The
Gyerim is a small
woodlandEcologically, a woodland is an area covered in trees, usually at low density, forming an open habitat, allowing sunlight to penetrate between the trees, and limiting shade. Woodland may support an understory of shrubs and herbaceous plants including grasses. Woodland may form a transition to...
in
Gyeongju National ParkGyeongju National Park is one of 20 national parks in South Korea. It was first designated a national park in 1968. The park covers many of the principal Silla historical sites in Gyeongju City...
,
GyeongjuGyeongju 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...
,
South KoreaSouth Korea, officially the Republic of Korea and often simply referred to as Korea, is a country in East Asia, located on the southern half of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by China to the west, Japan to the east, and North Korea to the north. Its capital is Seoul, the second largest...
. The name literally means "rooster forest." The grove lies near the old site of the
SillaSilla was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, and the longest sustained dynasty in Asian history. Although it was founded by King Park Hyeokgeose, who is also known to be the originator of the Korean family name Park , the dynasty was to see the Kyungju Kim clan hold rule for most of its...
kingdom palace in central Gyeongju. Nearby landmarks include the
BanwolseongBanwolseong , also commonly known as Wolseong Palace, was the royal palace compound of the Korean Silla monarchy at their capital in Gyeongju during the Silla and Unified Silla periods . It takes its name from the approximate outline of the palace walls which were shaped like a crescent moon...
fortress,
CheomseongdaeCheomseongdae is an astronomical observatory in Gyeongju, South Korea. Cheomseongdae means star-gazing tower in Korean. Cheomseongdae is the oldest surviving observatories in East Asia, and one of the oldest scientific installations on Earth. It dates to the 7th century to the time of kingdom of...
, the
Gyeongju National MuseumThe Gyeongju National Museum is a museum in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. Its holdings are largely devoted to relics of the Silla kingdom, of which Gyeongju was the capital...
, and the Royal Tombs Complex.
The original name of Gyerim was Sirim 始林. However, according to the
Samguk SagiSamguk 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...
, a 12th-century Korean history, Sirim was the site where the child
Kim AljiKim Alji was a historical figure in Korean history. His descendents formed the Kim royal clan of Silla, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea....
, founder of the Gyeongju
KimKim is the most common family name in Korea. The name is common in both modern-day North Korea and South Korea. The Chinese character used for the name means "gold," and although the character is usually pronounced "geum" in Korea, it is pronounced "gim" when used for the family name and names...
clan, was discovered.
The
Gyerim is a small
woodlandEcologically, a woodland is an area covered in trees, usually at low density, forming an open habitat, allowing sunlight to penetrate between the trees, and limiting shade. Woodland may support an understory of shrubs and herbaceous plants including grasses. Woodland may form a transition to...
in
Gyeongju National ParkGyeongju National Park is one of 20 national parks in South Korea. It was first designated a national park in 1968. The park covers many of the principal Silla historical sites in Gyeongju City...
,
GyeongjuGyeongju 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...
,
South KoreaSouth Korea, officially the Republic of Korea and often simply referred to as Korea, is a country in East Asia, located on the southern half of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by China to the west, Japan to the east, and North Korea to the north. Its capital is Seoul, the second largest...
. The name literally means "rooster forest." The grove lies near the old site of the
SillaSilla was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, and the longest sustained dynasty in Asian history. Although it was founded by King Park Hyeokgeose, who is also known to be the originator of the Korean family name Park , the dynasty was to see the Kyungju Kim clan hold rule for most of its...
kingdom palace in central Gyeongju. Nearby landmarks include the
BanwolseongBanwolseong , also commonly known as Wolseong Palace, was the royal palace compound of the Korean Silla monarchy at their capital in Gyeongju during the Silla and Unified Silla periods . It takes its name from the approximate outline of the palace walls which were shaped like a crescent moon...
fortress,
CheomseongdaeCheomseongdae is an astronomical observatory in Gyeongju, South Korea. Cheomseongdae means star-gazing tower in Korean. Cheomseongdae is the oldest surviving observatories in East Asia, and one of the oldest scientific installations on Earth. It dates to the 7th century to the time of kingdom of...
, the
Gyeongju National MuseumThe Gyeongju National Museum is a museum in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. Its holdings are largely devoted to relics of the Silla kingdom, of which Gyeongju was the capital...
, and the Royal Tombs Complex.
History
The original name of Gyerim was Sirim 始林. However, according to the
Samguk SagiSamguk 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...
, a 12th-century Korean history, Sirim was the site where the child
Kim AljiKim Alji was a historical figure in Korean history. His descendents formed the Kim royal clan of Silla, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea....
, founder of the Gyeongju
KimKim is the most common family name in Korea. The name is common in both modern-day North Korea and South Korea. The Chinese character used for the name means "gold," and although the character is usually pronounced "geum" in Korea, it is pronounced "gim" when used for the family name and names...
clan, was discovered. Found in a golden box accompanied by a rooster, he was adopted by the royal family. His descendants became the later kings of Silla and the forest where he was found was renamed Gyerim, "rooster forest." The
Samguk YusaSamguk 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 miscellanea of tales relating to the
Three Kingdoms of KoreaThe Three Kingdoms of Korea refer to the ancient Korean kingdom of Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla, which dominated the Korean peninsula and parts of Manchuria for much of the 1st millennium CE...
, gives a different origin of the term Gyerim. According to that text, the founder of Silla,
Bak HyeokgeoseHyeokgeose of Silla , commonly called Bak Hyeokgeose, was the founding monarch of Silla, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea...
, was born at a stream called Gyejeong 鷄井, "rooster well," and that his future consort was born from a dragon that came to earth at another place called Gyeryongseo 鷄龍瑞, and for this reason the area was renamed Gyerim.
Based upon the legends of Silla's founding, Gyerim also became a sobriquet for that state. The earliest recorded reference we have of Gyerim being used to designate Silla is from the Chinese histories. The
Book of TangThe Book of Tang Jiu Tangshu or the Old Book of Tang is the first classic work about the Tang Dynasty. The book began when Gaozu of Later Jin ordered its commencement in 941...
舊唐書 records that in 663 Tang
GaozongGaozong is the temple name of several Chinese Emperors. It can refer to:* Emperor Yuan of Han * Emperor Gaozong of Tang * Emperor Gaozong of Song...
designated Silla as Gyerim Territory Area Command (
HangulHangul is the native alphabet of the Korean language, as distinguished from the logographic Sino-Korean hanja system...
: 계림도독부,
HanjaHanja is the Korean name for Chinese characters. More specifically, it refers to those Chinese characters borrowed from Chinese and incorporated into the Korean language with Korean pronunciation...
:鷄林州 都督府) and Silla's
King MunmuMunmu of Silla was the thirtieth king of the Korean kingdom of Silla. He is usually considered to have been the first ruler of the Unified Silla period. Munmu was the son of King Muyeol and Munmyeong, who was the elder sister of Kim Yu-shin...
the
Gyerimju dodok, Commander-in-chief of Gyerim Territory. The early eighth-century Silla scholar Kim Daemun authored a no longer extant book of tales of Silla entitled
Gyerim japjeon 鷄林雜傳.
Gyerim also appears in the title of the early 12th-century Chinese work
Jilin Leishi, or
Gyerim Yusa, (鷄林類事), which provides one of the earliest sources of information on the pronunciation of the native Korean language.