-By the mid-4th century, China had completely broken down into about 60 minor states.
-Wa (based out of Kyushu) were always a threat to Korea, but still hadn't developed into a powerful, unified Japan yet.
-Baekje and Silla are still strong, Gaya remains in the south and controls the iron trade, and Gogoryeo has huge (yet poorly defined) territory.
-Gogoryeo's western border with China was always changing.
-Constantly fighting with the Xianbei hordes.
-King Micheon, one of Gogoryeo's greatest kings, died in 331.
-342- Gogoryeo is invaded by the Xianbei, and they manage to take the capital! King Gogukwon was the king of Gogoreyo at this time, and was forced to flee, moving the royal government and capital to Pyongyang. Xianbei also invaded Buyeo as well at this time, forcing the capital to relocate to Okjeo and for the king to commit suicide!
-Meanwhile, Baekje was growing more powerful, and was experiencing a golden age under King Geunchogo. It finally consolidated all of its power after annexing the last of Mahan.
-Also allied with Silla at this time, and he moved Baekje's capital back to the north of the Han River to present-day Seoul- no longer scared of the Malgal tribes.
-369- Gogoryeo launches a huge attack against Baekje, but it was a disaster.
-371- Baekje sacked Pyongyang and killed King Gogukwon. Damn!
-At the same time, Baekje allied itself with the Eastern Jin dynasty in China, which awarded King Geunchogo with the title of "Administrator-General of Lelang", the old Chinese commandery.
-Many Chinese scholars and intellectuals flooded into Baekje.
-Baekje also grew into a strong trading nation, acting as an intermediary between China and Japan. Because parts of Manchuria had been taken over by the Xianbei hordes, trade grew more popular to the south instead of in the Yellow Sea, although the sea sucks for sea travel which is probably why it wasn't used much before. The west/south coast of Korea is dangerous for sea trade.
-Baekje also tried to establish commanderies of their own in mainland China, but it is unknown as to the extent of their domination. They also had outposts in Kyushu, although they were allied with Wa (Yamato).
-Baekje also sent scholars to the Yamato during this time, who introduced Buddhism to the Japanese, as well as lots of merchant traders.
-Also gave the Yamato king the "Seven-branched Sword" (Chiljido).
-Unknown as to if the sword was meant to be a sign of tribute to Yamato OR as a sign of goodwill for submitting to the power of Baekje.
-Lots of debate among scholars as to its true nature.
-Meanwhile, Gogoryeo was fucked up but not defeated! King Goguwon's son, King Sosurim, was in power. He raised an army, centralized his political authority, established Buddhism as a state religion, and adapted useful cultural and political ideologies from China.
-Also implemented Confucian reforms and opened Confucian schools for the nobility to educate the elite.
-Subsisted on tribute from tributary states in Manchuria.
-374-376- Gorgoryeo launched attacks as vengeance against Baekje.
-Baekje was able to repel the Gogoryeo invaders, and Gogoryeo was then attacked in 378 by the Khitan, a Mongolian/Manchurian barbarian horde.
-Stopped attacking Baekje.
-King Sosurim died in 384, replaced by his brother, King Gogugyang.
-King Gogugyang attacked the Chinese territory of Yan in the Liaodong Peninsula, also called "Later Yan"(Hòuyàn), a state of Murong-Xianbei barbarian "emperors" (probably just warlords).
-Gogoryeo controlled this area for a time, but quickly lost it.
-Also continued fighting with Baekje between 386-390.
-Also successfully got Silla to break up its alliance with Baekje.
-King Gogugyang died in 391, replaced by Gogoryeo's greatest ruler, King Gwanggaeto.
-First he adopted his monarchical name, which means "supreme king", implying that he no longer felt that Gogoryeo should be dominated by China.
-Greatly improved the cavalry and navy.
-Attacked Baekje in 393.
-King Asin of Baekje was furious as to the power of Gogoryeo's new army, and quickly mounted a counterattack, but this failed and the people of Baekje began to revolt.
-395- Gogoryeo pushes further south, all the way to the Baekje capital. They were successful, and forced Baekje to surrender.
-King Asin was allowed to stay on the throne, and Baekje was made a vassal state to Gogoryeo.
-Gogoryeo's army then marched back up to the north attack barbarian hordes.
400- Later Yan invades Gogoryeo, but are repelled. King Gwanggaeto then launches a counterattack in 402, and in 404 takes over the entire Liaodong Peninsula!
