Editing History of Korea (section)

===Silla===
{{Main|Silla}}
[[File:Hwangnyongsa Pagoda miniature.jpg|upright=0.8|thumb|Downsized replica of the famous 80-meter-tall [[pagoda]] at [[Hwangnyongsa]] Temple which was destroyed by the Mongols]]
[[File:Korea-Gyeongju-Bunhwangsa-Three story stone pagoda-02.jpg|thumb|The [[pagoda]] of [[Bunhwangsa]] temple, 634 AD, which once stood seven to nine stories in height, yet these collapsed to its current state of three stories]]
According to legend, the kingdom of [[Silla]] began with the unification of six chiefdoms of the [[Jinhan confederacy]] by [[Hyeokgeose of Silla|Park Hyeokgeose]] in 57 BC, in the southeastern area of Korea.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Silla(新羅) |url=https://encykorea.aks.ac.kr/Article/E0032800 |website=[[Encyclopedia of Korean Culture]]}}</ref> Its territory included the present-day port city of [[Busan]], and Silla later emerged as a sea power responsible for destroying Japanese pirates, especially during the [[Unified Silla]] period.{{sfn|Lee|1997|pp=48–49}}

Silla artifacts, including unique gold metalwork, show influence from the northern nomadic steppes and [[Iranian peoples]] and especially [[Persians]], with less Chinese influence than are shown by Goguryeo and Baekje.{{sfn|Nelson|1993|pp=243–258}} Silla expanded rapidly by occupying the [[Nakdong River]] basin and uniting the city-states.

By the 2nd century, Silla was a large state, occupying and influencing nearby city-states. Silla gained further power when it annexed the [[Gaya confederacy]] in 562. Silla often faced pressure from Goguryeo, Baekje and Japan, and at various times allied and warred with Baekje and [[Goguryeo]].

Silla was the smallest and weakest of the [[Three Kingdoms of Korea]], but it used cunning diplomatic means to make opportunistic pacts and alliances with the more powerful Korean kingdoms, and eventually Tang China, to its great advantage.{{sfn|Kim, Jinwung|2012|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=QFPsi3IK8gcC&pg=PA44 44–45]}}<ref>{{cite book|last1=Wells |first1=Kenneth M. |title=Korea: Outline of a Civilisation |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-30005-7 |pages=18–19 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6zoLCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA18 |access-date=12 September 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161203232114/https://books.google.com/books?id=6zoLCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA18 |archive-date=3 December 2016 |date=2015-07-03 }}</ref>

In 660, King [[Muyeol of Silla]] ordered his armies to attack Baekje. General [[Kim Yu-sin|Kim Yu-shin]], aided by [[Tang dynasty|Tang]] forces, conquered Baekje. In 661, Silla and Tang moved on [[Goguryeo]] but were repelled. King [[Munmu of Silla|Munmu]], son of Muyeol and nephew of Kim, launched another campaign in 667 and Goguryeo fell in the following year.{{sfn|Lee|Park|Yoon|2005|pp= 222–225}}