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Proto-Three Kingdoms of Korea refers to the period after the fall of Gojoseon
Gojoseon

Gojoseon was an ancient Korean kingdom, considered the first proper nation of the Korean people. According to the Samguk Yusa and other Korean medieval-era records, Gojoseon is said to have been founded in 2333 BC by the legendary Dangun, who is said to be the grandson of Heaven ....
 and before the maturation of Goguryeo
Goguryeo

Goguryeo or Koguryo was an ancient Koreans Empire located in the northern and central parts of the Korean peninsula, southern Manchuria, and southern Primorsky Krai....
, Baekje
Baekje

Baekje , or Paekche , was a kingdom located in southwest Korea. It was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, together with Goguryeo and Silla....
, and Silla
Silla

Silla was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, and the longest sustaining dynasty in Asian history. Although it was founded by King Bak Hyeokgeose of Silla, 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 992-year history....
 into full-fledged kingdoms. It is a subdivision of what is traditionally called Korea's Three Kingdoms Period
Three Kingdoms of Korea

The Three Kingdoms of Korea refer to the ancient Korean empire of Goguryeo, and kingdom of Baekje and Silla, which dominated the Korean peninsula and parts of Manchuria for much of the 1st millennium CE....
.

Generally considered the first three centuries of the Common Era
Common Era

Common Era, abbreviated as CE, is a designation for the calendar system most commonly used in the Western world, and also internationally, for numbering the year part of the calendar date....
, it is the latter part of the Iron age
Iron Age

In archaeology, the Iron Age was the stage in the development of any people in which tools and weapons whose main ingredient was iron were prominent....
 in Korea, and sometimes called the Samhan
Samhan

Samhan refers to the ancient confederacies of Mahan confederacy, Jinhan confederacy, and Byeonhan confederacy in central and southern Korean peninsula, which were eventually absorbed into two of the Three Kingdoms of Korea....
 period, referring to the three confederacies in the central and southern Korean Peninsula
Korean Peninsula

The Korean Peninsula is a peninsula in East Asia. It extends southwards for about 684 miles from continental Asia into the Pacific Ocean and is surrounded by the Sea of Japan on the east, the East China Sea to the south, and the Yellow Sea to the west, the Korea Strait connecting the first two bodies of water....
.






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Proto-Three Kingdoms of Korea refers to the period after the fall of Gojoseon
Gojoseon

Gojoseon was an ancient Korean kingdom, considered the first proper nation of the Korean people. According to the Samguk Yusa and other Korean medieval-era records, Gojoseon is said to have been founded in 2333 BC by the legendary Dangun, who is said to be the grandson of Heaven ....
 and before the maturation of Goguryeo
Goguryeo

Goguryeo or Koguryo was an ancient Koreans Empire located in the northern and central parts of the Korean peninsula, southern Manchuria, and southern Primorsky Krai....
, Baekje
Baekje

Baekje , or Paekche , was a kingdom located in southwest Korea. It was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, together with Goguryeo and Silla....
, and Silla
Silla

Silla was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, and the longest sustaining dynasty in Asian history. Although it was founded by King Bak Hyeokgeose of Silla, 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 992-year history....
 into full-fledged kingdoms. It is a subdivision of what is traditionally called Korea's Three Kingdoms Period
Three Kingdoms of Korea

The Three Kingdoms of Korea refer to the ancient Korean empire of Goguryeo, and kingdom of Baekje and Silla, which dominated the Korean peninsula and parts of Manchuria for much of the 1st millennium CE....
.

