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The 'Three Kingdoms Period of Korea' () includes the Korean kingdoms of Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla, which dominated the Korean peninsula and parts of Manchuria for much of the 1st millennium CE. Historians claim that the Three Kingdoms period ran from the 1st century BCE (specifically 57 BC) until Silla's triumph over Goguryeo in 668, which marked the beginning of the ''North and South States period'' (남북국시대) of Unified Silla in the South and Balhae in the North.
The earlier part of this period, before the three states developed into full-fledged kingdoms, is sometimes called Proto-Three Kingdoms of Korea.

Contents

Background

Goguryeo

Baekje

Silla

Other states

Unification

Archaeological perspectives on the Three Kingdoms of Korea

See also

References

Background

The name "Three Kingdoms" was used in the Korean titles of the histories ''Samguk Sagi'' (12th century) and ''Samguk Yusa'' (13th century), and should not be confused with the Chinese Three Kingdoms recorded nearly a millennium earlier.
The three city-states were founded soon after the fall of Choson, and gradually conquered and absorbed various other small states and confederacies. After the fall of Gojoseon, the Han dynasty established four commanderies in northern parts of the Korean peninsula. Three fell quickly to the Samhan, and the last was destroyed by Goguryeo in 313.
Baekje and Silla expanded within the Samhan confederacies, and Goguryeo conquered neighboring Buyeo, Okjeo, Dongye, and other statelets in northern Korea and Manchuria. The three became full-fledged kingdoms by around 300 CE, prior to which is sometimes called the Proto-Three Kingdoms period.
All three kingdoms shared a similar culture and language. Their original religions appear to have been shamanistic, but they were increasingly influenced by Chinese culture, particularly Confucianism and Taoism. In the 4th century, Buddhism was introduced to the peninsula and spread rapidly, briefly becoming the official religion of all three kingdoms.

Goguryeo

Main articles: Goguryeo


Goguryeo emerged on the north and south banks of the Yalu (Amrok) River, in the wake of Choson's fall. The first mention of Goguryeo in Chinese records dates from 75 BCE in reference to a commandery established by the Chinese Han dynasty, although even earlier mentions of "Guri" may be of the same state. Evidence indicates Goguryeo was the most advanced, and likely the first established, of the three kingdoms.
Goguryeo, eventually the largest of the three kingdoms, had several capitals in alternation: two capitals in the upper Yalu area, and later Nangrang (樂浪: ''Nak-Rang'' in Korean) which is now part of Pyongyang. At the beginning, the state was located on the border with China; it gradually expanded into Manchuria and destroyed the Chinese Nak-Rang commandery in 313 CE. The cultural influence of the Chinese continued as Buddhism was adopted as the official religion in 372 CE.
The kingdom was at its zenith in the fifth century during the rule of King Gwanggaeto and his son Jangsu in their campaign against China in Manchuria. For the next century or so, Goguryeo was the dominant kingdom in the Korean peninsula.^[1] Goguryeo eventually occupied the Liaodong Plains in Manchuria and today's Seoul area. Goguryeo controlled not only Koreans but also Chinese and other Tungusic tribes in Manchuria and North Korea. After the establishment of the Sui Dynasty and later the Tang Dynasty in China, the kingdom continued to suffer from Chinese attacks until conquered by an allied Silla-Tang forces in 668 CE.

Baekje

Main articles: Baekje

Baekje was founded as a member of the Mahan confederacy. Two sons of Goguryeo's founder are recorded to have fled a succession conflict, to establish Baekje around the present western Korean peninsula.
Baekje absorbed or conquered other Mahan chiefdoms and, at its peak in the 4th century, controlled most of the western Korean peninsula. Under attack from Goguryeo, the capital moved south to Ungjin (present-day Gongju) and later further south to Sabi (present-day Buyeo).
Baekje colonized Jeju island and the southern part of Japan called Kyūshū. Baekje's cultures influenced Goguryeo and Silla.
Buddhism was introduced to Baekje in 384 from Goguryeo, which Baekje welcomed.^[2] Later, Baekje played a fundamental role in transmitting cultural developments, including Chinese characters and Buddhism, into ancient Japan.^[3][4] Baekje was conquered by an alliance of Silla and Tang forces in 660.

