River-Faring and Seafaring in Bohai

Bohai State (698–926) stretched across a large territory and included the South-East Manchuria (People’s Republic of China), North Korean Peninsula (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) and South-West Primorsky Territory (Russia). Written sources maintain little data on river-faring and sea navigation of Bohai people. Only archaeological data can help directly or indirectly describe one of the key fields of Bohai economy. The assessed nature conditions and climate allow to acknowledge the region in question as a favourable one for utilizing sea and river routes and resources. Chinese and Japanese chronicles tell about diplomatic relations between Bohai people and their neighbors, about numerous embassies Bohai people exchanged with the Tang-Dynasty China and Japan. Bohai people travelled to states in the Korean Peninsula including sea states. There are parted tangible remains of such exchanges that were not just political, but also economic. Locals actively utilized biological resources of the water bodies (fish, sea and freshwater mussels, sea salt, pearls, marine mammals, seaweed, etc.). One of the essential sea ports and administrative centres was Yanzhou district of the Capital province (Kraskinskoye walled town). It was a hub for local and international trade and served as the ‘sea gate’ of Bohai. It has been studied by many Russian archaeologists for decades.