Soga Clan - Connection To Buddhism and Korea

Connection To Buddhism and Korea

Soga no Iname's ancestors names Soga no Koma (蘇我 高麗) and Soga no Karako (蘇我 韓子) are references in Chinese characters to Goguryeo(高句麗) and Gaya region of southern Korea (加倻) respectively.

Having close ties with the Baekje and Goguryeo of Korea, the Soga clan supported the spread of Buddhism when it was first introduced in Japan during the 6th century by monks from the Korean kingdom of Baekje. Many Japanese at the time, disliking foreign ideas and believing that this new religion might be an affront to the traditional "kami", or Shinto gods, opposed Buddhism. The rival Mononobe and Nakatomi clans succeeded in gathering hostility against this new religion when a disease spread, following the arrival of a Buddhist statue. It was claimed the epidemic was a sign of anger by the local spirits and the Soga temple at the palace was burned down.

During Soga no Umako's time of influence, the capital was temporarily transferred to Kudara Palace (named after "Baekje Palace") in what is now Kōryō, Nara.

The Soga family, however, firmly believed that the most civilized people believed in Buddhism and continued to actively promote it, placing a holy image of the Buddha in a major Shinto shrine. Soga no Iname claimed that Buddhism brought with it a new form of government that would subvert the independence of the clans, unifying the Japanese people under the emperor. After fifty years of ideological war, Buddhism, defended and protected by the Soga, began to take hold in Japan.

The Soga clan had much contact with foreigners, including the Koreans and the Chinese. They favored the adoption of Buddhism and of governmental and cultural models based on Chinese Confucianism.