Koreans/History

Mediaeval Korea
The history of Korea in the Middle Ages is one of  division, consolidation, unfortunately leading to decadence and corruption, resulting in another round of division requiring consolidation and national rejuvenation through military might once more.

Although foreign powers such as the Chinese and the Mongols would make their influence felt, there were several times when the nation itself could hold itself as a free and independent polity under native rule, first under the United Kingdom of Silla, then under the Goryeo Dynasty, and finally the Daejoseon Kingdom, which survived well until the Modern Era.

Unification of Korean peninsula by Silla
"When he (Kim Chunchu, later king Muyeol of Silla) heard about his daughter's death, he leaned against a pillar all day. He didn't blink his eyes at all, [nor did he notice] how many people or things [had passed] in front of him. Then he finally said, "Alas! How can I call myself a man if I can't destroy Baekje?""

- Kim Busik, Samguk sagi, Silla's Records, Queen Seondeok)

In 589CE, the Sui dynasty finally unified China, and stared to carry out an expansionist policy toward her neighbours. Goguryeo, which was strongest among the three kingdoms proffered the greatest resistance against Chinese expansionism. This led to four wars over 598~614CE, and while the Sui were not only defeated, but supplanted by the Tang, the toll of Goguryeo was very high. On the other hand, the southern kingdoms of Baekje and Silla wanted to form friendly relations with Sui owing to their weakness. King Mu of Baekje (r 600~641CE) took advantage of the Goguryeo-Sui wars by promising the Chinese aid against Gogoryeo, but instead invaded Silla,  seizing considerable territories from Silla and threatening the very existence of Silla herself.

Still, the Kingdom of Silla had two trump cards: diplomat Kim Chunchu, and general Kim Yushin. Chunchu had a strong hostility to Baekje because when the Baekje army seized the fortress of Daeya from Silla, they killed the castellan of Daeya along with his wife, who was also Chunchu's daughter. So Kim Chunchu was ready to do anything to destroy the Kingdom of Baekje. He eagerly tried to form an alliance against his enemy and finally got an affirmative answer from Emperor Taizong of the Tang dynasty, who finally became aware of Baekje's "deceptive" foreign policy regarding Sino-Goguryeorelations. On the other hand, Kim Yushin was one of the finest military commanders of Eastern Asia in the 7th century CE, gaining consecutive victories against Baekje's invading army.

In this situation, Silla knew that the Tang dynasty had been invading Goguryeo from the 640s onwards but with little gain to show. Silla suggested conquering Baekje first in order to perform a pincer attack from north and south. Emperor Gaozu finally accepted this idea and despatched a great fleet across the Yellow Sea in 660 CE. Six years later Kim Chunchu was crowned as King Muyeol.

To Baekje, this was a kind of surprise attack, because they had no idea that the Chinese were planning to send an armada ignoring Goguryeo. After some ferocious but costly battles, and many years of resistance, the kingdom of Baekje fell to the combined forces of Silla and the Tang dynasty, her king deported by the latter to exile in China.

Eight years after Baekje's collapse, it was Gogoryeo's turn. They placed one of the sons of deceased de facto ruler of Goguryeo, who defected to China after a power struggle against his brother, at the head of the army, and Goguryeo couldn't stand for long because they were thoroughly devastated because of prolonged war against China.

Unified Silla and Balhae
In 660CE, the combined forces of Silla and Tang dynasty conquered Baekje, and in 668CE, Goguryeo finally fell to the same alliance. With both rivals gone, King Munmu of Silla(r. 661~681) decided the time was ripe to assert independence. But to emperor Gaozu and Chinese, it wasn't. They now regarded Silla as their vassal and believed the whole Korean peninsula incorporated into Chinese influence. This discrepancy made former alliance into enemies.

In Silla–Tang War(668~676), Silla gained two major victories: at the Battle of Maeso and Gibeolpo. But they knew that if the Tang dynasty brings their full might to the Korean peninsula, the tide of war can be changed. But fortunate to Silla, this wasn't happened, because the Tibetan Empire invaded the Tang dynasty. So the Chinese had no choice but to suggest a truce to Silla, and Kin Munmu accepted this.

