Korean Civilization

1. Korean 10: Korean Civilization
Week 1: Slide Presentation 3 of 5
The Three Kingdoms Period II
The Rise of Silla & Unification
Prof. Mickey Hong
Modern Languages & Civilizations

2. Buddhism in
Three Kingdoms
 Koguryŏ in 372
 Paekche in 384
 Silla in 534
 Koguryo borders to China.
 Buddhist monk played an important role
in introducing Chinese culture to the
kingdoms.
 They served as political advisers
offering advice on how to rule the
country.
 A Chinese monk came to Koguryo with
Buddhist sutra and images of Buddha.
 In 372, Koguryo accepted Buddhism as
state religion.
 Twelve years later Buddhism came to
Paekche in the same way
 Buddhism was welcomed by the royal
houses as Chinese culture

3. Buddhism
 Originated from the teachings of Siddhartha Gotama
(c.563 BCE or 480-c.483 BCE or 400) born in Ancient
India who became enlightened at the age of 35
 4 Noble Truths
1. Life is suffering (loss, pain, disappointment,
dissatisfaction, aging, and death)
2. Suffering is caused by craving, desire or attachment
3. The end of suffering (#1) can be the renouncement or
letting go of craving, desire or attachment (#2)
4. The Nobel Eightfold Path is way to renounce suffering (#1)

4. Lotus Design
 From left, a roof-end tile with lotus pattern from the
Koguryŏ (37 B.C. to 668 A.D.), a roof-end tile with lotus
pattern from Paekche (18 B.C. to 600 A.D.) and a roof-
end tile with lotus pattern from the Unified Silla period
(676-935).

5.  The lotus has been a symbol of purity since before the
time of the Buddha, and it blooms profusely in Buddhist
art and literature. Its roots are in muddy water, but the
lotus flower rises above the mud to bloom, clean and
fragrant.
 The mud nourishing the roots represents our messy
human lives. It is through our human experiences and
our suffering that we seek to break free and bloom. But
while the flower rises above the mud, the roots and
stem remain in the mud, where we live our lives.

6. Noble Eightfold Path
 Noble Eightfold Path
1. Right View
2. Right Resolve or Intention
3. Right Speech
4. Right Conduct or Action
5. Right Livelihood
6. Right Effort
7. Right Mindfulness
8. Right Concentration

7. Adaptation of Buddhism in
the Three Kingdoms
 Imported from India and China
 State unity: Buddha became the god of the state protecting
the kingdom with its heavenly power
 Justification of social stratification: Good intent and good
deed contribute to good karma and future happiness, while
bad intent and bad deed contribute to bad karma and future
suffering. One is born into high/low social standing because of
karma from the past life.
 Doctrines of the various Buddhist sects
 Flower Garland (Hwaŏm): studying of Buddhist sutra;
embraced the myriad of beings within the single
Buddha mind  centralized (aristocracy)
 Pure Land Buddhism: promoted by Wŏnhyo (617-686),
no literacy not required, chanting “nammu amit’a
pul”; popular among the masses

8. Introduction of Confucianism
In the Three Kingdoms
Koguryŏ
 King Sosurim (r.371–384)
 Adopted Buddhism as a state religion
 Adopted Confucianism for statecraft
 For Public moral and social value
 The establishment of a National Confucian Academy (372): Classical
Chinese texts on rites, history and literature
Silla
 Civil service examination (788) instituted: selection of government officials,
learning classical Chinese

9. Confucianism
 Goal: Social harmony
 Conservative and morality: insistence on correctness
 Ancestors and the past are important
 All human relationships involved a set of defined roles
and mutual obligations
“There is government, when the prince is prince, and
the minister is minister; when the father is father, and
the son is son.” (Analects XII, 11, trans. Legge)

10. Five Bonds
1. Ruler to Ruled:
2. Father to Son:
3. Husband to Wife
4. Elder Brother to Younger Brother
5. Friend to Friend

11. Buddhism
during Silla
Silla accepted Buddhism in
534 latest among three
kingdoms.
Buddhism had profound
influence on Silla arts and
architecture.
Silla built many Buddhist
temples and the most
famous one is Pulguksa
temple.

12. Buddhism
during Silla
Sŏkkuram Grotto
The Buddha statue is
seated upon a lotus
pedestal

13. Tales of Devotion:
Ukmyon, the Slave Girl
who Entered the
Lotus Paradise
 During the reign of King Kyŏngdŏk (742-765),
a group of devoted Buddhist in Kangju built a
temple called Mita-sa in a grove of trees and
began to worship Buddha for ten thousand
days in order to enter the lotus paradise.
Among the worshippers was a female slave
belonging to the aristocratic family whose
name was Ukmyon. She followed her noble
master to the temple every evening and
offered a prayer standing outside in the
courtyard and bowing toward the august
image in the main hall. Her unkind master
did not like this. He gave her two large bags
of rice to pound to pearly white each day, to
keep her busy at home. But she worked so
diligently that she was able to attend
prayers before dawn and after sunset each
day. Moreover, as a sign of her devotion, she
gouged holes in her two hands and passed a
straw rope through them, which was then
tied to two pegs on opposite sides of the
temple courtyard. One evening the
assembled worshippers heard a voice from
the sky, which said, “Ukmyon, my faithful
maid, enter the main hall of the Buddha and
offer your prayer.” They invited the poor girl
to enter, and she approached the image of
the merciful Buddha on her knees and
murmured her prayer in a low voice, lifting
her eyes in rapture to the half-closed eyes of
Buddha. Ukmyon was lifted into the sky
through a gaping hole in the ceiling and roof,
higher and higher as she flew toward the
western side of the temple. There her
mortal body fell away and she became a
Kwanum (Goddess of Mercy) seated on a
lotus pedestal and flew to the lotus paradise
while heavenly music continued from the sky
and brilliant rays illuminated the rapturous
spectators below.