Silla

Main articles: Silla

According to Korean records, in 57 BC, Seorabeol (or Saro, later Silla) in the southeast of the peninsula unified and expanded the confederation of city-states known as Jinhan. Although ''Samguk Sagi'' records that Silla was the earliest-founded of the three kingdoms, other written and archaeological records indicate that Silla was likely the last of the three to establish a centralized government.
Renamed from Saro to Silla in 503, the kingdom annexed the Gaya confederacy (which in turn had absorbed Byeonhan earlier) in the first half of the 6th Century. Goguryeo and Baekje responded by forming an alliance. To cope with invasions from Goguryeo and Baekje, Silla deepened its relations with the Tang Dynasty, with her newly-gained access to the Yellow Sea making direct contact with the Tang possible. After the conquest of Goguryeo and Baekje with her Tang allies, the Silla kingdom drove the Tang forces out of the peninsula and occupied the lands south of Pyongyang. Until now there is still a debate regarding the nature of this military campaign performed by Silla. While the majority of Korean historians believe Silla has succeeded to defend Korean peninsula from China, others argue that Korea has lost Manchuria because Silla has allied with Tang during this campaign against Goguryeo and Baekje.
The capital of Silla was Seorabeol (now Gyeongju). Buddhism became the official religion in 528. The remaining material culture from the kingdom of Silla including unique gold metalwork shows influence from the northern nomadic steppes, differentiating it from the culture of Goguryeo and Baekje where Chinese influence was more pronounced.

Other states

Other smaller states existed in Korea before and during this period:

★ Gaya confederacy, until annexed by Silla

★ Dongye, Okjeo, and Buyeo, all three conquered by Goguryeo

★ Usan (Ulleung-do) tributary of Silla

★ Tamna (Jeju-do) tributary of Baekje

Unification

Allied with China under the Tang dynasty, Silla conquered Goguryeo in 668, after having already conquered Gaya in 562 and Baekje in 660, thus ushering in the period of Unified Silla to the south and Balhae to the north.

Archaeological perspectives on the Three Kingdoms of Korea

Archaeologists use theoretical guidelines derived from anthropology, ethnology, analogy, and ethnohistory to the concept of what defines a state-level society. This is different from the concept of state (''guk'' or Sino ko: 國, walled-town state, etc) in the discipline of Korean History. In anthropological archaeology the presence of urban centres (especially capitals), monumental architecture, craft specialization and standardization of production, ostentatious burials, writing or recording systems, bureaucracy, demonstrated political control of geographical areas that are usually larger in area than a single river valley, etc make up some of these correlates that define states (Rhee and Choi 1992).
Among the archaeology sites dating to the Three Kingdoms of Korea, hundreds of cemeteries with thousands of burials have been excavated. The vast majority of archaeological evidence of the Three Kingdoms Period of Korea consists of burials, but since the 1990s there has been a great increase in the archaeological excavations of ancient industrial production sites, roads, palace grounds and elite precincts, ceremonial sites, commoner households, and fortresses due to the boom in salvage archaeology in South Korea.
Rhee and Choi hypothesize that a mix of internal developments and external factors lead to the emergence of state-level societies in Korea (Rhee and Choi 1992:89-91). A number of archaeologists including Kang demonstrate the role of frequent warfare in the development of peninsular states (Kang 1995,2000; Rhee and Choi 1992:90).
'Formation of Goguryeo, Silla, and Baekje States (c. 0 – A.D. 300/400)'
Some individual correlates of complex societies are found in the chiefdoms of Korea that date back to c. 700 B.C. (e.g. see Igeum-dong, Songguk-ri) (Bale and Ko 2006; Rhee and Choi 1992). However, the best evidence from the archaeological record in Korea indicates that states formed between 300 B.C. and A.D. 300/400 (Barnes 2001, 2004; Kang 1995, 2000; Lee 1998; Pai 1989). However, archaeologists are not prepared to suggest that this means there were states in the B.C. era, and so they refer to the polities that formed before the 4th century A.D. as chiefdoms. The correlates of state-level societies did not develop as a package, but rather in spurts and starts and at various points in time. It was some time in the 4th century A.D. (A.D. 300-400) that individual correlates of state societies had developed to a sufficient number and scale that state-level societies can be confidently identified using archaeological data.
'Evidence from burials'
Lee Sung-joo analyzes variability in many of the elite cemeteries of the territories of Silla and Gaya polities and finds that as late as the 2nd century A.D. there was intra-cemetery variation in the distribution of prestige grave goods, but there was an absence of hierarchical differences on a regional scale between cemeteries. Near the end of the 2nd century A.D. interior space in elite burials increased in size, and wooden chamber burial construction techniques were increasingly used by elites. In the 3rd century A.D. a pattern developed in which single elite cemeteries that were the highest in status compared to all the other cemeteries were built. Such cemeteries were established at high elevations along ridgelines and on hilltops. Furthermore, the uppermost elite were buried in large-scale tombs established at the highest point of a given cemetery (Lee 1998). Cemeteries with 'uppermost elite' mounded burials such as Okseong-ri, Yangdong-ri, Daeseong-dong, and Bokcheon-dong display this pattern.
'Evidence from factory-scale production of pottery and roof-tiles'
Lee Sung-joo proposes that, in addition to the development of regional political hierarchies as seen through analysis of burials, variation in types of pottery production gradually disappeared and full-time specialization was the only recognizable kind of pottery production from the end of the 4th century A.D. At the same time the production centres for pottery became highly centralized and vessels became standardized (Lee 1998).
Centralisation and elite control of production is demonstrated by the results of the archaeological excavations at Songok-dong and Mulcheon-ni in Gyeongju. These sites are part of what was an interconnected and sprawling ancient industrial complex on the northeast outskirts of the Silla capital. Songok-dong and Mulcheon-ni are an example of the large-scale of specialized factory-style production in the Three Kingdoms and Unified Silla Periods. The site was excavated in the late 1990s, and archaeologists found the remains of many production features such as pottery kilns, roof-tile kilns, charcoal kilns, as well as the remains of buildings and workshops associated with production.
'Capital cities, elite precincts, and monumental architecture'
Since 1976, continuing archaeological excavations concentrated in the southeastern part of modern Gyeongju have revealed parts of the so-called ''Silla Wanggyeong'' (Silla capital). A number of excavations over the years have revealed temples such as Hwangnyongsa, Bunhwangsa, Heungryunsa, and 30 other sites.
Elements of Baekje capitals have also been excavated such as the Mongcheon Fortress and Pungnap Fortress in Seoul.

