the last stages of the bronze culture of the
Karasuk affinity, the impact of the iron culture
was experienced by ancient Koreans as a
consequence of the rise of Chinese state power.
The rise of Puyo was seen in Manchuria along
with China's developing centralized power.
In the southern part of Korea, tribal leagues of
the Three Han gradually developed to the stage
of state building. Paekche and Shilla were
prominent in the south, Koguryo in the north.
the first century, Koguryo was firmly
established as a state power and destroyed the
Chinese colony Lolang (Nangnang) in 313.
In 342, however, Koguryo's capital fell to the
Chinese Yen. Paekche amassed power while
Koguryo was fighting against the Chinese, and
came into conflict with Koguryo in the late
fourth century. Then came the growth of
Shilla with a more fully organized state power.
was the first to adopt Buddhism as the royal
creed in 372; Paekche, the second in 384; and
Shilla, the last in 528. Buddhist
scriptures in Chinese translation were also
adopted. Koguryo established an academy to
educate the nobility and compiled a state
history consisting of 100 volumes before the
introduction of Buddhism.. Paekche also
compiled its history in the early fourth century
prior to 384. Only Shilla undertood
compilation of its history immediately following
the adoption of Buddhism.
all Three Kingdoms developed highly
sophisticated state organizations on the Korean
Peninsula, adopting Confucian and Buddhist
hierarchical structures with the king at the
pinnacle. State codes were promulgated to
initiate a legal system to rule the people.
In this process, Koguryo annexed Puyo, and
Shilla conquered Kaya. The Three Kingdoms
were competing with each other in strengthening
Buddhist-Confucian state power, in effort toward
serious territorial expansion.
this juncture, Shilla developed its Hwarang
(Flower of Youth Corps), a voluntary military
organization. The Hwarang members
were trained as a group in the arts of war,
literary taste and community life, partly
through pilgrimages. The educational
objectives were: 1) loyalty to the monarch, 2)
filial piety to parents, 3) amicability among
friends, 4) no retreat in war, and 5)
aversion to unnecessary killing. These
objectives were postulated by the famous monk
Won-gwang, who consolidated Buddhist-Confucian
virtues in the education of Shilla youths.
This movement became popular and the corps
contributed to the strength of the Shilla
the youth corps, Shilla was able to amass state
power in the cultural sphere as well. With
the aid of a Paekche architect, it erected a
huge temple, Hwangnyongsa ("Temple of the
Illustrious Dragon"), and a towering pagoda
famous even in China. The 70 meter high
pagoda of Hwangnyongsa stood from 645 until the
Mongol invasion of the 13th century.
Shilla was ready to learn from Koguryo and
Paekche and also dispatched monks to China to
learn about China's culture, especially Chinese
Buddhist doctrine, architecture and Chinese
Shilla was building amicable relations with Tang
China, Koguryo was in fierce conflict with Sui
and Tang. Sui Emperor Yang-ti, after successful
campaigns against the northern nomadic tribes,
invaded Koguryo with more than one million
troops. In 612, Koguryo General Ulchi
Mundok held the fortresses agains Tang0ti's army
and navy for several months and destroyed the
Sui troops in retreat. An ambush at Salsu
(Ch'oongch'don'gang) river allowed only 2,700
Sui troops out of 300,000 men to escape.
Sui fell from power partly as a result of the
defeat by Koguryo.
the rise of Tang, Tai-tsung contemplated revenge
while protecting against invasion by building
fortifications and walls along the Liao River.
In 644, 648 and 655, Tai-tsung attempted
unsuccessful invasions. Tang then turned
to Shilla for assistance.
also persuaded Tang China to come to its aid in
the conquest of Paekche and Koguryo.
Koguryo had earlier defeated Sui Yang-ti, and
Tai-tsung's hostile relationship drove Tang Kao-tsung
to ally itself with Shilla in the campaign
against Paekche and then Koguryo.
late-comer to statehood, Shilla was finally able
to defeat the other two kingdoms, but was unable
to control the whole territory of Koguryo which
extended to Manchuria. Tang's intention
toward Shilla was made clear in the aftermath of
the unification by Shilla. The Paekche
king and his family were taken to Tang in 660
and a Tang general appointed a military governor
to rule the Paekche territory. Koguryo's
last king, his officials and 200,000 prisoners
were also taken to China in 668 and Koguryo's
territory was administered by Tang generals.
Tang Kao-tsung's desires were now evident, and
Shilla was determined to fight against Tang.
The determination of Kim Yu-shin, Shilla's
foremost general who led and marshaled Shilla's
campaigns, counteracted the Chinese instigation
of Paekche and Koguryo to rebel against Shilla.
Shilla commenced active resistance against
Chinese domination in Tang-controlled territory.
In 671, Shilla started its own operations
against Chinese rule and took the Chinese
administrative headquarters, thereby retaking
all of the Paekche territory. China
invaded again in 674 against Shilla, who had
succeeded in quelling the Tang army at Maech'o
Fortress near Yanggu and the Ch'ionsong fortress
at the Yesonggang river near Kaesong.
Shilla's army also successfully drove out the
Tang army from P'yongtang. Nevertheless,
the Chinese army persistently claimed the
territories of Paekche and Koguryo until 676
when they gave in to Shilla's claim of territory
south of the Taedonggang river. Shilla
became a unique state covering most of the
Korean Peninsula and the majority of the people
of the former three states.
Koguryo warrior, Ko Sagye, who was taken by a
Tang general, joined the Tang army. His
son Ko Son-ji had a successful military career
in Tang and conquered Tashkent in the mid-eighth
century, transmitting paper-making technology to
the Arabian countries. The Shilla monk
Hyech'o in 727 visited India for pilgrimages to
historic Buddhist sites in five Indian kingdoms,
an account of which is preserved as an important
historical record about eighth century India.
provided by the Korean Embassy