Unified Silla
Silla 신라 (新羅) 통일신라 (統一新羅) 후신라 (後新羅) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 668–935 | |||||||||||||
 Unified Silla (in blue) during North–South States Period | |||||||||||||
| Capital | Gyeongju (Seorabeol) | ||||||||||||
| Common languages | Old Korean | ||||||||||||
| Religion | Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Korean shamanism | ||||||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||||||
| King | |||||||||||||
• 661–681 | Munmu | ||||||||||||
• 681–692 | Sinmun | ||||||||||||
• 887–897 | Jinseong | ||||||||||||
• 927–935 | Gyeongsun (last) | ||||||||||||
| Historical era | Ancient | ||||||||||||
• Establishment | 668 | ||||||||||||
| 670–676 | |||||||||||||
• Political turmoil | Late 8th century | ||||||||||||
• Start of Later Three Kingdoms period | 892–936 | ||||||||||||
• Breakaway of Hubaekje | 892 | ||||||||||||
• Breakaway of Taebong | 901 | ||||||||||||
• Handover to the Goryeo Dynasty | 935 | ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| Today part of |  South Korea North Korea | ||||||||||||
| Unified Silla | |
 Anapji pavilion | |
| Korean name | |
|---|---|
| Hangul | 후신라 |
| Hanja | 後新羅 |
| Revised Romanization | Hu-silla |
| McCune–Reischauer | Hu-silla |
| History of Korea |
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| Timeline |
 Korea portal |
Later Silla (668–935, Korean: 후신라; Hanja: 後新羅; RR: Hushila, Korean pronunciation: [huːɕʰila]) or Unified Silla (Korean: 통일신라; Hanja: 統一新羅) is the name often applied to the Korean kingdom of Silla, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, after it conquered Baekje in 660 and Goguryeo in 668, unifying the southern and middle portion of the Korean peninsula. Later Silla was a prosperous and wealthy country,[1] and its metropolitan capital of Gyeongju[2] was the fourth largest city in the world.[3][4][5][6] During its heyday, the country contested with Balhae, a Goguryeo–Mohe kingdom, to the north for supremacy in the region. Throughout its existence, the country was plagued by intrigue and political turmoil, mainly by the rebel groups in conquered Baekje and Goguryeo, leading to the Later Three Kingdoms period in the late 9th century.
Despite its political instability, Later Silla's culture and arts flourished. Through close ties maintained with Tang Dynasty, Buddhism and Confucianism became principal philosophical ideologies of the elite as well as the mainstays of the period's architecture and fine arts. Its last king, Gyeongsun, ruled over the state in name only and submitted to the emerging Goryeo in 935, bringing the dynasty to an end.
Although traditionally considered the first unified Korean state, modern Korean historians argue that later Goryeo was in fact the first truly unified state of the Korean nation.
Name
Modern Korean historians began to criticize the traditional view of Unified Silla as the unification of Korea. According to this perspective, Goryeo is considered the first unification of Korea, since Balhae still existed after the establishment of "Unified Silla", despite occupying territory north of the Korean peninsula.[7][8]
Unification
In 660, King Munmu of Silla ordered his armies to attack Baekje. General Kim Yu-shin, aided by Tang forces, defeated General Gyebaek and conquered Baekje. In 661, he moved on Goguryeo but was repelled. King Munmu was the first ruler ever to look upon the south of the Korean Peninsula as a single political entity after the fall of Gojoseon. As such, the post-668 Silla kingdom is often referred to as Unified Silla. Unified Silla lasted for 267 years until, under King Gyeongsun, it fell to Goryeo in 935.
Culture
Later Silla carried on the maritime prowess of Baekje, which acted like the Phoenicia of medieval East Asia,[9] and during the 8th and 9th centuries dominated the seas of East Asia and the trade between China, Korea and Japan, most notably during the time of Jang Bogo; in addition, Silla people made overseas communities in China on the Shandong Peninsula and the mouth of the Yangtze River.[10][11][12][13]
Later Silla was a golden age of art and culture,[14][15][16][17] as evidenced by the Hwangnyongsa, Seokguram, and Emille Bell. Buddhism flourished during this time, and many Korean Buddhists gained great fame among Chinese Buddhists[18] and contributed to Chinese Buddhism,[19] including: Woncheuk, Wonhyo, Uisang, Musang,[20][21][22][23] and Kim Gyo-gak, a Silla prince whose influence made Mount Jiuhua one of the Four Sacred Mountains of Chinese Buddhism.[24][25][26][27][28]
Unified Silla and the Tang maintained close ties. This was evidenced by the continual importation of Chinese culture. Many Korean monks went to China to learn about Buddhism. The monk Hyech'o went to India to study Buddhism and wrote an account of his travels.[29] Different new sects of Buddhism were introduced by these traveling monks who had studied abroad such as Son and Pure Land Buddhism.[29]
Unified Silla conducted a census of all towns' size and population, as well as horses, cows and special products and recorded the data in Minjeongmunseo (민정문서). The reporting was done by the leader of each town.[30]
A national Confucian college was established in 682 and around 750 it was renamed the National Confucian University.[29] The university was restricted to the elite aristocracy.
