Gojong of Goryeo

Gojong of Goryeo (3 February 1192 - 21 July 1259), sometimes spelled Ko-tjong, was the twenty-third ruler of Goryeo in present-day Korea from 1213–1259. Gojong's reign was marked by prolonged conflict with the Mongol Empire, which sought to conquer Goryeo, ending only to settle peace in 1259. During his reign actual power rested with the Choe family of military dictators.

Although ascending to the throne in 1213, Gojong did not wield much power until powerful advisors were killed off. In 1216, the Khitan invaded but was defeated. In August 1232, Gojong moved the capital of Goryeo from Songdo to the island of Ganghwa and started the construction of significant defenses there, in order to better defend from the Mongol threat. Gojong resisted the Mongol invasion for nearly thirty years before the kingdom was forced to make peace with the Mongols in 1259; Gojong died soon after.

In 1251, the carving of the Tripitaka Koreana, a collection of Buddhist scriptures recorded on some 81,000 wooden blocks, was completed. The work was perhaps motivated by Gojong's hopes to change fortunes through the act of religious devotion; however the originals were later destroyed by the Mongols — the existing Tripitaka is a replica of Gojong's original, and was commissioned around one hundred years after the originals were lost.

Goryeo

Goryeo, also known as Koryŏ (Hangul: 고려; hanja: 高麗; Korean pronunciation: [koɾjʌ]; 918–1392), was a Korean dynasty established in 918 by King Taejo. This kingdom later gave name to the modern exonym "Korea". It united the Later Three Kingdoms in 936 and ruled most of the Korean Peninsula until it was removed by the founder of the Joseon in 1392. Goryeo expanded Korea's borders to present-day Wonsan in the northeast (936–943), the Yalu River (993) and finally almost the whole of the Korean Peninsula (1374).

Two of this period's most notable products are celadon pottery and the Tripitaka Koreana—the Buddhist canon (Tripiṭaka) carved onto roughly 80,000 woodblocks and stored (and still remaining) at Haeinsa. Subjects and officials of Goryeo also created the world's first metal-based movable type in 1234; the oldest surviving movable metal type book, the Jikji, was printed in 1377.

In 668, Silla conquered Baekje and Goguryeo with an alliance with Tang China, but by the late 9th century it was tottering, its monarchs being unimaginative and pressed by the power of powerful statesmen. Many robbers and outlaws agitated and in 900 Gyeon Hwon revolted from Silla control in the Jeolla region as the state of Later Baekje; the year after, Gung Ye revolted from the northern regions as Taebong. A son of a regional lord, Wang Geon, joined Taebong as a general.

Koryo

Koryo or Goryeo (Hangul: 고려; hanja: 高麗; RR: Goryeo; MR: Koryŏ) may refer to: