Korea

The history of Korea is actually longer than that of Japan. In ancient times, a powerful state called Choson (choh-SAHN) emerged on the Korean Peninsula, but was destroyed by a Chinese invasion in 108 B. C. China maintained control until a. d. 220, when Korea split into three kingdoms: Paekche (pahk-CHAY) in the southwest, Silla in the southeast, and Koguryo (koh-GOOR-yoh) in the north.

Chinese rulers persisted in trying to control the country, and in 668 formed an alliance with Silla against the other two kingdoms. United under the rule of Silla, Korea adopted Buddhism, and a golden age ensued; but after two centuries the land was once again divided into the three old kingdoms. Then in 936, a new powerful state called Koryo united the country. Its new capital at Kaesong near Seoul was based on the grid plan of the Chinese capital at Ch'ang-an.

Korea withstood invasion by the Liao and Juchen dynasties, which also plagued Sung China, but it fell to the Mongols in 1270. For many years thereafter, the Korean aristocracy was split between pro-Mongol and pro-Chinese factions. Then in 1388, a general named Yi Song-ye seized power. In 1 392, Yi established Korea's longest-lived dynasty, which held the throne until the Japanese invasion in 1910.

The Yi dynasty, with its capital at Seoul, adopted Confucianism at the expense of Buddhism. Despite the heavy Chinese influence in this era, during this time Korea adopted its own phonetic alphabet, which replaced Chinese characters.

Japan invaded in 1592, but with the aid of China, Korea resisted the attack. Part of Korea's strength came from its impressive navy, whose "turtle ships" may have been the world's first armored warships. The Japanese threat, along with the eclipse of Ming Chinese power by the Manchus, led the Koreans to increasingly shut themselves off from the world. For many centuries, Korea would be known as the "hermit kingdom."

Tion, and the emperor Shomu (ruled 715-749) embarked on an ambitious program of building temples and convents.

Eventually Buddhist clerics became too influential at court for their own good: as it turned out, the nobles and people were not prepared to support Shomu's building program, and it ended soon after his death. His daughter (and successor) Koken came so heavily under the influence of the monk Dokyo that it provoked hostility from the ruling classes. Dokyo tried to make himself Koken's successor, but after Koken's death he was banished from court.

A Japanese samurai on horseback. Like the knights of medieval Western Europe, the samurai were warriors who were governed by their own code of honor in the defense of their feudal lords. Reproduced by permission of the Corbis Corporation.

The Nara period, a time of great cultural flowering, saw the writing of the two oldest Japanese books now in existence. Translated as the Records of Ancient Times (712) and Chronicles of Japan (720), these "histories" rely heavily on myth, though the second book is more reliable. Both books mention the emperor's descent from the sun-goddess, an idea that probably appeared at the time of Tenchi's reforms as a way of justifying

His power. Also during the Nara period, Japan's first poetic anthology, containing some 4,500 poems, appeared as Collection of a Myriad of Leaves. The book exhibits a distinctly Japanese style, and includes poems by members of various social classes.