新羅

Silla was one of the three ancient kingdoms of [Korea] which battled with its rivals [Paekche] and [Koguryo] for hundreds of years before finally emerging victorious and ruling the entire [Korean peninsula] at the end of the [1st millenium] AD.

According to tradition, Silla was founded by King [Park Hyokkose] (the progenitor of today's [Park] surname in Korea). Archaeology tells us that by at least by the [2nd century] AD there was a loose confederacy of tribes in southeastern Korea in the area which would later become Silla. The Park family dominated the confederacy for several centuries, but was eventually overthrown by the [Seok] family, who themselves were finally overthrown by the [Kim] family.

By the [6th century], Silla had become a full-fledged kingdom, with a hereditary aristocracy, Chinese-style calendar and reign names, [Buddhism] as the state religion, law codes based on Chinese models, and a hierarchical system of ranks and titles.

By this time Silla was also in an almost constant state of war with the two other powerful kingdoms on the pennisula, Paekche and Koguryo. Over the course of the 6th century, Silla conquered the neighboring confederacy of [Kaya], weakening Paekche who had relied upon Kaya as a trusted ally. Finally, in the [7th century], Silla concluded a strategic alliance with [Tang Dynasty] [China], and with the help of Tang troops, was able to conquer Paekche in [660] and Koguryo in [668]. Silla then spent more than a decade expelling the Tang army from Korea, as the Tang had only helped Silla because they secretly hoped to colonize the peninsula.

Silla now ruled the entire Korean peninsula for several hundred years, although it abandoned the northern-most regions of the old Koguryo kingdom, which became the kingdom of [Parhae]. For more than a century after the unification, Silla was an efficiently-run, highly bureaucratized state, divided into nine provinces and numerous administrative subunits.

But without the constant threat of nearby enemies to keep them on their toes, the Silla kings gradually became lazy and soft, and by the end of the [9th century] the kings had been reduced to impotent figureheads as powerful provincial aristocrats carved out their own fiefs in the countryside and peasant rebellions created quasi-autonomous regions which refused to pay taxes. Finally, in [935], the last remnants of the Silla kingdom were conquered by [Wang Kon] who reunited the Korean peninsula and founded the [Koryo] kingdom.

Silla (place)