Generally considered the first three centuries of the Common Era
Common Era

Common Era, abbreviated as CE, is a designation for the calendar system most commonly used in the Western world, and also internationally, for numbering the year part of the calendar date....
, it is the latter part of the Iron age
Iron Age

In archaeology, the Iron Age was the stage in the development of any people in which tools and weapons whose main ingredient was iron were prominent....
 in Korea, and sometimes called the Samhan
Samhan

Samhan refers to the ancient confederacies of Mahan confederacy, Jinhan confederacy, and Byeonhan confederacy in central and southern Korean peninsula, which were eventually absorbed into two of the Three Kingdoms of Korea....
 period, referring to the three confederacies in the central and southern Korean Peninsula
Korean Peninsula

The Korean Peninsula is a peninsula in East Asia. It extends southwards for about 684 miles from continental Asia into the Pacific Ocean and is surrounded by the Sea of Japan on the east, the East China Sea to the south, and the Yellow Sea to the west, the Korea Strait connecting the first two bodies of water....
. During this period, Baekje
Baekje

Baekje , or Paekche , was a kingdom located in southwest Korea. It was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, together with Goguryeo and Silla....
 and Silla
Silla

Silla was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, and the longest sustaining dynasty in Asian history. Although it was founded by King Bak Hyeokgeose of Silla, 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 992-year history....
 overtook the Samhan, and Goguryeo
Goguryeo

Goguryeo or Koguryo was an ancient Koreans Empire located in the northern and central parts of the Korean peninsula, southern Manchuria, and southern Primorsky Krai....
 expanded in the north, destroying the last Chinese commandery at Lelang.

History

When Gojoseon
Gojoseon

Gojoseon was an ancient Korean kingdom, considered the first proper nation of the Korean people. According to the Samguk Yusa and other Korean medieval-era records, Gojoseon is said to have been founded in 2333 BC by the legendary Dangun, who is said to be the grandson of Heaven ....
 was defeated by the Han dynasty
Han Dynasty

The Han Dynasty followed the Qin Dynasty and preceded the Three Kingdoms in China. The Han Dynasty was ruled by the family known as the Liu clan who had peasant origins....
 of China in 108 BC, the northern region of the peninsula and Manchuria was occupied by the states of Buyeo
Buyeo (state)

Buyeo, Puyo , was an ancient Koreans kingdom located from today's Manchuria to northern North Korea, from around the 2nd century BC to 494....
, Goguryeo
Goguryeo

Goguryeo or Koguryo was an ancient Koreans Empire located in the northern and central parts of the Korean peninsula, southern Manchuria, and southern Primorsky Krai....
, Okjeo
Okjeo

Okjeo was a small tribal state which arose in the northern Korean peninsula from perhaps 2nd century BCE to 5th century CE.Dong-okjeo occupied roughly the area of the Hamgyong provinces of North Korea, and Buk-okjeo occupied the Tumen River region....
, Dongye
Dongye

Dongye was a state which occupied portions of the northeastern Korean peninsula from roughly 150 BCE to around 400 CE. It bordered Goguryeo and Okjeo to the north, Jinhan confederacy to the south, and China's Lelang Commandery to the west....
, and other minor statelets. Goguryeo
Goguryeo

Goguryeo or Koguryo was an ancient Koreans Empire located in the northern and central parts of the Korean peninsula, southern Manchuria, and southern Primorsky Krai....
's traditional founding date is 37 BC, but it was mentioned in Chinese records as early as 75 BC, or possibly even 2nd century BC. China installed four commanderies in former Gojoseon territory, but three of them fell quickly to Korean resistance. Goguryeo gradually conquered and absorbed all its neighbors, and destroyed the last Chinese commandery in 313.

In the south, the little-understood state of Jin
Jin (Korean history)

Jin state was an early Iron Age state which occupied some portion of the southern Korean peninsula during the 2nd and 3rd centuries BCE, bordering the Korean kingdom Gojoseon to the north....
 had given rise to the loose confederacies Jinhan
Jinhan confederacy

Jinhan was a loose confederacy of chiefdoms that existed from around the 1st century BC to the 4th century CE in the southern Korean peninsula, to the east of the Nakdong River valley, Gyeongsang Province....
, Byeonhan
Byeonhan confederacy

Byeonhan, also known as Byeonjin, was a loose confederacy of chiefdoms that existed from around the beginning of the Common Era to the 4th century in the southern Korean peninsula....
, and Mahan
Mahan confederacy

