Gyeongju's thousand-year kingdom of gold crowns, the Hwarang warriors, and the war that unified most of the Korean peninsula in 668 CE.
In the southeast of the peninsula, a kingdom grew around a city called Seorabeol, "the capital city." Today we know it as Gyeongju.
Korean records date the founding of Silla to 57 BCE, and it lasted until 935 CE, nearly a thousand years. Silla was famous for its gold. Its tombs have given us elaborate gold crowns and jewelry, and the city also had an astronomical observatory, Cheomseongdae (첨성대), a stone tower built to watch the stars.
In 528 CE Silla adopted Buddhism as its state religion, and temples became part of the landscape. That is why this station is called "temples and invention" on the home page.
Silla had a group of elite young men called the Hwarang (화랑). They began as a social group for aristocratic youth, but constant wars turned many of them into soldiers and commanders. They helped in the campaigns that brought down Goguryeo.
Silla won the wars with its neighbors and with its former ally Tang China, and unified most of the peninsula. The Silla-Tang War ran from 670 to 676. In 935 the last king, Gyeongsun, submitted to Goryeo, and Silla came to an end.
| Korean | Romanization | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 신라 | Silla | the kingdom of Silla |
| 금 | geum | gold |
| 왕관 | wanggwan | crown |
| 절 | jeol | temple |
| 별 | byeol | star |
| 화랑 | Hwarang | young aristocratic warriors |
Sources: Silla.