Everything about Jangsu Of Goguryeo totally explained
King
Jangsu of Goguryeo (394 - 491, r. 413 - 491) was the 20th
monarch of
Goguryeo, the northernmost of the
Three Kingdoms of Korea. He was born in 394, the eldest son of
King Gwanggaeto the Great. He became crown prince in 408, and upon his father's death in 413, became king at the age of 19.
He reigned over the peak of Goguryeo's power, building on his father's territorial expansion. He is also noted for the
Gwanggaeto Stele. His posthumous name means "long life."
Early reign
At first, Jangsu dedicated much of his efforts towards stabilizing a kingdom that had experienced great and sudden growth, a direct result of his father's conquests. Jangsu had built a magnificent tomb for his father, and along with it an imposing 4 meter tall tombstone engraved with his father's accomplishments (now known as the
Gwanggaeto Stele). Of such imposing dimensions was the tomb and its grounds it needed 330 people to tend it at all times. Jangsu called for 330 men from different regions and tribal backgrounds to guard and clean the tomb in perpetuity, demonstrating the effective consolidation of the Goguryeo kingdom and monarch's power at the time of Jangsu's succession.
In
427, he transferred the Goguryeo capital to
Pyeongyang from
Guknae seong (modern
Ji'an on the China-Korean border) Many modern Chinese historians argue that since the early Goguryeo capital was located in what is now China, the history of that kingdom prior to 427 should be regarded as Chinese history). There were various reasons for this shift: to prepare for the offensive against
Baekje and
Silla in the south and to create a greater and more magnificent capital befitting a kingdom that had experienced large-scale expansion. After moving the capital southward, King Jangsu decided to continue the conquests of his father.
Northwestern campaign
At the time China was invaded by
five foreign races and divided into
Sixteen Kingdoms.
Later Yan Dynasty, which was based on present-day
Liaoning Province, was defeated so heavily by Gwanggaeto the Great's forces and finally came to an end in 408. After the fall of Later Yan,
Han Chinese drove
Murong clan of
Xianbei northward and established
Northern Yan Kingdom in the area. However, Northern Yan was no match for Xianbei
Northern Wei Dynasty, which unified most of northern China. Then Northern Yan began to seek alliances with Goguryeo, which had greater power than itself and which also can fight equally against Northern Wei. In 436 Goguryeo cavalry arrived in Northern Yan and eventually drove Xianbeis away.
Song Dynasty during the era, which was in the feud against Northern Wei, encouraged both Northern Yan and Goguryeo as rivaling nations of Northern Wei. However, the plan didn't work out all right as Jangsu turned against them and destroyed Northern Yan in 438. He conquered the entire region and held its ex-king as captive. Song court was outraged and warned King Jangsu that the death of Yan king means the war between two nations; However Jangsu ignored the warning and executed the king. Song troops then attacked Goguryeo but easily defeated. The peace resumed in the following year when Jangsu sent 800 horses as gift to the Song Emperor, to prepare for the war against Northern Wei, so Goguryeo can concentrate its forces against Baekje and Silla while two Chinese powers were in war against each other. Jangsu again encouraged Song to invade Wei in 459 when he sent loads of
crossbows and provided gold and silver. Wei government was upset by his actions but had to keep peace with Goguryeo to continue war against Song and
Rouran. Jangsu also seek relationship with Wei to wage war against Baekje, so the two empires established formal relationship in 435.
Southern expansion
In 472, King
Gaero of Baekje sent a letter to the emperor of Northern Wei. He stated that he was having trouble interacting with Wei because of frequent Goguryeo intervention, thus calling for military action against Goguryeo.
King Jangsu also seek for the chance to invade southern kingdoms of Korea, Baekje and Silla. While Northern Wei and Song fighting each other, Jangsu secretly planned to attack Baekje, which still had significant power in the peninsula despite of its losses against Gwanggaeto the Great's invasions. To disarm Baekje, he sent a
Buddhist monk named
Dorim to Baekje. Dorim went to
King Gaero's court, with the secret objective of corrupting the country before the invasion of Goguryeo. King Gaero began to favor Dorim, and played
Baduk(the board game) with him every day, instead of taking care of his government and kingdom. Eventually Baekje fell into sudden political corruption, and its defense was weakened significantly.
In 475, King Jangsu launched full-scale attack from both land and sea against Baekje. King Gaero wasn't prepared for the invasion since Dorim advised him not to prepare for Goguryeo invasion; Jangsu easily captured Baekje capital of Wiryesong, and slew King Gaero while Dorim safely escaped from the city. King Jangsu burnt down the capital to the ground, along with several cities that he conquered from Baekje(Baekje moved its capital to
Ungjin (present day
Gongju) to keep the kingdom alive). The war gave Goguryeo the control of
Han River valley, the region initial to the commerce and military on Korean Peninsula; Baekje was able to be a superior nation on the peninsula because it had the control of the region for almost 500 years, but since the ruler of the area changed, it lost the control of the peninsula.
Jangsu invaded Silla as well as Baekje. After completing his campaigns against both southern kingdoms, he erected a stone monument in present-day
Chungju, praising the accomplishments of his father and himself. The monument marked the border between southern kingdoms and Goguryeo; and it still remains in the same site.
Relations with China and Rourans
In 479, Jangsu sent delegate to Rouran to establish friendly relationship. As a resuit, Rouran
Khagan gave up the large territory which were spread in present-day
Mongolia. After settling peace with Rourans, Jangsu attacked the
Khitans, then a branch of Xianbei confederacy at the time.
After Khitans surrendered to Goguryeo, Jangsu sent gifts to both Northern Wei and
Southern Qi, which took over southern half of China after overthrowing Song in 479. Both Qi and Wei tried to tighten Goguryeo's relationship with them; Wei emperors treated Goguryeo delegates equal to Chinese delegates. However, King Jangsu continued to keep good relationship with Qi; the attitude further outraged Emperor
Xiaowen of Northern Wei again, and at last he gave order to kidnap the Goguryeo delegate before he gets to Qi capital. However Jangsu sent delegates again to Qi, and Northern Wei couldn't block Jangsu from causing Southern Dynasties to attack it.
While communicating with both nations, he also plundered gifts from Japanese to the Southern Dynasties. As well as King Gaero, who sent letter to Wei court asking for troops, rulers of Silla,
Gaya, and
Japan also grieved for Goguryeo's power in East Asia, which actually controlled entire foreign relations of the region.
Death and legacy
King Jangsu died in 491, at the age of 97. His
temple name means "long life" in
hanja. During his reign, Goguryeo was at its golden age, stretching from Mongolia to Chungju.
Together with his father
King Gwanggaeto the Great, he's also sometimes referred to as King Jangsu the Great.
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