Later Three Kingdoms

The Later Three Kingdoms period (889-935 AD) of ancient

Later Three Kingdoms
Korea saw a partial revival of the old three kingdoms which had
dominated the peninsula from the 1st century BCE to the 7th
century AD. After the Unified Silla kingdom had ruled Korea
alone from 668 CE, it slowly began to decline and the power
vacuum this created led to several rebellious states rising up and
taking on the old historical names of Korea's ancient kingdoms. A
messy period of alliances and in-fighting followed, but one state
would once again establish a dominant position – Goryeo, itself
named in homage to the earlier northern Goguryeo kingdom –
and form a unified Korean state and a dynasty which would last
for over 500 years.

Contents
Korean name
The Fall of Silla
Hangul 후삼국시대
Gyeon Hwon and Gung Ye
Hanja 後三國時代
Wang Geon's Unification of Korea
Revised Husamguk
See also
Romanization Sidae
External links
McCune– Husamguk
Reischauer Sidae
The Fall of Silla
The Unified Silla Kingdom (668- 935 AD) had held sway over the Korean peninsula for three
centuries, but the state was in a slow decline. The rigidity of its class structure based on the Bone rank
system meant that few could rise above the position of their birth and ideas and innovation were
stifled. The aristocracy began to resent the power and waste of the king, landowners resisted
centralised control, and the peasantry grew more and more rebellious over the incessant taxes levied
upon them. The state was falling apart from within.

The weakness of the central Silla government meant that local warlords and strongmen, always
difficult to bring under state control at the best of times, now ruled their own territories as they
pleased. Banditry swept across the peninsula, particularly infamous examples being Chongill,
Kihwon, Yanggil, and a group known as the Red Pantaloons (Chokkojok).

Gyeon Hwon and Gung Ye

This period of political turmoil which turned into a free-for-all for control of Korea is referred to as
the Later Three Kingdoms period (889-935 AD). Gyeon Hwon (867-936 AD), a peasant leader and
Silla army officer, took advantage of the political unrest in 892 AD and made himself military
governor of the city of Muju. By 900 AD Gyeon became more ambitious and, joining forces with the
bandit Yanggil, formed a revival of the old Baekje (Paekche) kingdom in the south-west portion of the
peninsula. He chose Wansan (modern Jeonju) as his capital.

Meanwhile, an aristocratic Buddhist monk leader, Gung Ye, declared a new Goguryeo state in the
north in 901 AD, known as Later Goguryeo (Hugoguryo). Gung Ye was either the illegitimate son of
Gyeongmun of Silla or Heonan of Silla depending on the account. He, too, had formed an alliance
with Yanggil but proved rather more ruthless and killed the bandit, clearing the way to declare himself
king in his own right. His capital was first at Songak (Gaesong) and then Cheorwon. He also twice
changed the name of his kingdom – to Majin in 904 AD and Taebong in 911 AD – illustrative of his
unstable character. One thing that never changed was Gung's hatred of Silla and his insistence that his
subjects always refer to it as the 'nation of the damned.'

There then followed a protracted power struggle for control of the peninsula. Gyeon Hwon attacked
Gyeongju, the Silla capital, in 927 AD, while Gung Ye's unpopular and fanatical tyranny led to his
death at the hands of his people. Gung had become drunk on power and believed himself to be the
Maitreya Buddha, spent his time composing sutras, dressed himself and his family in extravagant
robes, and never went anywhere without an entourage of 200 monks chanting in his wake. He even
claimed he had the power of mind-reading and used his 'skills' to purge his court of anyone he
suspected of disloyal intentions. Gung was succeeded in 918 AD by his first minister, the able Wang
Geon who probably had a hand in his hated predecessor's assassination. Wang had already
distinguished himself as a naval commander, capturing several islands and blocking Baekje's trade
with China and Japan. Wang selected the new name of Goryeo (Koryo) and moved the capital to
Songak (modern Kaesong) where his father had long been a wealthy merchant and local headman.

Wang Geon's Unification of Korea

Later Baekje (Hubaekche) attacked the Silla kingdom in 920 and 924 AD. Silla, now the weakest of
the three kingdoms and only controlling a small heartland in the deep south, responded by calling on
Later Goguryeo for assistance. When Baekje attacked and sacked the Silla capital of Gyeongju in 927
AD, the Silla king Gyeongae of Silla (r. 924-927 AD) was forced to commit suicide and a puppet ruler,
Kim Pu installed in his place with the reign name of Gyeongsun. Wang responded by attacking the
Later Baekje capital, which was now beset by leadership in-fighting. Gyeon Hwon then lost a battle at
Geochang to a force led by Wang. Back at the Baekje capital, Gyeon faced a rebellion led by his son
Gyeon Singeom, who, displeased that his father had favoured his younger brother as next in line for
the throne, imprisoned Gyeon.

Wang was now in possession of most of Silla's territory, which he controlled via a new garrison
outside Gyeongju, and his position as de facto ruler of Korea was recognised by the Tang dynasty of
China in 932 AD. In 934 AD, after Wang's overwhelming victory over Baekje at Unju (Hongseong),
large amounts of Koreanic refugees and a few Mohe tribes from the northern state of Balhae (Parhae)
felt the situation stable enough to return to Korea.

Gyeongsun of Silla surrendered and named Wang as his successor in 935 AD, and in the same year
Gyeon, who had escaped to Later Goguryeo territory, appealed to his old enemy Wang for help to
remove Gyeon Singeom. Gyeon led a Goguryeo army to Baekje, and the resulting civil war and death
of both Gyeon Singeom and Gyeon Hwon in 936 AD, greatly weakened Baekje and allowed Wang to
finally unify the country once again under the name of Goryeo, origin of today's name for Korea.
Wang, posthumously given the title of Taejo of Goryeo or 'Great Founder,' established a dynasty
which would rule Korea for the next five centuries.
See also
Silla
Baekje
Taebong
Later Baekje
Later Sabeol
Gyeon Hwon
Gung Ye
Wang Geon
Samguk Yusa
Three Kingdoms of Korea
List of monarchs of Korea
Taejo of Goryeo
Taejo Wang Geon (TV series)
Tomb of King Wanggon
Family tree of the Goryeo kings
Silla monarchs family tree

External links
https://www.worldhistory.org/Later_Three_Kingdoms_Period by Mark Cartwright

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This page was last edited on 27 June 2022, at 10:11 (UTC).

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