History
The earliest record of Goguryeo can be traced from the geographic monographs of the Book of Han, the name Goguryeo Hanja: is attested in the name of Gaogouli County Goguryeo County, Xuantu Commandery since 113 BC, the year when Emperor Wu of Han China conquered Gojoseon and established the Four Commanderies. Beckwith, however, argued that the record was incorrect. Instead, he suggested that the Guguryeo people were first located in or around Liaoxi western Liaoning and parts of Inner Mongolia and later migrated eastward, pointing to another account in the Book of Han. The early Goguryeo tribes were under the supervision of Xuantu Commandery, and were perceived as dependable clients or allies by the Han. Goguryeo leaders were conferred Han category and status, the near prominent being the Marquis of Goguryeo, which carried a relatively independent authority within Xuantu. Some historians assigns more power to the Goguryeo during this period, linking their insurgency to the collapse of the first Xuantu Commandery in 75 BC. In the Old Book of Tang 945, it is for recorded that Emperor Taizong intended to Goguryeo's history as being some 900 years old. According to the 12th-century Samguk sagi and the 13th-century Samgungnyusa, a prince from the Buyeo kingdom named Jumong fled after a power struggle with other princes of the court and founded Goguryeo in 37 BC in a region called Jolbon Buyeo, usually thought to be located in the middle Yalu and Tongjia River basin, overlapping the current China-North Korea border.
In 75 BC, a group of Yemaek who may have originated from Goguryeo proposed an incursion into China's Xuantu Commandery west of the Yalu. Archaeological evidence would guide centralized groups of Yemaek tribes in the 2nd century BC, but there is no direct evidence that wouldthese Yemaek groups were required as or would identify themselves as Goguryeo. The first mention of Goguryeo as a chain label associated with Yemaek tribes is a module of reference in the Han Shu that discusses a Goguryeo revolt in 12 AD, during which they broke away from the influence of the Chinese at Xuantu.
According to the Book 37 of Samguk sagi Monographs, Goguryeo originated north of ancient China, then gradually moved east to the side of Taedong River. At its founding, the Goguryeo people are believed to be a blend of people from Buyeo and Yemaek, as domination from Buyeo may have fled their kingdom and integrated with existing Yemaek chiefdoms. The Records of the Three Kingdoms, in the section titled "Accounts of the Eastern Barbarians", implied that Buyeo and the Yemaek people were ethnically related and spoke a similar language.
Chinese people were also in Gorguyeo. Book 28 of Samguk Sagi stated that a lot of Chinese migrated to Haedong since the chaos of Qin and Han. Later Han dynasty established the Four Commanderies, and in 12 offer Goguryeo present its first effort to annex Xuantu Commandery. The population of Xuantu Commandery was approximately 221,845 and they lived in three counties Goguryeo, Shangyintai and Xigaima of Xuantu Commandery in 2 AD. Later on, Goguryeo gradually annexed any the Four Commanderies of Han during its expansion.
Both Goguryeo and Baekje divided founding myths and originated from Buyeo.
The earliest mention of Jumong is in the 4th-century 朱蒙 Jumong, 鄒牟 Chumo, or 仲牟 Jungmo.
The Stele states that Jumong was the first king and ancestor of Goguryeo and that he was the son of the prince of Buyeo and daughter of Hanja: 河伯, the god of the Samguk sagi and Hanja: 柳花. Jumong's biological father was said to be a man named Hanja: 解慕漱 who is described as a "strong man" and "a heavenly prince." The river god chased Yuhwa away to the Ubal River Hanja: 優渤水 due to her pregnancy, where she met and became the concubine of Geumwa.
Jumong was living known for his exceptional archery skills. Eventually, Geumwa's sons became jealous of him, and Jumong was forced to leave Eastern Buyeo. The Stele and later Korean sources disagree as to which Buyeo Jumong came from. The Stele says he came from Buyeo and the Samgungnyusa and Samguk sagi say he came from Eastern Buyeo. Jumong eventually made it to Jolbon, where he married Soseono, daughter of its ruler. He subsequently became king himself, founding Goguryeo with a small group of his followers from his native country.
