the art of seduction korea history part 1 History

Baekje History

According to the Samguk Sagi, King Onjo, who led a group of people from Goguryeo to the Han River region of Korea founded Baekje in 18 B.C.E. According to the Chinese record San Guo Zhi, during the Samhan period, one of the chiefdoms of the Mahan confederacy in the Han River basin was called Baekje.

The Samguk Sagi provides a detailed account of Baekje’s founding. Jumong had left his son Yuri in Buyeo when he left that kingdom to establish the new kingdom of Goguryeo. Jumong became King Dongmyeongseong, and had two sons, Onjo and Biryu, by a new queen. When Yuri later arrived in Goguryeo, Jumong promptly made him the crown prince. Realizing Yuri would become the next king, Onjo and Biryu decided to head south with their people, along with ten vassals.

Onjo settled in Wiryeseong (present-day Seoul), and called his country Sipje (meaning "Ten Vassals"), while Biryu settle in Michuhol (present-day Incheon), against the vassals’ advice. The salty water and marshes in Michuhol made settlement difficult, while the people of Wiryeseong lived prosperously. In shame, Biryu committed suicide, and his people moved to Wiryeseong, where King Onjo welcomed them and renamed his country Baekje ("Hundred Vassals").

King Onjo moved the capital from the south to the north of the Han River, and then south again, probably all within present Seoul, under pressure from other Mahan states. Evidence suggests that King Gaeru moved the capital to the Bukhan Mountain Fortress in 132 C.E., probably in present-day Gwangju City (Gyeonggi), to the southeast of Seoul. Through the early centuries of the Common Era, sometimes called the Proto-Three Kingdoms Period, Baekje gradually gained control over the other Mahan tribes.

Fall and restoration movement

In 660, the coalition troops of Silla and Tang of China attacked Baekje. The capital Sabi eventually fell, resulting in the annexation of Baekje by Silla. King Uija and his son went into exile in China while some of the royals probably fled to Japan.

Baekje forces attempted a brief restoration movement, but faced Silla-Tang joint forces of 130,000 men. General Boksin proclaimed Prince Buyeo Pung as the new king of Baekje, called King Pungjang. Baekje requested Japanese aid, and Prince Naka no ?e, later Emperor Tenji, dispatched an army contingent led by Abe no Hirafu to Korea. Before the ships from Japan arrived, his forces harassed a contingent of Tang forces in Ungjin County.

In 663, Baekje revival forces and a Japanese naval fleet convened in southern Baekje to confront the Silla forces. The Tang dynasty also sent 7000 soldiers and 170 ships. After five naval confrontations that took place in August 663 at Baekgang, considered the lower reaches of Tongjin river, the Silla-Tang forces emerged victorious.

Baekje

History

Founding

According to the Samguk Sagi, King Onjo, who led a group of people from Goguryeo to the Han River region of Korea founded Baekje in 18 B.C.E. According to the Chinese record San Guo Zhi, during the Samhan period, one of the chiefdoms of the Mahan confederacy in the Han River basin was called Baekje.

The Samguk Sagi provides a detailed account of Baekje’s founding. Jumong had left his son Yuri in Buyeo when he left that kingdom to establish the new kingdom of Goguryeo. Jumong became King Dongmyeongseong, and had two sons, Onjo and Biryu, by a new queen. When Yuri later arrived in Goguryeo, Jumong promptly made him the crown prince. Realizing Yuri would become the next king, Onjo and Biryu decided to head south with their people, along with ten vassals.

Onjo settled in Wiryeseong (present-day Seoul), and called his country Sipje (meaning "Ten Vassals"), while Biryu settle in Michuhol (present-day Incheon), against the vassals’ advice. The salty water and marshes in Michuhol made settlement difficult, while the people of Wiryeseong lived prosperously. In shame, Biryu committed suicide, and his people moved to Wiryeseong, where King Onjo welcomed them and renamed his country Baekje ("Hundred Vassals").

King Onjo moved the capital from the south to the north of the Han River, and then south again, probably all within present Seoul, under pressure from other Mahan states. Evidence suggests that King Gaeru moved the capital to the Bukhan Mountain Fortress in 132 C.E., probably in present-day Gwangju City (Gyeonggi), to the southeast of Seoul. Through the early centuries of the Common Era, sometimes called the Proto-Three Kingdoms Period, Baekje gradually gained control over the other Mahan tribes.

Fall and restoration movement

In 660, the coalition troops of Silla and Tang of China attacked Baekje. The capital Sabi eventually fell, resulting in the annexation of Baekje by Silla. King Uija and his son went into exile in China while some of the royals probably fled to Japan.

