Palhae’s famous poet Pae Jong

Palhae’s famous poet Pae Jong

Pae Jong was well-known not only to Palhae people but also to Japanese people thanks to his poetic talent in the 9th century.

In 883 when he visited Japan, the Japanese officials were struck by his literary talent while reciting the poem composed by him. That time, the person who was known to be a man of wide knowledge and a good writer in Japan was Sukawarano Miztijane. He thought that the Japanese literary persons ought to receive his poem in a reverent attitude since Pae Jong was the able poet who composed the poem for a short time. So he used to hold the banquets and hold the poem-composing gatherings in Hungryo restaurant for Pae Jong. One official of Mino district who was called “the prince of poets” in Japan that time said that Pae Jong’s impromptu poem was a “rare treasure” “which impressed it as a sharped edged knife”. Pae Jong stayed in Japan for about 10 days and composed about 59 poems in this period. The Japanese king was also struck by Pae Jong’s poetic talent and imposing air and gave him the prize several times. Later, Pae Jong’s son, Pae Ku grew into an able writer. In 908, the Japanese king retrospected on Pae Jong in his letter to Pae Ku.

The above facts show that Palhae’s culture had a great effect on the development of the Japanese culture.