Search Results: Taejo of Goryeo

Taejo (r. 918-943 CE), previously known as Wang Geon or Wang Kon, was the founder and first king of the Goryeo (Koryo) kingdom which unified and ruled ancient Korea from 918 CE to 1392 CE. Wang Geon was given the posthumous title of Taejo...

Goryeo (Koryo) ruled Korea from 918 to 1392. The kingdom oversaw an unprecedented flourishing in culture and arts with developments in architecture, ceramics, printing, and papermaking. The kingdom was repeatedly invaded by the Mongols in...

King Taejong of Joseon (r. 1400-1418) was the third ruler of the Joseon Dynasty in Korea. Taejong was a driving force behind consolidating and strengthening the king’s power, and while he was an effective ruler, his violent means of winning...

The Early Joseon Period (1392 - c. 1550 CE) in Korea was bookended by internal power struggles but witnessed major scientific and societal advances and prosperity. The Joseon (Choson) Dynasty ruled Korea from 1392 CE to 1897 CE, and scholars...

Korea, located on a large peninsula on the eastern coast of the Asian mainland, has been inhabited since Neolithic times. The first recognisable political state was Gojoseon in the second half of the first millennium BCE. From the 1st century...

A portrait of the founder of the Goryeo kingdom of Korea, Taejo, formerly known as Wang Geon (r. 918-943 CE).

Pyongyang (aka Pyeongyang) was the capital of several successive ancient Korean kingdoms. Located on the Daedong River in the north of the peninsula, the site was chosen by the legendary Dangun (Tangun), founder of the first Korean state...

The Later Three Kingdoms period (889-935 CE) of ancient Korea saw a partial revival of the old three kingdoms which had dominated the peninsula from the 1st century BCE to the 7th century CE. After the Unified Silla kingdom had ruled Korea...

The Samguk sagi ('History of the Three Kingdoms' or 'Historical Records of the Three States') is a 12th-century CE text written by Gim Busik which is considered the first history of Korea. The text covers the history of Silla, Baekje (Paekche...

Contact between Korea and China goes back to mythology and prehistory. Trade developed from the Bronze and Iron Ages with raw materials and manufactured goods going in both directions for centuries thereafter. In addition to traders, migrants...