Korea

• Korea was ruled by a dynasty known as the Koryo
• Koryo had powerful, wealthy aristocracy which controlled the poor peasantry
• the koryo modeled their govt and capital city on china
• when mongol conqeuered china, korea hoped to buy them off but ultimately failed 

  • the mongols conquered korea
  • korea was still in charge but they had to take orders from the mongols
  • forced migrations
• • when mongol rule fell in china, korea did too
  • new indigneous dynasty took over, the choson (1390s)
• Similarity to China


  • Through its tributary relationship, Korea and China were in close contact. Thus, Korea emulated many aspects of China’s politics and culture. It centralized its government in the style of the Chinese
• • Culturally, Koreans adopted both Confucian and Buddhist beliefs. The educated elite studied Confucian classics, while Buddhist doctrine attracted the peasant masses
• • Koreans adopted the Chinese writing system, which proved to be very awkward. The Chinese and Korean languages remained structurally very different. In the 15th century, Korea developed its own writing system
• Powerful Aristocracy 


  • One important difference between Korea and China was that the landed aristocracy were more powerful in Korea than in China. As a result, the Korean elite were able to prevent certain Chinese reforms from ever being implemented. For example, though there was a Korean civil service examination, it was not open to peasants. Thus, there was no truly merit-based system for entering the bureaucracy