During the Three Kingdoms period, the Koguryo, Paekje, and Silla kingdoms and Kaya confederate states established hereditary monarchiesand definite borders. Although their beginnings (late 1 st century B.C.) are masked in a haze of uncertainty and myth (legend tells that the first rulers of Koguryo, Silla, and the Pon Kaya state were mysteriously born of eggs), these nations probably became recognizable entities by A.D. 200. After A.D. 200, direct Chinese influence on these emerging states diminished as China struggled with internal problems. A hereditary system of kingship and privileged aristocracy evolved, a state bureaucracy developed to deal with the increasingly complex domestic and foreign situation, explicit laws were promulgated, and military units were strengthened. Animistic and shamanistic beliefs and cultural rituals gained more significance. Buddhism became the state religion and Confucianism its ethical foundation; the first educational institutions were established during this period. Growing interest in literature and the arts spawned the writing of national histories, the development of a writing system that used Chinese characters to phonetically express spoken Korean, and the creation of religious structures. The potter's wheel was introduced, more and diverse metal objects were made, precious stones and glass began to be worked, and burial was done in wooden coffins and earthenware jars. Migration to Japan continued, affecting the formation of its early states by introducing such things as Buddhism and religious books, Confucianism and classic texts, Chinese and Korean political organizational structures, artisans and craftsmen, artistic and architectural designs, Chinese and Korean music and dance, styles of dress, astrology, and calendars.
In the early Common Era, the Three Kingdoms (Goguryeo, Silla, and Baekje) conquered other successor states of Gojoseon and came to dominate the peninsula and much of Manchuria. During this period, Koreans played an important role as a transmitter of cultural advances, aiding the formation of early Japanese culture and politics. Census records from early Japan show that most Japanese aristocratic clans traced their lineage to the Korean peninsula. The current Japanese Emperor stated that "it is recorded in the Chronicles of Japan that the mother of Emperor Kammu was of the line of King Muryeong of Baekje," and "I believe it was fortunate to see such culture and skills transmitted from Korea to Japan."
The Korean kingdoms competed with each other both economically and militarily. While Goguryeo and Baekje were more powerful for much of the era, defeating Chinese invasions several times, Silla's power gradually extended across Korea and it eventually established the first unified state to cover most of Korean peninsula by 676.
Koguryo and the Rise of Paekche
The right to the throne in Koguryo was permanently secured by the Ko house' of the K.yeru lineage in the time of King Taejo (53-146?), and from Kogukch'on (179-196) the processes of strengthening the kingly of centralizing the nation's political structure went ahead rapidly. In the first place, the five tribal enclaves that represented enclaves rrom the earlier traditional society were restructured into five "provillces" (pu), with names that connoted the directions of north, south, ~II!II, west, and center. This signifies the strengthening of the centralized govcrnmental structure. Secondly, succession to the throne on the whole no longer went from brother to brother but changed to a father to son pllttern, and this represents a further enhancement of the power of the kingship. Thirdly, it became established practice for queens to be taken
rrom the Myongnim house of the Yonna (Chollo) lineage. The creation or this special tie between the royal house and a single aristocratic lineage
may be seen as an attempt to place restraint on other potential power centers opposed to the growth of monarchical authority. Such changes as these constitute the setting in which Koguryo pressed ahead with its advance toward the basins of the Liao River to the west and the Taedong River to the south. And eventually, under King Mich'on in 313, Koguryo succeeded in seizing the territory of the Lo-lang Commandery and occupying the Taedong river region. At the same time, however, Koguryo came into sharp confrontation with Paekche, which had pushed northward to gain hold over the former domain of the Tai-fang Commandery in modern
H wanghae province.
