Three Kingdoms

After the fall of Wanggeom (Korean History 2), the peninsula and parts of Manchuria were dominated for about seven centuries by three kingdoms, with a confederacy of small states, Gaya, between them. They fought each other, traded, and borrowed from China; one of them, Silla, ended the period by uniting most of the peninsula. This chapter follows the four, the war that helped break a Chinese dynasty, the arrival of Buddhism, and a rank system that governed who a person could be.

The Four at a Glance

Gaya

The Gaya article gives the traditional period as AD 42 to 532 in the lead and 42 to 562 in the infobox. Geumgwan Gaya, centred on modern Gimhae, was conquered in 532; Daegaya, centred on modern Goryeong, was the last independent polity and fell in 562. The Nakdong mouth had fertile plains, sea access and "rich iron deposits", and Gaya exported iron ore, iron armour and weapons to Baekje and to the Kingdom of Wa (Japan). Under pressure from Goguryeo the confederacy broke up between 391 and 412, though the last polities survived to 562.

• Legend. The thirteenth-century Samguk yusa says six eggs came down from heaven in AD 42; six boys hatched, and Suro became king of Geumgwan Gaya while the other five founded the remaining Gayas.
• Fall. Silla destroyed Takgitan Gaya in 529 and took half of Taksun Gaya's territory. Baekje-led conferences in 541 and 544 failed to hold the alliance together, and Silla conquered Daegaya in 562 as punishment for aiding Baekje.
• A Silla link. The article says the Silla figure Kim Yu-sin descended from King Guhae of Geumgwan Gaya.

War With the Sui

The Goguryeo–Sui War article gives the wars as 598 and 612 to 614 (with a joint pre-emptive invasion in 597 as background). The Sui, which had reunified China, sent very large armies against Goguryeo.

• 612. Goguryeo pulled back behind the Liao River, and the fortress of Yodong held out; by June, no fortress had fallen. The Sui then turned to a Pyongyang campaign with a contingent "allegedly" of 305,000 and a navy of "some 120,000".
• Salsu. Ŭlchi Mundŏk (Eulji Mundeok) is credited with luring the Sui army deep into Goguryeo with feigned retreats and attacking at the Salsu River, "thought to be" the Chongchon. The article says only 2,700 of the 305,000 returned.
• 613 and 614. The 613 invasion ended early when Yang Xuangan rebelled. In 614 Yeongyang offered peace and returned a captive, and Emperor Yang withdrew; the Goguryeo king never swore allegiance.
• Effect. The article calls the wars "one of the pivotal factors in the collapse of the dynasty"; widespread revolts followed, and the Duke of Tang proclaimed a new dynasty in 618.

Buddhism

The Three Kingdoms article gives these dates: Goguryeo adopted Buddhism as a state religion in 372; Baekje received it from Goguryeo in 384 and made it a state religion in 552; Silla made it a state religion in 528. The article is inconsistent on when it first reached Korea (the third century in one section, the fourth in another). It says Buddhism came "from India via Tibet and China"; I have not relied on the route, because the article gives no source for the Tibetan step. The kingdoms are the subject of later chapters on Buddhist art; here the point is that state adoption in the three kingdoms came in the fourth to sixth centuries according to the article.

Silla's Bone-Rank System

The Bone-rank system article describes a hereditary ladder that governed official status, marriage, the colour of garments and the largest dwelling or carriage a person could have. It gives no figures for the dwelling or carriage limits.

• Sacred bone (seonggol). The Samguk sagi places the rulers from Hyeokgeose to Jindeok here. The article says no record states what separated it from true bone, and that it was abolished under Muyeol.
• True bone (jingol). Could hold any post up to full minister and office rank up to ibolchan, the highest. After the sacred-bone rank ended, only true-bone holders could become king; the article says true-bone rule lasted 281 years, until Silla fell.
• Head ranks. Only 6, 5 and 4 are "attested", 6 being the highest; head 6 could reach office rank achan (sixth of 17 levels), head 5 daenaema (tenth) and head 4 daesa (twelfth).
• Origin. Lee Ki-baik (1984) thought it was probably adopted as administrative law from China, promulgated by King Beopheung in 520, and that it formalised existing bloodline segregation; McBride says it emerged in the sixth century as Silla absorbed neighbouring peoples. The article says the origins of the lower head ranks are "obscure and still debated".
• End. The article says Goryeo abolished the system entirely after Silla fell, and that its rigidity helped weaken Silla, though other factors mattered.

What to Take from This

My own reading, unverified: three things in these accounts recur in later chapters: neighbours in China and Japan shaping every kingdom's choices, a religion adopted by rulers before it is adopted by the many, and a rank system that decides who may do what. The sources do not draw those lines; I do.

What the Sources Left Open

• Why the Three Kingdoms period ends in 668 and not 660.
• The Goguryeo and Baekje founding dates (given only in the infobox).
• Gaya's start (three different centuries) and end (532 or 562).
• All of the Sui-war figures.
• When Buddhism first reached Korea (third or fourth century).
• The origin of the lower head ranks and how the sacred-bone rank differed from true bone.

Exercises

Next: Korean History 4 follows the Silla–Tang alliance, unification, Balhae and the decline of Silla.