Seongdeok of Silla

This article is about a male monarch of Unified Silla. For the female monarch of pre-unified Silla with a similar name, see Queen Seondeok of Silla. For the male monarch of unified Silla with a similar name, see King Seondeok of Silla. For the Gojoseon ruler, see Seongdeok of Gojoseon.


King Seongdeok
성덕왕
聖德王
Bell of King Seongdeok
King of Unified Silla
Reign702–737
Coronation702
PredecessorHyoso of Silla
SuccessorHyoseong of Silla
BornUnknown
Died737
Silla
Burial
Tomb of King Seongdeok, Gyeongju, South Korea
FatherSinmun of Silla
MotherQueen Sinmok
Seongdeok of Silla
Hangul
성덕왕
Hanja
聖德王
RRSeongdeogwang
MRSŏngdŏgwang

Seongdeok Daewang (Korean: 성덕왕; reigned 702–737) was the thirty-third king of the ancient Korean kingdom of Silla. He was the second son of King Sinmun and the younger brother of King Hyoso.[1]

In 704 Seongdeok married Lady Baeso (posthumous Queen Seongjeong), a daughter of Kim Wontae; their son Junggyeong was named Crown Prince in 715. In 716 Seongjeong was dismissed from the palace, and Junggyeong died the following year. In 720 Seongdeok married Queen Sodeok, daughter of the minister Kim Sun-won; their sons included future kings Hyoseong and Gyeongdeok.[2][3][4]

Reign

Silla–Tang relations improved markedly in Seongdeok’s time after decades of confrontation. In 733, responding to Tang requests to check Balhae, Silla mobilized forces for a joint campaign; severe winter conditions forced a withdrawal en route.[5][6] In 735, the Tang court formally recognized Silla’s control of the territory south of the Pae (Taedong) River, consolidating Silla’s northern boundary.[7]

Fortifications and defense

In 721 Seongdeok ordered the construction of a long defensive wall along Silla’s northern frontier, interpreted in scholarship as a response to Balhae’s southward expansion along the East Sea coast.[8][9] In 722 a large mountain fortress was built near the capital Gyeongju, known as Gwanmunseong (also Mobeol-gun Fortress); medieval sources report the mobilization of nearly 40,000 workers and a circumference of roughly 12 km.[10][11]

Administration and institutions

In 718 the court established the Nugakjeon (漏刻典), an Office of Timekeeping that managed state water clocks; the Samguk sagi records the first making of a water clock (nugak, 漏刻) in the same year.[12][13] Land policy also evolved: in 722 the state is reported to have first distributed jeongjeon (丁田, “able-bodied fields”) to commoners of working age; although details remain debated, the measure is commonly interpreted as an attempt to stabilize peasant tenure and strengthen royal authority.[14][15]

Death

Chinese annals record that in the second lunar month of 737 a Tang envoy was dispatched to invest Seongdeok’s successor (later King Hyoseong), leading some scholars to infer that Seongdeok may have died late in 736.[16]

Family

Parents
Consorts and issue

See also

References

  1. ^ 성덕왕(聖德王). Encyclopedia of Korean Culture (AKS) (in Korean). Retrieved 11 November 2025.
  2. ^ 김원태(金元泰). Encyclopedia of Korean Culture (AKS) (in Korean). Retrieved 11 November 2025.
  3. ^ 소덕왕후(炤德王后). Encyclopedia of Korean Culture (AKS) (in Korean). Retrieved 11 November 2025.
  4. ^ 효성왕(孝成王). Encyclopedia of Korean Culture (AKS) (in Korean). Retrieved 11 November 2025.
  5. ^ 24년 04월 선종이 물러나자 윤충을 중시로 삼다. Korean History Database (NIKH) (in Korean). Retrieved 11 November 2025.
  6. ^ 저ll절 시대개관 (PDF). National Library of Korea (Memory·Library) (in Korean). Retrieved 11 November 2025.
  7. ^ 성덕왕(聖德王). Encyclopedia of Korean Culture (AKS) (in Korean). Retrieved 11 November 2025.
  8. ^ 20년 07월 북쪽 국경에 성을 쌓다. Korean History Database (NIKH) (in Korean). Retrieved 11 November 2025.
  9. ^ 6~8세기 신라 동북 경계의 변천과 구조 (PDF). Hanyang University Repository (in Korean). Retrieved 11 November 2025.
  10. ^ 관문성(關門城). Encyclopedia of Korean Culture (AKS) (in Korean). Retrieved 11 November 2025.
  11. ^ 사적 관문성 (關門城). Heritage Search (Cultural Heritage Administration) (in Korean). Retrieved 11 November 2025.
  12. ^ 누각전(漏刻典). Encyclopedia of Korean Culture (AKS) (in Korean). Retrieved 11 November 2025.
  13. ^ 삼국사기 신라본기 성덕왕 17년(718)·잡지 직관(상) 주석. Korean History Database (NIKH) (in Korean). Retrieved 11 November 2025.
  14. ^ 정전(丁田). Encyclopedia of Korean Culture (AKS) (in Korean). Retrieved 11 November 2025.
  15. ^ 관료전 지급 및 녹읍 폐지와 정전의 지급. Korean History On-line (NHS) (in Korean). Retrieved 11 November 2025.
  16. ^ Rogers, Michael C. (1960). "The Thanatochronology of Some Kings of Silla". Monumenta Serica. 29: 336–337. JSTOR 40724235.
  17. ^ 김원태(金元泰). Encyclopedia of Korean Culture (AKS) (in Korean). Retrieved 11 November 2025.
  18. ^ 소덕왕후(炤德王후). Encyclopedia of Korean Culture (AKS) (in Korean). Retrieved 11 November 2025.
  19. ^ 효성왕(孝成王). Encyclopedia of Korean Culture (AKS) (in Korean). Retrieved 11 November 2025.
  20. ^ 경덕왕(景德王). Encyclopedia of Korean Culture (AKS) (in Korean). Retrieved 11 November 2025.
allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Seongdeok_the_Great_of_Silla