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| 681–91 |
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| During the reign of King Sinmun, the governmental and military administrations were reorganized, further curtailing the prerogatives of the aristocracy and strengthening the king. A new local-government system was implemented. After the announcement of five “secondary capitals” (685), aristocrats from conquered states were transferred to them. From 687, the aristocracy was allowed to extract only grain from farmers on lands allocated to them, a measure further tightening central state control. Aristocrats still managed to amass great fortunes and often large numbers of slaves. The army was brought under the direct command of the throne, and garrisons were established at various locales. | 1 |
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| 698–926 |
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Former Kogury terrain in Manchuria came under the control of the state of Parhae (or Bohai in Chinese), founded by a former Kogury general who first proclaimed a state of Chin, renamed Parhae in 713. It was made up of Kogury remnants and several Tungusic peoples (largely Malgal) living in central Manchuria (the present Heilongjiang Province in China). Parhae was on tense terms with the Tang to the west and with Silla to the south. In 733 Silla and the Tang allied against Parhae, which sought ties with the Tujue to the north and with Japan. Parhae managed to spread into northeastern Manchuria under King Mu (r. 719–37) and continued to expand into the mid-9th century. Its government was modeled after the Tang, with three chancelleries and six ministries. Its capital was placed at Sanggyng and patterned after Chang'an. To encourage the introduction of Chinese culture, Parhae sent students to Tang China; some took and passed the civil service examinations there. Parhae was conquered (926) by the Khitan, the Mongolian people who were soon to establish their own state, the Liao dynasty. Parhae was the last state of Korean origin to control Manchuria. | 2 |
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| 885 |
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| Ch'oe Ch'i-wn (b. 858) returned from China 21 years after he had left Silla. He had passed the Chinese civil service examinations, taken offices, written memorials, and earned a name for himself. On returning, he called for a similar process in Korea, but all of his reform proposals were rejected. | 3 |
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| 889 |
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| The government instituted a forced tax levy in the countryside, but the peasantry was already being taxed by castle lords, a newly emerging force of regionally powerful families who were sapping the center's hold on local villages and tax revenues. The result was great social destabilization. | 4 |
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| 891 |
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| The first of many rebellions. Between the late 9th and early 10th centuries, Unified Silla was broken up by rebellions into a brief Later Three Kingdoms period. | 5 |
| An ally of the Tang dynasty, Unified Silla imported much of China's administrative practice, as well as its culture, through books and art. Korean students and monks studied in Tang China and brought back Buddhism, Confucianism, and other aspects of Chinese culture. | 6 |
Buddhism became extremely important in Unified Silla. Many monks traveled to study at holy places in China. The monk Hyech'o (b. 704) also went on to India and wrote an account of his travels. Several new sects came to Korea; especially popular was Hwam (Huayan in Chinese), brought to Korea by the monk  isang (625–702), who had studied under the great Zhiyi in China. Wnhyo (617–86), a popular religious teacher, taught an eclectic Buddhist synthesis and was opposed to sectarianism. The Pure Land sect, with its less intellectual bent and its stress on devotion leading to rebirth in the Western Paradise, was the most popular sect among commoners. Late in Unified Silla, Sn Buddhism (Zen in Japanese) became popular, especially among local gentry families. | 7 |
| Confucianism also flourished. A National Confucian College was founded (682), and portraits of Confucius and his disciples were brought from China and placed there (717). Around 750 it was renamed the National Confucian University, and its entire curriculum centered around Chinese texts. Entrance was limited to the higher aristocratic ranks. An examination system was begun (788) for bureaucratic appointments, indicating the beginning of an effort to prize learning, not just bone-rank, and this worked in tandem with the throne's attempt to sap aristocratic privileges. Late in the era, Confucianism was invoked as the doctrine for political reform by many, like Ch'oe Ch'i-wn, who had been to China. | 8 |
| Woodblock printing was developed especially for the production and dissemination of Buddhist scriptures and Confucian texts. A copy of a sutra (dated 751) found at Muyng-t'ap (Pagoda That Casts No Shadow) is the oldest printed work in the world. | 9 |
| Various poetic forms continued to develop in Unified Silla, often stressing Buddhist themes. The Pulguk Temple, a major complex of Buddhist art, was built (751) in Kyngju at the order of the chief minister; he also ordered construction that year of Skkuram, manmade stone Buddhist grottoes like those in China. | 10 |
| Unified Silla traded extensively with both Tang China and Japan. Over time, Korean settlements cropped up in Shandong and Jiangsu, with Silla offices instituted to run the affairs of local Koreans. When the Japanese monk Ennin (794–864) traveled to China, he found some 250 natives of Silla living at a temple in Shandong (839, 845). | 11 |
| The years of war leading to unification under Silla had brought misery and poverty to the commoners, many of whom had to become slaves to aristocratic houses or government bureaus. A village system with headmen was set up and used for census and taxation purposes as well as for local administration. In the late 9th century, the population of Kyngju was given as 178,936 households and 35 immense aristocratic mansions. | 12 |
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