14. Tales of Devotion:
Ukmyon, the Slave Girl who Entered
the Lotus Paradise
 A Buddhist monk (Ilyon) wrote historical records
including stories with moral lessons
 What does it tell us about Silla?
 The generosity of Buddha who allowed a slave girl to enter
the pure land, Nirvana.
 Difficult lives of slaves
 Social hierarchy was rigid

15. Rise of Silla
 King Pŏphŭng (514-540) promulgated a code of
administrative law
 Seventeen-grade office rank structure
 Prescribed proper attire for the officialdom
 Instituted the “bone-rank” system
 Buddhism as the state religion
15

16. The Changing Environment of the
Late 6th and 7th Centuries
 Tang China (618-907) vs Koguryŏ
 Attack Koguryŏ, but defeated in 648
 Taizong (Tang Emperor) attacked Koguryŏ in 655, 658-59:
unsuccessful
 Yon Kaesomun
16

17. Social institution of Silla:
Bone-Rank System
 Sacred [hallowed] bone (sŏnggol): royal Kim clan
 True bone (chingol): (highest level of the aristocracy) cadet
branches of the royal family, members of the Pak and Sŏk royal
consort families, and royal house of Pon Kaya
 Head-ranks six: middle level offices
 head-rank 6-1 (probably 3-1 were commoners); they cannot
achieve highest official position even if they have talents.
 People in different rank have to follow rules restricting their types
of clothes, number of carriages and horses, decoration of their
homes
 in comparison, Koguryŏ had strict social strata and intermarriage
was not allowed
 Paekche had 8 prominent clans; even among them, there was inner
circle of elites who could hold highest posts
17

18. Silla Political Institutions:
Hwabaek
 Hwabaek (Council of Notables)
 True bone
 Silla decided on all important state matters including
succession, war, adoption of Buddhism through hwabaek
council.
 Principle of unanimity
18

19. Hwarang (Flower Youth)
 Military bands of aristocratic youth that served as elite units
selected for their beauty, but military and political purpose
 These elite young men trained in horseback riding, martial
arts, literature, dance, and music.
 In time of peace, they also made pilgrimages to pray for their
country
 Included Kim Yu-sin
 Honored “Five Secular Injunctions”
1. to serve the king with loyalty
2. to serve one’s parents with filiality
3. to practice fidelity in friendship
4. to never retreat in battle
5. to refrain from wanton killings
19

20. 20
King Chinhŭng of Silla
(526–576; r. 540-576)
 Drove out Koguryŏ from Han River basin: alliance with Paekche
(King Sŏng)
 Drove out Paekche from lower Han River region in 551
 Control over the Han River:
 additional human and material resources
 Communicate with China across the Yellow Sea
 Destroyed Taekaya (city-state in Kaya) in 562

21. Silla’s Victories
*defeated Kaya 532, 562
*defeated Paekche in 660
*defeated Koguryŏ in 668
*expelled Tang in 676

22. “Later” or “Unified” Silla
From 676, when Silla
unified the southern
Korean peninsula, under
the Han river.

23. The Queens of Silla:
Queen Sŏndŏk (r. 632-647)
 Queen Sŏndŏk’s
nephew Kim
Ch’unch’u
 Kim Ch’unch’u’s
brother-in-law Kim
Yusin
 Kim Ch’unch’u
became King
Muyŏl/T’aejong,
first true-bone
king, r. 654-661
 defeated Paekche
in 660, Koguryŏ in
668 with Tang help;
then ousted Tang

24. The Queens of Silla:
Queen Chindŏk
(r. 647-654)
 Patronage of
Buddhism, arts,
science,
technology

25. Silla Politics and Society
 Bone Rank System
 Relative Gender Equality
 Hwabaek Council (Council of Nobles)
 Strong military
 Hwarang (Wŏn’gwang, 5 Secular Injunctions)
 Taxation system
 Chang Pogo and challenges to central elite

26. Silla Culture
 Advance in:
 Trade
 Science
 Writing system
 Literature
 Buddhism
 Arts

27. Crown with
pendant
ornaments
Found in the
queen's tomb.
Pair of earrings
This pair is especially
notable for its
surface decoration of
tiny gold balls

28. Gold and jade
necklace

29. Chestlace:
symbol of
importance and
authority of the
deceased.
 Glass, gold and jade.

30. Bodhisattva in
pensive pose
 probably Maitreya
(Korean: Mireuk), Korea,
Silla kingdom, late 6th–
early 7th century. Gilt
bronze; H. 36 7/8 in.
(93.5 cm). National
Museum of Korea,
National Treasure 83

31. Buddha
 probably Amitabha
(Korean: Amita), Korea,
Silla Kingdom, ca. 706.
From the pagoda at
Hwangboksa Temple site.
Gold, H. 4 3/4 in. (12.2
cm). National Museum of
Korea, National Treasure 79

32. Imported Luxuries and
Exotic Imagery
Dagger and sheath Roman style vessel

33. Silla Envoy to Tang, 8th C.

34. Imported Luxuries and
Exotic Imagery
 Pair of Shoes
soles
 Zodiac figure of
pig
Pair of shoe soles Zodiac figure of a boar

35. Ch'ŏmsŏngdae
(Star-gazing
tower)
 Astronomical
Observatory
 The tower is 9.4
meters (30 ft) tall

36. P’osŏkchŏng

37. P'osǒkchǒng
(Pavilion of Stone Abalone)
 Carved granite
blocks
containing the
stream for
floating the
nobles wine
glasses during
the King's
banquets

38. Bell of King Sŏngdŏk/
Emile Bell