Do You Know Goryeo? The Kingdom That Gave Korea Its Name
KOREA THROUGH TIME · EP.04 / 09
CHAPTER 2 — THE AGE OF DYNASTIES AND CULTURAL ACHIEVEMENTS
Jade-green ceramics, skilled craftsmen, ancient printing technology and a royal capital filled with merchants. Discover the dynasty behind the name Korea.
Imagine stepping into a pottery workshop nearly 900 years ago.
A craftsman sits beside a spinning wheel.
His hands carefully guide a lump of wet clay.
Slowly, the clay begins to rise.
A rounded body takes shape.
A narrow neck appears.
What began as an ordinary piece of earth is becoming an elegant vessel.
But the work is far from finished.
The craftsman waits until the clay is partially dry.
Then he carefully carves tiny cranes and swirling clouds into its surface.
He fills those delicate lines with white and dark clay mixtures.
Finally, the vessel receives a glaze and enters a blazing kiln.
When it emerges, its surface has a remarkable jade-green appearance.
This is Goryeo celadon.
One of the most celebrated artistic achievements in Korean history.
And the kingdom that created it has another extraordinary connection to the modern world.
Its name eventually became the English word “Korea.”
Welcome to Episode 4 of Korea Through Time.
Our journey has entered the age of Goryeo.
1. What Was Goryeo?
In our previous episode, we explored Unified Silla and Balhae.
By the early tenth century, both kingdoms were facing major political changes.
New regional powers were emerging.
Old political systems were weakening.
And a new dynasty was about to reshape the Korean Peninsula.
In 918 CE, a leader named Wang Geon (왕건) founded Goryeo.
He is remembered by his royal title, Taejo.
By 936, Goryeo had brought the competing states of the Later Three Kingdoms period under its rule.
The new dynasty also welcomed people who had fled Balhae after its fall in 926.
Goryeo’s rulers looked back to the legacy of the earlier Goguryeo kingdom, although the two were not the same state.
Goryeo would rule until 1392.
That is nearly five centuries.
During those centuries, it developed an influential royal court, Buddhist culture, international trade and remarkable artistic traditions.
Its name would also travel far beyond the Korean Peninsula.
2. Why Is Korea Called Korea?
Here is something many international visitors do not realize.
The English name “Korea” is derived from Goryeo.
The kingdom’s name circulated through foreign contacts and was eventually represented in Western languages in forms such as Korea and Corea.
Over time, Korea became the familiar English name for the country.
Think about that.
Today, people around the world recognize the word Korea.
Korean food.
Korean music.
Korean films.
Korean technology.
But the name has roots in a dynasty established more than 1,100 years ago.
Modern South Korea is not politically the same state as medieval Goryeo.
Its institutions, borders and historical circumstances are very different.
Yet the name preserves a fascinating connection to an earlier chapter of Korean history.
3. Goryeo Celadon — When Clay Became Art
Now, return to that pottery workshop.
The craftsman examines a newly formed vessel.
Its shape must be balanced.
Its surface must be smooth.
Even a small mistake could ruin hours of work.
During the Goryeo dynasty, ceramic production reached extraordinary levels of sophistication.
One of its most famous products was cheongja (청자), or celadon.
Goryeo potters initially developed their techniques through exchanges with Chinese ceramic traditions.
But over time, they created distinctive forms, colors and decorative methods of their own.
The best examples have a subtle bluish-green glaze sometimes compared to jade.
Their surfaces may feature flowers, clouds, cranes and other delicate motifs.
Major production centers developed in areas such as Gangjin and Buan, in the southwestern Korean Peninsula.
These were places where generations of craftspeople developed highly specialized skills.
But what made Goryeo celadon so special?
The answer was not simply its color.
It was also the extraordinary decoration beneath the glaze.
4. The Secret of Sanggam — Drawing Inside Clay
Imagine trying to draw a beautiful picture.
