Korea

I

Introduction

Korea, peninsula, Asia, divided since 1948 into two political entities: the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) and the Republic of Korea (South Korea). The following article deals with the history of Korea until its division. For physical description, climate, people, economy, and government, and subsequent history, see North Korea; South Korea.

The earliest known Korean state was Old Choson, in what is now north-western Korea and southern Dongbei; it was conquered by China in 108 bc. Further south, the kingdoms of Paekche and Silla emerged in the 3rd or 4th century ad, when Chinese influence had weakened. On the southern coast was a fourth state called Kaya. See also Three Kingdoms Period.

Koguryo was initially the most powerful state, controlling most of the peninsula and Dongbei by the 5th century. In the mid-6th century, Silla conquered Kaya and seized the area around Seoul in the Han River valley, while Koguryo and Paekche suffered steady territorial losses. All three states had vigorous and distinctive cultures. Koguryo excelled militarily, but Silla built more durable social and political institutions. Paekche had extensive relations with both China and Japan and developed a high standard of civilization, but was weak politically and militarily. By 668, Silla, in alliance with the Chinese Tang dynasty, had defeated Koguryo and Paekche and established the first unified Korean state (see Unified Silla Dynasty). Buddhism, which had appeared in the peninsula during the 4th century and had grown to a powerful force by the 6th, inspired much of Silla's intellectual and artistic life; Chinese culture, written language, and political institutions were also extremely influential. Silla's native culture, however, was the principal vehicle of Korean development in this period. By the 10th century a distinctively Korean type of state was firmly rooted, and despite many later changes and vicissitudes, this Korean polity has endured until modern times.

II

Koryo Period (918-1392)

During the 9th century, Silla's monarchy and governing institutions declined, and regional leaders gained strength at the expense of the capital. From 890 to 935 the old three kingdoms re-emerged on the peninsula. This time the northern state, Koryo (the name, which is derived from Koguryo, is reflected in the modern Western name, Korea), accomplished unification. Founded in 918 by an astute warrior and statesman named Wang Kon, Koryo brought Korea's regional leaders under a single central authority and extended the frontiers of the country north to the Yalu River. Here Koryo came into conflict with the Dongbei Khitan (Liao) dynasty. In wars lasting from 993 to 1018, Koryo suffered greatly but maintained its position and in 1022 gained a definitive peace and consolidated its territorial gains.

The full flowering of Koryo culture took place in the following century. It was marked by a stable central government, the institutions and methods of which owed much to Chinese influence; a vigorous Buddhist faith that inspired many achievements in scholarship and art; and a particularly distinctive ceramics industry that produced exquisite celadons—stoneware with a grey-green, iron-pigmented glaze—still much appreciated. In the early 12th century, however, stability began to give way. Powerful aristocratic families contended with the throne for political control, and the Dongbei Jurchen (Jin) dynasty added pressure from outside, provoking divisive responses from a now uncertain leadership. In 1170, the military, chafing under discrimination, threw out the civilian officials and turned the kings into puppets, thus beginning a period of internal strife. The Mongols invaded Korea in 1231, launching a series of wars that ended with their conquest of Koryo in 1259 (see Mongol Empire). Under the Mongols the Korean kings recovered their leading position. Koryo was able to drive out the Mongols in 1356, but it was unable in the long run to restore its institutions or to contain the new political forces it encountered, and in 1392 the state came to an end.

III

The Choson (Yi) Dynasty (1392-1910)

During the 14th century, Koreans were broadly stimulated by Neo-Confucianism, which had been formulated by the Chinese philosopher Zhu Xi. This highly developed value system energized the middle ranks of Koryo officialdom, and their movement for social and political reform inspired the founding of the Yi dynasty (also known as Choson) by Yi Songgye.

A

The Early Period

Yi's early kings and its Confucianized elite class established a social and political structure that withstood all challenges until 1910, achieving one of the longest dominations by a single dynasty in world history. Although heavily influenced by Chinese culture, Yi dynasty Korea maintained a distinctive identity, as illustrated by its own unique alphabet—Han’gul, invented in 1446 by King Sejong (see Korean Language). Yi's first 200 years were blessed with peace and generally good government, although disruptive divisions within the elite class began in the 16th century. While distracted by these struggles, Yi was invaded in 1592 by the Japanese, who wanted to use Korea as a transit route for the conquest of China. By 1598, however, Yi, with the aid of China's Ming dynasty and the efforts of its own redoubtable naval hero, Yi Sunsin, had repulsed the Japanese. Recovery had still not been achieved when Korea suffered more invasions, this time from the Manchus (1627, 1636), who thus wrenched Yi away from Ming suzerainty. The Manchu conquest of China in 1644 and the advent of the Qing dynasty brought new problems for Yi but also had the effect of stimulating the Koreans, temporarily cut off from Chinese influence, to develop their own culture more creatively.