History of Korea

Ancient period
Tangun and Ancient Choson
The people of Ancient Choson are recorded as Tung-I or eastern bowmen or eastern barbarians. They spread in manchuria, the eastern littoral of China, north of Yangtze river, and the Korean peninsula. The eastern bowmen had a myth in which the legendary founder tangun was born of a father of a heavenly descent and a woman from a bear-totem tribe. He is said to have started to rule in 2333 B.C., and his descendants reigned in Choson, the land of morning calm, for more than a millennium. When the Chou people pushed the yin, the eastern bowmen moved toward Manchuria and the Korean peninsula for better climatic conditions. They seem to have maintained unity, as chinas great sages, Confucius and Mencius, praised their consanguineous order and the decorum in their society. The eastern bowmen on the western coast of the yellow sea clashed with the chou people during chinas people of warring states. This led them to move toward southern Manchuria and the Korean peninsula. There were other tribes of eastern bowmen, Ye-Maek in the Manchurian area and han on the Korean peninsula, all belonging to the Tungusic family and linguistically to the Altaic. When Yin collapsed, Kija, a subject of the Yin state, entered Tanguns domain and introduced the culture of Yin around the 1th century B.C. Then came the invasion of yen in the northeastern sector of China, and ancient choson lost the territories west of the liao river in the 3rd century BC. By this time iron culture was developed and warring states pushed their refugees eastward. Among the immigrants, Wi Man entered the service of ancient choson as military commander with a base on the Amnokkang (Yalu) River. He drove King Chun to the south and usurped power. But on 109 BC, the han emperor Wu-ti dispatched a massive invasion by land and sea to ancient choson in the estuary of the liao river. Ancient choson was defeated after two years and four Chinese provincial commands were set up in outher Manchuria and the northern part of the Korean peninsula. Soon after the establishment of the four provinces, the Korean attack became fierce and all the provinces were destroyed in 313.

The Three Kingdoms

Ancient korea in the last stage of bronze culture of Karasuk affinity saw the impact of the iron culture in chinas state power. The rise of Puyo was seein in Manchuria along with chinas

development. 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. By the first century AD, Koguryo was firmly established as a state power and drove the Chinese colony Lolang (nangnang) out in AD 313. In AD 342, however, Koguryos capital fell before 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 more fully organized state power. Koguryo was the first to adapt Buddhism as royal creed in 372; paekche, the second in 384, and Shilla, the last, in ad 528. Buddhist scriptures in Chinese translation were also adapted. Koguryo established an academy to educate the nobility and compiled a state history consisting of 100 chapters before the introduction of Buddhism. Paekche also compiled its history in the early fourth century prior to ad 384. Only Shilla undertook compilation of its history right after the adoption of Buddhism. Thus the three developed state organizations, adopting Confucian and Buddhist hierarchical structures and placing 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 states were competing with each other in strengthening Buddhist-confucian state power, thereby attempting serious territorial expansion. At this juncture silla developed Hwarang (flower of youth corps), social organization of voluntary nature. Hwarang was trained as a group in the arts of war, literary taste and community life, partly via 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 Wongwang, who consolidated Buddhist-Confucian virutes in the education of Shilla youths. This movement became popular and the corps contributed to the strength of the Shilla state. With 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, and a towering pagoda famous even in China. The 70-m high pagoda of Hwangmyongsa stood from AD 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 Chinas culture, especially through Buddhist doctrine, architecture and Chinese classics. While 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 AD 612 Koguryo general Ulchi Mundok held the fortresses against yang-tis army and navy for several monrths

and destroyed the Sui troops in retreat. An ambush at Salsu (Chong-chongang River) allowed only 2,700 Sui troops out of 300,000 men to escape. Sui fell partly due to the defeat by Koguryo. After the rise of Tang, Tai-tsung contemplated revenge against invasion by building fortifications and walls along the Liao River. In AD 644, 648, and 655, Tai-tsung invaded in vain. Tang then turned to Shilla. Shilla also persuaded Tang China to come to its aid in the conquest of Paekche and Koguryo. Koguryo had earlier defeated Ui Yang-te and Tai-tsungs hostile relationship drove the Tang Kao-tsung to ally with Shilla in the campaign against Paekche and then Koguyro. The late-comer to statehood, Shilla was finally able to defeat the other two states, but unable to control the whole territory of Koguryo which extended to Manchuria. Tangs 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 military governor to rule the Paekche territory. Koguryos last king, his officials and 200,000 prisoners were also taken in 668 and Koguryos territory was administered by Tang generals. Tang Kao-tsungs intention now became evident and Shilla was determined to fight against Tang. The determination of Kim Yushin, Shillas foremost general who led and marshaled Shillas 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 restoring all the Paekche territory. There was a Chinese invasion in 674 against Shilla, which had succeeded in quelling the Tang army at Maecho fortress near Yanggy and the Chongon Fortress at the Yesonggang River near Kaesong. Shillas army also successfully drove out the Tang amy from Pyongyang. Nevertheless, the Chinese army persistently claimed the territories of Paekche and Koguryo until AD 735 when they gaive in to Shillas 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. One Koguryo warrior, Ko Sagye, who was taken by a Tang general, joined the Tang amy. His son Son-ji made a successful military career in Tang and conquered Tashken in the mid-eight century and transmitted paper-making techonology to the Arabian countries. The Shilla monk Hye Cho 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.