Woodblock printing
Woodblock printing was used to disseminate Buddhist sutras and Confucian works. During a refurbishment of the Pagoda That Casts No Shadows, an ancient print of a Buddhist sutra was discovered. The print is dated to 751 CE and is the oldest discovered printed material in the world.[29]
See also
References
- ^ MacGregor, Neil. A History of the World in 100 Objects. Penguin UK. ISBN 9780141966830. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
- ^ Chŏng, Yang-mo; Smith, Judith G.; Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.). Arts of Korea. Metropolitan Museum of Art. p. 230. ISBN 9780870998508. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
- ^ International, Rotary. The Rotarian. Rotary International. p. 28. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
- ^ Ross, Alan. After Pusan. Faber & Faber. ISBN 9780571299355. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
- ^ Mason, David A. "Gyeongju, Korea's treasure house". Korea.net. Korean Culture and Information Service (KOCIS). Retrieved 30 September 2016.
- ^ Adams, Edward Ben. Koreaʾs pottery heritage. Seoul International Pub. House. p. 53. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
- ^ Ch'oe, Yŏng-ho (1980), "An Outline History of Korean Historiography", Korean Studies, 4: 23–25, doi:10.1353/ks.1980.0003
- ^ Armstrong, Charles K. (1995), "Centering the Periphery: Manchurian Exile(s) and the North Korean State", Korean Studies, 19, University of Hawaii Press: 1–16, doi:10.1353/ks.1995.0017
- ^ Kitagawa, Joseph. The Religious Traditions of Asia: Religion, History, and Culture. Routledge. p. 348. ISBN 9781136875908. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
- ^ Gernet, Jacques. A History of Chinese Civilization. Cambridge University Press. p. 291. ISBN 9780521497817. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
- ^ Reischauer, Edwin Oldfather. Ennins Travels in Tang China. John Wiley & Sons Canada, Limited. pp. 276–283. ISBN 9780471070535. Retrieved 21 July 2016. "From what Ennin tells us, it seems that commerce between East China, Korea and Japan was, for the most part, in the hands of men from Silla. Here in the relatively dangerous waters on the eastern fringes of the world, they performed the same functions as did the traders of the placid Mediterranean on the western fringes. This is a historical fact of considerable significance but one which has received virtually no attention in the standard historical compilations of that period or in the modern books based on these sources. . . . While there were limits to the influence of the Koreans along the eastern coast of China, there can be no doubt of their dominance over the waters off these shores. . . . The days of Korean maritime dominance in the Far East actually were numbered, but in Ennin's time the men of Silla were still the masters of the seas in their part of the world."
- ^ Kim, Djun Kil. The History of Korea, 2nd Edition. ABC-CLIO. p. 3. ISBN 9781610695824. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
- ^ Seth, Michael J. A Concise History of Korea: From the Neolithic Period Through the Nineteenth Century. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 65. ISBN 9780742540057. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
- ^ DuBois, Jill. Korea. Marshall Cavendish. p. 22. ISBN 9780761417866. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
- ^ Randel, Don Michael. The Harvard Dictionary of Music. Harvard University Press. p. 273. ISBN 9780674011632. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
- ^ Hopfner, Jonathan. Moon Living Abroad in South Korea. Avalon Travel. p. 21. ISBN 9781612386324. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
- ^ Kim, Djun Kil. The History of Korea. ABC-CLIO. p. 47. ISBN 9780313038532. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
- ^ Mun, Chanju; Green, Ronald S. Buddhist Exploration of Peace and Justice. Blue Pine Books. p. 147. ISBN 9780977755301. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
- ^ McIntire, Suzanne; Burns, William E. Speeches in World History. Infobase Publishing. p. 87. ISBN 9781438126807. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
- ^ Jr, Robert E. Buswell; Jr, Donald S. Lopez. The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism. Princeton University Press. p. 187. ISBN 9781400848058. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
- ^ Poceski, Mario. Ordinary Mind as the Way: The Hongzhou School and the Growth of Chan Buddhism. Oxford University Press. p. 24. ISBN 9780198043201. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
- ^ Wu, Jiang; Chia, Lucille. Spreading Buddha's Word in East Asia: The Formation and Transformation of the Chinese Buddhist Canon. Columbia University Press. p. 155. ISBN 9780231540193. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
- ^ Wright, Dale S. The Zen Canon: Understanding the Classic Texts. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199882182. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
- ^ Su-il, Jeong. The Silk Road Encyclopedia. Seoul Selection. ISBN 9781624120763. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
- ^ Nikaido, Yoshihiro. Asian Folk Religion and Cultural Interaction. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. p. 137. ISBN 9783847004851. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
- ^ Leffman, David; Lewis, Simon; Atiyah, Jeremy. China. Rough Guides. p. 519. ISBN 9781843530190. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
- ^ Leffman, David. The Rough Guide to China. Penguin. ISBN 9780241010372. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
- ^ DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: China. Penguin. p. 240. ISBN 9781465455673. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
- ^ a b c d Stearns, Peter N., ed. (2001). The Encyclopedia of World History: Ancient, Medieval, and Modern, Chronologically Arranged (6th ed.). New York: Houghton Mifflin Company. pp. 155–6. ISBN 0-395-65237-5. Retrieved August 22, 2010.
- ^ Korean history for high school p.141, issued by The National History Compilation Committee of the Republic of Korea.