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peninsula is an irony that seems to have escaped Kim Pusik, himself a descendant of the Silla aristocracy, in his Confucian critique. But these tantalizing signs of Sndk’s prowess, however scarce the reliable historical details, have worked in a way that reverses the traditional historical perspective. Today Queen Sndk, like the Silla unification, Kim Yusin, and other venerable relics of ancient Korea, is being reevaluated and freely appropriated by Koreans in reconsidering their identity and heritage. In reimaginings reflected in popular culture, Queen Sndk today often serves as a paragon of female virtue, a great symbol of a time when Korea, unsullied by Chinese and other external influences, stayed true to itself and held (some) women in high esteem.

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    The Unified Silla Kingdom
    CHRONOLOGY
668
Beginning of the Unified Silla kingdom
828
Appointment of Chang Pogo as head of Ch’nghaejin Fortress
836
Kim Ujing, a prince in the Silla Court, gains protection from Chang
838
With Chang’s assistance, Kim Ujing ascends to Silla throne
845
Chang’s attempt to arrange a marriage between his daughter and the Silla king
846
Assassination of Chang Pogo
857
Birth of Ch’oe Ch’iwn
869
Beginning of Ch’oe’s study in Tang dynasty China
885
Ch’oe’s return to Silla
    THE ASSASSINATION OF CHANG POGO, 846
    The mid-ninth century witnessed the peak of the powers of Chang Pogo, the local strongman of the southwestern coast of Silla who dominated the profitable trading networks that linked the peninsula to Japan and China. But despite Chang’s tremendous economic and military authority, a wily assassin was able to penetrate the defenses surrounding him and end an ongoing struggle between Chang and the central elites of the Unified Silla kingdom. Chang’s death at the hands of this assassin demonstrated that, for all his powers, he could not evade the intrigues of court politics 200 miles away in the Silla capital of Kyngju—indeed, Chang had willfully engaged in them, even going so far as to arrange a marriage between his daughter and a Silla monarch. When this effort turned powerful aristocrats against him, he met his fate.
    As it turned out, Chang’s demise would mark the beginning of the end of the Unified Silla era. This appears fitting, for Chang’s successesand travails also symbolized key facets of Silla society, from his social background and his growth as a local warlord to his activities beyond the Korean peninsula. That Chang would go down in historical lore primarily as the man most responsible for Korea’s brief standing at the heart of the northeast Asian trading system points also to the revival of interest in him in contemporary times, when (South) Korea is seeking to reinvigorate its regional standing. This interest in Chang’s exploits from 1200 years ago harkens back to an era, swathed in mythical overtones, when Korea lay in the center of northeast Asia.
    CHANG POGO, CH’OE CH’IWN, AND UNIFIED SILLA SOCIETY
    The scattered sources of information regarding Chang Pogo’s early life hardly suggest a future as a historically important figure. He appears to have made his way to the Shandong Peninsula in China as a young man, where he became a local military officer and later gained experience in seafaring and trading activities as a member of the Silla expatriate community. He is also credited with establishing a Buddhist temple for the Sillans,
Pphwawn
, which served also as a kind of consulate, a base for not only religious worship and ceremonies but economic and diplomatic activities. Chang’s return to his homeland is the next entrance in his sketchy biography. However, it is uncertain whether he was driven by a determination to thwart the pirates who regularly plied the shores of Korea, snatching Korean captives to sell as slaves in China, or if he became conscious of this issue upon his return. In any case in 828 Chang was able to convince the Silla government to put him