Page 64 - South Korea & Japan: Temples, Shrines & Seaside Treasures

All this changed with the rise of the Mongol hoards. In the early 1200s Kublai Khan’s armies
swept through China, and by 1231 they had reached Korea, which was prized because of its
maritime experience. (The Mongols were mainly horsemen, so for them a navy was novel and
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as a dependent state. In 1274 and 1281 the Mongols tried to use Korean ships and sailors to
invade Japan, but both times were turned away by high winds.

While the Mongols didn’t succeed in invading Japan, they did create internal struggles within
Korea that only became worse when the Mongol Empire itself was overthrown in 1316. This
paved the way for General Yi Seong-gye to overthrow the Goryeo rulers and found his own
dynasty, the Joseon.

The Joseon Dynasty

In contrast to their Buddhist predecessors, the Joseon preferred Confucianism, so their rule
brought about many religious, social, and administrative changes. The most notable of which
were the exile of Buddhist monks into the mountains, the rise of education and civic exams
as a way to advance in society, and less independence for women. (Under the old state, they
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Much of what is considered traditional culture in Korea today hails from the Joseon period,
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foreign relations, especially with Japan, which tried unsuccessfully to invade in 1592 and again
1598; the Manchus, who made Korea a vassal state in 1636; and the U.S., who tried to force
trade relations in the 1870s.

Rule by Japan

By the end of the 1880s Korean society was divided between those who embraced the
traditional culture and those who wanted to reform it by modernizing and leveling class
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opportunity for foreign powers like Japan, China, and Russia to insert themselves in Korean
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of the rivals—Japan and Russia—went to war in 1904. After Japan won, Korea fell into their
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Japanese rule in Korea lasted until 1945. Although relatively short in the span of history, it
left a deep impression on the nation’s psyche. Even today, Japan and South Korea have a sort
of love/hate relationship that stems from this time, which many Korean patriots felt was
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Japanese did a lot to modernize the country—there were also shameful humiliations like the
so-called “comfort women”, Korean girls forced to act as prostitutes for Japanese soldiers
during World War II.

The Korean War and Aftermath

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