Baekje forces attempted a brief restoration movement, but faced Silla-Tang joint forces of 130,000 men. General Boksin proclaimed Prince Buyeo Pung as the new king of Baekje, called King Pungjang. Baekje requested Japanese aid, and Prince Naka no ?e, later Emperor Tenji, dispatched an army contingent led by Abe no Hirafu to Korea. Before the ships from Japan arrived, his forces harassed a contingent of Tang forces in Ungjin County.

In 663, Baekje revival forces and a Japanese naval fleet convened in southern Baekje to confront the Silla forces. The Tang dynasty also sent 7000 soldiers and 170 ships. After five naval confrontations that took place in August 663 at Baekgang, considered the lower reaches of Tongjin river, the Silla-Tang forces emerged victorious.

Baekje

History

Founding

Re-enacted King and Queen of Baekje

 

 

According to the Samguk Sagi, King Onjo, who led a group of people from Goguryeo to the Han River region of Korea founded Baekje in 18 B.C.E. According to the Chinese record San Guo Zhi, during the Samhan period, one of the chiefdoms of the Mahan confederacy in the Han River basin was called Baekje.

The Samguk Sagi provides a detailed account of Baekje’s founding. Jumong had left his son Yuri in Buyeo when he left that kingdom to establish the new kingdom of Goguryeo. Jumong became King Dongmyeongseong, and had two sons, Onjo and Biryu, by a new queen. When Yuri later arrived in Goguryeo, Jumong promptly made him the crown prince. Realizing Yuri would become the next king, Onjo and Biryu decided to head south with their people, along with ten vassals.

Onjo settled in Wiryeseong (present-day Seoul), and called his country Sipje (meaning "Ten Vassals"), while Biryu settle in Michuhol (present-day Incheon), against the vassals’ advice. The salty water and marshes in Michuhol made settlement difficult, while the people of Wiryeseong lived prosperously. In shame, Biryu committed suicide, and his people moved to Wiryeseong, where King Onjo welcomed them and renamed his country Baekje ("Hundred Vassals").

King Onjo moved the capital from the south to the north of the Han River, and then south again, probably all within present Seoul, under pressure from other Mahan states. Evidence suggests that King Gaeru moved the capital to the Bukhan Mountain Fortress in 132 C.E., probably in present-day Gwangju City (Gyeonggi), to the southeast of Seoul. Through the early centuries of the Common Era, sometimes called the Proto-Three Kingdoms Period, Baekje gradually gained control over the other Mahan tribes.

Fall and restoration movement

In 660, the coalition troops of Silla and Tang of China attacked Baekje. The capital Sabi eventually fell, resulting in the annexation of Baekje by Silla. King Uija and his son went into exile in China while some of the royals probably fled to Japan.

Baekje forces attempted a brief restoration movement, but faced Silla-Tang joint forces of 130,000 men. General Boksin proclaimed Prince Buyeo Pung as the new king of Baekje, called King Pungjang. Baekje requested Japanese aid, and Prince Naka no ?e, later Emperor Tenji, dispatched an army contingent led by Abe no Hirafu to Korea. Before the ships from Japan arrived, his forces harassed a contingent of Tang forces in Ungjin County.

In 663, Baekje revival forces and a Japanese naval fleet convened in southern Baekje to confront the Silla forces. The Tang dynasty also sent 7000 soldiers and 170 ships. After five naval confrontations that took place in August 663 at Baekgang, considered the lower reaches of Tongjin river, the Silla-Tang forces emerged victorious.

Goguryeo

History

Founding

According to the Samguk Sagi, a prince from the kingdom of Eastern Buyeo, named Jumong, fled after a power struggle with other princes of the Buyeo court ^[1] and founded the Goguryeo state in 37 B.C.E. in a region called Jolbon Buyeo, usually thought to be located in the middle of the Yalu and T’ung-chia river basin, overlapping the current China-North Korea border. Some scholars believe that Goguryeo may have been founded in the second century B.C.E. ^[2]

The first mention of the word Goguryeo or "高句麗" appeared in the geographic monographs of the Han Shu, stating that the nation’s founding as 113 B.C.E. as a region under the jurisdiction of the Xuantu commandery.^[3] The Old Book of Tang states that Emperor Taizong of Tang refers to Goguryeo’s history as being some 900 years old. In 75 B.C.E., a group of Yemaek tribes (a people that made up the original Goguryeo stock), which may have included Goguryeo, made an incursion into China’s Xuantu commandery west from the Amnok River valley. ^[4]

The weight of documentary evidence from the Old and New Histories of Tang, the Samguk Sagi, the Nihon Shoki, as well as other ancient sources support a 37 B.C.E. or "middle"-first-century B.C.E. foundation date for Goguryeo. Archaeological evidence supports the claim that centralized groups of Yemaek tribes settled in the second century B.C.E., although a lack of direct evidence suggests that those Yemaek groups had little or no concept of themselves as Goguryeo. The Han Shu has the first mention of Goguryeo as a group type associated with Yemaek tribes, referring to a Goguryeo revolt in 12 C.E., where they break away from Xuantu influence.^[5] During that time, the Goguryeo ruler, given the title of "marquis" (侯) by the Xuantu administrators, began calling himself the Chinese title of "wang" (王) or king.

