뉴스레터

Wang Geon and Goryeo

Born in Songak (presently Gaeseong), Wang Geon (877-943) distinguished himself while serving Gung Ye who founded the kingdom of Taebong. When Gung Ye began to frequently commit vicious acts, Wang Geon overthrew Gung Ye's rule and founded the kingdom of Goryeo (高麗) in 918. Goryeo went on to incorporate Silla in 935 and destroy Later Baekje in 936 to finally unify the later three kingdoms on the Korean peninsula.

Goryeo's founder Wang Geon would reminisce that because he had been born as a humble commoner, he didn't fear the heat during the summer or try to avoid the cold during the winter as he strived for nineteen years and succeeded in unifying the three Korean kingdoms. According to "Goryeosa jeoryo," or the Essentials of Goryeo History, an envoy concluded that because Wang Geon was generous and sincere, he was able to take over Later Baekje and inherit the riches of Silla, and thanks to his magnanimity, cleverness, and him being blessed with people and nature, Goryeo was able to last for five hundred years. What the envoy also noted as Wang Geon's achievement was his policy toward Balhae. "When the powerful Khitans attacked and destroyed Goryeo's ally Balhae, Wang Geon severed his relations with the Khitans and comforted the weak Balhae people left with no place to return to after having been deprived of their homeland. What is interesting is that ahead of Goryeo's foundation, Balhae once used the name Goryeo to refer to itself. According to Shoku Nihongi, the sequel to the Chronicles of Japan, while the Japanese interacted with Balhae people during the mid-eighth century, they referred to Balhae as "Goryeoguk" and the Balhae king as the "king of Goryeo."

Marriage between Goryeo and Balhae People

Since the early stages of Goryeo's foundation, Wang Geon had taken an interest in Balhae. There is even a record stating that marriages took place between the two kingdoms. Through a monk named Wa Luo (襪囉) from Later Jin, Wang Geon once made a suggestion to the Later Jin emperor Gaozu, saying that "Goryeo is in conjugal union with Balhae and since its king is being held captive by the Khitans, we hope the Later Jin government can join us in attacking the Khitans and saving the Balhae king." Unfortunately, Gaozu did not respond. The Chinese historical narrative Zizhi tongjian (資治通鑑), or the Comprehensive Mirror to Aid in Government, also mentions that Wang Geon once said "Balhae is originally a kingdom of kinsman to Goryeo" in 945, the second year of the Kaiyun era ruled by Later Jin's second emperor Shi Chonggui.

It is a well-known fact that Wang Geon took advantage of entering into conjugal unions with the local gentry or highly influential figures in order to gain their endorsement and support. Dae Gwang-hyeon was among those from Balhae who fit the bill and was therefore likely to form such a union with Wang Geon. The crown prince of Balhae had relocated to Goryeo once his kingdom fell and considering the many officials and people who accompanied him in his relocation, he must have had a substantial degree of military capability. These factors would have naturally made Wang Geon all the more inclined to form a conjugal union with Dae Gwang-hyeon, most likely during the Later Jin emperor Gaozu's reign between 936 and 942, after Dae Gwang-hyeon relocated to Goryeo in 926. If Taejo Wang Geon married Dae Gwang-hyeon's daughter, the marriage would have occurred some time around 926, and if Dae Gwang-hyeon married Wang Geon's daughter, it would also have been not long after Dae Gwang-hyeon came to Goryeo.

Wang Geon's Recognition of Balhae

An incident that made Taejo Wang Geon's recognition of Balhae apparent would be the Manbu Bridge scandal. In 942, the twenty-fifth year of Wang Geon's reign, the Khitans sent fifty camels as a gift to Goryeo's king. However, Wang Geon said "after forming friendly relations with Balhae early on, the Khitans failed to keep their vows by suddenly having a change of heart and betraying Balhae to make it fall overnight, which shows they lack morals." He then cast the Khitan envoy into exile on an island and tied the camels under the Manbu Bridge to make them starve to death.

Wang Geon's expression of enmity toward the Khitans for destroying Balhae did not end there. Through the ten injunctions he left to his future successors in 943 right before he passed away, he warned that "the Khitans are a bunch of brutes who use a different language and follow different customs, so make sure not to take after their attire." The late Goryeo government official Yi Je-hyeon figured those words by Wang Geon must surely convey some profound insight. However, they are more likely to have been a reaction against the Khitans for destroying Balhae, a kingdom of kinsman to Goryeo, and prompted by the contest Goryeo had been in with the Khitans over Koguryo's former territory.

The Successor of Koguryo

How Goryeo and its founder Wang Geon regarded the Khitans can also be glimpsed from the famous negotiation the Goryeo diplomat Seo Hui (942-998) had with the Khitan general Xiao Xunning. In 993, the twelfth year of King Seongjong's reign, the Khitans launched a massive attack on Goryeo, demanding the establishment of diplomatic relations and that Goryeo cede territory to the north of Goryeo's western capital Seogyeong. According to the biography of Seo Hui in "Goryeosa," the Official History of Goryeo, Xiao Xunning said "Your kingdom was founded upon the land of Silla, and since Koguryo territory is ours, you are encroaching." At this, Seo Hui responded by saying "That's not true. Our kingdom is based on the former territory of Koguryo. That is why our kingdom is called Goryeo and our capital is Pyongyang. If we are to discuss in terms of territorial boundaries, how could you possibly accuse us of encroachment when your eastern capital is located within our territory?"

What Xiao Xunning meant to imply by saying that Koguryo territory belonged to the Khitans was that the Khitans had a stake in Koguryo territory. Perhaps he had intended to also argue that the Khitans were the successor of Koguryo. Sei Hui retorted by declaring that the name Goryeo originated from Koguryo and that Koguryo's former capital Pyongyang had become Goryeo's capital. The conversation between Seo Hui and Xiao Xunning shows how Goryeo and the Khitans each made their argument about their connection to Koguryo and claimed ownership over Koguryo's former territory, but it is odd that neither side never mentioned a thing about Balhae that was founded by the people of Koguryo upon their former kingdom's land after its fall.

Unification of Northern and Southern Kingdoms

The Joseon Silhak scholar Yu Deuk-gong (1748-1807) was someone who clearly pointed out the significance Balhae carried for Goryeo. In his publication "Balhaego," or the Study of Balhae, he described that "once Silla ruled by the Kim clan and Balhae ruled by the Dae clan fell, the Wang clan unified the lands and called their new kingdom Goryeo." Yu Deuk-gong argued that since Goryeo resulted from a merge between the northern state Balhae and the southern state Silla, it had ownership over the lands of Silla and Balhae. He also lamented over how Goryeo eventually paid the price from failing to solidify that background by promptly compiling and publishing a history of Balhae.