Goryeo · 918-1392

Goryeo: celadon, the Tripitaka and metal type

The kingdom of Goryeo gave Korea its name. It survived Khitan and Mongol invasions, made celadon pottery admired in China, carved over 81,000 printing blocks and printed the oldest surviving book made with metal type. Students explore a kingdom of craft under pressure.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
45 minutes
Ages
11–14
On the map
3 steps, AD 1000 to AD 1248
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

The kingdom of Goryeo gave Korea its name. It survived Khitan and Mongol invasions, made celadon pottery admired in China, carved over 81,000 printing blocks and printed the oldest surviving book made with metal type. Students explore a kingdom of craft under pressure.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Describe how Goryeo was founded and how it gave Korea its name.
  • Explain how Goryeo resisted the Khitans and the Mongols.
  • Describe three Goryeo achievements: celadon, the Tripitaka Koreana and metal type printing.
2

Explore the map

12 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 1000

Danger from the north

Open the map in 1000 and find Korea. To its north lies the Liao state of the Khitans. Why would Goryeo need strong northern defences?

Open this view on the map
b

AD 1240

Island refuge

Zoom in on Ganghwa Island at the mouth of the Han River. The Goryeo court fled here from the Mongols in 1232 and stayed until 1270. Why could horsemen not reach it?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 1248

Temple of the woodblocks

Pan southeast to Haeinsa temple in the Gaya mountains, where the Tripitaka Koreana woodblocks are kept today. Why would monks keep such treasures in the mountains?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

14 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. Goryeo faced the Khitans, the Jurchens and the Mongols. Why was Korea so often in danger from the north?
  2. Goryeo potters made celadon so fine that a Song Chinese envoy praised it. What makes a craft famous abroad?
  3. Why would a kingdom carve all of the Buddhist scriptures in the middle of a war?
  4. Korea printed with metal type before Europe did. Why did it not change Korean society as fast as the printing press changed Europe?
  5. The court was safe on Ganghwa Island while farmers on the mainland suffered. Was the king's choice fair?
4

Game round

9 min

Play Rule History as Genghis Khan, whose successors invaded Goryeo from 1231. Let students take turns ruling. Then switch sides: how would a Goryeo king have answered each Mongol decision?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

€19 per month unlocks every worksheet, every live lesson and the class workspace. The free lesson prints without a subscription.