Gyerim

Gyerim
Korean name
Hangul	계림
Hanja	鷄林
Revised Romanization	Gyerim
McCune–Reischauer	Kyerim

The Gyerim is a small woodland in Gyeongju National Park, Gyeongju, South Korea. The name literally means "rooster forest." The grove lies near the old site of the Silla kingdom palace in central Gyeongju. Nearby landmarks include the Banwolseong fortress, Cheomseongdae, the Gyeongju National Museum, and the Royal Tombs Complex.

The original name of Gyerim was Sirim (시림, 始林). However, according to the Samguk Sagi, a 12th-century Korean history, Sirim was the site where the child Kim Alji, founder of the Gyeongju Kim clan, was discovered. Found in a golden box accompanied by a rooster, he was adopted by the royal family. His descendants became the later kings of Silla and the forest where he was found was renamed Gyerim, "Rooster Forest." The Samgungnyusa, a 13th-century miscellanea of tales relating to the Three Kingdoms of Korea, gives a different origin of the term Gyerim. According to that text, the founder of Silla, Hyeokgeose, was born at a stream called Gyejeong (계정, 鷄井), "rooster well," and that his future consort was born from a dragon that came to earth at another place called Gyeryongseo (계룡서, 鷄龍瑞), and for this reason the area was renamed Gyerim.

Based upon the legends of Silla's founding, Gyerim also became a sobriquet for that state. The earliest recorded reference we have of Gyerim being used to designate Silla is from the Chinese histories. The Old Book of Tang records that in 663 Emperor Gaozong of Tang designated Silla the Gyerim Territory Area Command (hanja: ) and Munmu of Silla as its commander-in-chief. The early eighth-century Sillan scholar Kim Dae-mun authored a no longer extant book of tales of Silla entitled Gyerim japjeon (hanja: ).

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