-Later Yan sues for peace in 408.
-400- Silla reaches out to Gogoryeo- Wa and Gaya have formed an alliance. They were invading Silla and laying siege to the capital.
-Gogoryeo raised an army of 50,000 to help defend Silla. Gogoryeo drove off the invaders, forcing Gaya to submit, and forced Silla to alter the alliance between Gogoreyo and Silla to make it so that Silla was now a vassal state of Gogoryeo!
-King Gwanggaeto died in 413, replaced by his son, King Jangsu.
-Gogoryeo was now a mighty kingdom!
-Some scholars argue that Gogoryeo territory stretched all the way to present-day Mongolia!
-King Gwanggaeto was the only king awarded "the Great" posthumously to his name besides King Sejong.
-A monument was erected near his tomb in present-day Ji'an in NE China.
-All sorts of issues with the badly damaged inscriptions that were discovered 1000 years later, claims that it stated that Wa took over the Korean peninsula in 391 or some shit, conspiracy theories, etc.
-Moved the capital from Gugnae Fortress (near modern day Ji'an) to Pyongyang in 427.
-430s- Gogoryeo began to meddle in Chinese geopolitics.
-The Chinese kingdom of Northern Yan (Bĕiyàn) was being invaded by the Xianbei kingdom of Northern Wei, which, at this point, had conquered much of northern China.
-Gogoryeo agreed to help defend Northern Yan, and drove off the Northern Wei armies in 436.
-By 438, however, Gogoryeo straight-up invaded Northern Yan in 438, conquering it!
-This pissed off the Liu Song ("Former Song") dynasty, who perhaps felt uneasy about Gogoryeo's aggression and growing power. So, Liu Song began to attack Gogoryeo.
-King Jangsu didn't want to get into a full-on war with Liu Song, so he ultimately sued for peace. Also, it's possible that he wanted to play Northern Wei and Liu Song against each other so that they would be distracted while Gogoryeo dominated Silla and Baekje.
-Meanwhile, Baekje continued to strengthen its power as a mercantile nation of wealth and political alliances.
-Tried to send ambassadors to Northern Wei, but they were blocked from getting there by Gogoryeo forces.
-This pissed off Baekje, who definitely wanted Gogoryeo to fall, especially since they couldn't look to Silla for help since Silla was still a puppet kingdom of Gogoryeo.
-455- King Gaero was the new king of Baekje, and he did not want to be a puppet king of Gogoryeo like his father, King Biyu. He made the decision to inform Gogoryeo that Baekje was no longer their puppet state!
-This obviously pissed off King Jangsu (Gogoryeo), but he wasn't quite ready to fuck up Baekje. Too risky since if he got involved in a war with Baekje, Northern Wei could use that to strike a vulnerable Gogoryeo.
-He wanted to wait for war to break out between Liu Song and Northern Wei.
-King Jangsu sent a monk named Dorim to the court of King Gaero (Baekje) early 470s. Dorim was secretly an agent of Gogoryeo, but posed as a baduk-obsessed Buddhist monk who was to distract King Gaero with games and bad advice.
-Dorim advised King Gaero to spend lots of money on public works which would waste resources and piss off the aristocracy.
-King Jangsu attacked in 475, and Baekje sent off the crown prince to Silla to go hopefully raise reinforcements.
-They were too late, as Gogoryeo had overrun Baekje's defenses.
-King Gaero was executed on top of Achasan in Seoul.
-Many Baekje nobles fled south or to Japan (where they intermarried with Japanese nobility).
-There is some evidence to suggest that perhaps the blood of the Japanese emperor was mixed with Korean noble blood.
-Mahan was overrun by these Baekje nobles and fleeing armies, and many Mahanstates were taken over by these Baekje families.
-When King Munju set up the new government, he faced immediate revolt by these Mahan clans who were probably pissed at all of these new Baekje families coming in like they owned the place.
-The new king of Baekje, King Munju, moved the capital from Wiryeseong (Seoul) to Ungjin (Gongju).
-Meanwhile, Gogoryeo's power greatly increased by taking over the Han River basin and Baekje's old capital (Seoul).
-Trade and commerce soared. They also had new, fertile land for agriculture.
