An outline, era by era

Korea

Three Kingdoms (Goguryeo, Baekje, Silla)

Classical Antiquity · ~500 BCE – ~500 CE

The Three Kingdoms period of Korea runs from about the first century BCE to 668 CE. It takes its name from three states on the Korean peninsula and in southern Manchuria: Goguryeo in the north, Baekje in the southwest and Silla in the southeast. Each grew out of earlier local chiefdoms and confederations, and each built a centralised kingdom with a royal house, a ranked aristocracy, law codes and a court that adopted Buddhism.

Goguryeo, the largest and most martial of the three, fought the Chinese dynasties for centuries. Baekje was a maritime power with close ties to the Chinese south and to Japan. Silla, the last to centralise, later conquered its rivals with Tang Chinese help. Alongside them, the small Gaya states in the Nakdong valley were absorbed by Baekje and Silla. The period matters because it shaped the language, religion, statecraft and cultural identity of later Korea, and because Silla's unification in 668 started the first lasting unified Korean state.

Things happened, and the rest is history

  1. Gojoseon and the Han conquest of 108 BCE

    Event

    What happened

    By the early second century BCE a state called Joseon controls the northwest of the peninsula, and Chinese sources say a man named Wiman took its throne around 194 BCE. In 109 BCE Emperor Wu of Han sends an army against it after a dispute over its dealings with the surrounding peoples. In 108 BCE Han forces take its capital, Wanggeom, and set up four commanderies, including Lelang.

    The rest is history

    The Han commanderies brought Chinese administration, writing and trade goods to the peninsula, and the local peoples were influenced by them as well as by resistance to them. Most of the commanderies were soon lost or reduced, but Lelang survived until 313 CE, when Goguryeo conquered it. Historians generally see this Chinese presence as one stimulus to state formation among Korean peoples. It is documented in Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian, which was completed around 94 BCE.

    Sources

    1. PrimarySima Qian. Shiji (Records of the Grand Historian), chapter 115, account of Chaoxian (Joseon). Chinese history, c. 94 BCE.
    2. BookLee, Ki-baik. A New History of Korea. Translated by Edward W. Wagner and Edward J. Shultz. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1984.
    3. BookPai, Hyung Il. Constructing Korean Origins. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Asia Center, 2000.

  2. Goguryeo takes Lelang and grows

    Event

    What happened

    Goguryeo emerges in the middle Yalu valley and the Hun river region in the first centuries BCE and CE. Its kings move their capital to Gungnae, near present-day Ji'an, in the early first century CE according to later records. In 313 CE King Micheon conquers Lelang and in 314 CE takes Daifang, ending the Chinese commanderies on the peninsula.

    The rest is history

    With the commanderies gone, Goguryeo controlled the northern peninsula and could draw on their skilled people and traditions. In 372 it adopted Buddhism and founded a state academy, and its kings issued codes of law. In the late fourth and fifth centuries Gwanggaeto and his son Jangsu expanded its territory. Jangsu moved the capital to Pyongyang in 427. A large stele raised at Ji'an in 414 records Gwanggaeto's campaigns.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryGwanggaeto Stele. Inscribed stone monument at Ji'an, erected 414 CE.
    2. PrimaryKim Busik. Samguk sagi (History of the Three Kingdoms). Korean chronicle, 1145 CE.
    3. BookByington, Mark E. The Ancient State of Puyŏ in Northeast Asia. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Asia Center, 2016.

  3. Baekje's rise and its ties across the sea

    Event

    What happened

    Baekje grows from a chiefdom in the Han river region, with Wirye-seong, near modern Seoul, as an early centre. In the fourth century King Geunchogo expands its power, and the kingdom exchanges envoys with the Chinese courts and with the Wa of Japan. In 475 Goguryeo captures its capital and kills King Gaero, and Baekje moves south to Ungjin, later to Sabi.

    The rest is history

    Baekje became an important channel carrying Chinese learning, Buddhism and craft skills to Japan. The Nihon shoki, compiled in 720, records Baekje sending Buddhist images and scriptures to the Yamato court in the sixth century, though its exact date is debated. The tomb of King Muryeong, found intact at Gongju in 1971, held rich gold ornaments and an epitaph stone naming him and giving his death in 523.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryEpitaph stone of King Muryeong. Tomb inscription, Gongju, 525 CE.
    2. PrimaryNihon shoki. Japanese court chronicle, 720 CE.
    3. BookBest, Jonathan W. A History of the Early Korean Kingdom of Paekche. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Asia Center, 2006.

  4. Silla's centralisation and Buddhism

    Event

    What happened

    Silla begins as one of the twelve small states of Jinhan around Gyeongju, ruled by a council of aristocratic clans. It develops a ranking system for the nobility called the bone-rank system and its kings take the title maripgan. In 520 King Beopheung issues administrative codes, and in 527 or 528 Buddhism is officially accepted at his court.

    The rest is history

    Under Jinheung (r. 540 to 576) Silla expanded, taking the upper Han river from Baekje and absorbing the Gaya state of Daegaya in 562. It later allied with Tang China against Baekje and Goguryeo. The Samguk sagi gives these dates, and a stele raised at Jungseong in 501 and others of Jinheung's reign confirm Silla's early government in contemporary inscriptions.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryPongpyeong Silla stele. Inscribed stone, Ulchin, 524 CE.
    2. PrimaryKim Busik. Samguk sagi (History of the Three Kingdoms). Korean chronicle, 1145 CE.
    3. BookKim, Djun Kil. The History of Korea. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2005.