It has been noted earlier that Paekche originally developed out of one of the walled-town states (also known as Paekche) that comprised the Mahan area, over which the "Chin-king" had ruled. It is not certain just when this original Paekche emerged as a confederated kingdom incorporating the various walled-town states in the Han river basin. But by the year 246,
when the Lo-lang and Tai-fang commanderies (then under the dominion of Wei of the Chinese Kinlgdoms lanchedched a large-scale attack against the Han River region already was gaining in strength in this area, for thc purpose of the Wei army's attack was to disrupt and consolidation of this new power. In the ensuing warfare the of Tai-fang, Kung Tsun, was killed in battle, and this provides 11'~lIrnony to the strength of this newly emerging power. This surprisingly .lrol1g entity surely was not Mahan but rather the newly confederated kingdom of Paekche led, no doubt, by King Koi (traditional reign dates (286), who is known to have been active in other arenas around this .
King Koi is thought to have been the same historical figure as Kui, the Paekche later was to honor as its founder-king with commemorative ceromonies performed four times yearly. In the twenty-seventh year of hisreign, 260, we are told that six ministers (chwap'yong) were appointed 10 conduct the affairs of state along appropriate functional lines, sixteen 11I'lIdes of official rank were created, and colors for official dress were pre~lribed in accordance with rank. It is further recorded that in 262 King K t ,i decreed that officials who accepted bribes or those guilty of extortionate pillctices would be required to pay three-fold compensation and in addition would be barred from office for life. And the king displayed his majesty hy receiving his subjects bedecked in stunning finery. All this conjures lip a vivid image of a powerful political leader.
The structuring of Paekche into a centralized, aristocratic state appears to have been completed in the reign of King Kiln Ch'ogo (346-375), A
IlII'midable warrior king, in 369 he destroyed Mahan, which by this time Nccms to have moved its capital southward to the modern Iksan area, and look possession of the whole of its territory. Then, in 371, Paekche struck lIorthward into the Koguryo domain as far as P'yongyang, killing the K oguryo king, Kogugwon, in the course of the campaign. Paekche thus 1'lIme to hold sway over a sizeable portion of the Korean Peninsula, induding all the modern provinces of Kyonggi, Ch'ungch'ong, and ChOlla, liS well as parts of H wanghae and Kangwon. Furthermore, King Kiln Ch' ogo Nolidified his international position by making overtures to the Eastern Chin Mtate in the Yangtze river region and to the Wa people in Japan.
It is not surprising that from the time of this warrior king the power of Ihe throne in Paekche came to be increasingly authoritarian. Father to son !luccession to the kingship is thought to have begun from King Kiln Ch'ogo. 1\ was also from his reign that the so-called "age of Chin family queens" began, as Kiln Ch'ogo's immediate successors continued to choose their consorts from this single aristocratic house. Kiln Ch'ogo's command to the Rcholar Kohilng to compile the Sogi, a history of Paekche, clearly reflects Ihe king's desire to exult in his expanded royal authority and his well ordered state, Kiln Ch'ogo was succeeded by Kiln Kusu (375-384), whose death was immediately followed by King Ch'imnyu's adoption of Buddhism (in 384) and the implanting of the new value system of that faith.
Koguryo in Full Flourish
The invasions of the Earlier Yen (founded by the Mu-jung tribe of the Hsien-pei) and of Paekche, both in the time of King Kogugwon, dealt a severe blow to Koguryo. To surmount its difficulties it was necessary for Koguryo to reshape the pattern of its institutions. This task was undertaken by King Sosurim (371-384), who adopted Buddhism and established a National Confucian Academy (the T'aehak) in 372 and in the next year promulgated a code of administrative law. If Buddhism would serve to give the nation spiritual unity, then the National Confucian Academy was essential to the creation of a new bureaucratic structure, and an administrative code would systematize the state structure itself. Unfortunately we do not know the contents of the statutory code enacted at this time, but there is no question that it signifies Koguryo's initial completion of a centralized aristocratic state structure.
