Goguryeo (37 BC – 668 AD) (; ; Old Korean: Guryeo) also later known as Goryeo (; ; Middle Korean: 고ᇢ롕〮, kwòwlyéy), was a Korean kingdom which was located on the northern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula and the southern and central parts of modern-day Northeast China (Manchuria). At its peak of power, Goguryeo encompassed most of the Korean Peninsula and large parts of Manchuria, along with parts of modern-day Russia. Archaeological evidence suggests it may have extended as far west as modern-day eastern Mongolia.
Along with Paekche and Silla, Goguryeo was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. It was an active participant in the power struggle for control of the Korean Peninsula and was also associated with the foreign affairs of neighboring polities in China and Japan.
Goguryeo was one of the great powers in East Asia until its defeat by a Silla–Tang alliance in 668 after prolonged exhaustion and internal strife following the death of Yŏn Kaesomun. After its fall, its territory was divided between the Tang dynasty, Later Silla and Parhae.
The name "Goryeo" (alternatively spelled "Koryŏ"), a shortened form of Goguryeo (Koguryŏ), was adopted as the official name in the 5th century, and is the origin of the English name "Korea".
Names and etymology The kingdom was originally called Guryeo (Old Korean: 句麗, Yale: Kwulye, ) or something similar to kaukuri), Both words were derived from "忽" (*kuru or *kolo) which meant castle or fortress. The word was possibly a Wanderwort like the Middle Mongolian qoto-n.Lim, Byung-joon (1999) (A) Study on the borrowed writings of the dialect of Koguryo Dynasty in Ancient Korean (MA), Konkuk University
Several possible cognates for 忽 exist as well, which was used at a later stage as an administrative subdivision with the spelling of hwol , as in 買忽 mwoyhwol/michwuhwol , alongside the likely cognate of 骨 kwol .Tranter, Nicholas (2012). The Languages of Japan and Korea (1st ed.). Abingdon: Routledge. pp. 53–54. . Nam Pung-hyun presents it also as a Paekche term, probably a cognate with the Goguryeo word with the same meaning and spelling.
The iteration of 徐羅伐 Syerapel as 徐羅城 *SyeraKUY equated the Old Korean word for village, 伐 pel with the Old Japanese one for castle 城 ki, considered a borrowing from Paekche 己 *kuy, in turn a borrowing from Goguryeo 忽 *kolo.Shiratori, Kurakichi (1896), "朝鮮古代王號考", in, volume 7, 史學會 (The Historical Society of Japan)Mabuchi, Kazuhito (1978), "『三国史記』記載の百済地名より見た古代百済語の考察 (On the Ancient Language of Kudara as Reflected in Kudara Place Names in the Sangokushiki)", in , archived from the original on 2019-04-17, p. 79 Middle Korean 골〯 kwǒl [ko̞ɭ] and ᄀᆞ옳 kòwòlh [kʌ̀.òl] ("district") are likely descended from *kolo.
The name Goguryeo (; ), which means "high castle", is a combination of Guryeo and the prefix Go (). The name came from Goguryeo-hyeon, a subdivision that was established by the Xuantu Commandery. As Han influence over Korea declined, Goguryeo-hyeon became the center of the early Goguryeo union.
From the mid-5th century, Goguryeo was shortened to the calque of Goryeo (; ; Middle Korean: 고ᇢ롕〮, Kwòwlyéy), which by itself had the meaning of "high and beautiful".
History Origins
The earliest record of the name of Goguryeo can be traced to geographic monographs in the Book of Han and is first attested as the name of one of the subdivisions of the Xuantu Commandery, established along the trade routes within the Amnok river basin following the destruction of Gojoseon in 113 BC. The American historian Christopher Beckwith offers the alternative proposal 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 from whom the administrative name is derived were located close to or within the area of control of the Xuantu Commandery. Its tribal leaders also appeared to have held the ruler title of "marquis" over said nominal Gaogouli/Goguryeo county. The collapse of the first Xuantu Commandery in 75 BC is generally attributed to the military actions of the Goguryeo natives."In the year 11 AD, he (Wang Mang) ordered the Koguryo people to attack the Hsiung-nu. When they refused, their ruler was murdered by the Han governor of Liao-hsi and 'so the Maek [i.e., Koguryo] people raided the frontier even more'."先是，莽發高句驪兵，當伐胡，不欲行，郡強迫之，皆亡出塞，因犯法為寇。遼西大尹田譚追擊之，為所殺。州郡歸咎於高句驪侯騶。[...] 莽不尉安，穢貉遂反，詔尤擊之。尤誘高句驪侯騶至而斬焉，傳首長安。[...] 於是貉人愈犯邊，東北與西南夷皆亂云。Book of Han, Chapter 99. In the Old Book of Tang (945), it is recorded that Emperor Taizong refers to Goguryeo's history as being some 900 years old. According to the 12th-century Samguk sagi and the 13th-century Samguk yusa, 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 Amnok/Yalu and Hun River basin.
