Goguryeo

They bordered the Khitans to the east, so they were fair game for invasion.

The Bohai Kingdom was the successor state to the period of the Three Kingdoms, Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla.

The Bohai Kingdom fell to Apauji in 926.

A puppet state was set up in this conquered region that became known as the Dongdan Kingdom.

Lee Hyun-wook dishes on his first epic historical drama, Sword and Silence, his role as a future king and much more.

Directed by Kim Yong-kyo of Hwarang, the poet of various youth, Sword and Silence tells the story of how the small kingdom of Silla overcame the most powerful kingdoms of Goguryeo and Baekje, as well as China's Tang destiny to unify the three kingdoms.

Lee Hyeon-wook plays Kim Bo-min, who becomes King Moon-mo, the 30th ruler of Silla, and achieves the unification of the three kingdoms through exceptional strategic skills and outstanding combat abilities.

So, explaining why he chose To play this part in thought and silence, Lee Yeon-wook shared, While working on historical dramas, I have come to fully appreciate the appeal of period pieces.

His 2014 blockbuster, The Admiral, Roaring Currents, made him a 10 million ticket director, and with about 17.6 million viewers, it still holds the number one spot on the all-time Korean box office list after 12 years.

Looking ahead, his next project is Sword, The Blade of Godumakhan, starring Park Bo-gum as a man who loses his memory and becomes a slave after the fall of Goguryeo, and it's in post-production now with a release targeted for next year.

BTS is bringing this year's The City project to a grand finale in Singapore, and it's going to be huge.

Industry reports say Big Hit Music announced BTS The City Arirang Singapore through Weverse, and it will take over the entire city from December 1st to December 31st.

So we remember Wei Zheng from the early Tang as a chancellor who made honest and loyal criticism compatible with China's absolute monarchy and for this reason he's also remembered as one of the most loyal and competent officials of the early Tang state.

In 644 Taizong began planning for the takedown of Goguryeo on the Korean peninsula.

This was what sunk the Sui dynasty back in 612-614.

These military campaigns against Goguryeo during the reign of Sui Yangdi were counted among the worst disasters in Chinese military history.

But for Goguryeo, they too were badly beaten and exhausted.

During the early Tang, there was a chilly peace that existed between China and the Korean kingdoms.

No one was looking to fight anyone.

There was formal diplomatic contact and tributary exchanges.

But within them, the founders of the next age were already being born, and the legends that surround those founders tell us a great deal about the values of the people who told them.

The first of the three great kingdoms to take shape was Goguryeo in the rugged north.

Its founding legend centers on a man named Jumong, said to have been born from an egg and to have been such a gifted archer that his very name meant skilled with the bow.

According to the story, he fled south from Buyeo to escape jealous princes who wanted him dead.

And when he reached a wide river with his pursuers close behind, fish and turtles rose to the surface and formed a bridge so he could cross.

He founded his kingdom around the year thirty-seven BC in a mountainous land of narrow valleys and hard winters.

That harsh setting shaped everything about Goguryeo.

The land could not feed a soft people, so the kingdom became a society organized for war and raiding, ruled by a tough aristocracy who prized horsemanship and archery above almost anything else.

Now, I'm going to get to this later, but between now and 604, until Emperor Yang pulls the trigger in 612...

there was an unprecedented military buildup underway in preparation for a later campaign to take down the Korean kingdom of Goguryeo.

Of the three kingdoms on the Korean peninsula, this one was the Sparta, by far the most powerful militarily.

And with an eye to one day forcing Goguryeo down on its bended knee, Sui Yangdi placed a lot of his reputation, treasure, and the lives of millions of nameless laborers and soldiers on making this happen.

And it was with an eye to this... that Suiyangdi was so hot to construct the Grand Canal.

It's the longest canal in the world and today a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Five million workers were called upon to do all the construction, most of them conscripted.

By the way, with all the heat that the Turkic tribes in the north were causing, Emperor Yang also sent Yuan Kai to go build and reinforce parts of the Great Wall in order to deter these northerners from encroaching further into Chinese territory.