Seongdeok of Silla
Encyclopedia
Seongdeok Daewang was the thirty-third king
of the ancient Korea
n kingdom of Silla
. He was the second son of King Sinmun
, and the younger brother of King Hyoso
. In 704 Seongdeok married Lady Baeso 陪昭夫人 (Queen Seongjeong 成貞), the daughter of Gim Wontae. In 715 their son, Junggyeong 重慶, was named Crown Prince and heir presumptive
. Shortly thereafter, and for reasons unclear but quite likely having to do with a power struggle at court between the king and the clan of the queen, Queen Seongjeong was evicted from the palace in 716
. As further evidence of a possible power struggle, the next year Junggyeong died under circumstances that remain unknown. Following the fall from favor of his first wife, King Seongdeog married Sodeok in 720
, the daughter of the minister Gim Sun-won. Kings Hyoseong
and Gyeongdeok
were among the children of Seongdeok and Sodeok.
Despite suggestions of continued power struggles between aristocratic and royal prerogative, the reign of King Seongdeok is seen by most Korean scholars as the apogee of the Unified Silla
state. Relations between Silla and Tang
China reached unparalleled levels of cooperation. This accommodation following years of confrontation and competition over hegemony in Korea had much to do with Tang‘s realization that Silla would prove more valuable as an ally on its flank than as a rival, during a period when Tang was facing continued challenges to its authority in the far west and on the northern steppes – by Tibet, the Malgal, dynamic Islamic forces emerging out of Central Asia, as well as the state of Balhae
, which had emerged in the late 7th century from the ruins of the old Goguryeo
state. Indeed, troubled by an increasingly confrontational Balhae (which had actually launched a seaborne attack against Tang in 733
), in 733 the Tang emperor Xuanzong
enfeoffed King Seongdeok as Military Commander of Ninghai (Ninghai junshi 寧海軍使) with orders to chastise the Balhae/Malgal state. Though King Seongdeok did in fact launch a northern campaign that same year, it was foiled by a blizzard.
Silla, too, was concerned by the Balhae resurgence. In 721 King Seongdeok ordered the construction of a great wall across Silla‘s northern border. Remnants of this wall can still be seen in what is today South Hamgyǒng province, North Korea
. Plagued as well by the raids of Japanese pirates along the southern coast, the following year (and quite likely with the same laborers) Seongdeok also had a large fortress erected near the capital of Gyeongju
that extended ten kilometers in circumference. According to the Samguk Yusa
, a 13th century Korean record of history and fable that deals with the period in question, the fortress (known as Mobeol prefectural fortress) required the labor of nearly 40,000 men, a massive mustering of manpower that is testimony of the increasing power of the centralized monarchy.
The reign of Seongdeok also bears evidence of continued attempts at reforming the land system of Silla. The dispersal of “able–bodied land” (jeongjeon 丁田) is first mentioned as taking place in the twenty–first year of King Seongdeok (722). The exact nature of able–bodied land is disputed since almost no corroborating evidence remains. However, based on the title, it would seem to be land distributed to able bodied commoners, though whether to work or own outright is unclear. In any case, whatever its precise nature, it would appear to be an attempt to buttress royal authority by nurturing relations with the peasantry at the expense of the land holding aristocracy.
In fitting culmination to Seongdeok‘s reign, and symptomatic of improving relations with Tang, in 735
Tang Emperor Xuanzong formally granted the Silla king the territory south of the Pae River (the modern Taedong River
running through Pyongyang
), land that had been held at least formally by Tang ever since the 7th century and the Tang–Silla campaigns that had toppled Goguryeo.
Seongdeok‘s reign was one of relative prosperity and peace. As one Korean scholar has contended, during his rule "...the paramount authority of the throne was finally secured, and with this accomplished the kingdom at last was able to enjoy unaccustomed domestic tranquility.".
According to one account in the Samguk Sagi
, Seongdeok invented Korea's first water clock
, in Korean nugak 漏刻, in 718
. However, this is likely a mistaken rendering of Nugakjeon 漏刻典, for elsewhere the Samguk Sagi relates that in 718 was established for the first time the Nugakjeon, or Office of Timekeeping. Regarding the death date of Seongdeok, as period Chinese histories record that in the second month of 737 a Tang envoy was dispatched to confer investiture upon Seongdeok's successor (later King Hyoseong
) as King of Silla, it has been posited that King Seongdeok in fact died in 736.
Monarch
A monarch is the person who heads a monarchy. This is a form of government in which a state or polity is ruled or controlled by an individual who typically inherits the throne by birth and occasionally rules for life or until abdication...
of the ancient Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
n kingdom of Silla
Silla
Silla was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, and one of the longest sustained dynasties in...