These internal arrangements laid the groundwork for the external expansion that presently would ensue. It was King Kwanggaet'o (391-413) who pursued most vigorously the task of adding new domains to Koguryo by conquest. The great military campaigns of this king, whose name literally means "broad expander of domain," are recorded in detail on the huge stone stele still standing at his tomb in Kungnae-song (at modern T'ungkou, on the Manchurian side of the mid-Yalu river), then the capital of Koguryo. According to this inscription, in the course of his reign of just twenty-odd years, King Kwanggaet'o conquered a total of sixty-four fortress domains and 1,400 villages. Leading his cavalry forth across all of Koguryo's land boundaries, he won a succession of notable victories: in the west he occupied Liao-tung, long the focal point of a fierce struggle between Koguryo and both Chinese and non-Chinese states; he subdued the Sushen people, a Tungusic tribe to Koguryo's northeast, thus making himself the master of Manchuria; to the south he attacked Paekche, extending Koguryo's frontier into the region between the Imjin and Han rivers; and far to the southeast, in the Naktong river basin, he crushed a Wu Japanese force attacking Silla. Kwanggaet'o instituted his own era namc, Yongnak ("Eternal Rejoicing"), thus arrogating to Koguryo a statuM of equality with China. After his death he was honored with a long eulogist it' title that, with abundant good reason, proclaimed his awesome kingly achievements.
Kwanggaet'o was succeeded by King Changsu ("the long-lived;" 41l
491), who during his seventy-nine years on the throne continued hlft father's enterprises and brought Koguryo to its flourishing height. I II' held China in check by employing a diplomatic strategy of maintaininA! ties with both the Northern and Southern Dynasties, thus enabling him to manipulate these two contending forces to Koguryo's advantngr
And in 427 he transferred the Koguryo capital to P'yongyang, creating 11 new epicenter for the nation. This move from a region of narrow valleys to a broad riverine plain indicates that the capital could no longer remain primarily a military encampment but had to be developed into a metropolitan center for the nation's political, economic, and social life. And indeed this period saw the perfecting of Koguryo's political, economic, and other institutional arrangements.
The shift of Koguryo's capital far southward to P'yongyang of course posed a serious threat to Paekche and Silla. The alliance that these two now forged (in 433), as well as Paekche's embassy to the Chinese Northern Wei kingdom in 472 to appeal for military support against Koguryo's southward aggression, were developments dictated by the acute peril Paekche, in particular, faced. But in vain, for in 475 Koguryo seized the Paekche capital at Hansong (modern Kwangju just south of Seoul), captured King Kaero, and beheaded him. Paekche moved its capital south to Ungjin (modern Kongju), barely managing to preserve its national existence. The Koguryo dominion thus had come to extend southward to a line drawn from the area of Chungnyong Pass (linking modern North Kyongsang and North Ch'ungch'ong provinces) to the Bay of Namyang [see map p. 39]. Koguryo had fashioned a great empire with well functioning institutional machinery, embracing a vast territory stretching far into Manchuria and the Korean Peninsula, and so now came to contend for supremacy on the field of battle with China.
The Rise of Silla and Kaya
As already narrated, Silla evolved out of Saro, one of the twelve walledtown states in the Chinhan area of southeastern Korea. This state of Saro took the lead in forming a confederated structure with the other walledtown states in the region, and it is thought that the appearance of the first ruler from the Sok clan, King T'arhae (traditional dates 57-80 A.D.), marks the beginning of this gradual process. By the time of King Naemul (356402), then, a rather large confederated kingdom had taken shape, controlling the region east of the Naktong River in modern North Kyongsang province. Through both conquest and federation, Saro now had reached the stage where it rapidly would transform itself into the kingdom of Silla. Naemul, the central figure in this unfolding historical drama, adopted a title befitting his new position as the ruler of a kingdom. Instead of isagum ("successor prince"), the term used by his predecessors, Naemul took the title maripkan, a term based on a word meaning "ridge" or "elevation." From this point on, the kingship no longer alternated among three royal houses but was monopolized on a hereditary basis by Naemul's Kim clan. In the course of his reign Naemul sought help from Koguryo in thwarting the designs of Paekche, which was making use of both Kaya and Japanese Wa forces to harass the fledgling Silla kingdom. This effort was successful, but it led to a slowing of the pace of Silla's development.
