Baekje Refugees of Later Silla

With Silla defeating the Tang Dynasty during the Silla-Tang Wars and finalizing the unification of the Three Kingdoms, an opportunity was provided for the culture of the three kingdoms to converge and for the residents to be integrated. When it came to Baekje, the vast majority of its populace including the ruling class was admitted to the polities of Silla onwards. However, Later Silla adhered to its Bone-Rank System that was highly exclusive towards the Goguryeo and Baekje refugees. In the case for those that came from Baekje, the discriminatory treatment was more severe. This was due to the fact that Baekje people resisted against Silla during its revival movement from 660 to 663. After the revival movement, Baekje refugees that were cooperative to the Silla government joined the ranks of the Nine Legions as part of the Blue and White Legion; fighting the Tang armies during the Silla-Tang Wars. Some, portion of the former royals and nobles of Baekje, were granted titles and positions by Munmu of Silla himself. However, despite these measures, there was a limit to embracing the people of Baekje by Silla when it came to fully integrating them.

Many of the former Baekje ruling class became ordinary people after the fall of Baekje. As evidenced by this, the Eight Great Families of Baekje was lost to history with many of them discarding their surnames. Though some were awarded, hence granted prestigious titles by Silla, the prizes that were bestowed upon them was far lesser of the old status back in Baekje. The Baekje people and that of their descendants' political success was bound to be limited. This eventually led to the dissatisfaction of the residents of the former Baekje region and the perception that they were in fact descendants of Baekje residents as a whole; holding an antipathic attitude against the Silla and preserving their collective consciousness.

Decline of Later Silla

After the Unification of the Three Kingdoms, Later Silla reigned as an powerhouse in the Eastern World, enjoying its heyday of more than 220 years. However, as it proceeded to decline, the local gentries across the country known as hojok began to have a desire to revolt, feeling that the central government's control over the provinces it held gradually weakened due to the endless struggle for the throne amongst the True Bone-class nobility.

In the era of Queen Jinseong (887-897), the newly crowned queen of Silla, collected taxes were not efficient due to Silla's weakened grip over its territories beyond its capital and the vicinity of it. Thus, officials were sent by the central government to urge the peasants and farmers across the country to have their taxes paid, infuriating them in the process. What came after were a series of rebellion with the Rebellion of Wŏnjong and Aeno in the Sabeol Province being the most famous of them. Though the rebellion led by Wonjong and Aeno (889) was put down to an end by Silla's army, it signaled the beginning of the Later Three Kingdoms period that was to severely weaken Silla in the following years.

When it began with his attack on Mujinju in 892, Kyŏn Hwŏn's rebellion was only one among numerous rebellions which sprouted up against the weak Silla rulers in the late 9th century. Many of these rebellions were initially triggered by the Silla decision to use force to collect taxes on the peasantry in 889 (Lee, 1984, p. 98). At this time most of the power on the peninsula was held by local gentry, who lacked strong loyalty to the central government. It was thus fairly easy for rebellions led by disaffected military officials to gain steam.

Rise to Power

Kyŏn Hwŏn, who was originally a military officer in Silla, was deployed in the southwest sea (South Jeolla Province) to wipe out pirates. However, his course of thinking that Silla was gradually declining resulted in his revolt in Mujinju (today's Gwangju) in 892. The Samguk-sagi records as many as 5,000 people participating in his revolt. Kyŏn Hwŏn would march his army to occupy Mujinju and Wansanju (Jeonju). Afterwards, he ruled the area and internally referred to himself as the King of Baekje in 900. Having the country named (Later) Baekje was part of his plan to establish the state as an authentic successor to the ancient kingdom of Baekje, which dominated the southwestern part of the Korean Peninsula until it was conquered by Silla in 660. Additionally, Kyŏn Hwŏn having the country named after the old kingdom was with the justification of solving Uija's long-cherished grudge towards Silla and inheriting the old kingdom itself. These measures were advantageous in the sense of gaining support from the Baekje refugees living in the area and rationalizing the rebellion against Silla above all else. The capital was later moved to Wansanju (now Jeonju) as well, which was closer to the central realms of old Baekje. Government offices were established in various parts of the country from this point on.

Afterwards, envoys were sent to Wuyue across the sea to establish diplomatic relations while territorial expansion policies were being implemented to subdue local gentries and independent castellans beyond. The confrontation with Taebong, the northern counterpart of the Later Three Kingdoms founded by Kung Ye and the Goguryeo refugees, would begin when both states confronted each other in the Ungju province (now South Chungcheong Province).