The leadership from Buyeo appears to have fled their kingdom and integrated with existing Yemaek chiefdoms, leading some to conclude that the founding people of Goguryeo came from a blend of the Buyeo and Yemaek people.^[6] The San Guo Zhi, in the section titled "Accounts of the Eastern Barbarians," states that the Buyeo and Yemaek people came from the same ethnic line and spoke a common language.^[7]

Jumong and the Foundation Myth:

The Stele of Great King Gwanggaeto states that Jumong existed in the fourth century C.E., the earliest mention of Jumong. Jumong is the Korean transcription of the hanja 朱蒙 (Jumong, 주몽), 鄒牟(Chumo, 추모), or 仲牟 (Jungmo, 중모). The Stele proclaims Jumong the first king and ancestor of Goguryeo, the son of the king of Buyeo and the river deity Habaek.^[8] The Samguk Sagi and Samguk Yusa paint additional details and name Jumong’s mother as Yuhwa. The Samguk Yusa described Jumong’s biological father, Hae Mosu, as a "strong man" and "a heavenly prince."^[9]

The Samguk Sagi presents Hae Mosu as a sky deity who had seduced Yuhwa. Later, the King of Buyeo gave refuge to Yuhwa in the Buyeo court and adopted Jumong as his own son, making Jumong a prince of Buyeo. According to the story, Jumong, very talented, especially in archery and equestrian arts, made the crown prince jealous. The crown prince had plans to have Jumong killed and upon learning of the plot, Jumong fled Buyeo.^[10] The Stele and later Korean sources disagree on which of the Buyeo states Jumong came from. The Stele records that he came from North Buyeo and the Samguk Sagi and Samguk Yusa report he came from East Buyeo. Jumong eventually journeyed to the Jolbon Buyeo confederacy, where he married the daughter of the ruler and subsequently became king himself, founding Goguryeo with a small group of followers from his native country.

Jumong received the surname, Hae (解), the name of the Buyeo rulers. According to the Samguk Yusa, Jumong changed his surname to Ko (高), in conscious reflection of his divine parentage.^[11] Legend records that Jumong conquered the tribal states of Biryu (비류국, 沸流國) in 36 B.C.E., Haeng-in (행인국, 荇人國) in 33 B.C.E., and North Okjeo in 28 B.C.E.

Goguryeo’s Fall:

Goguryeo’s ally in the southwest, Baekje, fell to the Silla–Tang alliance in 660; the victorious allies continued their assault on Goguryeo for the next eight years. Meanwhile, in 666 (though dates vary from 664–666), Yeon Gaesomun died and civil war ensued among his three sons. Silla–Tang eventually vanquished the weary kingdom, which had been suffering from a series of famines and internal strife. Goguryeo finally fell in 668. Tang forces captured and took into exile Goguryeo’s last king Bojang. Silla thus unified most of the Korean Peninsula in 668. But the kingdom’s reliance on China’s Tang Dynasty had its price. Tang set up the Protectorate General to Pacify the East, or Andong protectorate, governed by Xue Rengui, but faced increasing problems ruling the former inhabitants of Goguryeo, as well as Silla’s resistance to Tang’s remaining presence on the Korean Peninsula. Silla had to forcibly resist the imposition of Chinese rule over the entire peninsula, but their strength stopped at the Taedong River.

In 677, Tang crowned Bojang "King of Joseon" and put him in charge of the Liaodong commandery of the Protectorate General to Pacify the East. King Bojang continued to cause trouble for Tang, fermenting rebellions in an attempt to revive Goguryeo, organizing Goguryeo refugees and allying with the Mohe tribes. Tang eventually exiled him to Szechuan in 681 where he died the following year.