The lower reaches of the Naktong River, where Knyn emerged, originally
were the territory of the twelve "states" of Pyonhan. These had not come under the dominion of the "Chin-king" but through confederation had formed an independent entity. Among the original twelve states, Kuya at modern Kimhae honored Suro as its first king and developed into the
Pon ("original") Kaya kingdom, while in the region of Koryong the Mio
yama state accepted Ijinasi as its first ruler and evolved into Tae ("great")
Kaya [see maps pp. 25 and 39]. Pon Kaya and Tae Kaya then joined with
Ihe other walled-town states in the lower Naktong region to form the Kaya federation.
With its Naktong River location, Kaya (and in particular Pon Kaya at Ihe mouth of the river) engaged in vigorous maritime activities, main
taining contacts far up the western coast of the peninsula with the Chinese
commanderies of Lo-Iang and Tai-fang, northward along the east coast
with the Ye people, and southward with the Wa in Japan. But Kaya was
caught between Silla and Paekche, and the struggle between those two
kingdoms rendered it impossible for Kaya to achieve full political and
Rocietal development. Moreover, when Paekche brought in Wa troops to
nttack Silla by way of Kaya, Silla and Kaya came into sharp conflict and
Ihis eventually led to the dispatch of a force by Koguryo's King Kwang
gnct'o in support of Silla (400 A.D.). Thereafter Kaya came under persist
ent harassment from Silla, until first Pon Kaya, in 532, and then Tae Kaya,
111 562, succumbed to Silla's growing might. The other petty states in the lower Naktong region suffered the same fate, thus bringing about the
downfall of the Kaya federation.
The Flourishing of Silla and the Resurgence of Paekche
Silla had taken the step of fixing the right to the kingship in the house of Kim in the time of King Naemul, and before long, with the reign of Nulchi
(417-458), the pattern of father to son succession to the throne was estab
lI~hcd. Shortly thereafter the six clan communities were reorganized into
ndministrative "districts" (pu), bringing a step closer to fruition the design
for centralization of governmental authority. It is not clear just when this
I'l~structuring was carried out, but it appears to have been under King
('Iulbi (458-479) or King Soji (479-500), that is, sometime in the latter half
of the fifth century. The establishment of post stations throughout the
vountry and the opening of markets in the capital where the products
or different locales might be traded were among the consequences, no
,Inubt, of such a centralizing thrust in SiIla's governance of its domain.
Mcanwhile, to counter the pressure being exerted on its frontiers by Koguryo,
SllIn had concluded an alliance with Paekche, in 433. It was under King
('Iulbi, most likely, that Silla was able to fully free itself from Koguryo's
Inlcrrcrence in its internal affairs, and in the process SiIla's ties with
PUl'kchc bccame further strengthened. The fact that Silla forged marriage
IICII with King Tongsong of Paekche after the transfer of the Paekche
capital to Ungjin in 475 is recounted in a well known tale, and in the ensuing years the two countries carried out joint military operations on several occasions.
Having experienced these domestic and external developments, Silla finally completed the structuring of a centralized aristocratic state in the reign of King Pophung (514-540). Under his predecessor, King Chijung (500-514), Silla had achieved important advances in its agricultural technology, as plowing by oxen was introduced and, from about this same time, irrigation works were carried out extensively. The resulting increase in agricultural production must have been one factor in promoting change in Silla society. In the political sphere, then, the nation's name was declared to be "Silla" and the Chinese term wang ("king") was adopted in place of the native title of maripkan. These Sinifications were not merely terminological changes but reflected Silla's readiness to accept China's advanced political institutions. Another significant political development of this pcriod was the emergence of the Pak clan as the source of queens for Silla's kings.
