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YOON, Soon-Ock;HWANG, Sangill
- Journal of The Geomorphological Association of Korea
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- v.17 no.4
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- pp.85-98
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- 2010
The natural hazards such as droughts, floods and frost injuries, and their relationships with the social unrest phenomena such as years of famine, smallpox and revolutions during the Medieval times(AD 936~1391) in Korea are compared and analyzed based on the History of Goryeo containing astronomical weather and climate events during the Goryeo Dynasty. Among the natural hazards during the Goryeo Dynasty, the droughts with a period of 4~5 years on average are recorded most frequently. By time series analysis, the most frequency of droughts can be found in AD 286~335, AD 786~835 and AD 1261~1320 during the Ancient and Medieval times. It is suggested that three cycles of the droughts during approximately 1,500 years of the Ancient and Medieval times are recognized and they had happened with the time intervals of approximately 500 years. The frequency of droughts increased in the late Goryeo Dynasty is consistent with those of the social chaos factors such as years of famines, smallpox and revolutions. These records suggest that the natural hazard such as years of famines was one of the most important factors influencing on the collapse of the Goryeo Dynasty, agrarian country.