page_title: Balhae
section_title: Politicization
hierarchical_section_title: Balhae / Politicization
caption_attribution_description: English: Map of Balhae Kingdom (Bohai/Pohai) as of 800 AD 中文: 渤海国地图，公元800年
context_page_description: Balhae was a multi-ethnic kingdom in Manchuria, the Korean peninsula and the Russian Far East. Balhae was established by refugees from the fallen Korean kingdom of Goguryeo and Tungusic Mohe tribes in 698, when the first king, Dae Joyeong, defeated the Wu Zhou dynasty at Tianmenling. Along with Goguryeo refugees and Mohe tribes, Balhae had a diverse population, including other minorities such as Khitan and Evenk peoples. Balhae had a high level of craftsmanship and engaged in trade with neighboring countries such as Göktürk, Japan, Silla and Tang.
  In 926, the Khitan Liao dynasty conquered Balhae and established the autonomous kingdom of Dongdan ruled by the Liao crown prince Yelü Bei, which was soon absorbed into the Liao. Meanwhile, a series of nobilities and elites led by key figures such as crown prince Dae Gwang-hyeon, were absorbed into Goryeo. The Khitan conquest of Balhae was one of the factors behind Goryeo's prolonged hostility against Khitan Liao dynasty. At its start, the kingdom had around 100,000 households and a population of about 500,000. Archaeological evidence suggests that the Balhae culture was an amalgamation of High Tang Chinese, Korean, and Tungusic cultures.
context_section_description: The historic position of Balhae is disputed between Korean and Chinese historians. Korean scholars consider Balhae to be the successor state of Goguryeo, and part of the North–South States Period of Korean history, while Chinese scholars argue Balhae was a state of the Mohe people, and is a part of Chinese history due to its close cultural and political ties with Tang China. Historians in Russia generally believe that Balhae consisted primarily of Mohe peoples with a significant minority of Goguryeo peoples.
  Shavkunov, an influential archaeologist on Balhae in Russia, criticized the Chinese perspective that Balhae was a local administration of the Chinese empire and the Korean perspective that Balhae was an exclusive domain of Korean history. Nonetheless, Shavkunov pointed out that Balhae, based on archaeological data, played a critical role in the history of Korea. Additionally, some recent Russian specialists also considered Balhae a part of Korean history in their works.
caption: Administrative divisions of the Balhae kingdom, with Chinese and Korean names [note 1]
exif: {}