The foundation thus having been readied, an administrative structure fully characteristic of a centralized aristocratic state was created in Silla in the rcign of King Pophung. The clearest indication of this development is the promulgation of a code of administrative law in 520. Although its provisions are not known with certainty, it is believed to have included such hnsic regulations as those delineating the seventeen-grade office rank structure, prescribing proper attire for the officialdom, and instituting the k olp 'um ("bone-rank") system. The adoption of an independent era name, 1\ lJnwon ("Initiated Beginning"), in 536 also is deserving of note, for it is
('vidence of the firm establishment of royal authority within Silla and of Silla's confident view of itself as a nation of equal standing in its internation111 community even with China. The official adoption of Buddhism as the _llIte religion, sometime between 527 and 535, is another memorable event of King PophUng's reign. This provided an ideological underpinning for IIIILional unity and solidarity in the newly centralized Silla state.
At this point it became possible for Silla too to go on the offensive in its II-Illtions with its neighbors. To be sure, this expansionist process had been lit work over a considerable period of time. King Chijung had subjugated 'Jftlln (the Eastern Sea island of Ullung) in 512, and then in 532 King I'ophung had conquered Pon Kaya (the modern Kimhae region), thus rr~llting a springboard for advance northwestward in the Naktong river 11I,,,in, But it was King ChinhUng (540-576) who pushed ahead most vigor1II1!lly with Silla's territorial expansion. In 551 Silla attacked the Koguryo domllin in the Han river basin region, in concert with King Song, the IIl'I'hitect of Paekche's recent resurgence. The ten counties in the upper Il'lIdlCS of the Han thus fell to Silla, and before long Silla drove Paekche ItIl'Cl~S out of the lower Han region, thus securing for itself the whole of the 111111 river basin, The enraged King Song then launched a frontal assault on
Silla in 554 but was himself killed in battle at Kwansan Fortress (modern Okch'on). The Silla-Paekche alliance, which had endured for 120 years, at last was sundered. Silla's occupation of the Han river basin not only brought with it additional human and material resources but was important as well for providing a gateway through which Silla might communicate with China across the Yellow Sea. In 562, moreover, King Chinhiing destroyed Tae Kaya (the modern Koryong area), thus completing Silla's acquisition of the fertile Naktong river basin. In the northeast, too, Chinhiing advanced SiIla's frontiers into the Hamhiing plain. The four monument stones erected at Ch'angnyong, Pukhan-san, Hwangch'o Pass, and Maun Pass [see map p. 42] to mark the monarch's personal tour of inspection of his new frontiers offer eloquent testimony to Chinhiing's achievements as a conqueror king.
Paekche, it will be recalled, had been forced to move its capital southward to Ungjin (modern Kongju) in 475 and for a time faced a threat to its very existence. Through the efforts of King Tongsong (479-501) and King Muryong (501-523), however, Paekche's fortunes somewhat revived. It was around this time that twenty-two districts (tamno) were created in the regions outside the capital and a prince or other member of the royal family enfeoffed in each in an effort to strengthen national unity. But if a foundation for renewed national development were to be laid, it was essential for Paekche to escape the confines of the mountain-ringed Ungjin and administer its domain from a new capital more favorably located. With this objective in mind King Song (523-554) moved his capital to Sabi, on the broad plain at modern Puyo, and at the same time he renamed his kingdom "Southern Puyo." It is believed likely that the system of twenty-two separate central government offices and a territorial administrative structure consisting of five capital districts (pu) and five provinces (pang) came into being in conjunction with the removal of the capital to Puyo. Furthermore, King Song entrusted Kyomik and other monks with the task of fostering the spread of Buddhism, thus to make firm the nation's spiritual foundation. At the same time he further strengthened Paekche's ties with the Southern Dynasties of China.
Having restructured his kingdom and built up its strength, King Song now turned his efforts toward recovery of Paekche's former territory in the Han river basin. To this end he made a pact with King Chinhiing of SiIlu and, taking advantage of internal dissension in Koguryo, struck northward. With the occupation of the lower reaches of the Han, he had for the moment attained his objective, but when Silla unexpectedly seized this fruit of his long and arduous endeavors, King Song saw his dreams end in failure.
Enraged, the Paekche king tried to strike back at Silla but was himself killed in battle, as we have seen. Thereafter Paekche looked upon Silla as its mortal enemy and, making common cause with its former foe, Koguryo, launched one attack after another against Silla.