by Ilyon
“Meanwhile admiral Yang-p'u made a landing and sent an advance force of 700 men toward Wanggom. U-ko, who was defending the city, seeing the small size of this force, attacked and defeated it. Deserted by his retreating troops, Yang-p'u was forced to fly for his life to the mountains.
“The Han land forces now attacked the Chosun army on the P'aisu but were unable to defeat it. When this lack of success was reported to the emperor, he sent Weishan to persuade U-ko to surrender. This time U-ko was ready for negotiations and sent his crown prince to meet the Han envoy with a promise of a gift of horses to the Emperor. But when the crown prince, followed by a train of 10,000 men armed to the teeth, was about to cross the P'aisu River, Weishan and Hsun Che (the general), fearing danger, asked him to disarm his men, since he was surrendering. Fearing a trick in his turn however, the crown prince abandoned his mission and returned to the capital.
“When Weishan reported this affair to the Han court, the Emperor was transported with rage and had him beheaded.
“(War was now resumed.) The Han general, having defeated the army on the P'aisu, advanced toward the city of Wanggom and laid siege to it from the northwest. At the same time admiral Yang-p'u (having presumably escaped and landed the rest of his forces) reinforced the siege from the south. U-ko, however, defended the city valiantly and kept the enemy at bay for an entire month.
“Disappointed by this stalemate, the Emperor sent out Kungsun-sui, the former governor of Tsinan, to attack Wanggom, giving him overall command and ordering him to make the best he could of the situation. Kungsun-sui arrested and imprisoned admiral Yang-p'u and put the naval troops under his own command before launching a lightning attack.
“At this time four Chosun officials—No-in, Han-to, Sam, and general Hyop—planned to surrender. When the king objected, they all deserted and surrendered at the Han camp, except for No-in, who died on the way, and Minister Sam.
“In the third year of Yuanfeng(108 B.C.) at midsummer Minister Sam employed a gladiator to murder King U-ko and appeared at the Han camp in his turn. But the city of Wanggom still held out and another Chosun minister, Song-ki, attacked the Han forces. The exasperated Han general made Chang, the son of U-ko and Ch'oe the son of No-in issue a decree ordering the death of Song-ki.
“This was the last act of the tragedy. Weiman Chosun was conquered and subdued. Four counties (to be integrated into the Chinese administrative system) were set up—Chinbon, Imtun, Nangnang and Hyonto.”
(These are the four Chinese colonies previously alluded to. Nangnang (Lolang) was the only one to endure under Chinese rule for very long.)
3. Mahan
In Wei-chih3 it is written, “When Weiman attacked Chosun, King Joon, accompanied by his court ladies, crossed the sea and arrived in the land of Han in the south, where he established a state, calling it Mahan.” (This was evidently southwestern Korea. The name “Han” here, which is still used to designate Korea, is a different word from the name of the Han dynasty of China and is written with a different Chinese character.)
In a letter from Chin Hwon (also called Kyon Hwon) we read, “In olden days, Mahan was first created a nation in Kummasan before
Hyokkose rose to power.” (The letter was purportedly addressed to Wang Kon, who founded the Koryo dynasty in 918.) Ch'oe Ch'i-won (a Silla scholar) states in his book that Mahan was Koguryo and Chinhan Silla. According to the chronicle (the Samguk Sagi, the official chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, written somewhat earlier than the present work) Silla arose in the year Kapcha (57 B.C.) and Koguryo in the year Kapsin (37 B.C.). It also relates that Mahan rose first under King Joon. But it is obvious that King Tongmyong (the first recorded Koguryo king) at the height of his power possessed Mahan, hence Koguryo was called Mahan. Nowadays people call Mahan Paekje because of its capital in Kummasan, but that is a mistaken idea. Since there was a mountain known as Maup-san in the land of Koguryo, they called the country Mahan. (Evidence from other sources indicates that this is mistaken.)
The land was originally inhabited by four barbarian tribes whose names were Kui, Kuhan, Ye and Maek. In the Chouli we read that Chifang-shih was in charge of the four barbarian tribes and nine Maek, these last being the Tung-i, or nine barbarian tribes of the east.
In Sankuo-shih (History of the Three Chinese Kingdoms) it is written, “Myongju was the old land of the Ye tribe. The native farmers of Myongju presented to the throne seals and stamps of the Ye kings which they found while plowing their fields. Ch'unju was the old province of Usuju or Maek-kuk, which was also attributed to Sakju or P'yongyang.” (There is indeed evidence of tribes called Ye and Maek in Kangwon province where these places are located, except the last.)