. He was the second son of King Sinmun
Sinmun of Silla
Sinmun of Silla was the thirty-first king of Silla, a Korean state that originated in the southwestern Korean peninsula and went on to unify most of the peninsula under its rule in the mid 7th century. He was the eldest son of Silla's unifier-king, Munmu and Queen Jaeui...
, and the younger brother of King Hyoso
Hyoso of Silla
Hyoso was the thirty-second monarch of Silla, a kingdom that flourished on the Korean peninsula from approximately 200 to 927 CE. He was the eldest son of King Sinmun and his second queen consort Sinmok 神穆...
. In 704 Seongdeok married Lady Baeso 陪昭夫人 (Queen Seongjeong 成貞), the daughter of Gim Wontae. In 715 their son, Junggyeong 重慶, was named Crown Prince and heir presumptive
Heir Presumptive
An heir presumptive or heiress presumptive is the person provisionally scheduled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of an heir or heiress apparent or of a new heir presumptive with a better claim to the position in question...
. Shortly thereafter, and for reasons unclear but quite likely having to do with a power struggle at court between the king and the clan of the queen, Queen Seongjeong was evicted from the palace in 716
716
Year 716 was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 716 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Asia :* Inal Khan succeeds Kapagan Khan and Bilge...
. As further evidence of a possible power struggle, the next year Junggyeong died under circumstances that remain unknown. Following the fall from favor of his first wife, King Seongdeog married Sodeok in 720
720
Year 720 was a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 720 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Asia :* The Nihon Shoki , one of the oldest history...
, the daughter of the minister Gim Sun-won. Kings Hyoseong
Hyoseong of Silla
Hyoseong of Silla was the 34th to rule the Korean kingdom of Silla. He was the second son of King Seondeok and Queen Sodeok....
and Gyeongdeok
Gyeongdeok of Silla
King Gyeongdeok of Silla was the 35th ruler who reigned from 742 to 765 over the kingdom of Silla. He is perhaps best known today for his efforts to encourage Buddhism....
were among the children of Seongdeok and Sodeok.
Despite suggestions of continued power struggles between aristocratic and royal prerogative, the reign of King Seongdeok is seen by most Korean scholars as the apogee of the Unified Silla
Unified Silla
Unified Silla or Later Silla is the name often applied to the Korean kingdom of Silla, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, when it conquered Baekje in 660 and Goguryeo in 668, unifying the southern portion of the Korean peninsula...
state. Relations between Silla and Tang
Tang Dynasty
The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...
China reached unparalleled levels of cooperation. This accommodation following years of confrontation and competition over hegemony in Korea had much to do with Tang‘s realization that Silla would prove more valuable as an ally on its flank than as a rival, during a period when Tang was facing continued challenges to its authority in the far west and on the northern steppes – by Tibet, the Malgal, dynamic Islamic forces emerging out of Central Asia, as well as the state of Balhae
Balhae
Balhae was a Manchurian kingdom established after the fall of Goguryeo. After Goguryeo's capital and southern territories fell to Unified Silla, Dae Jo-yeong, a Mohe general, whose father was Dae Jung-sang, established Jin , later called Balhae.Balhae occupied southern parts of Manchuria and...
, which had emerged in the late 7th century from the ruins of the old Goguryeo
Goguryeo
Goguryeo or Koguryŏ was an ancient Korean kingdom located in present day northern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula, southern Manchuria, and southern Russian Maritime province....
state. Indeed, troubled by an increasingly confrontational Balhae (which had actually launched a seaborne attack against Tang in 733
733
Year 733 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 733 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Europe :* Leo III the Isaurian withdraws the...
), in 733 the Tang emperor Xuanzong
Xuanzong
Xuanzong can be the name of the following Chinese emperors:* Emperor Xuánzong of Tang * Emperor Xuānzong of Tang...
enfeoffed King Seongdeok as Military Commander of Ninghai (Ninghai junshi 寧海軍使) with orders to chastise the Balhae/Malgal state. Though King Seongdeok did in fact launch a northern campaign that same year, it was foiled by a blizzard.