Now imagine doing it without ordinary paint.
Instead, you must carefully carve every line into a fragile clay surface.
That is the challenge behind sanggam (상감).
Sanggam is an inlay technique that became a defining feature of Goryeo celadon.
First, the potter forms the vessel.
When the clay is firm enough, the artist carves or stamps patterns into its surface.
The recessed designs are filled with white or dark liquid clay, known as slip.
Excess material is carefully removed.
The vessel is then processed, glazed and fired.
When everything goes correctly, delicate patterns appear beneath the translucent green glaze.
One famous design shows cranes flying among clouds.
The birds seem to float across the surface.
The technique became especially sophisticated during the twelfth century.
The result is not merely a useful container.
It is an object combining chemistry, technical knowledge and artistic imagination.
And although we can admire these vessels today, producing them was far from easy.
Kiln temperatures, oxygen levels, clay composition and glaze chemistry could all affect the final appearance.
A single firing could determine whether a vessel became a masterpiece or a failure.
Goryeo celadon reminds us that technological innovation and artistic beauty often develop together.
5. Did Everyone in Goryeo Own Beautiful Celadon?
Not necessarily.
When we see expensive ceramics displayed in museums, it is easy to imagine that everyone in the past lived among beautiful objects.
But historical life was much more unequal.
Fine celadon was especially valued by the royal court, aristocrats and wealthy patrons.
Ordinary households used a variety of practical ceramic vessels and other materials.
A farmer’s daily experience was very different from that of a noble family in the capital.
Most people depended on agriculture and local production.
Craftspeople worked in specialized industries.
Merchants transported goods between regions.
Buddhist monks lived and studied in religious communities.
The luxurious objects preserved in museums tell us about exceptional craftsmanship.
But the dynasty was sustained by the labor of many ordinary people whose names rarely appear in historical records.
Their work was just as important to Goryeo’s development.
6. Gaegyeong — A Capital Connected to the World
Goryeo’s main capital was Gaegyeong (개경).
Today, its historic location is in Kaesong, North Korea.
Imagine arriving there during the dynasty’s prosperous years.
Government buildings and royal residences stand within the city.
Merchants carry goods through commercial areas.
Craftspeople prepare ceramics, textiles and other products.
People arrive from surrounding regions to conduct business.
Nearby, the port of Byeokrando (벽란도) served as an important center for maritime trade.
Goryeo maintained diplomatic and commercial relationships with neighboring states, including Chinese dynasties.
Foreign goods and cultural influences entered the kingdom.
And Goryeo products traveled outward.
The kingdom was not isolated from the wider world.
Its art, technology and religious culture developed through both local innovation and international exchange.
The objects created by Goryeo craftsmen were part of a much larger connected world.
7. More Than Ceramics — A Kingdom of Buddhist Culture
Goryeo is also remembered for its strong Buddhist traditions.
Buddhism influenced the royal court, religious institutions, art and intellectual life.
Temples became important centers of scholarship and cultural activity.
Monks studied sacred texts.
Artists created Buddhist paintings and sculptures.
And skilled workers participated in extraordinary projects to preserve religious teachings.
One of the most remarkable achievements was the Tripitaka Koreana, known in Korean as Palman Daejanggyeong.
It contains Buddhist scriptures carved onto 81,258 wooden printing blocks.
The surviving blocks were produced during the thirteenth century.
The project took place during a period of devastating Mongol invasions.
Producing the collection was both a major scholarly undertaking and an expression of religious devotion during a national crisis.
Today, the blocks are preserved at Haeinsa Temple in South Korea.
UNESCO recognizes the Haeinsa depositories and their extraordinary conservation systems as World Heritage.
Imagine the patience required to carve thousands upon thousands of characters.
One wooden block at a time.
It was an achievement of craftsmanship, scholarship and determination.
8. Korea Was Printing With Metal Type Before Gutenberg
Here is another surprise.