In the commentaries of Huinan-tzu it is maintained that the Tung-i were divided into nine tribes, and that the nine barbarian tribes referred to m the Analects of Confucius were Hyonto, Nangnang, Koryo, Mansik, Puyu, Soka, Tongto, Wai-in (Wo-len) and Ch'onp'i.
In the book Tongdo-songnip-ki (History of the Eastern Capital) by Haedong-Anhong, the nine Hans are identified as Japan, Chung-hwa. Wu and Yueh, Maola, Ung-yu, Malgal, Tan-guk, Nuchen and Yemaek. (There is some confusion in this source. “Japan” is an obvious mistake and “Nuchen” probably refers to the Jurched tribes of Manchuria. The names of Ye and Maek have been combined into one.)
4. Two Prefectures
In Ch'ienhan-shu4 it is written, “In the fifth year of Han emperor Chao-ti (B.C. 82) in the year of Kihae two overseas prefectures were organized, P'yongju Prefecture over the two counties of P'yongna and Hyonto and the East Prefecture over Imtun and Nangnang counties under the administration of the general government.” But the Chao-hsien-Chuan states, “The country was divided into four counties—Chinbon, Hyonto, Imtun and Nangnang.” The P'yongna mentioned in the Ch'ien han-shu is probably Chinbon. (This is yet another account of the Chinese colonies set up in northern Korea by the Chinese Han dynasty. They were first established in 108 B.C. and endured until 313 A.D.)
5. Seventy-Two States
In T'ung-tien it is written, “The natives of Chosun inhabited more-than 70 local states of an area of 100 li each.” (A li is about a third of a mile.)
The Houhan-shu says “(Hsi-Han, the Chinese Han dynasty) first divided the land of old Chosun into four counties which were reorganized into two prefectures later. When more complex laws had to be enacted, the administrative districts were again readjusted into 78 states each comprising 10,000 households. Mahan in the west had 54 small cities, Chinhan in the east had 12 small cities, and Pyonhan in the south had 12 small cities. These small city-states called themselves nations.” (A distinction must be made here. The territory ruled by China was effectively limited to the northwest corner of the peninsula. Mahan etc. were tribal communities not ruled by the Chinese.)
6. Nangnang (Lolang)
During the early Han (Chinese dynasty) period Nangnang was first established. Ying-shao calls it the old Chosun state, and in the commentary on the Hsin T'ang-shu we read “P'yongyang-ch'eng is identical with Nangnang county of the early Han.”
However, in the Samguk Sagi we find the following: “In the 30th year of the reign of King Hyokkose (first recorded Silla king; this would be 27 B.C. by the traditional dating) the men of Nangnang came and surrendered (to Silla), and in the fourth year of King Norye of Silla, King Muhyul (Taemusin), the third sovereign of Koguryo (18-44 A.D.) conquered and destroyed Nangnang, forcing its people together with those of Taebang (North Taebang) to surrender to Silla. Then in the 27th year of the reign of King Muhyul (44 A.D.) Emperor Kuangwu (Kuang Wu Ti of the Han dynasty) sent an army to invade Nangnang and establish counties in the occupied territory. Thus the area north of Salsu (the Ch'ongch'on River) was ruled by China.”
These statements seem to indicate that Nangnang may be identified with P'yongyang-ch'eng. But some scholars maintain that Nangang was the land of Malgal at the foot of Mt. Chungtu and the Salsu is the Taedong River. It is hard to tell who is right.
King Onjo of Paekje (first Paekje kin
g, 18 B.C.-28 A.D.) said, “Nangnang is in the east and Malgal is in the north.” This would make Nangnang one of the Chinese colonies during the Han dynasty. But the people of Silla called their own country Nangnang and even now call a noble lady a lady of Nangnang. This is well shown by the fact that King T'aejo (the founder of the Koryo dynasty) called his daughter, whom he gave in marriage to the surrendered king of Silla the Princess of Nangnang.
(The borders of the Chinese colonies, of which Nangnang was the only permanent one, varied at different times and the area came under increasing attack as the Three Kingdoms gathered strength. Taebang, which is discussed below, was a southern extension of Nangnang.)
7. Taebang
(Taebang was divided into two parts, north and south.) North Taebang was originally called Chuktam-song. In the fourth year of the reign of King Norye of Silla (B.C. 27) its people, together with those of Nangnang, surrendered to Silla. These were the two counties established by the early Han dynasty. North Taebang assumed the status of a nation, but its king and subjects all surrendered.