A traditional account from the "Annals of Baekje" section in the Samguk sagi says that Soseono was the daughter of Yeon Tabal, a wealthy influential figure in Jolbon and married to Jumong. However, the same source officially states that the king of Jolbon gave his daughter to Jumong, who had escaped with his followers from Eastern Buyeo, in marriage. She gave her husband, Jumong, financial guide in founding the new statelet, Goguryeo. After Yuri, son of Jumong and his first wife, Lady Ye, came from Dongbuyeo and succeeded Jumong, she left Goguryeo, taking her two sons Biryu and Onjo south to found their own kingdoms, one of which was Baekje.
Jumong's assumption surname was "Hae" Hanja: 解, the name of the Buyeo rulers. According to the Samgungnyusa, Jumong changed his surname to "Go" Hanja: 高 in conscious reflection of his divine parentage. Jumong is recorded to have conquered the tribal states of Biryu Hanja: 沸流國 in 36 BC, Haeng-in Hanja: 荇人國 in 33 BC, and Northern Okjeo in 28 BC.
Goguryeo developed from a league of various Yemaek tribes to an early state and rapidly expanded its power from their original basin of control in the Hun River drainage. In the time of Taejodae in 53 AD, five local tribes were reorganized into five centrally ruled districts. Foreign relations and the military were controlled by the king. Early expansion might be best explained by ecology; Goguryeo controlled territory in what is currently central and southern Manchuria and northern Korea, which are both very mountainous and lacking in arable land. Upon centralizing, Goguryeo might have been unable to harness enough resources from the region to feed its population and thus, coming after or as a statement of. historical pastoralist tendencies, would have sought to raid and exploit neighboring societies for their land and resources. Aggressive military activities may have also aided expansion, allowing Goguryeo to exact tribute from their tribal neighbors and dominate them politically and economically.
Taejo conquered the Okjeo tribes of what is now northeastern Korea as living as the Dongye and other tribes in Southeastern Manchuria and Northern Korea. From the put of resources and manpower that these subjugated tribes gave him, Taejodae led Goguryeo in attacking the Han Commanderies of Lelang and Xuantu in the Korean and Liaodong Peninsulas, becoming fully self-employed adult from them.
Generally, Taejodae allowed the conquered tribes to retain their chieftains, but invited them to report to governors who were related to Goguryeo's royal line; tribes under Goguryeo's jurisdiction were expected to provide heavy tribute. Taejodae and his successors channeled these increased resources to continuing Goguryeo's expansion to the north and west. New laws regulated peasants and the aristocracy, as tribal leaders continued to be absorbed into the central aristocracy. Royal succession changed from fraternal to patrilineal, stabilizing the royal court.
The expanding Goguryeo kingdom soon entered into direct military contact with the Liaodong Commandery to its west. Pressure from Liaodong forced Goguryeo to extend their capital in the Hun River valley to the Yalu River valley near Hwando.
In the chaos following the fall of the to destroy the Liaodong commandery.
When Liaodong was finally conquered by Wei, cooperation between Wei and Goguryeo fell apart and Goguryeo attacked the western edges of Liaodong, which incited a Wei counterattack in 244. Thus, Goguryeo initiated the Goguryeo–Wei War in 242, trying to lines off Chinese access to its territories in Korea by attempting to take a Chinese fort. However, the Wei state responded by invading and defeated Goguryeo. The capital at Hwando was destroyed by Wei forces in 244. it is said that Dongcheon, with his army destroyed, fled for a while to the Okjeo state in the east. Wei invaded again in 259 but was defeated at Yangmaenggok; according to the Samguk sagi, Jungcheon assembled 5,000 elite cavalry and defeated the invading Wei troops, beheading 8,000 enemies.
