Transcript Korea: Koryo Dynasty - Porterville College

Korea
Koryo to Chosun
935 CE +
17
Koryo Dynasty
935-1392 CE
Factionalism and corruption weaken Silla
Dynasty
Tang China collapses leaving Silla without a
protector

The Sadae principle fails them??
Restoration movements in both Baekche and
Koguryo
Both gain independence
Transition:
Later Baekche
Later Baekche emerges
Prince imprisons his father
Younger brother liberates
father
Liberated Father and his
followers join Later
Koguryo as junior partner
in an alliance
Later Baekche 
Transition:
Later Koguryo
Later Koguryo 
Later Koguryo
emerges under King
Wang Kon
Takes over the lower
half of Parhae (lower
half of the early
Koguryo nation)
Koryo
Wang Kon allies with the senior king of
Later Baekche
935 CE: Koguryo overthrows Silla to
unify Korea again
Takes on the new dynastic name:
Koryo (고려)

High and elegant
Koryo Dynasty
935-1392 CE
First King: Wang Kon
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Great coalition builder and peacemaker
Baekche elites brought into his leadership –
alliance with elderly Baekche king
Incorporate Silla Elite by marrying Silla princess
Capital at Kaeseong – now bisected by the
DMZ
Koryo Leadership
Continued dominance of the Yangban
Class
Yangban means two-sides or two corps
Emerged in Silla – continued in Koryo
 Civil elite + Military elite = Yangban
 Hereditary status for political position

Koryo Dynasty
Farming done by tenants and SLAVES

1/3 of Koryo population classified as slaves
Koryo Dynasty:
Golden age For
Korean Women
Matrilocal marriage:
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Women relatively well off
Koryo Museum: NK
Women own property
Women can inherit
Women may get custody in case of divorce
Widows can remarry
Some women even take on multiple husbands

men taking on multiple wives was never uncommon in
Korea until modern times
Koryo Dynasty
935-1392 CE
Civil service system develops
Exams, but still hereditary elite
Flowering of Arts:
Celedon pottery
Flowering of Arts:
Buddhism: the national religion and
dominant influence
Buddhist artwork
Koreana Tripitaka

Heinsa Temple
Moveable type invented
But not much used
Shipping Developed in the 1100s
Sextant
 Deep water navigation
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Koryo Occupied by
Mongols: 1231
Guerilla resistance until 1270
Mongols oversee building of 900 ships
& attack Japan 1270s (Korean sailors)
Koryo Occupied by
Mongols: 1231
Ming dynasty in China overthrows
Mongols in 1368.
Koryo elites vacillate between loyalty to
Ming and to Mongols.
Koryo Collapse
Yi Seung-kye is dispatched to repel
Ming attack
Yi’s coup
Ming alliance
New Chosun Dynasty (named by Ming
emperor) 1392-1910