Silla, too, was concerned by the Balhae resurgence. In 721 King Seongdeok ordered the construction of a great wall across Silla‘s northern border. Remnants of this wall can still be seen in what is today South Hamgyǒng province, North Korea
North Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
. Plagued as well by the raids of Japanese pirates along the southern coast, the following year (and quite likely with the same laborers) Seongdeok also had a large fortress erected near the capital of Gyeongju
Gyeongju
Gyeongju is a coastal city in the far southeastern corner of North Gyeongsang province in South Korea. It is the second largest city by area in the province after Andong, covering with a population of 269,343 people according to the 2008 census. Gyeongju is southeast of Seoul, and east of the...
that extended ten kilometers in circumference. According to the Samguk Yusa
Samguk Yusa
Samguk Yusa, or Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms, is a collection of legends, folktales, and historical accounts relating to the Three Kingdoms of Korea , as well as to other periods and states before, during, and after the Three Kingdoms period.The text was written in Classical Chinese, which was...
, a 13th century Korean record of history and fable that deals with the period in question, the fortress (known as Mobeol prefectural fortress) required the labor of nearly 40,000 men, a massive mustering of manpower that is testimony of the increasing power of the centralized monarchy.
The reign of Seongdeok also bears evidence of continued attempts at reforming the land system of Silla. The dispersal of “able–bodied land” (jeongjeon 丁田) is first mentioned as taking place in the twenty–first year of King Seongdeok (722). The exact nature of able–bodied land is disputed since almost no corroborating evidence remains. However, based on the title, it would seem to be land distributed to able bodied commoners, though whether to work or own outright is unclear. In any case, whatever its precise nature, it would appear to be an attempt to buttress royal authority by nurturing relations with the peasantry at the expense of the land holding aristocracy.
In fitting culmination to Seongdeok‘s reign, and symptomatic of improving relations with Tang, in 735
735
Year 735 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 735 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Asia :* A smallpox epidemic starts in Ancient Japan,...
Tang Emperor Xuanzong formally granted the Silla king the territory south of the Pae River (the modern Taedong River
Taedong River
The Taedong River is a large river in North Korea. It rises in the Rangrim Mountains of the country's north. It then flows southwest into Korea Bay at Namp'o. In between, it runs through the country's capital, Pyongyang. Along the river are landmarks such as the Juche Tower and Kim Il-sung...
running through Pyongyang
Pyongyang
Pyongyang is the capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, commonly known as North Korea, and the largest city in the country. Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River and, according to preliminary results from the 2008 population census, has a population of 3,255,388. The city was...
), land that had been held at least formally by Tang ever since the 7th century and the Tang–Silla campaigns that had toppled Goguryeo.
Seongdeok‘s reign was one of relative prosperity and peace. As one Korean scholar has contended, during his rule "...the paramount authority of the throne was finally secured, and with this accomplished the kingdom at last was able to enjoy unaccustomed domestic tranquility.".
According to one account in the Samguk Sagi
Samguk Sagi
Samguk Sagi is a historical record of the Three Kingdoms of Korea: Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla. The Samguk Sagi is written in Classical Chinese and its compilation was ordered by Goryeo's King Injong Samguk Sagi (History of the Three Kingdoms) is a historical record of the Three Kingdoms of...
, Seongdeok invented Korea's first water clock
Water clock
A water clock or clepsydra is any timepiece in which time is measured by the regulated flow of liquid into or out from a vessel where the amount is then measured.Water clocks, along with sundials, are likely to be the oldest time-measuring instruments, with the only exceptions...
, in Korean nugak 漏刻, in 718
718
Year 718 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 718 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Europe :* Tervel's reign as monarch of Bulgaria...
. However, this is likely a mistaken rendering of Nugakjeon 漏刻典, for elsewhere the Samguk Sagi relates that in 718 was established for the first time the Nugakjeon, or Office of Timekeeping. Regarding the death date of Seongdeok, as period Chinese histories record that in the second month of 737 a Tang envoy was dispatched to confer investiture upon Seongdeok's successor (later King Hyoseong
Hyoseong of Silla
Hyoseong of Silla was the 34th to rule the Korean kingdom of Silla. He was the second son of King Seondeok and Queen Sodeok....
) as King of Silla, it has been posited that King Seongdeok in fact died in 736.
See also
- List of Korea-related topics
- Rulers of Korea
- Unified SillaUnified SillaUnified Silla or Later Silla is the name often applied to the Korean kingdom of Silla, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, when it conquered Baekje in 660 and Goguryeo in 668, unifying the southern portion of the Korean peninsula...
- Bell of King SeongdeokBell of King SeongdeokThe Bell of King Seongdeok is a massive bronze bell, the largest extant bell in Korea. The full Korean name means "Sacred Bell of King Seongdeok the Great." It was also known as the Emille Bell, after a legend about its casting, and as the Bell of Bongdeoksa Temple, where it was first housed.The...