---
node: unified_silla
type: period
slug: unified_silla
title: "Unified Silla"
lead: "Unified Silla ruled most of the peninsula from 668, expelling the forces of its former Tang ally by 676. Its capital Gyeongju flowered as a Buddhist center until the kingdom fell in 935."
published: 2026-07-09
updated: 2026-07-09
---

## Overview

After unification, Silla fought its former ally Tang China and expelled Tang forces from most of the peninsula by 676. In the former Goguryeo lands the kingdom of Balhae (698–926) arose; Korean historiography calls the two states together the "North–South States period."

## Key developments

The capital Gyeongju flowered. Bulguksa temple and the Seokguram grotto were built in 751 and listed as UNESCO World Heritage in 1995, the great Emille Bell was cast, and Buddhist scholarship thrived — building on the monk Wonhyo's pathbreaking work of the late 7th century.

## End and transition

Ninth-century succession struggles and rebellions split the country into the Later Three Kingdoms. The last Silla king surrendered to Goryeo in 935.