Three Kingdoms and Unified Silla
What this domain tests
This domain asks for the founding, expansion, alliances, and fall of Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla, plus Gaya and Balhae. Expect date-order questions and "which king" questions.
Core facts
- Traditional founding dates: Goguryeo 37 BCE, Baekje 18 BCE, Silla 57 BCE; these are traditional, not archaeological dates.
- Goguryeo expanded north and west; Gwanggaeto the Great and Jangsu are key rulers.
- Baekje under Geunchogo controlled the Han River basin and traded with China and Japan.
- Silla developed the bone-rank system and the Hwarang corps; Jinheung expanded into the Han River area.
- Gaya was a confederacy of polities, especially Geumgwan Gaya and Daegaya, not a single centralized kingdom.
Unification sequence
Silla allied with Tang China; Baekje fell in 660, Goguryeo in 668. Silla then fought Tang and by 676 had pushed Tang forces out of much of the peninsula. This is called Unified Silla, but it did not control the northern region, where Balhae was founded in 698 by Dae Jo-yeong.
Worked example
A question asks: "What changed in 676?" Reason: 660 and 668 are conquests of Baekje and Goguryeo; 676 is the end of Silla-Tang warfare and the start of Unified Silla. So 676 marks a political reorganization, not the founding of Silla (traditional 57 BCE).
Traps
- Silla's unification was not a complete conquest of the whole peninsula.
- Gaya is not one of the Three Kingdoms.
- "Unified Silla" is a conventional period label, not a claim that all Koreans were under one government.
- Balhae is often omitted; it is essential for the post-668 north.