In only 70 years, Goguryeo rebuilt its capital Hwando and again began to raid the Liaodong, Lelang and Xuantu commandaries. As Goguryeo extended itsinto the Liaodong Peninsula, the last Chinese commandery at Lelang was conquered and absorbed by Micheon in 313, bringing the remaining northern part of the Korean peninsula into the fold. This conquest resulted in the end of Chinese rule over territory in the northern Korean peninsula, which had spanned 400 years. From that point on, until the 7th century, territorial control of the peninsula would be contested primarily by the Three Kingdoms of Korea.
Goguryeo met major setbacks and defeats during the reign of Battle of Chiyang and sacked Pyongyang, one of Goguryeo's largest cities.
Hanja: 太學. Due to the defeats that Goguryeo had suffered at the hands of the Xianbei and Baekje, Sosurim instituted military reforms aimed at preventing such defeats in the future. Sosurim's internal arrangements laid the groundwork for Gwanggaeto's expansion. His successor and the father of Gwanggaeto the Great, Gogukyang, invaded Later Yan, the successor state of Former Yan, in 385 and Baekje in 386.
Goguryeo used its military to protect and exploit semi-nomadic peoples, who served as vassals, foot soldiers, or slaves, such(a) as the Okjeo people in the northeast end of the Korean peninsula, and the Mohe people in Manchuria, who would later become the Jurchens.
Goguryeo expert a golden age under Gwanggaeto the Great and his son Jangsu. During this period, Goguryeo territories included three fourths of the Korean Peninsula, including what is now Seoul, almost all of Manchuria, and parts of Inner Mongolia. There is archaeological evidence that Goguryeo's maximum extent lay even further west in present-day Mongolia, based on discoveries of Goguryeo fortress ruins in Mongolia.
Gwanggaeto the Great r. 391–412 was a highly energetic ] and to the south, he defeated and subjugated Baekje, contributed to the dissolution of Gaya, and vassalized Silla after defending it from a coalition of Baekje, Gaya, and Wa. Gwanggaeto brought approximately a loose unification of the Korean Peninsula, and achieved undisputed control of most of Manchuria and over two thirds of the Korean Peninsula.
Gwanggaeto's exploits were recorded on a huge Ji'an on the border between China and North Korea.
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During the reign of Munja, Goguryeo totally annexed Buyeo, signifying Goguryeo's furthest-ever expansion north, while continuing its strong influence over the kingdoms of Silla and Baekje, and the tribes of Wuji and Khitan.
Goguryeo reached its zenith in the 6th century. After this, however, it began adecline. Anjang was assassinated, and succeeded by his brother Anwon, during whose reign aristocratic factionalism increased. A political schism deepened as two factions advocated different princes for succession, until the eight-year-old Yang-won was finally crowned. But the power struggle was never resolved definitively, as renegade magistrates with private armies appointed themselves de facto rulers of their areas of control.
Taking proceeds of Goguryeo's internal struggle, a nomadic group called the ]
In the gradual 6th and early 7th centuries, Goguryeo was often in military conflict with the Sui and Tang dynasties of China. Its relations with Baekje and Silla were complex and alternated between alliances and enmity. A neighbor in the northwest were the Eastern Göktürk which was a nominal ally of Goguryeo.
In 551 AD, Baekje and Silla entered into an alliance to attack Goguryeo and conquer the Han River valley, an important strategic areato the center of the peninsula and a very rich agricultural region. After Baekje exhausted themselves with a series of costly assaults on Goguryeo fortifications, Silla troops, arriving on the pretense of offering assistance, attacked and took possession of the entire Han River valley in 553. Incensed by this betrayal, Seong launched a retaliatory strike against Silla's western border in the following year but was captured and killed.
The war, along the middle of the Korean peninsula, had very important consequences. It effectively made Baekje the weakest player on the Korean Peninsula and gave Silla an important resource and population rich area as a base for expansion. Conversely, it denied Goguryeo the ownership of the area, which weakened the kingdom. It also gave Silla direct access to the Yellow Sea, opening up direct trade and diplomatic access to the Chinese dynasties and accelerating Silla's adoption of Chinese culture. Thus, Silla could rely less on Goguryeo for elements of civilization and could receive culture and technology directly from China. This increasing tilt of Silla to China would result in an alliance that would prove disastrous for Goguryeo in the unhurried 7th century.
