Silla Dynasty Essay ⋆ History Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

The Silla dynasty was a Korean kingdom with origins in the southeast of the country, in the area around modernday Pusan (Busan). It is said to have begun in about 57 b.c.e. when the Saro tribe and its allies in that region established a confederation of the tribes, led by Pak Hyeokgeose. However many historians feel that date was the invention of 12th-century Korean historians, as found in the Samguk Sagi, written by Kim Bu-sik, to try to show that the Silla predated their main rivals. The early years of Silla saw a rotated monarchy with members of the Pak, Kim, and Sok families sharing the title of ruler, although not using the title of king until later.

As the kingdom of Koguryo was emerging as a major power in northern and central Korea, Silla was taking over tribes in the south. Originally they only targeted the Saro tribe, taking tribute to the Mahan confederation as their vassal in 19 b.c.e. However Silla grew dramatically in prosperity and many historians have seen this as the influence of many Chinese merchants who came to settle in the area and brought with them much resultant trade. There were also influences from Japan—the envoy that took the tribute to Mahan in 19 b.c.e. was of Japanese ancestry. In the year after this mission, the king of Mahan died and although Silla sent over a delegation for the funeral, they rapidly drew up plans to take land from Mahan and enlarge their area. In 250 c.e. the Mahan confederacy, which had controlled much of central southern Korea, was finally absorbed, not by Silla, but by the kingdom of Paekche (Baekje), which had a common border with Silla. This was initially thought to be dangerous as it left the Korean Peninsula under the control of three kingdoms, Silla, Paekche, and Koguryo, with little in the way of buffer states that had existed beforehand. Silla and Paekche feared invasion from the emerging power of Koguryo, which had ejected the last Chinese base in 313.

To counter this threat, Kim Naemul (356–401) of Silla assumed the title of maripkan or king ensured that the succession to the throne was hereditary. The end of the rotating monarchy resulted in the ability to establish a more centralized administration, which adopted many of their methods of government, customs, and some Chinese culture. Initially Silla sided with Koguryo to attack Paekche, which had been aiding Japanese pirates. However when Koguryo moved its capital south to Pyongyang in 427, and its focus also moved south, Koguryo and Silla had to form an alliance. Silla also built up trade ties with Japan.

King Peopheung (r. 514–540) established Buddhism as the state religion of the kingdom of Silla and embarked on military expeditions that eroded the power of the nonaligned tribes in the region. His successor, King Jinheung (r. 540–576), enlarged the army and used it to help Paekche take lands around modern-day Seoul. However in 553 he decided that his forces were strong enough to seize the whole area for itself, ending the 120year alliance of convenience between Silla and Paekche.

The war in 553–555 led to Silla’s massively enlarging its landholdings, with Paekche forced to cede over half of its territory. This was followed by a long period of peace when scholars in Silla devoted much time to Buddhism. King Pak-jong, who ascended the throne in 576, abdicated to become a monk and his wife became a nun. A considerable part of the wealth of the country was sent in missions of tribute to China, which weakened Silla economically but bought them a firm alliance.

Gradually Silla came to ally itself militarily with Tang China and in a series of lightning military campaigns, King Muyeol (r. 654–661) managed to capture most of Paekche just before his death, even though the Japanese sent a fleet bringing an expeditionary force with them to help Paekche in 662 and again in 663. The war ended with Silla’s being victorious and immediately accepting Chinese overlordship. Silla then persuaded China that Koguryo should be the next target, and Silla sent General Kim Yu-shin to attack Koguryo. It took 10–12 years to defeat and destroy the kingdom of Koguryo, and by 668 Silla was in control of Koguryo, and this resulted in the whole of the Korean Peninsula’s being unified under the Silla, the period being known as that of the “Unified Silla.”

Confident in the superiority of their soldiers after these wars, the kings of Silla became ambitious and decided to attack the Chinese soldiers on the Korean Peninsula and stop paying tribute to the Tang. The first attack on the Chinese was in 671 and the Chinese responded three years later by sending in more soldiers, but the Silla not only were able to withstand the attacks, but also defeated the Chinese at Maechosong, near Yangju, and at Chonsong near the mouth of the Yseong River. The Silla were also able to drive the Chinese garrison out of Pyongyang and force the Chinese soldiers to be pulled back to Liaoting. Although China protested that some of the land of Paekche and Koguryo belonged to them, because of the increasing weakness at the Tang court, it was impossible to press these claims, and in 735 the Chinese formally acknowledged Silla as an independent kingdom with the rights to all the lands south of the Taedong River.

