This study intends to elucidate the developmental patterns of the Shilla dynasty's territorial control over its domain in the 4th and 5th centuries, by closely examining both written texts and data from excavation reports of ancient tombs. Previous st...
This study intends to elucidate the developmental patterns of the Shilla dynasty's territorial control over its domain in the 4th and 5th centuries, by closely examining both written texts and data from excavation reports of ancient tombs. Previous studies did clarify that the Saro-guk kingdom dominated the minor countries of the Jinhan kingdom in the later periods of the 3rd century and eventually paved the way for the establishment of the early developmental stage for the Shilla dynasty. but unfortunately they did not pay enough attention to the fact that not only the early developmental stages were being established but also the hierarchic structure of the Saro-guk kingdom had been very different from those of the other nearby countries. The Saro-guk kingdom at the time was developing a more advanced type of hierarchic control in its administrations, which was proven very useful in the ensuing expeditions as said above.
So it would be logical to not only consider the Saro-guk kingdom's relationships with nearby countries, but also consider the internal power structure of the kingdom and the political status of the territorial groups located inside it. The complexity of the situation was a characteristic which was very apparent in the Shilla dynasty's local administration even in the 5th and 6th centuries. The Six 'Bu' groups identified themselves with the title of 'ShiHa Yuk(Six)-Bu', and organized the local areas into Chon units during those time periods. The archaeological data also show that only the capital(Gyeongju) area were considered to be the location of tomb groups with piled stones and wooden tomb cases. Yet in the later periods of the 5th century, tomb groups with smaller sizes were established in local areas, mirroring the advents of newly-matured other social forces in the local society.