Silla and Balhae

In 668 Goguryeo fell to a Silla–Tang alliance. Within two years the allies were at war, and when it ended Silla held the peninsula south of the Taedong River while a new state, Balhae, rose in the north. This chapter follows the war, the Silla that came out of it, Balhae and the argument over whose history it is, and the rebellions that ended Silla in 935.

The Silla–Tang War

The article dates the war to 670 to 676 in the infobox and lead (a cited work in the article says Silla fought Tang "from 668 to 676"). After the two allies conquered Baekje and Goguryeo, the Tang placed the former kingdoms under its own administration. The article says Silla wanted the Tang out and itself protected from Tang control, and that Silla was angered because Emperor Taizong had promised Baekje and the lands south of Pyongyang in return for its help, but Gaozong "reneged". Revolts in former Goguryeo territory helped Silla, and loyalists of both fallen kingdoms joined its army.

The Settlement

• Border. Silla held the territory south of the Taedong River; Tang kept former Goguryeo land north of it. The article describes the line as running "from the mouth of the Taedong River in the west to the East Korea Bay".
• Tang administration. The Protectorate General to Pacify the East, based in Pyongyang, was set up for the former Goguryeo, with 9 commanderies, 42 prefectures and 100 counties. It was later moved to Liaodong (or Liaoyang), which the article calls "effectively the end of Tang designs on Sillan territory".
• Relations. Silla and Tang cut ties until the early eighth century, and Tang formally recognised Silla's sovereignty south of the Taedong in 736.

The Unified Silla article's summary of the unification names King Munmu as ordering the 660 attacks on Baekje, with Kim Yu-sin defeating Gyebaek. I have not checked the reign dates and cannot say whether the 660 attribution is exact; a source on the Silla kings would settle it.

Unified Silla

The Unified Silla article gives 668 to 935 ("lasted for 267 years"). The infobox splits it as "United Silla 668–892" and "Unified Silla (Later Silla) 892–935", while the body treats it as one period.

• Capital. Gyeongju (Seorabeol), which the article calls "the fourth-largest city in the world at the time".
• Rule. A small "bone clan" ruled a large population; officials were chosen by bone rank (Korean History 3) rather than examination, so the National Confucian University had little appeal for the nobility.
• Art and religion. The article calls it a golden age and cites Hwangnyongsa, Seokguram and the Emille Bell. Bulguksa was built in the mid-eighth century; the article gives no date for Seokguram. A woodblock-printed sutra is dated to 751 CE. Buddhism was the state religion.
• Trade. Silla dominated East Asian seas and trade in the eighth and ninth centuries, "most notably during the time of Chang Pogo" (the article's spelling). Cheonghaejin is not mentioned in the article.
• A term in dispute. North Korean historians reject "Unified Silla" and use "Late Silla", because in their view Goryeo first unified the Korean people. The article presents it as a contested framing.

Balhae

The infobox gives 698 to 926. The article says Tae Choyŏng (Da Zuorong) founded it in 698 and was first called King of Zhen (Jin) until 713, when the name became Parhae (Balhae); the Tang granted the ruler the title "Prince of Commandery of Bohai" in 713 (or 714) and formally recognised a kingdom in 762. It also notes that the New Book of Tang and Old Book of Tang disagree on who fled with a companion named Kŏlsa Piu, and that Tae Choyŏng and Tae Chungsang may be the same person; it leaves this unresolved.

• Population mix. Sloane: the royalty and upper class were Goguryeo and the majority Mohe. Korean scholars: a Goguryeo ruling class and a Malgal (Mohe) population; a minority hold that it was entirely Goguryeo descendants. Estimates: about 500,000 (the Old Book, 100,000 households); 1.5 to 4 million (Crossley, as the article gives modern estimates).
• Foreign relations. 732: a Balhae naval force attacked Dengzhou. 733: a joint Tang–Silla attack failed after a blizzard, with half of a 100,000-strong army said to have died. 734: Silla attacked without success. 735: Tang allowed Silla troops in the Paegang region. 911: Silla allied with Balhae against the Khitans; 925: Silla allied with the Khitans instead.
• Fall. Abaoji's Khitan forces captured Buyeo and besieged the capital Shangjing, and the king surrendered. The infobox dates the fall to 14 January 926; the body dates the Buyeo siege to 14 February, six days before the capital was besieged, which would put the fall in late February. The article says Balhae's independence ended in 929 and it was absorbed into the Liao in 936.
• Refugees. The crown prince Tae Kwanghyŏn and many elites fled to Goryeo. Estimates: 120,600 (Park Jong-gi), 100,000 to 200,000 (Korean historians generally), no more than 100,000 (Crossley). The article puts 120,600 at "approximately 6.3%" of Goryeo's roughly 2 million, which works out nearer 6.0%.
• Naming. The article lists Balhae among the "Northern and Southern States" of Korea and says "modern Korean scholars usually consider Parhae a Korean state" on that basis. It adds that Jee, Kim and Jun argue that the choice of transliteration "inevitably entails a degree of modern political projection".

The Slide Into the Later Three Kingdoms

The Unified Silla article says rebel groups and factions in the newly conquered territories made the state unstable, leading to the Later Three Kingdoms in the late ninth century, but it describes no specific rebellions. The Later Three Kingdoms article says its dates "are loosely defined and differ across academic sources": 889 (the first major rebellions), 892 (Kyŏn Hwŏn captures Gwangju and founds Later Baekje at Jeonju) or 900 (Later Baekje proclaimed a kingdom) for the start, and 935 (Gyeongsun, the last Silla king, surrenders to Goryeo) or 936 (Goryeo conquers Later Baekje) for the end. Its sidebar gives Taebong (Later Goguryeo) as 901 to 918 and Goryeo as 918 to 1392, but the article describes no event for either, so Gungye and Wang Geon belong to Korean History 5. The article's sidebar also lists Jeongan (938 to 986) inside a period that ends in 936, spells Later Baekje two ways, and says most of the article was copied from worldhistory.org, so I rely on it only for those dates.

What to Take from This

My own reading, unverified: the same geographic fact decides much of this chapter. The Taedong line left Silla with the south and its capital in the southeast, and left the north to a state that both Koreans and Chinese now claim. The article shows the claims, not a resolution.

What the Sources Left Open

• Who won the Silla–Tang War: "Silla victory" or "a truce", and what happened at Maeso.
• Which king ordered the 660 attack on Baekje.
• Balhae's ethnic and political identity, its population, and its fall date.
• Whether Balhae's people were Goguryeo, Mohe, or a mixture, and what share of each.
• The date of Seokguram, and the specific rebellions that ended Silla.
• The start and end of the Later Three Kingdoms (889, 892 or 900; 935 or 936).

Exercises

Next: Korean History 5 follows Wang Geon and Goryeo, from 918 to the Mongol period.