See also

★ History of Korea

★ List of Korean monarchs

★ Korean Pottery

★

★ Heavenly Horse Tomb

References

1. [1]
2. [2]
3. [3]
4. [4]


★ Bale, Martin T. and Ko, Min-jung (2006). Craft Production and Social Change in Mumun Pottery Period Korea. ''Asian Perspectives'' 45(2):159-187.

★ Barnes, Gina L. (2001). ''State formation in Korea: Historical and archaeological perspectives''. Richmond, Surrey: Curzon. ISBN 0-7007-1323-9

★ Barnes, Gina L. (2004). The emergence and expansion of Silla from an archaeological perspective. ''Korean Studies'' 28:15-48.

★ Best, J.W. (2003). Buddhism and polity in early sixth-century Paekche. ''Korean Studies'' 26(2), 165-215.

★ Kang, Bong-won. (1995). ''The role of warfare in the formation of state in Korea: Historical and archaeological approaches''. PhD dissertation. University of Oregon, Eugene. Ann Arbor: University Microfilms.

★ Kang, Bong-won. (2000). A test of increasing warfare in the ''Samguk Sagi'' against the archaeological remains in Yongnam, South Korea. ''Journal of East Asian Archaeology'' 2(2-4):139-197.

★ Lee, K. (1984). ''A New History of Korea''. Tr. by E.W. Wagner & E.J. Schulz, based on 1979 rev. ed. Seoul: Ilchogak.

★ Lee, Sung-joo. 1998. ''Silla - Gaya Sahwoe-eui Giwon-gwa Seongjang'' [The Rise and Growth of Society in Silla and Gaya]. Seoul: Hakyeon Munhwasa.

★ Na H.L. (2003). Ideology and religion in ancient Korea. ''Korea Journal'' 43(4), 10-29.[5]

★ Nelson, Sarah M. (1993). ''The archaeology of Korea''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

★ Pai, Hyung Il. (1989). Lelang and the "interaction sphere": An alternative approach to Korean state formation. ''Archaeological Review from Cambridge'' 8(1):64-75.

★ Pearson R, J.W. Lee, W.Y. Koh, and A. Underhill. (1989). ''Journal of Anthropological Archaeology'' 8(1):1-50.

★ Rhee, S.N. and M.L. Choi. 1992. Emergence of complex society in Korea. ''Journal of World Prehistory'' 6(1):51-95.

★ http://www.chungdong.or.kr/highroom/history/map/index.htm