Korea's mountainous and jagged coastline geography impacted its people by providing natural barriers for protection but also isolating them. This geography contributed to the development of the Three Kingdoms period where Koguryo, Paekche and Silla vied for control of the peninsula. Silla eventually unified the peninsula and adopted Chinese systems like Buddhism and Confucianism, showing cultural diffusion. Artifacts found at Korean Buddhist sites indicate participation in the Silk Road trade network, importing and exporting goods. Foreign influences like Central Asian styles and Buddhism spread to Korea in this period, making Korea a "cultural land bridge" between China and Japan.

1. Korea Geography
Do Now: Describe three aspects of
Korean geography and how they
impacted the people living there.
1. Korea is a peninsula that sits
between mainland China and
the Japanese islands. Provides
them with natural barriers for
protection, but also acts a a
“Cultural Bridge” between
them.
2. Jagged Coastline – Good
harbors for fishing and trade
3. Mountainous – natural barrier,
isolation, limited farmland

2. The Three Kingdoms Period
Korguryo (37 BCE-668 CE)
Paekche (18 BCE-660 CE)
Silla (57 BCE-668 CE)
• Korguryo had the
greatest military power but
had to utilize most of its
resources to repel the
Chinese from taking the
peninsula.
• Paekche was known for
its construction of pagodas
and temples and had
friendly ties to Japan.

3. Capital city of Gyeongju
The Silla Dynasty
(668-935)
 Silla challenged the
Japanese-Paekche trade and
allied with Tang China to
defeat Koguryo. They would
unite the Peninsula and
create a golden age.
• Silla became a tributary of
Tang China and borrowed and
adapted Chinese systems
(Buddhism and Confucianism)
with their native practices –
Cultural Diffusion
Film Clip

4. Was Korea a Part of the Silk Road?

5. Exhibit
#1 Products of the Silk Road
Items Found at Buddhist Temple site in Korea
Bronze Iron scissors
Glass
Buddha Beads
Terra
Cotta
figure
Silver Bowl
Bronze
Jade Buddha
ornaments Bronze buckles image
and bells

6. Products of the Silk Road
Items Found at Buddhist Temple site in Korea
Bronze Iron scissors
Glass
Buddha Beads
Terra
Cotta
figure
Silver Bowl
Bronze
Jade Buddha
ornaments Bronze buckles image
and bells

7. Exhibit
#2 Products of the Silk Road
Horse Head-Shaped Pottery (Rhyton)
A rhyton is a Hellenistic horn-shaped drinking cup made from tusk, horn
and silver or the like. Iranians of the Sassanian Dynasty made pottery
rhytons in the shape of an animal’s head, such as that of sheep, cow or
horse.
Sheep-headed rhyton, Horse head-shaped
Iran, 6th century BCE pottery rhyton from
Pokchon-dong, Pusan,
4th century CE

8. Exhibit
#3 Products of the Silk Road
Koguryo tomb mural
of metalworking in
Ji’an, Jilin Province,
6th century
In the Mediterranean and Middle East, technicians smelted ore in a small
furnace and formed the product through smithing methods on an anvil. This
mode of ironworking diffused in the Central Asian steppe by 700 BCE.
The Chinese may have experimented with iron casting and forging techniques
as early as 800 or 900 BCE, artisans of the Middle Kingdom became proficient
at making iron blades and tools about 500 BCE. By 400 BCE.

9. Exhibit
#4 Contact along the Silk Road
• There was official contacts between Silla and China and between Silla and
Japan.
• From 675 to 907, Silla sent 103 official missions to the Tang court, but in that
time frame, only seven diplomatic missions from Japan reached China.
Emissary
from
Koguryo,
Paekche
and Silla
going to
China
Purchase order (752), indicating Japanese imports
from Silla included perfume, medicine, cosmetics,
fabric dying materials, metallic goods, musical
instruments, carpets, and measuring tools. Some
were made in Silla; Others were of foreign origin,
probably from Southeast Asia, India or South Asia.

10. The Importance and
Spread of Silk Trade
Ayaha-gu Ikeda Shrine in Osaka, Japan enshrines
Ayaha and Kureta, two sisters who came from
Korea in 306 CE, planted mulberry trees and
raised silkworms. They spread the cultivation of
silkworms and weaving techniques in Japan.
By observing these two documents, What can we
learn about Korea and the Silk Road ?
Exhibit
#5

11. Exhibit
#6 Foreign Influences
These are guardian
sculptures created to
protect the tomb of Silla
King Wonsong (798 CE).
The 9 foot stucco stone
guards have Central Asian
features with deep-set
eyes, high nose ridges and
headbands like those worn
by Iranians. The civil
officer seems to resemble
the Uighur with square
jaws, protruding noses, full
beards and large eyes.
… and then there’s that
ugly one from Smithtown.

12. Exhibit
#7 Buddhism Film Clip
Chinese Buddhist monks traveled the silk
road to Korea and began to spread
Buddhism as early as 372 CE. Despite
vehemently resisting Buddhism at first, the
Silla eventually made it their state religion.
Sillan monks traveled to Tang China to
study, and to India to see King Asoka’s
monuments and to follow Buddha’s
footsteps. Korean monks also traveled
east to Japan as missionaries.
Korea began to see a major change in art and
architecture due to the influence of
Buddhism. Buddhist spirituality and its
concepts of idealized beauty and
contemplation were reflected in pagodas, Seokguram Grotto – Final
temples, and tombs. stop on the Silk Road

13. The Silla and the Silk Road
What conclusions can we make about Korea and the Silk Road?
Why has Korea been
called a “Cultural
Land Bridge”
•The Silk road did not stop at Chang’an, but did extend eastward into Korea and
Japan.
•There were large numbers of Korean merchants living in port cities of Southeast
China such as Guangdong and Fuzhou.
•Korean merchants had access to the merchandise from the silk road and exported
their own goods both as tribute and trade goods.

14. The Koryu Dynasty (935-1392)
• By the 10th century, Silla rule weakened
• 935 – A rebel officer named Wang Kon gained
control of the peninsula and became King –
Named Koryu Dynasty (Where Korea gets its
name)
Led to a golden age! Achievements in:
• Organized legal system with a bureaucracy
and a civil service – modeled after
China but less social mobility
• Society divided between landed aristocracy
and the rest of the population including
military, commoners, and slaves.
• Led to rebellions in the 1100s but Koryeo
remained in power
• Decline: Mongol invasions in 1231-1350s

15. The Koryu Dynasty (935-1392)
• World's first metal printing technology before Gutenberg.
• World’s oldest printed book, the Jikji
• World oldest surviving complete transcription of the Buddhist
canons, the Tripitaka Koreana.
• The world famous Celadon pottery often associated with Korea was
developed within the 12th and 13th centuries
• Development of Buddhism throughout the peninsula.

16. The First Metal Type
Printing Press
FILM CLIP
The Jikji - 1377 16