One of the earliest extant complete histories of early Korea, the Record of Three Kingdoms ("Samguk Sagi") details the rise and fall of the Korean three kingdoms and the eventual triumph of the Shilla kingdom. This elaborate compilation was completed in 1145 CE, during the Goryeo period.
Compiled by Gim Busik (1075-1151 CE), a government official who was commissioned by King Injong of the Goryeo period, the Samguk Sagi contains 50 volumes covering various aspects of the Samguk Period, including the histories of each kingdom as well as the administrative and cultural aspects of that era. A supporter of utilizing Confucianism as an ethical and administrative guideline for the affairs of society and state, Gim Busik closely followed the Chinese tradition of historiography, particularly the style of the great historian Sima Qian, who compiled the Shi Ji ("Historical Records").
Though Gim Busik certainly had biases and the manner in which the histories were compiled demonstrates some of these biases, giving preference to the kingdom of Shilla, the Samguk Sagi is remarkably accurate, as confirmed by archeological evidence and various comparisons to Chinese and Japanese records written around that time.
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