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The Three Kingdoms of Korea () or Samhan of Korea, refers to the period in Korean history when the peninsula was divided into three major kingdoms: Goguryeo, Paekche, and Silla (also known as the "Samhan" kingdoms) following the Proto–Three Kingdoms period.
These Samhan kingdoms competed for hegemony over the Korea during the ancient period of Korean history. During the period, many states and statelets consolidated until, after Buyeo was annexed in 494 and Kaya confederacy was annexed in 562, only three remained on the Korean Peninsula: Goguryeo, Paekche and Silla. The " Korean Three Kingdoms" contributed to what would become Korea; and the Goguryeo, Paekche and Silla peoples became the Korean people.Benjamin 2015 The Cambridge World History: Volume 4 (p. 427, p. 430)
The three kingdoms occupied the entire peninsula and roughly half of Manchuria (modern-day Northeast China and small parts of the Russian Far East). Goguryeo controlled the northern half of the peninsula, as well as Liaodong Peninsula and Manchuria. Paekche and Silla occupied the southern half of the peninsula. The island kingdoms of Tamna and Usan were subordinated to Paekche and Silla, respectively.
All three kingdoms shared a similar culture and language. Paekche and Goguryeo shared founding myths which likely originated in Buyeo. Korean Buddhism, which arrived in Korea in the 3rd century CE from India via Tibet and China, became the state religion of all constituents of the three kingdoms, starting with Goguryeo in 372 CE. The Three Kingdoms of Korea all had a warrior aristocracy in contrast to the literary elite of China.Holcombe, Charles (2017); A History of East Asia: From the Origins of Civilization to the Twenty-First Century; Cambridge University Press; p. 87
The period ended in the 7th century, after Silla allied with Tang dynasty and unified the peninsula for the first time in history. After the fall of Paekche and Goguryeo, the Tang dynasty established a short-lived military government to administer parts of the Korean Peninsula. Silla was joined by Goguryeo and Paekche loyalists and Silla-Tang War for hegemony over the Korean Peninsula. Silla was eventually divided into the Later Three Kingdoms and ultimately annexed by the new Goguryeo revivalist state of Goryeo.
According to the Samguk sagi and Samguk yusa, Silla implemented a national policy, "Samhan Unification" (), to integrate Paekche and Goguryeo refugees. In 1982, a memorial stone dating to 686 was discovered in Cheongju with an inscription: "The Three Han were unified and the domain was expanded." During the Later Silla period, the concepts of Samhan as the ancient confederacies and the Three Kingdoms of Korea were merged. In a letter to an imperial tutor of the Tang dynasty, Ch'oe Ch'i-wŏn equated Byeonhan to Paekche, Jinhan to Silla, and Mahan to Goguryeo. By the Goryeo period, Samhan became a common name to refer to all of Korea. In his Ten Mandates to his descendants, Wang Geon declared that he had unified the Three Han (Samhan), referring to the Three Kingdoms of Korea. Samhan continued to be a common name for Korea during the Joseon period and was widely referenced in the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty.
In China, the Three Kingdoms of Korea were collectively called Samhan since the beginning of the 7th century. The use of the name Samhan to indicate the Three Kingdoms of Korea was widespread in the Tang dynasty. Goguryeo was alternately called Mahan by the Tang dynasty, as evidenced by a Tang document that called Goguryeo generals "Mahan leaders" () in 645. In 651, Emperor Gaozong of Tang sent a message to the king of Paekche referring to the Three Kingdoms of Korea as Samhan. Epitaphs of the Tang dynasty, including those belonging to Paekche, Goguryeo, and Silla refugees and migrants, called the Three Kingdoms of Korea "Samhan", especially Goguryeo. For example, the epitaph of Go Hyeon (), a Tang dynasty general of Goguryeo origin who died in 690, calls him a "Liaodong Samhan man" ().
The name "Three Kingdoms" was used in the titles of the Korean histories Samguk sagi (12th century) and Samguk yusa (13th century), and should not be confused with the Three Kingdoms of China.
The nascent precursors of Paekche and Silla expanded within the web of statelets during the Proto-Three Kingdoms period, and Goguryeo conquered neighboring state like Buyeo in Manchuria and chiefdoms in Okjeo, Eastern Ye which occupied the northeastern Korean Peninsula. The three polities made the transition from walled-town state to full-fledged state-level societies between 1st – 3rd century CE.
The primary sources for this period include Samguk sagi and Samguk yusa in Korea, and the "Eastern Barbarians" section (東夷傳) from the Book of Wei (魏書) of the Records of the Three Kingdoms in China.
All three kingdoms shared a similar culture and language. The Book of Sui (Volume 81) recorded: "The customs, laws and clothes of Goguryeo, Paekche and Silla are generally identical." Their original religions appear to have been shamanism, but they were increasingly influenced by Chinese culture, particularly Confucianism and Taoism. In the 4th century, Buddhism was introduced to the peninsula and spread rapidly, briefly becoming the official religion of all three kingdoms.
According to Lisa Kay Bailey, the material culture of the Three Kingdoms can be clearly distinguished as they displayed cultural influence from different regions. Goguryeo's culture showed stronger influence from northern Chinese art, Baekche showed stronger influence from southern Chinese art, and Silla, which was more distant from China, showed greater influence from Eurasian steppe nomad cultures and greater preservation of native traditions. (2026). 9789004217829, Global Oriental. ISBN 9789004217829 During this period, the Three Kingdoms had yet to unify their separate identities. Each kingdom produced their own individual histories; only in the Goryeo dynasty period was the collective history of the Korean Peninsula written together.
"The decline of Chinese power in the fourth century unleashed a wave of refugees that proved pivotal in speeding up the process of state-building in Korea," starting the Three Kingdoms era.