Goryeo was not only producing magnificent ceramics and woodblock-printed Buddhist texts.
It was also developing movable metal type printing.
In 1377, a Buddhist text known as Jikji (직지) was printed at Heungdeoksa Temple in Cheongju.
The surviving volume is recognized as the world’s oldest extant book printed using movable metal type.
It predates the Gutenberg Bible by several decades.
This does not mean Goryeo’s printing technology was identical to Gutenberg’s later European printing system.
The technologies developed in different historical contexts.
But the survival of Jikji demonstrates an extraordinary level of technical knowledge in medieval Korea.
Imagine individual metal characters being arranged to produce a printed page.
Instead of carving an entirely new wooden block for every page, reusable pieces of type offered another approach to printing.
For a modern reader surrounded by computers, printers and digital books, the process may seem distant.
Yet it reflects a familiar human ambition.
How can knowledge be reproduced and shared more efficiently?
Goryeo’s printing history is an important part of that larger story.
9. Goryeo’s History Was Not Always Peaceful
It would be misleading to describe Goryeo as five centuries of uninterrupted prosperity.
The dynasty experienced internal political struggles, military rule and foreign invasions.
In the thirteenth century, Mongol forces invaded Goryeo.
The conflicts brought enormous destruction and hardship.
The royal court moved to Ganghwa Island for part of the period.
Over time, Goryeo entered a complex political relationship with the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty.
These events influenced its rulers, society and international relationships.
The exquisite objects that survive from Goryeo should not hide the difficult experiences of its people.
History contains artistic achievements and human suffering.
Often at the same time.
By the late fourteenth century, major political changes were underway again.
In 1392, the general Yi Seong-gye established a new dynasty.
Goryeo’s long rule had ended.
The Joseon dynasty had begun.
10. What Remains of Goryeo Today?
You do not need to travel back in time to encounter Goryeo’s legacy.
Visit the National Museum of Korea and you can admire its ceramics.
Travel to Gangjin and you can learn about the region’s celadon traditions.
Visit Haeinsa Temple and you can discover the history of the Tripitaka Koreana.
In Cheongju, the story of Jikji connects medieval Korea to the history of printing.
Many of Goryeo’s finest objects are preserved in museums around the world.
And its name survives in a way that is even more familiar.
Korea.
The word spoken by millions of people today carries a connection to a kingdom that existed centuries before modern South Korea.
But the story did not stop with Goryeo.
The next dynasty would establish a new capital, develop a different political philosophy and eventually create one of Korea’s most important cultural achievements.
Hangul — the Korean alphabet.
Korea Through Time: The Kingdom Behind a Name
Our journey began in ancient farming communities.
We watched powerful kingdoms emerge.
We explored the Buddhist art and cultural exchanges of Unified Silla and Balhae.
Now we have entered the world of Goryeo.
A dynasty remembered for jade-green ceramics.
Extraordinary inlaid patterns.
Buddhist scholarship.
Woodblock printing.
And early movable metal type.
Its achievements were created not only by kings and officials, but by generations of potters, builders, scholars, monks and craftspeople.
Some shaped clay.
Some carved wood.
Some cast metal characters.
And together, they left behind a remarkable cultural legacy.
Goryeo gave the world beautiful objects.
It also gave us a name that would survive for centuries.
But in 1392, a new chapter began.
A new dynasty would emerge.
A new capital would take shape.
And the foundations of historic Seoul would be laid.
Next: Joseon — the kingdom that built Hanyang and transformed Korean history.
Continue with Korea Through Time — EP.05: Joseon, the Kingdom That Built Old Seoul.
Historical References
- National Museum of Korea — Goryeo Celadon
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art — Korean Celadon
- UNESCO — Tripitaka Koreana and Haeinsa
- UNESCO — Jikji, Memory of the World
- Korea.net — The Glory of Goryeo
- Bibliothèque nationale de France — Jikji