Following the unification of the Korean peninsula, Kingdom of Silla(or "Unified Silla", "Later Silla") began to prosper under the rule of King Munmu, Sinmun(r. 681~691), and their successors. They built beautiful temples such as Bulguksa and Seokguram, and Buddha statues from this period are regarded as the best among the whole history of Korea. Foreign trade also boomed. Chinese, Japanese, and even Arabian merchants often visited Korea, and admiral Jang Bogo dominated the trade of Eastern Asia. Also, Sillabang(roughly means"Silla town") built in several Chinese coastal cities. If Samguk Sagi can be believed, there were 190,000 houses in Seorabeol, the capital of Silla at their heights, although some Korean scholars believe it was 190,000 "men"/households, not "houses".

Meanwhile, China slowly lost her influence on Manchuria, which was the former territory of Goguryeo. So a group of pre-Goguryeo peoples and Mohe people declared their independence from the Tang dynasty and founded a nation named Balhae in 698 CE. After the initial territorial expansion by King Go (r. 698~719) and King Mu (r. 719~737), Balhae's system of government consolidated by King Mun(r. 737~793). It was King Seon (r. 818~830) who brought a golden age to Balhae, and the Chinese gave a nickname "Haedongseonguk(prosperous nation of the east)" to the country. But little else is known about the times after the death of King Seon because of a lack of historical records, and Balhae finally met its end in 926 at the hands of the Khitans.

Later Three Kingdoms
From the late 8th century, Silla Royal authority began to deteriorate, as succession crises took place, resulting in the fragmentation of Silla society. Influence slipped out of the hands of the king, and led to the rise of  semiautonomous movements led by local strongmen, eventually leading to the breakup of Silla into three: a rump Silla kingdom which had to compete with Late Goguryeo (or "Kingdom of Hugoguryeo", 901-918 CE), founded by a distant member of Silla royalty, and the kingdom of Later Baekje (or "Kingdom of Hubaekje", 892-936 CE), founded by a Silla commander in the south.

Among the three, Later Goguryeo was most powerful because it was largest of all. Gung Ye, the founder of the kingdom was sensitive to his people's needs and knew what the commoners wished for the most, and Wang Geon, one of the finest military commanders of Gung Ye, was as a general peerless among Koreans. The occupation of Naju in 903 CE, which was one of the most important strategic regions of Later Baekje, was a critical success for Goguryeo. But after some successes, King Gung Ye became more and more self-righteous. He stylised himself as a living avatar of Maitreya, killed his own subjects because of the slightest evidence of treason. The king also changed his kingdom's name to Majin, then Taebong at his whim. So the nobles of Taebong finally decided to dethrone their once-beloved king and crowned general Wang Geon (he later got a temple name "Taejo") as their new leader in 918.

From 918 to 934, Taejo of Goryeo and Gyeon Hwon, the king of Later Baekje(r. 892~935) continued their struggle for the unification of Korea. Gyeon Hwon himself was an excellent tactician too, so Taejo experienced many crises. But as the years went by the tide of war slowly turned in Taejo's favour, because Gyeon Hwon was more oppressive the aristocracy than Taejo, and he was hostile to Silla because they conquered Baekje, whereas Taejo was benevolent toward Silla. So when the last king of Silla peacefully surrendered to Goryeo in 935, it was a defining moment in the Baekjae-Goryeon conflict.

It was in that same year that Gyeon Hwon was deposed and imprisoned by his own son. Gyeon attempted to turn over the throne to his third son, but his first son knew this and acted first to kill his younger brother and so had his father dethroned. But Gyeon Hwon escaped and defected to Goryeo, ironically to bring down the very kingdom he founded, and so Later Baekje fell in 936 (Gyeon Hwon died in the same year because of disease as a result of resentment).

Initial crises and resolution: The flowering of Goryeo
With the capitulation of Balhae in 926 CE, and that of Silla to Goryeo in 935 CE, Taejo's unification of the Korean states under the Goryeo was conplete. But that was when new problems occurred: during the unification campaign against Later Baekje, Taejo was deeply indebted to the aristocracy. Indeed, he married 29 times with noblemen's daughters to secure their support. But because his first wife was of relatively humble origin (although she was a noble too), a succession dispute broke out following his passing in 943 CE. Taejo's successors Hyejong (r 943-945 CE) and Jeongjong (r 945-949 CE) were engulfed in incessant struggles with the nobles, so Gwangjong (r 949-975 CE), the fourth king, tried to find a way to strengthen his authority and weaken the influence of the aristocracy. He carefully supported lesser nobles and monks to secure their loyalty and implemented some systems such as an Imperial Examination system, imposed the use of standardised uniforms for officials, and partially emancipated the slaves of nobles. And finally, when he secured enough power and prestige, he executed a large-scale purge of the aristocracy. This is the main reason he was criticized by many of his subjects, but due to his bloody reign, the position of the king changed from the representative of nobles to that of an absolute ruler.

