Volta
Economy1024 (first recorded Arab merchants)

Byeongnando and Goryeo’s Foreign Trade

Merchants from Song, the Khitans, the Jurchens, Japan and even Arabia came to Byeongnando at the mouth of the Yeseong River, carrying the name "Corea" to the West.

The Goryeosa first records Arab (Daesik) merchants — some hundred men — arriving in 1024 with local goods. Trade with Song was the busiest: Goryeo sold gold, silver, ginseng, mother-of-pearl lacquerware, flower-patterned mats, paper and ink, and bought silk, medicines, books and porcelain. Arab traders brought mercury, spices and coral.

Show on the map

The map in 1024

Open the full map

OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles © OpenStreetMap contributors

States and rulers at the time
Goryeo — Hyeonjong
Song — Emperor Renzong
Places
Byeongnando, Songak (Kaesong)

Before and after

Earlier
1023 Sacheondae and Seoungwan — Astronomy in Goryeo
Later
1033 Goryeo’s Thousand-li Wall

Themes that include this event

  • The Rise of the Islamic WorldAD 570 – 1055

    From the revelation to Muhammad to the Seljuk entry into Baghdad — 450 years in which a new faith from Arabia built a civilisation stretching from Iberia to Central Asia and reached as far as Silla by sea

  • GaeseongAD 901 – 2003

    From Wang Geon, lord of Songak, to the Kaesong Industrial Complex — Gaegyeong, Goryeo’s capital for five centuries, and home of the Song merchants