Dongcheon of Goguryeo

Dongcheon of Goguryeo
Hangul	동천왕 or 동양왕
Hanja	東川王 or 東襄王
Revised Romanization	Dongcheon-wang or Dongyang-wang
McCune–Reischauer	Tongch'ǒn-wang or Tongyang-wang
Birth name
Hangul	우위거 or 위궁 or 교체
Hanja	憂位居 or 郊彘
Revised Romanization	Uwigeo or Wigung or Gyoche
McCune–Reischauer	Uwigǒ or Wigung or Kyoch'e

Monarchs of Korea Goguryeo

Dongmyeong 37-19 BCE Yuri 19 BCE-18 CE Daemusin 18-44 Minjung 44-48 Mobon 48-53 Taejo 53-146 Chadae 146-165 Sindae 165-179 Gogukcheon 179-197 Sansang 197-227 Dongcheon 227-248 Jungcheon 248-270 Seocheon 270-292 Bongsang 292-300 Micheon 300-331 Gogug-won 331-371 Sosurim 371-384 Gogug-yang 384-391 Gwanggaeto the Great 391-413 Jangsu 413-490 Munja 491-519 Anjang 519-531 An-won 531-545 Yang-won 545-559 Pyeong-won 559-590 Yeong-yang 590-618 Yeong-nyu 618-642 Bojang 642-668

King Dongcheon of Goguryeo (209–248, r. 227–248) was the 11th monarch of Goguryeo, the northernmost of the Three Kingdoms of Korea.

Background

He was the grandson of Goguryeo's eighth ruler, Sindae and the son of the tenth ruler, Sansang. His mother was Emperor Sansang's second queen, from the Jutong-chon of Gwanno-bu. He was made crown prince in 213, and rose to the throne upon Sansang's death.

Reign

Dongcheon played off the rivalries among the Chinese powers Gongsun Yuan, Eastern Wu, and Cao Wei. In 234, Dongcheon sent an envoy to Wei to make peace. In 236, an ambassador, Hao Wei, from Wu arrived at Goguryeo and asked for peace. Dongcheon imprisoned the ambassador for months before finally beheading him and sending the head to Wei.

In 238, Dongcheon was able to ally with the Wei in order to destroy the Gongsun family and erase its influence over Liaodong Peninsula and other areas bordering Goguryeo. The war on the Gongsun was a victory, but Goguryeo's ally, Wei, eventually became a new threat.

Dongcheon sent an army to attack Wei's Yodong fortress in 242 to expand Goguryeo territory, but Wei retaliated in a most violent fashion two years later. In 244, Wei sent an invasion force of 10,000 to Goguryeo and took the capital city of Hwando, forcing Dongcheon to flee the capital.

Then, according to Sanguk Sagi, a Goguryeo general named Yu Yu (유유, 紐由) approached the Wei encampment and fooled the Wei commander into thinking that Goguryeo had come to surrender. Yu Yu took this chance to murder the commander and then committed suicide, causing great confusion and discord in the Wei army.^[1] King Dongcheon received news of Yu Yu's death and ordered that a memorial be made for Yu Yu the Patriot. Then, he led his armies in the attack to push the Wei forces out of Goguryeo territory. General Mil U (밀우, 密友) and Yu Okgu (유옥구, 劉屋句) also repulsed the Wei forces. The Goguryeo forces won this battle, and regained all of the territory that had been lost from defeats against the Wei. This passage was not paralleled in Chinese records, and Hiroshi Ikeuchi points out its errors: the author of this passage in Samguk Sagi regarded the region of South Okjeo and Lelang as identical, while in fact they are on opposite sides of the peninsula;^[2] also, the references to the "Eastern Department" for Yu Yu and Mil U are anachronistic, since Goguryeo did not divide the country into departments until the middle of the Goguryeo dynasty — that is, after Dongcheon's reign.^[3] As such, Ikeuchi considered the Samguk Sagi stories of the Wei invasion unreliable.^[4]

In 243, he named his son Yeonbul the crown prince and successor to the throne. He attacked Silla, another of the Three Kingdoms to its south, in 245 but made peace in 248.

Death and succession

Dongcheon fell ill and died during the fall of 248 after 22 years of rule. His tomb is said to be in South Pyongan Province near Pyongyang, North Korea. He is said to have been so loved that many people followed him in death. Crown Prince Yeon-Bul succeeded his father as King Jungcheon immediately after his father's death.

Notes

1. ^ Hubert & Weems, p. 59
2. ^ Ikeuchi, p. 116
3. ^ Ikeuchi, p. 117
4. ^ Ikeuchi, p. 118

See also

• List of Korea-related topics
• History of Korea
• Three Kingdoms of Korea
• List of Korean monarchs
• Goguryeo–Wei Wars