  5. Goguryeo repels the Sui armies

    Event

    What happened

    In 612 the Sui emperor Yang sends a very large army against Goguryeo. It is checked at the Liaodong fortress and a force sent toward Pyongyang is defeated by General Eulji Mundeok at the Salsu river. Further campaigns in 613 and 614 also fail.

    The rest is history

    The failed campaigns strained the Sui dynasty, which collapsed in 618. The Tang that followed attacked Goguryeo in 645 and again later, and eventually, allied with Silla, ended it in 668. The Salsu battle is recorded in Chinese histories and in the Samguk sagi, though the numbers given for armies are generally treated as unreliable.

    Sources

    1. PrimarySuishu (History of the Sui). Chinese dynastic history, compiled 636 CE.
    2. PrimaryKim Busik. Samguk sagi (History of the Three Kingdoms). Korean chronicle, 1145 CE.
    3. BookEckert, Carter J., and others. Korea Old and New: A History. Seoul: Ilchokak, 1990.

  6. Jumong and the founding of Goguryeo

    Origin story

    The legend

    Jumong, also called Dongmyeong, is born from an egg to Yuhwa, daughter of the river god, who was impregnated by sunlight. He is a gifted archer. Threatened by jealous princes of Buyeo, he flees south with companions, crosses a river when fish and turtles form a bridge, and founds Goguryeo in 37 BCE.

    The rest is history

    The story appears in the Gwanggaeto Stele of 414, in Chinese sources, and in much later Korean works, including the Samguk sagi and the Samguk yusa. Goguryeo's rulers used it to link their line to Buyeo and the sky. Buyeo was a real state in Manchuria, and Goguryeo's emergence in the Yalu region in the first century BCE is supported by Chinese records. The founding date of 37 BCE comes from the 1145 Samguk sagi and is not confirmed by contemporary evidence.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryGwanggaeto Stele. Inscribed stone monument at Ji'an, erected 414 CE.
    2. PrimaryKim Busik. Samguk sagi (History of the Three Kingdoms). Korean chronicle, 1145 CE.
    3. BookKim, Djun Kil. The History of Korea. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2005.

  7. Dangun and the first Korean kingdom

    Origin story

    The legend

    Hwanung, son of the heavenly lord Hwanin, descends to Mount Taebaek. A bear and a tiger pray to become human, and the bear, which endures a hundred days in a cave eating only mugwort and garlic, becomes a woman. She bears Hwanung's son Dangun, who founds Joseon in 2333 BCE.

    The rest is history

    The tale was first written down in the Samguk yusa, compiled by the monk Iryeon around 1281, which cites older sources now lost. It became a national founding story, especially in modern times. The traditional date of 2333 BCE has no archaeological support. Real early states in the region are known only from Chinese records, beginning with Joseon in the first millennium BCE.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryIryeon. Samguk yusa (Memorabilia and Mirabilia of the Three Kingdoms). Korean text, c. 1281 CE.
    2. BookPai, Hyung Il. Constructing Korean Origins. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Asia Center, 2000.
    3. BookLee, Peter H., ed. Sourcebook of Korean Civilization, Volume 1. New York: Columbia University Press, 1993.

  8. Park Hyeokgeose born from an egg

    Origin story

    The legend

    Six village chiefs of Jinhan gather and see a white horse bowing beside a glowing well. It leaves behind a large egg, and from it a boy emerges, bright and radiant. They name him Hyeokgeose and make him king of Seorabeol, founding Silla in 57 BCE.

    The rest is history

    The story appears in the Samguk sagi and Samguk yusa, both written more than a thousand years later. It reflects Silla's origin as a union of six clans in the Gyeongju basin. The royal house later changed: kings came from the Park, Seok and Kim families, and the Kim line held the throne from the late fourth century. Contemporary inscriptions show that Silla's early rulers used the title maripgan, and the 57 BCE date is traditional rather than verified.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryIryeon. Samguk yusa (Memorabilia and Mirabilia of the Three Kingdoms). Korean text, c. 1281 CE.
    2. PrimaryKim Busik. Samguk sagi (History of the Three Kingdoms). Korean chronicle, 1145 CE.
    3. BookLee, Ki-baik. A New History of Korea. Translated by Edward W. Wagner and Edward J. Shultz. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1984.

  9. Queen Heo and the founding of Geumgwan Gaya

    Origin story

    The legend

    In 42 CE, nine chiefs on the Nakdong river hear a voice from Mount Guji and find six golden eggs, from which six boys hatch. The first, Suro, becomes king of Geumgwan Gaya. Later a princess named Heo Hwang-ok sails from a faraway land called Ayuta and marries him.

    The rest is history

    The tale is in the Samguk yusa, compiled about 1281, quoting an older local record. The Gaya states were real: a loose group of polities in the Nakdong valley, known for iron production and for trade with Japan and the Chinese commanderies. Archaeology at Daeseong-dong tombs in Gimhae shows rich burials of the fourth and fifth centuries. Some scholars see the Ayuta story as a memory of overseas contact, though its origin is debated. Silla absorbed Geumgwan Gaya in 532.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryIryeon. Samguk yusa (Memorabilia and Mirabilia of the Three Kingdoms). Korean text, c. 1281 CE.
    2. BookBarnes, Gina L. State Formation in Korea: Historical and Archaeological Perspectives. Richmond: Curzon, 2001.
    3. BookLee, Peter H., ed. Sourcebook of Korean Civilization, Volume 1. New York: Columbia University Press, 1993.

← Back to the outline