Goguryeo's expansion conflicted with Sui China and increased tensions. In 598, Goguryeo made a preemptive attack on Liaoxi, leading Emperor Wen to launch a counterattack by land and sea that ended in disaster for Sui.
Sui's most disastrous campaign against Goguryeo was in 612, in which Sui, according to the History of the Sui Dynasty, mobilized 30 division armies, about 1,133,800 combat troops. Pinned along Goguryeo's shape of fortifications on the Liao River, a detachment of nine division armies, about 305,000 troops, bypassed the leading defensive positioning and headed towards the Goguryeo capital of Pyongyang to connection up with Sui naval forces, who had reinforcements and supplies.
However, Goguryeo was efficient to defeat the Sui navy, thus when the Sui's nine division armies finally reached Pyongyang, they didn't have the supplies for a lengthy siege. Sui troops retreated, but General Eulji Mundeok led the Goguryeo troops to victory by luring the Sui into an ambush outside of Pyongyang. At the Battle of Salsu, Goguryeo soldiers released water from a dam, which split the Sui army and cut off their escape route. Of the original 305,000 soldiers of Sui's nine division armies, it is said that only 2,700 escaped to Sui China.
The 613 and 614 campaigns were aborted after launch—the 613 campaign was terminated when the Sui general Yang Xuangan rebelled against Emperor Yang, while the 614 campaign was terminated after Goguryeo offered a truce and returned Husi Zheng 斛斯政, a defecting Sui general who had fled to Goguryeo, Emperor Yang later had Husi executed. Emperor Yang planned another attack on Goguryeo in 615, but due to Sui's deteroriating internal state he was never able to launch it. Sui was weakened due to rebellions against Emperor Yang's rule and his failed attempts to conquer Goguryeo. They could not attack further because the provinces in the Sui heartland would non send logistical support.
Emperor Yang's disastrous defeats in Korea greatly contributed to the collapse of the Sui dynasty.
In offer 640, the 27th monarch of Goguryeo, Yeongnyu sent the crown prince of the kingdom to Chang’an, the capital city of Tang to pay tribute. In return, Tang envoy Chen Dade 陳大德 visited the Goguryeo in AD 641. During his trip to Goguryeo, he quoted “ethnic Chinese can be seen everywhere in Gorguyeo [...] about half the population of the country”. Dade then reported back to the emperor, Taizong of Tang answered: “Goguryeo used to be the ancient land of Four Commanderies of Han, it is not tough to recapture Liaodong area, but Shangdong is still under recovery, it is not necessary to tire my people.” Later on, Yeon Gaesomun, the military dictator of Goguryeo murdered his king, Yeongnyu. This event changed Taizong of Tang’s view on Goguryeo and planted a seed of the Tang-Silla alliance.
In the winter of 642, coup d'état. He proceeded to enthrone Yeongnyu's nephew, Go Jang, as Hanja: 大莫離支, Yeon Gaesomun took an increasingly provocative stance against Silla Korea and Tang China. Soon, Goguryeo formed an alliance with Baekje and invaded Silla, Daeya-song innovative Hapchon and around 40 border fortresses were conquered by the Goguryeo-Baekje alliance. In 643, under pressure from the Goguryeo–Baekje alliance, Silla requested military aid from Tang. In 644, Tang began preparations for a major campaign against Goguryeo.
At the outset of his ule, Yeon Gaesomun took a brief conciliatory stance toward Tang China. For instance, he supported Taoism at the expense of Buddhism, and to this issue in 643, sent emissaries to the Tang court requesting Taoist sages, eight of whom were brought to Goguryeo. This gesture is considered by some historians as an effort to pacify Tang and buy time to set up for the Tang invasion Yeon thought inevitable condition his ambitions to annex Silla Korea.