Siella Kingdom

At the beginning of the Three Kingdoms period, amongst the three kingdoms: Silla, Koguryo and Paekche, Silla would have seemed the least likely to succeed in unifying the Korean peninsula. Silla was the smallest of the three kingdoms, and its location on the southeastern corner of the peninsula was the furthest from China in comparison to Koguryo and Paekche. Although Silla seemed unlikely to prosper, the dynasty was powerful in many areas, leading to their success in Korean history. The Silla dynasty flourished and was one of the longest sustained dynasties in the world, but ended due to complications within the governing system, culture, and religious ideologies at the time.
First, Silla possessed certain institutions that had helped to produce a strong, centralized kingdom such as the bone rank system, the Hwabaek and Hwarang. These institutions were composed of powerful people who contributed in the government and stabilization of the kingdom. The bone rank system was a structure that determined the nobility of a person based on their heredity blood line. The Hwabaek was an advisory council of capital …show more content…
Lee states, “as the religion was revered and professed alike by all the people, from the king on high to the populace at large, Buddhism played a vital role in the intellectual and cultural life of Silla society” (50). Buddhism was the state religion of Silla, and the people of Korea were able to unify due to their similar religious beliefs. Buddhism brought positive moral beliefs to the society, and allowed a relatively freer status of women. “Hwaom taught the doctrine of all encompassing harmony, that the one contains the multitude and that the multitude is as one, a concept that sought to embrace the myriad of sentient beings within the single Buddha mind” (50-51). Silla’s governing ideologies were influenced by Buddhism beliefs, contributing to the community in a positive