During the reigns of Gwangjong's successors, the new Goryeo "Empire" began to thrive under relative peace. Although they experienced Khitan incursions (993-1019 CE) and military conflict with the Jurchens (1104-1109 CE), many capable civil officials led the country thanks to the Imperial Examination (although the aristocracy benefitted greatly from it than anyone else), foreign trade with China and Japanese boomed, even as the Buddhist and Confucianist religions spread across the land. Because of these political and cultural developments, Goryeo felt it could stylise itself as an "Empire". They used court terms and titles that reflected this: for example, in traditional China and Korea, "폐하/陛下(Pyeha)" was used in referencing the Emperor and "전하/殿下(Jeonha)" to the king. Goryeo's rulers would use the former, not the latter.

"Korean Shogunate"
The golden era of the Goryeo empire met its end in 1170. Goryeo enjoyed relative peace for a long time, and it made kings and civil officials forget about the importance of the military. So they slowly started to ignore military officers, or even mock them. (And even in wartime, it was civil officials who took the total command of the entire army, not the generals. Military commanders had to satisficed with second in command, and as a result, "war heroes" against Khitans and Jurchens such as Gang Gam-chan and Yun Gwan weren't a military man)

As a result, in 1170, some military commanders rose in revolt against their king. They slew a lot of civil officials, and eventually deposed king Uijong(r. 1146~1170) and enthrone his younger brother as the new king(Myeongjong, r. 1170~1197). However, Myeonjong had little power, and his adherents, now appointed high-ranking officials, took the sovereign power.

But soon enough, those high-rankers turned their blade to each other because of the lust about more power. It led to almost 30 years of chaos, and finally, a general named Choe Chung-heon assumed power in 1196. He was different in many ways with former rulers. He didn't participate in the deposing of Uijong, an act which made survived civil officials enraged, gained some support from civil officials, and he was from a noble family while the formers were humble origin. Using those advantages, Choe Chung-heon established absolute power, powerful enough to depose two kings at his whim.

After Choe Chung-heon died in 1219, his son Choe Woo ruled Goryeo until 1249. Then his son Choe Hang led the kingdom until 1257, then Choe Ui, great-grandson of Choe Chung-heon, governed until 1258, when he was killed by other generals.

Mongol Terror
"復有如今日者乎? (Will there be the same day again?)"

- Choe Woo, during the grand feast in Ganghwa Island)

Beginning with Choe Chung-heon, the house of Choe succeeded in their power for 4 generations for 62 years. But this long-term seizure of power didn't mean that the times of crisis had gone. On the contrary, it was the exact opposite. Firstly, like the former military rulers, 4 Choe rulers didn't show any interest in governing. What they were interested in was maintaining their power and luxury, so from the commoners' view, Choe's regime was nothing but a tyranny just like former military rules. To make matters worse, the Mongolian army invaded Goryeo in 1231.

The diplomatic relationship between Goryeo and Mongols began in 1218. A group of Khitan peoples, pushed by Mongols invaded Goryeo, and Mongols interfered this without any permission of Goryeo. Although the Khitan invasion was repelled by Goryeo-Mongolian forces, Mongols started to demand heavy tributes as a reward for this "help", and anti-Mongol sentiment arose in the court of Goryeo. And in 1225, Mongol envoys to Goryeo were killed on their way back. Even today it's uncertain who assassinated these envoys, so some Korean scholars even believe this was a self-fabricated scenario of Mongols, but Ögedei Khan of Mongol took this as a casus belli.

From 1231 to 1257, Mongols invaded Goryeo for 9 times. Although some local armies and "righteous army" fought well, but almost every territory of Goreyo turned into ashes, and some old architecture and treasures(such as Hwangnyongsa and first Tripiṭaka Koreana) burnt. Meanwhile, Choe Woo moved the capital of Goryeo from Kaesong to Ganghwa Island because he believed the Mongolian navy is much weaker than their cavalry, so the island would be safe. But in that island, he and his successors did nothing but enjoyed the entertainment as if their ruined kingdom is in peace and prosperity.