Mahan was a loose confederacy of statelets that existed from around the 100BCE-300CE in the southern Korean peninsula in the Chungcheong Province....
, or collectively, Samhan
Samhan

Samhan refers to the ancient confederacies of Mahan confederacy, Jinhan confederacy, and Byeonhan confederacy in central and southern Korean peninsula, which were eventually absorbed into two of the Three Kingdoms of Korea....
. Baekje
Baekje

Baekje , or Paekche , was a kingdom located in southwest Korea. It was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, together with Goguryeo and Silla....
 was founded in 18 BC in Mahan territory and began to slowly overtake it. Silla
Silla

Silla was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, and the longest sustaining dynasty in Asian history. Although it was founded by King Bak Hyeokgeose of Silla, 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 992-year history....
 was founded by the unification of six chiefdoms within the Jinhan, traditionally in 57 BC, although it may have been somewhat later. Byeonhan was absorbed into the later Gaya confederacy
Gaya confederacy

Gaya was a confederacy of territorial polities in the Nakdong River basin of southern Korea, growing out of the Byeonhan confederacy of the Samhan period....
, which in turn was annexed by Silla.

Because of this continuity, most historians consider the Three Kingdoms to begin around the fall of Gojoseon, but the three did not dominate the peninsula as kingdoms until around 300.

Iron culture

Important features of this period include the widespread production of iron artifacts for daily use and the introduction of grey earthenware pottery with a beaten pattern.

Archaeological finds of the period are mainly from Lelang and Goguryo in the north and Samhan in the south. Bronze and iron were used and iron made at shell midden sites on the southern coast.

Artifacts typical of the Korean Bronze Dagger culture, Chinese culture, and Northern Steppe cultures have been found together on archaeological sites in this region, indicating independent interactions with Han China and various other areas.

The introduction of iron technology enabled the manufacture and use of stronger and sharper weapons and agricultural tools, resulting in an acceleration of political integration, as well as greater concentrations of power and wealth.

Trade

Trade is documented in the 'Annals of the Three Kingdoms' of San-guo-zhi
Records of Three Kingdoms

The Records of Three Kingdoms , is the official and authoritative historical text on the period of Three Kingdoms covering from 189 to 280, that was written by Chen Shou in the 3rd century....
, which states that iron from the Nakdong River basin was exported to Lolang and Wae
Wa (Japan)

Japanese language , is the oldest recorded names of Japan. Chinese, Korean, and Japanese scribes regularly wrote Wa or Yamato "Japan" with the Chinese character ? until the 8th century, when the Japanese found fault with it, replacing it with ? "harmony, peace, balance"....
 of Japan. Contact with the cultures of the lower basin of the Nakdonggang River is demonstrated by archaeological evidence from China, Wae, and Manchuria.

In the southern part of the Korean Peninsula, Chinese bronze mirrors, three-legged bronze ritual vessels, bronze buckles, and Chinese coins have been found both from shell middens and tombs. Examples of artifacts originating from the Northern Province include bronze 'Fu' vessels, tiger-shaped buckles, and horse-shaped buckles. Objects from Wae include Yayoi pottery, jar coffins, wide bronze spearheads and bronze halberd
Halberd

A halberd is a two-handed pole weapon that came to prominent use during the 14th and 15th centuries. Possibly the word halberd comes from the German words Halm , and Barte ....
s.

See also

  • History of Korea
    History of Korea

    The history of Korea stretches from Lower Paleolithic times to the present. The earliest known Korean pottery dates to around 8000 BC, and the Neolithic period began before 6000 BC, followed by the Bronze Age around 2500 BC....
  • Three Kingdoms of Korea
    Three Kingdoms of Korea

    The Three Kingdoms of Korea refer to the ancient Korean empire of Goguryeo, and kingdom of Baekje and Silla, which dominated the Korean peninsula and parts of Manchuria for much of the 1st millennium CE....
  • List of Korea-related topics
    List of Korea-related topics

    This is a list of articles on Korea-related people, places, things, and concepts. For help on how to use this list, see the #Introduction below....


External links