The Samguk sagi, a text from the 12th century in Goryeo, claims that Goguryeo was founded in 37 BC, but today the date of the dynasty's foundation is in doubt, as archaeological evidence suggests that Goguryeo was founded before Silla, and four things support this:
Kim Pusik was a 12th-century historian and author of the Samguk sagi (History of the Three Kingdoms). Since he was a descendant of the Silla royal family, it is likely that he distorted history to show the superiority of his ancestor, Silla, and this is undeniable. Since Kim Pusik wrote the History of the Three Kingdoms at least 5 centuries after the events of the Three Kingdoms and was not an eyewitness to the events of that era, his book is considered a secondary source and cannot be considered a primary source alone. The age of Goguryeo in the Samguk sagi contradicts what is inscribed in Gwanggaeto the Great's stele (which is a primary source). Gwanggaeto the Great's stele states that Goguryeo is 900 years old, but the Samguk sagi mentions Goguryeo as a dynasty that lasted 705 years. Also, the Old Book of Tang (945), a primary source, written by Li Shimin (Taizong), mentions that Goguryeo is about 900 years old.
In 75 BC, a group of Yemaek who may have originated from Goguryeo made an incursion into China's Xuantu Commandery west of the Yalu. The first mention of Goguryeo as a group label associated with Yemaek tribes is a reference in the Han Shu that discusses a Goguryeo revolt in 12 AD, during which they broke away from the influence of the Xuantu Commandery.
According to Book 37 of the Samguk sagi, Goguryeo originated north of ancient China, then gradually moved east to the side of Taedong River.Book 37 of Samguk sagi Monographs recorded: 高句麗始居中國北地，則漸東遷于浿水之側 At its founding, the Goguryeo people are believed to be a blend of people from Buyeo and Yemaek, as leadership 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.
According to John Jorgensen, "Goguryeo was a multi-ethnic kingdom, ruled by mounted warrior tribes originating from the north in Buyeo, consisting of local Yemaek farmers and other groups, who were likely the ancestors of modern Koreans. There were as well migrants and captives of Chinese and Xianbei ethnic groups, brought in to bolster the rulers' powers in the captured territories." Book 28 of Samguk sagi stated that "many people of China fled [to] East of the Sea due to the chaos of war by Qin and Han".Book 28 of Samguk sagi: Baekje's Records Volume 6: 「秦、漢亂離之時，中國人多竄海東。」 Later Han dynasty established the Four Commanderies, and in 12 AD Goguryeo made its first attack on the Xuantu Commandery.Book 13 of Samguk sagi Goguryeo's Records：秋八月，王命鳥伊烏伊、摩離，領兵二萬，西伐梁貊，滅其國，進兵襲取漢高句麗縣。(縣屬玄菟郡)" The population of Xuantu Commandery was about 221,845 in 2 AD, and they lived in the commandery's three counties of Gaogouli, Shangyintai, and Xigaima.Book of Han Volume 28 Part 2 玄菟郡，戶四萬五千六，口二十二萬一千八百四十五。縣三：高句驪，上殷台，西蓋馬。Wikisource: the Book of Han, volume 28-2 Later on, Goguryeo gradually annexed all the Four Commanderies of Han during its expansion.Book of the Later Han Volume 85 Treatise on the Dongyi
Both Goguryeo and Paekche shared founding myths and originated from Buyeo.
Jumong and the foundation myth
The earliest mention of Jumong is in the 4th-century Gwanggaeto Stele. Jumong is the modern Korean transcription of the hanja Jumong, Chumo, or 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 Habaek (), the god of the Amnok River or, according to an alternative interpretation, the sun god Haebak (). The Samguk sagi and Samguk yusa paint additional detail and names Jumong's mother as Yuhwa (). Jumong's biological father was said to be a man named Haemosu who is described as a "strong man" and "a heavenly prince".Ilyon, "Samguk yusa", Yonsei University Press, p. 45 The river god chased Yuhwa away to the Ubal River () due to her pregnancy, where she met and became the concubine of Geumwa.
Jumong was well known for his exceptional archery skills. Eventually, Geumwa's sons became jealous of him, and Jumong was forced to leave Eastern Buyeo.Ilyon, "Samguk yusa", p. 46 The Stele and later Korean sources disagree as to which Buyeo Jumong came from. The Stele says he came from Buyeo and the Samguk yusa 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 Paekche" section in the Samguk sagi says that Soseono was the daughter of Yeon Tabal, a wealthy influential figure in JolbonEncyclopedia of Korean Culture 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 support 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 Paekche.
Jumong's given surname was "Hae" (), the name of the Buyeo rulers. According to the Samguk yusa, Jumong changed his surname to "Go" () in conscious reflection of his divine parentage.Ilyon, "Samguk yusa", pp. 46–47 Jumong is recorded to have conquered the tribal states of Biryu () in 36 BC, Haeng-in () in 33 BC, and Northern Okjeo in 28 BC.《三国史记》："六年 秋八月 神雀集宫庭 冬十月 王命乌伊扶芬奴 伐太白山东南人国 取其地为城邑。十年 秋九月 鸾集于王台 冬十一月 王命扶尉 伐北沃沮灭之 以其地为城邑"
Centralization and early expansion (mid-first century)