During the T'sao-Wei dynasty5 southern Taebang county (now Namwon-pu) was established. It extended over a thousand li along the seacoast called Han Hae to the south of Taebang. This was the southern coast of Mahan where Taebang was established during the later Han dynasty to which Wai and (Korean) Han were subjugated. (“Mahan” is a mistake, and the county referred to in the last sentence was North Taebang.)
8. Malgal (Mulgil) and Palhae (Pohai)
(Palhae, the Korean pronunciation of Chinese Pohai, was a kingdom which included part of north Korea and a sizable chunk of Manchuria. Its traditional founding date is 711 A.D., not long after the extinction of Koguryo. It considered itself the successor to Koguryo, and Korean historians have always considered it a part of Korean history. It was conquered and overrun by the Khitan tribes in 935.)
According to T'ung-tien, Palhae was originally called Sokmal-Malgal. During the Hsien-tien era of Hsuan-tsung (eighth-century T'ang dynasty Chinese emperor) its chief. Choyong, renamed it Palhae and assumed the title of king. When he died in the seventh year of Kai yuan of T'ang Hsuan-tsung (719), his son gave him the posthumous title Kowang (high king) and was crowned with the acquiescence of the Chinese Emperor. But the new king used his own dynastic era (rather than the Chinese Emperor's, a gesture of independence) and made his country a flourishing nation in the East.
In her heyday Palhae had five regional capitals, 15 prefectures and 62 provinces. She was conquered at last in the T'iencheng era of Hou-T'ang and ceased to exist.
In the Sankuo-shih it is written “In the third year of I-feng of Kao-tsung even in the year of Muin (i.e. about the middle of the 7th century) a defeated Koguryo general led his followers north to the land around T'aebaek mountain, where he established a new state, calling it Palhae. In the 20th year of Kaiyuan, T'ang Mingwang sent out a general to conquer Palhae. In the 32nd year of the reign of King Songdok (early 8th century) during the reign of Hsuan-tsung the armies of Palhae and Malgal crossed the sea to attack T'engchow in the T'ang empire but were repulsed by the emperor's troops.”
The Old Book of Silla says “The family name of Choyong (a general of Koguryo) was Tae. He gathered his defeated soldiers on the southern side of Taebaek mountain and established a new state which he called Palhae.”
These two statements give the impression that Palhae was another name for Malgal, even though the dates when the two kingdoms were established are different.
According to an old map drawn by Tungp'o, Palhae was situated beyond the Great Wall (of China), to the northeast.
Katan's Nakuo-ch'ih indicates that four of the prefectures of Palhae (Amnok, Namhae, Puyo, and Ch'usong) were former Koguryo lands, with 39 post stations between Ch'onjong county (in present Hamgyong province) and Yusong in Silla. The geography book Tili-chih places Ch'onjong county in Sakju prefecture. It is now Yongju.
The Sankuo-shih says, “At the fall of Paekje, Palhae, Malgal and Silla divided its lands.” Judging from this, it appears that Palhae was divided into two parts.
The people of Silla declared that Palhae in the north, Wai (Japan) in the south and Paekje in the west attacked their country. (There is evidently some chronological confusion here. Paekje was conquered before the establishment of Palhae.) They said “Malgal is a menace to Silla's territorial integrity due to its geographical propinquity to Asulla province.”
In the book Tongmyong-gi it is written “The boundary of Cholbonsong was adjacent to Malgal (now called Tongchin).”
In the 14th year of the reign of King Chima of Silla a large host from Malgal invaded the northern frontier, attacking Taeryongch'aek and passing through Niha.
In the Houwei-shu Malgal is called Mulgil (Wuchi) and in the Chijang-to Palou and Wuchi are represented as Suksin. It is clear from the map drawn by Tungp'o that to the north of Chinhan lay the territory of Northern and Southern Huksu (Heisui).
Ten years after the coronation of King Tongmyong (of Koguryo, 27 B.C.), Koguryo destroyed Northern Okjo. In the 42nd year of the reign of King Onjo (of Paekje, 14 A.D.) 20 families from Southern Okjo surrendered to Silla, and in the 52nd year of the reign of Hyokkose (of Silla, 5 B.C.) Eastern Okjo presented fine horses to Silla. These recorded facts seem to establish the existence of Okjo in the early Three Kingdoms period. The Chijang-to locates Huksu north of the Great Wall and Okjo south of it.