During the reign of King Kyongdok (r. 742–764), Silla was at the peak of its power, but the Unified Silla period did not last long. Initially its power was eroded by dynastic struggles. King Hyegeong succeeded King Kyongdok. Kim Yang-seng, who made himself King Sondok, assassinated King Hyegeong. He ruled for four years and then was deposed by King Wonsong. Violent court struggles and intrigue wrought havoc at the Silla court and when Sinmu became king in 839, the authority of the king had been destroyed with much of the country in the hands of nobles who formed alliances to attack other aristocrats. There were many local lords who started to plot against the central authority and rebellions were followed by civil wars, and a large peasant rebellion.

Kyon Hwon (Gyeon Hwon) attacked the royal capital and killed the king, Kyong-ae, proclaiming his Later Paekche Kingdom at Wansanju (Chonju) in 900. In the following year Kung Ye (Gung Ye), in central Korea, captured the city of Kaesong (Songak) and made it the capital for his Later Kingdom of Koguryo. Near Kaesong, another rebel leader, Wang Kon, joined Kung Ye and was made the prime minister in Kung Ye’s government. In 918 he overthrew Kung Ye and made himself ruler of the Later Kingdom of Koguryo. With these two new kingdoms established, it was not long before Silla was totally overthrown. It could no longer call on China for help, and with the overthrow of the Tang (T’ang) dynasty in 908, Silla was totally isolated. The Later Kingdom of Koguryo emerged as the new Koryo dynasty of Korea.The system of government of Silla relied heavily on the king and the royal family. Outside the royal family were the nobility, who each controlled parts of the country. The system of exerting control over the people was similar to that in China, with up to a quarter of the population being slaves.

The capital of the kingdom of Silla was at Gyeongju (Kyongju), which had, at its height, a population of about 1 million, making it one of the larger cities in the world at that time. Many remains of Silla can still be seen in the city, the center of which is called Tumuli Park because of the 23 burial mounds that have survived. These were for members of the Silla royal family and were designed to prevent tomb robbery. A large round hole was dug, and lined with gravel and then stone slabs, then a wooden chamber was constructed, and the deceased was interred. After this chamber was sealed, the whole structure was covered with heavy stones, then with earth, and the area covered in turf. As a result jewelry and other artifacts have been found in many of these graves, which have helped historians reconstruct aspects of life in the Silla court. The amount of gold found has shown the wealth of the kingdom, being used for jewelry and foil worked into pots, utensils, and weapons.

Also at Gyeongju, along with places such as the Bunhwangsa pagoda, there is the oldest surviving astronomical observatory in East Asia, the Cheomseongdae, which was built between 632 and 646 when Unified Silla was at its height. Although the building looks simple, it was set on 12 rectangular stone bases (one for each month) and set in such a way for astronomers easily to work out the relative positions of different stars. Gyeongju was sacked in 935 and many of the old wooden buildings were destroyed, and the large gardens in the center of the city that commemorated the unification of Korea were wrecked.

In 1975 archaeological work on the site of the gardens unearthed many wooden objects from the Anapji Pond. In the area around Gyeongju, there are dozens of temples, and also the burial sites of King Muyeol and General Kim Yu-shin, the two men who established Unified Silla. Many tourists visit the Seokguram Grotto, a site on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List, to the southeast of Gyeongju, where a statue of the Buddha, surrounded by guardians and some deities, was constructed during the late Silla period in the mid-eighth century. The statue of Buddha is carved out of a large granite block that was quarried north of the capital and then carried up the mountainside to its present position.

Bibliography :

Gardiner, K. H. J. The Early History of Korea. Canberra: Australian National University Press, 1969;
Robinson, Martin, et al. Korea. Melbourne: Lonely Planet Books, 2004;

Whitfield, Roderick, ed. Treasures from Korea: Art Through 5000 Years. London: British Museum

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