Goguryeo, eventually the largest of the three kingdoms, had several capitals in alternation: two capitals in the upper Yalu area, and later Nangrang ( Lelang in Chinese) which is now part of Pyongyang. At the beginning, the state was located on the border with China; it gradually expanded into Manchuria and destroyed the Chinese Lelang commandery in 313. The cultural influence of the Chinese continued as Buddhism was adopted as the official religion in 372.
Goguryeo was a highly militaristic state; it was a powerful empire and one of the great powers in East Asia. The state was at its zenith in the 5th century, during the rule of King Gwanggaeto the Great and his son King Jangsu, and particularly during their campaign in Manchuria. For the next century or so, Goguryeo was the dominant nation in Manchuria and the northern Korean peninsula. Korea's Three Kingdoms . Ancientworlds.net (2005-06-19). Retrieved on 2015-11-15. Goguryeo eventually occupied the Liaodong Plains in Manchuria and today's Seoul area. Gwanggaeto achieved a loose unification of the Three Kingdoms of Korea.
Goguryeo also controlled Tungusic peoples tribes in Manchuria. After the establishment of the Sui dynasty and later the Tang dynasty in China, the kingdom continued to take aggressive actions against China, Silla, and Paekche attacks until it was conquered by allied Silla–Tang forces in 668. Most of its territory was absorbed by the Tang dynasty of China, and the territory of Paekche was absorbed by Silla.
Paekche was a great maritime power; its nautical skill, which made it the Phoenicia of East Asia, was instrumental in the dissemination of Buddhism throughout East Asia and continental culture to Japan. Paekche played a fundamental role in transmitting cultural and material developments to Kofun period, including Chinese written characters, Chinese and Korean literature, technologies such as ferrous metallurgy and Korean ceramics, architectural styles, sericulture and Buddhism. Introduction Buddhism of Baekje into Japan. baekje.chungnam.netFarris, William Wayne, Japan to 1600: A Social and Economic History. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2009, pp 68–87, 97–99, 101–105, 109–110, 116, 120–122.
Paekche exerted its political influence on Tamna, a kingdom that ruled Jeju Island. Paekche maintained a close relationship with and extracted tribute from Tamna. Paekche's religious and artistic culture influenced Goguryeo and Silla. Paekche was once a great military power on the Korean Peninsula, especially during the time of Geunchogo, but was critically defeated by Gwanggaeto and declined.
In the late 5th century, under attack from Goguryeo, the capital of Paekche was moved south to Ungjin (present-day Gongju) and later further south to Sabi (present-day Buyeo County). Paekche was conquered by Silla-Tang alliance in 660, submitting the Unified Silla.
Renamed from Saro to Silla in 503, the kingdom annexed the Gaya confederacy (which in turn had absorbed Byeonhan earlier) in the first half of the 6th century. Goguryeo and Paekche responded by forming an alliance. To cope with invasions from Goguryeo and Paekche, Silla deepened its relations with the Tang dynasty, with its newly gained access to the Yellow Sea making direct contact with the Tang possible. After the conquest of Goguryeo and Paekche with her Tang allies, the Silla kingdom drove the Tang forces out of the peninsula and occupied the lands south of Pyongyang.
The capital of Silla was Seorabeol (now Gyeongju; "Seorabeol", "서라벌", is hypothesized to have been the ancient Korean term for "capital"). Buddhism became the official religion in 528. The remaining material culture from the kingdom of Silla including unique gold metalwork shows influence from the northern nomadic steppes, differentiating it from the cultures of Goguryeo and Paekche where Chinese influence was more pronounced.
In anthropological archaeology the presence of urban centres (especially capitals), monumental architecture, craft specialization and standardization of production, ostentatious burials, Writing system, bureaucracy, demonstrated political control of geographical areas that are usually larger in area than a single river valley, etc. make up some of these correlates that define states.
Among the archaeology sites dating to the Three Kingdoms of Korea, hundreds of cemeteries with thousands of burials have been excavated. The vast majority of archaeological evidence of the Three Kingdoms period of Korea consists of burials, but since the 1990s there has been a great increase in the archaeological excavations of ancient industrial production sites, roads, palace grounds and elite precincts, ceremonial sites, commoner households, and fortresses due to the boom in salvage archaeology in South Korea.
Rhee and Choi hypothesize that a mix of internal developments and external factors lead to the emergence of state-level societies in Korea. A number of archaeologists including Kang demonstrate the role of frequent warfare in the development of peninsular states.Kang, Bong-won. (1995). The role of warfare in the formation of state in Korea: Historical and archaeological approaches. PhD dissertation. University of Oregon, Eugene. Ann Arbor: University Microfilms.
In the 3rd century, a pattern developed in which single elite cemeteries that were the highest in status compared to all the other cemeteries were built. Such cemeteries were established at high elevations along ridgelines and on hilltops. Furthermore, the uppermost elite were buried in large-scale tombs established at the highest point of a given cemetery. Cemeteries with 'uppermost elite' mounded burials such as Okseong-ri, Yangdong-ri, Daeseong-dong, and Bokcheon-dong display this pattern.
Centralisation and elite control of production is demonstrated by the results of the archaeological excavations at Songok-dong and Mulcheon-ni in Gyeongju. These sites are part of what was an interconnected and sprawling ancient industrial complex on the northeast outskirts of the Silla capital. Songok-dong and Mulcheon-ri are examples of the large-scale of specialized factory-style productions in the Three Kingdoms and Unified Silla periods. The site was excavated in the late 1990s, and archaeologists found the remains of many production features such as pottery , roof-tile kilns, charcoal kilns, as well as the remains of buildings and workshops associated with production.
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