9. Iso-guk
In the fourteenth year of King Norye the men of Iso-guk attacked Kumsong. In the Old Book of Unmun Temple (a record of farmland donated to the temple) it is written, “In the sixth year of Chen-kuan Yongmi Temple in Kumo-ch'on village, Iso county, offered farms.” Kumo-ch'on is now Ch'ongdo, which is identical with the old Iso county.
10. The Five Kaya States
According to the “Legends of Karak,” a purple ribbon with six round eggs came down from heaven. Five of these eggs went one to each city while the sixth stayed in the castle, where it hatched King Suro of Kumgwan. The others produced the chiefs of the five Kaya tribes. Naturally, therefore, Kumgwan should not be included in the five states. In the Outline History of the Koryo Dynasty (i.e. the official chronicles compiled regularly by the government) Kumgwan is included in the Kaya states with its capital at Ch'angnyong, but this is a mistake. The five Kaya tribes were Ara-Kaya (Haman), Konyong Kaya (Hamnyong), Tae Kaya (Koryong), Songsan Kaya (Kyongsan or Pyok-chin) and So Kaya (Kosong). (The Kaya tribes lived on the south coast and along the Naktong River. They remained independent and distinctive for some time, but were ultimately conquered and absorbed by Silla.)
11. Northern Puyo
(This is likely to cause some confusion. “Puyo” is the name of a place in Manchuria, the name of a Korean tribal group prior to the Three Kingdoms, and the name of a city in southwestern Korea which was for some time the capital of the Paekje kingdom. Moreover, these three facts are related. The area in Manchuria is named for the tribal group, whose territory lay to the north of Koguryo. After Koguryo defeated the Puyo people, many of them went south and played a part, among other things, in the founding of Paekje. Generally speaking, the northerners had more political cohesiveness and sophistication than the southerners in ancient Korea, and the movement of civilization was from north to south.)
The Old Book quotes the Ch'ienhan-shu as follows: “In the third year of Shen-chueh of Hsuan-ti (B.C. 58) even on the eighth day of the fourth moon in the year of Imsul, the Heavenly King, riding on a carriage drawn by five dragons, descended to Solsunggol6 Castle (north of the Yalu River), which he chose as his royal residence. There he assumed the title of king, calling his country Northern Puyo and himself Haimosu. Later, at the command of heaven, the king moved his residence to Eastern Puyo. King Tongmyong succeeded him on the throne of northern Puyo, and moved his capital to Cholbon-ju. King Tongmyong was the founder of Koguryo (traditional date 37 B.C.)”
12. Eastern Puyo
Aranbul, the grand vizier of Haiburu (son of Haimosu, mentioned above) dreamed a dream: A most a
ugust god descended from heaven and said to him, “My heavenly children will reign over a kingdom on earth in this land. I command you to move to another place. (This foretold the rise of King Tongmyong.) On the shore of the Eastern Sea there is a land called Kasopwon, where milk and honey flow in abundance. Go there and settle down and build your royal residence.” Aranbul told the king about this dream and the king accordingly moved east and called his nation Eastern Puyo.
King Haiburu was growing old and he had no son, so he offered sacrifices to mountains and streams, praying for an heir to be his successor. One day as he was returning to his palace from a mountain, his favorite steed suddenly halted before a large stone at Konyon (Pond of Heaven, Paektu Mountain) and shed tears from both eyes. Wondering at this, the king had his servants turn over the stone. Beneath it they found a handsome little boy who looked like a golden frog. The king was greatly pleased, saying that heaven had blessed him with a son. He named the boy Kumwa (golden frog), adopted him, and made him crown prince.
Kumwa grew into a strong youth and in due time inherited the throne, which in his turn he passed on to his son Taiso. But in the third year of Tihwang of Hsin Wang Mang (11 A.D.) Muhyul, king of Koryo (Koguryo) attacked and killed Taiso, destroying his nation.
(Again there seems to be some chronological confusion. The date given is much later than the traditional founding dates of both Koguryo and Paekje.)
13. Koguryo
Koguryo is Cholbon Puyo. Some say it was situated where Hwaju and Songju now stand, but this is a mistake. Cholbon-ju is on the Liao-tung Peninsula.
The Samguk Sagi states that the sacred ancestor King Tongmyong's family name was Ko and his given name was Chumong. Before he founded Koguryo King Haiburu of Northern Puyo moved to Eastern Puyo and adopted Kumwa to succeed him.