As the war prolonged, however, a new atmosphere arose in Gangwha Island. Firstly, the king, civil officers, and even some military commanders started to eager for peace. To Choe's regime, which published anti-Monols slogan because they believed that can help to maintain their power, those voices were a danger signal. Secondly, the king himself started to believe that the Mongols, who are official enemies of his kingdom, can be helpful in fact. Because he wanted to finish the reign of the house of Choe, and military rulers feared the Mongols, so joining hands with Mongols could be one way to strengthen royal authority. Finally, although they were all tyrants, Choe Chung-heon and Choe Woo had some charisma to their closest advisors while their successors Choe Hang and Choe Ui were weak and incompetent. So in 1258, the last Choe ruler Choe Ui killed by some generals, who was his father and grandfather's aides.

After the fall of Choe's regime, the hawks, who killed their former master began to a power struggle. But now they were challenged by the doves, and finally, Im Yu-mu, the last military ruler of Goryeo killed by the order of the king in 1270. The 40 years war between Goryeo and Mongols finally ended, but Mongols made harsh demands to Goryeo. Apart from enormous tributes, Goryeo had to renounce every imperial title and names, and Kings of Goryeo had to marriage to the princesses of the Yuan dynasty and got a Posthumous name started with "忠"(which means "loyalty (to Yuan)"). Mongolian princess(who became queen consort), her retinues, and even some bureaucrats of Goryeo who had any connection with Mongols ignored the king(the last one was unexpected to the king because he believed he could monopolize every connection with Mongols), and also, Goryeo had to provide an army and fleet to help Mongol invasions of Japan in 1274 and 1281, which ended with no gain.

But still, there were some lights during this period too. Foreign trade began to revive because Goryeo now incorporated into a world market formed by Mongolian conquests, new and exotic cultures flew into the Korean peninsula. However, it was only the royal families and nobles who could embrace those lights.

Wihwado Retreat
As the Yuan dynasty grew weak and finally replaced by the Ming dynasty, the period Koreans call "The period of Yuan's interference" ended in the middle of the 14th century, but only after Goryeo tuned into a patient gasp for breath. Apart from "Yuan's interference", recurrent raid of Wokou from the middle of the 14th century and Red Turban invasions in 1359~1360 harassed the kingdom.

In this period, there were two political powers in the court of Goryeo: old nobles and new Scholar-bureaucrats. Although it's difficult to say which one is which because those parties closely bound up with each other by marriage, ties of blood and school, but the former had accumulated rich and status using the Mongols influence, while the latter was scholars who studied Neo-Confucianism in China.

And in 1387, a territorial dispute occurred between Goryeo and Ming dynasty. China wanted to construct a border fortress in the buffer zone between the two nations on the grounds that the buffer zone itself was a territory of the Yuan dynasty, but Goryeo claimed that territory was theirs before the Mongols invasion.

As a result, King U(r. 1374~1388) and prime minister Choe Yeong, who gained fame as an invincible commander in numerous battles against Wakou, decided to attack the Liaodong Peninsula as a first-strike response. Yi Seong-gye, one of the closest friends of Choe Yeond and another illustrious general of the age opposed this idea, but he had been given total command of the invading army. But at Wihwado, the river island and the border of Goryeo and Ming dynasty, Yi Seong-gye decided to cross the Rubicon. He commanded an army to march against their king, and Choe Yeong took prisoner after he lost the battle against his former adjutant. He was exiled and executed later, while King U deposed from this throne.

After the Wihwado Retreat, Scholar-bureaucrats took power instead of old nobles. But soon enough, they were divided into two parties: the moderates and the radicals. The moderates, led by Jeong Mong-ju, believed Goryeo can restore its old glory if enough reformations are made; while the others, led by Yi Seong-gye and Jeong Dojeon, insisted there can be no hope unless the new kingdom is founded. Some political maneuvers made to defeat each other, but the radicals gained their final victory when Yi Bang-won, fifth son of Yi Seong-gye, assassinated Jeong Mong-ju in 1392. The last king of Goryeo deposed and executed later by the order of Yi Seong-gye, who founded the new, Joseon dynasty.