-Gogoryeo had also greatly expanded its territory across Manchuria and into modern-day Mongolia. It also was still meddling in Chinese politics by trying to get involved in the conflict between Northern Wei and Southern Qi.
-Southern Qi and overthrown the Liu Song dynasty in southern China in 479.
-Northern Wei even went so far as to recognize Gogoryeo as an equal power! This was something unheard of for Chinese to do!
-King Jangsu tried to remain neutral, but didn't give a fuck when it came to intercepting and raiding diplomatic missions (who were bringing treasure from Baekje, Silla, and Japan).
-By the end of the 400s, shit was starting to get dark in Gogoryeo, unfortunately.
-There was a famine, banditry was on the rise, and the nobility grew increasingly out of touch with the common folk in their decadence.
-Buddhism was also causing social change all over the peninsula.
-In Silla, for example, by the 600s, had developed the Bone Rank system.
-During this time, in the north of Gogoryeo, Buyeo was finally completely conquered by Malgal hordes.
-The Buyeo aristocracy fled south to Gogoryeo, where they were integrated into the Gogoryeo aristocracy.
-Without Buyeo as a buffer, Gogoryeo was now constantly under attack by Malgal hordes.
-This put a big strain on Gogoryeo, especially because they still had to defend the South as well.
-Buyeo had also been Gogoryeo's main supplier of gold, and Baekje had also managed to take over a bit of Gogoryeo's lands in the south, which was a major source of jade.
-504- Gogoryeo's diplomatic mission to Northern Wei went badly because they didn't have any gold or jade as gifts.
-Meanwhile, Silla and Baekje nobles began to intermarry to strengthen the alliance between the two kingdoms.
-Baekje was also able to establish relations with the Chinese as well, which allowed for Chinese culture and artisans to flow into the peninsula.
-538- Baekje sends Buddhism to Japan via monks, diplomats, etc.
-Baekje then moved the capital again further south to Sabi in 538, in present-day Buyeo County (named after all the Buyeo who came to Korea after the fall of their kingdom).
-540s- King Anwon (Gogoryeo) was having trouble producing an heir, and his mistresses were all vying for power to get their own bastards on the throne.
-This resulted in fights in the street, since the mistresses were all from powerful clans, and the king was actually killed in the violence in 545!
-King Yangwon, eldest son of King Anwon, was enthroned as a replacement.
-Unfortunately, King Yangwon was a weak ruler and many felt he was unfit to reign.
-Gogoryeo continued to fight with Baekje and Silla in the south, but couldn't break their defenses.
-Gogoryeo was also facing an invasion from a powerful Turk horde that was emerging from Central Asia- the Göktürks (the Turkic Khaganate)!
-Gogoryeo was able to reinforce the north just in time to drive off the invading Göktürk hordes!
-548- Gogoryeo's newfound power motivated them into thinking that they were strong enough to finally crush Baekje! This was a bad idea, because they weren't ready, and when they invaded, Silla arrived and fucked up the Gogoryeo troops.
-Baekje mounted a counterattack, and gained some territory by taking a fortress.
-Silla also used this opportunity to take two Gogoryeo fortresses.
-Gogoryeo troops were driven back to present-day Seoul, but north of the Han River and the strategically important Han River basin.
-This allowed for Baekje to come in and reclaim Seoul, their old capital!
-557- Gogoryeo commander Gan Juri rebels against King Yangwon, so Gogoryeo forces had to go north to deal with that.
-During this time a disagreement occurred among Baekje forces over who got to control the Han River basin, or how it would be divided up, or operated, and Silla used this time to attack the Baekje troops.
-King Seong of Baekje raised an army and attacked Silla in 553, striking at Gwansan Fortress, but failed miserably.
-King Seong was slain in the attack, so he was replaced by his son, King Wideok, as the new king of Baekje.
-King Wideok realized that he was surrounded by enemies on the peninsula, so he reached out to China and Japan for help.
-All three kingdoms were in pretty bad shape.
-Baekje had no friends and was on the verge of collapse.
-Silla was in a reasonably good position, but was in turmoil due to infighting with the nobility.
-Gogoryeo was bloated, losing battles, and falling apart.
-Around this time in Silla emerged the Hwarang ("Flower Youth") among the nobility.
-Combination of fighter, entertainer, and politician.
-Clearly, the power of the aristocracy in Silla was on the rise again.
-A result of Silla's rapid economic and military growth, possibly due to their new control of the Han River basin.
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