百濟

Two traditional explanations are recorded in early sources:

初以百家濟海，因號百濟。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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初以百家济海，因号百济。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: 隋書·東夷 百濟

Chū yǐ bǎi jiā jì hǎi, yīn hào bǎi jì. [Pinyin]

At first, they ferried a hundred households across the sea; therefore they were named “Baekje”.

國號十濟…後以來時百姓樂從，改號百濟。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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国号十济…后以来时百姓乐从，改号百济。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: 三國史記·卷二十三·百濟本紀 第一

Guó hào shí jì... Hòu yǐ lái shí bǎi xìng yuè cóng, gǎi hào bǎi jì. [Pinyin]

The state was initially named “Shíjì” (Ten Ji); later, because many commoners gladly followed them at the time of their coming, it was renamed “Bǎijì” (Hundred Ji).

Both are etiological accounts found in traditional histories.

By surface analysis, 百 (“hundred”) +‎ 濟 / 济 (“to ferry across; to aid”)

百濟

1. (historical) Baekje (an ancient kingdom in modern Korea, one of the Three Kingdoms, existing from 18 BCE to 660 CE; at its maximum covering most of modern western South Korea)

• 高句麗／高句丽 (Gāogōulí)
• 新羅／新罗 (Xīnluó)

百濟 • (Baekje) (hangeul 백제)

1. hanja form^? of 백제

From Old Korean 居陀羅 (*Kutara, name of an important place in Baekje territory).^[1]

The kanji spelling is an orthographic borrowing from Middle Chinese 百濟 (MC paek tsejH).

百濟 (Kudara) (kana くだら)

1. Baekje (an ancient kingdom in modern Korea, one of the Three Kingdoms, existing from 18 BCE to 660 CE; at its maximum covering most of modern western South Korea)
   • c. 759, Man’yōshū, book 8, poem 1431:
     , text here

     百濟野乃芽古枝爾待春跡居之鶯鳴爾鷄鵡鴨

     Kudara-no₁ no₂ pagi₂ puruye ni paru matu to₂ worisi ugupi₁su naki₁nike₁mu ka mo

     At the field of Baekje with the bush clover’s old branch, I have sat with a nightingale waiting for spring; I should have been crying!

• 狛 (Ko₂ma, “Goguryeo”)
• 新羅 (Siraki₂, “Silla”)

• 百濟王 (Kudara no₂ ko₂niki₁si)

• Japanese: 百済 (Kudara)

百濟

1. chữ Hán form of Bách Tế: (historical) Baekje (an ancient kingdom in modern Korea, one of the Three Kingdoms, existing from 18 BCE to 660 CE; at its maximum covering most of modern western South Korea)

• 高句麗 (Cao Câu Ly/Cao Câu Li)
• 新羅 (Tân La)