Sinmun of Silla

Who was Sinmun of Silla?

Sinmun of Silla was the thirty-first king of Silla, a Korean state that originated in the southwestern Korean peninsula and went on to unify most of the peninsula under its rule in the mid 7th century. He was the eldest son of Silla's unifier-king, Munmu and Queen Jaeui. Sinmun's reign may be characterized by his attempts to consolidate royal authority following unification and to reorganize and systematize the governing appartus of the newly enlarged Silla state.

Sinmun was named crown prince by Munmu in 665. He came to power in the immediate wake of Silla's unification of the peninsula following its defeats of rival Baekje and Goguryeo with military aid from Tang China, and then its check of Tang ambitions to establish its hegemony over the peninsula. It was in late summer 681, not long after coming to power, that a serious revolt broke out against royal authority. The so-called "Kim Heumdol 金欽突 Revolt", named after its leader, a high-ranking Silla official, though a serious challenge to royal authority on the part of a clique of aristocratic officials, also provided Sinmun with the motive to solidify his power through a purge of certain aristocrats.