Goguryeo

History

Founding

According to the Samguk Sagi, a prince from the kingdom of Eastern Buyeo, named Jumong, fled after a power struggle with other princes of the Buyeo court ^[1] and founded the Goguryeo state in 37 B.C.E. in a region called Jolbon Buyeo, usually thought to be located in the middle of the Yalu and T’ung-chia river basin, overlapping the current China-North Korea border. Some scholars believe that Goguryeo may have been founded in the second century B.C.E. ^[2]

The first mention of the word Goguryeo or "高句麗" appeared in the geographic monographs of the Han Shu, stating that the nation’s founding as 113 B.C.E. as a region under the jurisdiction of the Xuantu commandery.^[3] The Old Book of Tang states that Emperor Taizong of Tang refers to Goguryeo’s history as being some 900 years old. In 75 B.C.E., a group of Yemaek tribes (a people that made up the original Goguryeo stock), which may have included Goguryeo, made an incursion into China’s Xuantu commandery west from the Amnok River valley. ^[4]

The weight of documentary evidence from the Old and New Histories of Tang, the Samguk Sagi, the Nihon Shoki, as well as other ancient sources support a 37 B.C.E. or "middle"-first-century B.C.E. foundation date for Goguryeo. Archaeological evidence supports the claim that centralized groups of Yemaek tribes settled in the second century B.C.E., although a lack of direct evidence suggests that those Yemaek groups had little or no concept of themselves as Goguryeo. The Han Shu has the first mention of Goguryeo as a group type associated with Yemaek tribes, referring to a Goguryeo revolt in 12 C.E., where they break away from Xuantu influence.^[5] During that time, the Goguryeo ruler, given the title of "marquis" (侯) by the Xuantu administrators, began calling himself the Chinese title of "wang" (王) or king.

The leadership from Buyeo appears to have fled their kingdom and integrated with existing Yemaek chiefdoms, leading some to conclude that the founding people of Goguryeo came from a blend of the Buyeo and Yemaek people.^[6] The San Guo Zhi, in the section titled "Accounts of the Eastern Barbarians," states that the Buyeo and Yemaek people came from the same ethnic line and spoke a common language.^[7]

Jumong and the Foundation Myth:

The Stele of Great King Gwanggaeto states that Jumong existed in the fourth century C.E., the earliest mention of Jumong. Jumong is the Korean transcription of the hanja 朱蒙 (Jumong, 주몽), 鄒牟(Chumo, 추모), or 仲牟 (Jungmo, 중모). The Stele proclaims Jumong the first king and ancestor of Goguryeo, the son of the king of Buyeo and the river deity Habaek.^[8] The Samguk Sagi and Samguk Yusa paint additional details and name Jumong’s mother as Yuhwa. The Samguk Yusa described Jumong’s biological father, Hae Mosu, as a "strong man" and "a heavenly prince."^[9]

The Samguk Sagi presents Hae Mosu as a sky deity who had seduced Yuhwa. Later, the King of Buyeo gave refuge to Yuhwa in the Buyeo court and adopted Jumong as his own son, making Jumong a prince of Buyeo. According to the story, Jumong, very talented, especially in archery and equestrian arts, made the crown prince jealous. The crown prince had plans to have Jumong killed and upon learning of the plot, Jumong fled Buyeo.^[10] The Stele and later Korean sources disagree on which of the Buyeo states Jumong came from. The Stele records that he came from North Buyeo and the Samguk Sagi and Samguk Yusa report he came from East Buyeo. Jumong eventually journeyed to the Jolbon Buyeo confederacy, where he married the daughter of the ruler and subsequently became king himself, founding Goguryeo with a small group of followers from his native country.

Jumong received the surname, Hae (解), the name of the Buyeo rulers. According to the Samguk Yusa, Jumong changed his surname to Ko (高), in conscious reflection of his divine parentage.^[11] Legend records that Jumong conquered the tribal states of Biryu (비류국, 沸流國) in 36 B.C.E., Haeng-in (행인국, 荇人國) in 33 B.C.E., and North Okjeo in 28 B.C.E.

Goguryeo’s Fall:

Goguryeo’s ally in the southwest, Baekje, fell to the Silla–Tang alliance in 660; the victorious allies continued their assault on Goguryeo for the next eight years. Meanwhile, in 666 (though dates vary from 664–666), Yeon Gaesomun died and civil war ensued among his three sons. Silla–Tang eventually vanquished the weary kingdom, which had been suffering from a series of famines and internal strife. Goguryeo finally fell in 668. Tang forces captured and took into exile Goguryeo’s last king Bojang. Silla thus unified most of the Korean Peninsula in 668. But the kingdom’s reliance on China’s Tang Dynasty had its price. Tang set up the Protectorate General to Pacify the East, or Andong protectorate, governed by Xue Rengui, but faced increasing problems ruling the former inhabitants of Goguryeo, as well as Silla’s resistance to Tang’s remaining presence on the Korean Peninsula. Silla had to forcibly resist the imposition of Chinese rule over the entire peninsula, but their strength stopped at the Taedong River.

In 677, Tang crowned Bojang "King of Joseon" and put him in charge of the Liaodong commandery of the Protectorate General to Pacify the East. King Bojang continued to cause trouble for Tang, fermenting rebellions in an attempt to revive Goguryeo, organizing Goguryeo refugees and allying with the Mohe tribes. Tang eventually exiled him to Szechuan in 681 where he died the following year.