-1031- King Hyeonjong died, replaced by King Deokjong.
-King Deokjong immediately began fortifying the north and building the Cheolli Jangseong ("thousand "li"wall) to keep out the Khitan (Liao dynasty) hordes.
-Although Gogoryeo also built one in the 7th century, when talking about it most people are referring to the one built by Goryeo.
-It was modeled after the Great Wall of China and Gogoryeo's Cheolli Jangseong.
-1034- King Deokjong died, replaced by his younger brother, King Jeongjong.
-Wanted to build up Goryeo's army, but also was really into Buddhism. Decreed that 1 out of every 4 sons MUST join a Buddhist monastery, suppressed the acquisition of luxury goods, and passed a number of other wacky laws. He did, however, abolish the death penalty. Then he married his sister (!).
-Meanwhile, the Jurchen hordes continued to rise in power, and began simultaneously trading with and raiding Goryeo, although they ultimately looked to Goryeo as their older, civilized brother.
-1046- King Jeongjong died, replaced by King Moonjong. He, too, married his sister (!!). He also became concerned about the Jurchen and Khitan, so he began to contemplate asking the Song dynasty for help.
-1056- A Japanese envoy arrives at court requesting a bunch of Buddhist relics and texts and shit, and returned a few years later with Japanese gifts.
-Also, one of King Moonjong's sons, Uicheon, went on to a become a Buddhist thinker who founded the Cheonjae school of Buddhism.
-King Moonjong made some interesting administrative choices as king.
-He removed the emergency iron supply from the armory and made them into nails to be distributed to build Buddhist temples all over Goryeo.
-He donated nobles' houses (and even houses belonging to his own family members) to the Buddhist clergy.
-1 out of every 3 sons now had to join a Buddhist monastery.
-However, it should be noted that a lot of these policies weren't actually enforced because no one liked these laws to begin with.
-1084- King Moonjong died, replaced by his eldest son, King Soonjong. However, King Soonjong died this same year, so he was replaced by his brother, King Seonjong.
-King Seonjong completely abolished the civil service exam, which was heavily influenced by Confucianism, and replaced it with a version that was instead heavily influenced by Buddhism only.
-Tried to synthesize traditional Buddhism with the new school of Korean Seon (Zen) Buddhism.
-Seon Buddhism is still practiced at various temples today in Korea.
-1094- King Seonjong dies, replaced by his son, King Heonjong. He was a really smart kid!
-1095- King Heonjong gets "sick" and dies, replaced by his uncle, King Sookjong.
-Implemented a system of copper coinage around 1100, but counterfeit was rampant.
-1104- Jurchen hordes invade from the north!
-King Sookjong sent his top general, Yun Gwan, to repel them, although they wouldn't be ready until the next year.
-Yun Gwan was the leader of Goryeo's new Byeolmuban ("Star Army"), which was a revamped fighting force made up several divisions- cavalary, warrior monks, infantry, camp followers, slaves, and volunteers.
-This was also the first Korean army to use gunpowder, which had been obtained from the Song dynasty.
-It was imported by the Koreans because they didn't have the technology themselves to create it.
-Due to Korean Buddhist geomancy, King Sookjong was persuaded to order the construction of a new southern capital, since Gaeseong was "losing its magical energy", according to the Goryeo court's wizards.
-The new southern capital was to be Seoul.
-1106- King Sookjong dies, replaced by his son, King Yejong.
-Really into herbs and herbal medicine, so he sent a bunch of rare Korean plants to China in exchange for rare Chinese plants.
-He was also really into Taoism, and this became trendy among the nobility.
-1107- the Star Army was ready to march! About 170,000, they left Pyeongyang to attack the Jurchen in the north, but achieved only mixed results. Eventually, they were recalled back into Goryeo territory for defense instead of offense.
-By 1114, the Jurchen had managed to unite themselves under a working government, and by 1115 they declared themselves a sovereign state (just like the Khitan had done), complete with their own ruler, Emperor Taizu of the Jin dynasty (not to be confused with the old Jin dynasty)!
-Meanwhile, the Liao dynasty felt threatened by the new rising power of the Jin dynasty, so they tried to get Goryeo to ally with them.
-Also during this time, the Song dynasty sent a bunch of expensive, beautiful musical instruments to Goryeo to curry favor with them, and then sent even more the next year in hopes that Goryeo would join them to attack the Liao dynasty. Unfortunately, Goryeo weren't convinced.
-Through some diplomatic mix-ups, the Jin dynasty also agreed for Goryeo to expand its territory from the Cheolli Jangseong up to the Yalu River, but Goryeo didn't realize that the Jin dynasty was expecting for Goryeo to become their tribute state!
-1121- The Jin and Song dynasties join forces to to take out the Liao dynasty.
-The Song army wasn't very successful, but the Jin army kicked major ass and took over a bunch of territory; they even sacked the capital Nanjing (Beijing) and killed Emperor Tianzuo, thus ending the dynasty.
-Obviously, the Jin dynasty were now major players in the game.
-Goryeo was divided on how to react to this- to they submit to the Jin dynasty, or fight?
-1122- King Yejong dies, replaced by his son, King Injong.
-As an aside, how was Goryeo divided?
-8 provinces (a bit different than how Joseon dynasty divided them, though, and different names).
-Each had over 100 prefectures.
-Within these prefectures were over 400 sub-prefectures, which included over 900 "special villages".
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