Largest of the three kingdoms into which ancient Korea was divided until 668.
Tradition sets its founding at 37 BC, but modern historians believe the tribal state was formed in the 2nd century BC. Eventually the northern half of the Korean peninsula, the Liaodong Peninsula, and much of Manchuria were under Koguryŏ's rule. Buddhism, Confucianism, and Daoism all influenced the kingdom, which fell to the allied forces of China's Tang dynasty and the southern Korean kingdom of Silla in 668. Numerous surviving tomb paintings give a good picture of the life, ideology, and character of Koguryŏ's forceful, horse-riding northern people. See also Parhae .