until 1971 when Chinese historian Zhao Guiying gave them more Sinocentric names, as well as added two periods corresponding to the Dutch colonization and to the modern era.

Taoguan Period
The Pre-Chinese Period encompasses all time before the Voyage of the Three Thousand, approximately corresponding to the years Before the Common Era or Before Christ (BCE / BC). The name comes from the Chinese word for clay pot, 陶罐 (táoguàn), as evidence for this period's culture commonly includes clay pots.

This marked by the first settling of the island by Austronesian settlers in the Austronesian colonization of Tsushima. Settlers sailed along the warm Kuroshio, Ryukyu, and Tsushima currents to establish villages in the Ryukyu Islands, southern Japan, and of course Jeju and Tsushima. Evidence of their settlement can be confirmed through numerous archeological finds, notably of clay pots which resemble the ones of the Lapita culture more than that of the Japanese Yayoi culture. Another common artifact is the Bamboo slip,

The language spoken by these settlers was Proto-Donghainese, with Proto-Tsushiman specifically spoken in Tsushima (and possibly Jeju).

Sanqian Period
The Sanqian Period is the second period of Tsushiman history, marked by the Voyage of the Three Thousand led by Wang Xiang. It is named after this event; 三千 (sānqiān) literally means "three thousand". The voyage, recorded in a historical record of the same name, states that Wang Xiang, local nobles, and approximately three thousand of their subjects as well as other villagers fled their homes across the coast of northern China to flee from the persecution of Wang Mang, the Emperor Jujun of the short-lived Xin Dynasty. They landed in Tsushima, assimilated into the local culture, and established a small trading community.

Tsushima as a polity prospered, importing products from China, Japan, and Korea. The inclusion of scribes and monks among the Three Thousand led to the island maintaining an outstandingly preserved historical record, showing the transcription of the language - known as Classical Tsushiman - as well as the proselytization of Confucianism and Taoism among the island's native inhabitants.

The Ān Period ended in the seventh century AD when the island was annexed by Japan.

Anaheka Period


The Anaheka Period is the period when Tsushima was under Japanese rule, from the end of the Ān Period in the seventh century AD to the thirteenth century AD. Its name is an acronym of the periods of Japanese period that this time period coincides with: the Asuka Period, Nara Period, Heian Period, and Kamakura Period. (The Hakuhō Period is excluded as it overlaps with the Asuka Period, and is not fully agreed upon to be a separate time period.)