A History of Korea (12 page)

SILLA’S DISPATCH OF A TRIBUTE EMBASSY TO CHINA, 643

Feeling besieged, the monarch of the kingdom of Silla sent a tributary embassy to the emperor of Tang dynasty China in 643 with an urgent request for Chinese assistance in fending off the unrelenting incursions from the other two peninsular powers, Kogury
and Paekche. The Chinese emperor, sensing another opportunity to strike Kogury
, vowed to attack the two adversaries and even offered thousands of Chinese army uniforms so that Silla soldiers could intimidate their opponents on the battlefield. The emperor’s third suggestion, though, was startling: Silla should accept a Chinese prince as its interim ruler, whose presence would put an end to Silla’s misfortune—a misfortune that, according to the emperor, was due to its monarch. It was not the Silla ruler’s actions or policies that were objectionable, but rather the ruler’s gender: Silla’s monarch was Queen S
nd
k, the first of three female rulers of Silla.

Significantly for the subsequent history of Korea, this brazen push to reestablish a Chinese foothold on the peninsula was (respectfully) resisted by Silla, despite the Tang emperor’s support for the anti-S
nd
k elements within the Silla ruling order. Queen S
nd
k managed to weather this storm, and during her reign from 632 to 647, Silla proceeded not only to survive but to thrive. It further centralized state rule, sponsored the continuing growth of Buddhism, nurtured the flowering of science and culture, and solidified the Silla state and military power through the cultivation of skillful people who eventually were to lead the country to peninsular supremacy. Tang China would be Silla’s indispensable partner in the wars of unification, but as shown by the pressures exerted upon Queen S
nd
k’s rule, Silla had to remain wary of ultimate Chinese designs. The Sillan leaders’ capacity to walk this diplomatic tightrope between assistance and autonomy would prove instrumental in securing the peninsula’s unification under Silla domination. That this process would begin during the reign of a female monarch also reveals a great deal about distinctive cultural patterns inscribed onto the peninsula by not only Silla but all of the ancient civilizations on the peninsula. Indeed, Queen S
nd
k herself would embody many of these qualities, including the tantalizing signs that, in regard to the role and status of females, Silla might have been ahead of its time.

BUDDHISM AND POWER

Queen S
nd
k’s most notable accomplishment might have been to achieve an early peak in the relationship between Korean political and social power, on the one hand, and royal sponsorship of the Buddhist establishment on the other. Buddhism, a religion preaching the path of overcoming human suffering through ritual, action, study, and meditation—just as its founder, Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha), had done in the sixth century BCE—had by the fourth century CE traversed its way eastward through northern India, Tibet, China, and the Korean peninsula, on its way eventually toward Japan. Through this process this religion gained a tremendous following, usually first among learned elites, who developed different approaches and perspectives in line with their specific cultural heritage. They then disseminated the modified forms to the laity and usually persuaded the ruling groups
to embrace this powerfully spiritual and systematic set of teachings. The political rulers, in turn, found Buddhism, in particular the Buddhist clergy, a useful ally in further consolidating their domination and in heightening the aura of their authority. Eventually, political domination went hand-in-hand with patronage of Buddhism.