Jin was an early Iron Age state which occupied some portion of the southern Korean peninsula during the 2nd and 3rd centuries BCE, at the time when Wiman Joseon occupied the peninsula’s northern half. It appears in various Chinese chronicles including the San guo zhi, as sending occasional embassies to the court of the Han Dynasty. These records also sometimes refer to Jin as Gaeguk or Gaemaguk, which appears to mean "Kingdom of armored horses." Its capital was located somewhere south of the Han River.

To what degree Jin was an organized state is not clear. It seems likely that it was a federation of small states much like those which covered the southern Korean peninsula during the subsequent Samhan period. Clearly, for the state to be able to contend with Wiman Joseon and send embassies to the court of Han, there was probably some level of stable central authority. Lee (1984, p. 24) also suggests that the kingdom's attempt to open direct contacts "suggests a strong desire on the part of Chin [Jin] to enjoy the benefits of Chinese metal culture." However, for the most part Wiman Joseon prevented direct contact between Jin and China.

The last king of Gojoseon, King Jun , is reported to have fled to Jin after Wei Man seized his throne and established Wiman Joseon. Lee (1984, loc. cit.) sees this as part of a general pattern of refugee movement at this time, which also led to increased technological development in the southern Korean peninsula. Refugees moved south after the fall of Gojoseon, and again a century later after the fall of Wiman Joseon.

Archeologically, the Jin state is commonly identified with the Korean bronze dagger culture, which succeeded the Liaoning bronze dagger culture in the late first millennium BCE. The most abundant finds from this culture have been in southwestern Korea’s Chungcheong and Jeolla regions. This suggests that the Jin state was based in the same area, which roughly coincides with the fragmentary historical evidence. Artifacts of the culture are found throughout southern Korea and were also exported to the Yayoi people of Kyushu, Japan (Lee, 1996).

The Jin state disappears from historical records after the fall of Wiman Joseon. It was succeeded by the Samhan or "Three Hans." The Jin name continued to be used in the name of the Jinhan confederacy and in the name "Byeonjin," an alternate term for Byeonhan. In addition, for some time the leader of Mahan continued to call himself the "Jin king," asserting nominal overlordship over all of the Samhan tribes.

See also

• History of Korea
• List of Korea-related topics

References

Lee, C.-k. (1996). The bronze dagger culture of Liaoning province and the Korean peninsula. Korea Journal 36(4), 17-27. [1]

Lee, K.-b. (1984). A new history of Korea. Tr. by E.W. Wagner & E.J. Schulz, based on the 1979 rev. ed. Seoul: Ilchogak. ISBN 89-337-0204-0.