뉴스레터

Memorial Stone and monument for General Kim Chwi-ryeo

The 13^th century was the age of Mongolia. Both in terms of world history and the history of the Goryeo Dynasty, the 40-year struggle and the ensuing Yuan intervention period was expressed as “Pax Mongolica” or “Pax Tatarica”, meaning “Mongol’s peace” in Latin. It was the period during which the Mongol Empire brought stability to Eurasia socially, culturally, and economically while ruling and managing the world.

Commander in battlefield, chancellor in politics

Goryeo was no exception to Mongol’s galloping rhythm spreading like the ribs of a fan. The early 13^th century was when Goryeo and Mongol made their first contact, prompted by the invasion of Goryeo by Khitan that had been under the rule of the Jin Dynasty. This was a skirmish that threw East Asia into the vortex of upheaval and war. It was Kim Chwi-ryeo (1172-1234) who then stood between Goryeo and Mongol. He was the pivot of external relations in contact with Mongol as well as in the battle against the Khitans in the early 13^th century.

Portrait of General Kim Chwi-ryeo

A member of the Eonyang Kim clan, Kim Chwi-ryeo was born to a military family and became a public official thanks to his father’s exploits. His first public office was jeongwi in the military nobility affiliated with the Gyeonryong army of Taejabu. Since then, he was mostly with the Gyeonryong army, performing roles as haengsu (head of a group) and jiyu (name of a government post). Gyeonryong, the king’s elite guard, was a military unit guaranteeing the fast track to success for military officials. Having assumed the post of marshal via jungrangjang and general, Kim was promoted to seopsang general and hugunbyeongmasa when the Khitans invaded in 1216 (third year of Gojong). Gaining deep trust with Choe Chung-heon, he was promoted to jeongunbyeongmasa then to junggunbyeongmasa and climbed to key positions after serving the post of chief commander in Geumowi and Sinhowi. Kim especially began to be highlighted as Cheo Chung-heon’s key figure thanks to his active role with Jo Chung in the Battle of Gangdong Castle in league with Mongol.

He was panibusa when Goryeo went to war against Mongol in August of 1231. Kim performed the role of driving off the withdrawing Mongol troops in January 1232, and performed the ancestral rites in Seogyeong. He moved to the post of munhasirangpyeongjangsa in March, and entered Ganghwado in July with other courtiers in accordance with the decision to relocate to Ganghwado in June. Kim Chwi-ryeo died at the age of 63 in 1234, less than two years after the relocation to Ganghwado.

His annals state, “Thrifty and honest, Kim preserved the principles of loyalty and fidelity and was strict in commanding the armed forces.” Other records also show that he was never deceived because he commanded his subordinates honestly when he was chancellor, and that he did not brag about his exploits although he always won in the battlefield and saved the country from crisis. Kim attributed his exploits in the Battle of Gangdong Castle to Jo Chung, and accomplished great deeds with amazing tactics on the battlefield. His tombstone reads, “Righteous and brave, humble and upright, commander outside and chancellor inside, Kim contributed to the country and his family for a long time.”

Tomb of General Kim Chwi-ryeo – Cultural Heritage Administration

‘Pact of brotherhood’: the starting point of bulgaetopung

Khitan Yujong’s retreat to the territory of the Jurchen provided a reason for the Eastern Jin Dynasty to invade Goryeo, which served as an occasion for the allied forces of Mongol and Eastern Jin to enter the Donggye region. They claimed the cause to be rooting out Khitan Yujong, but it was nothing but a new crisis to Goryeo. It was Kim Chwi-ryeo who played an important role in overcoming this.

As the Khitans invaded in August 1216, Kim Chwi-ryeo performed meticulous deeds in the combats of Joyangjin (Gaecheon, Pyeongannam-do), Gaepyeong Station (Yeongbyeon, Pyeonganbuk-do), Mukjang (unknown) and Hyangsan (Myohyang-san Mountain, Yeongbyeon in Pyeonganbuk-do) in the northwestern region as hugunbyeongmasa of the Third Army. In March 1217, he was sent back to Gaegyeong after being wounded in the Khitan counterattack during combat in Taejotan (a river in Bakcheon-gun, Pyeonganbuk-do). As the Khitans moved to the south after occupying Cheorwon in May, he was appointed jeongunbyeongmasa despite his injury, and blocked their southward move by thwarting them in combat in Maegok of Wonju and Bakdalhyeon of Jecheon. Kim expelled the Khitans to the Jurchen territory through the subsequent six battles. He returned to Gaegyeong, however, in October of the same year after falling ill.

Goryeo’s royal court formed five army units in July of 1218 to thwart the Khitans, naming Jo Chung as commander and Kim Chwi-ryeo as deputy commander. Kim was sent to the northwestern region in September the same year and defeated the Khitans, and in December the Khitans were expelled to Gangdong Castle. In the same month, the Mongolian army of 10,000 led by Kajin and Zhara and Eastern Jin’s 20,000 led by Wananjayeon chased after the Khitans in the northwestern region and arrived at Gangdong Castle. Mongol entered Goryeo under the pretext of expelling the Khitans. As a heavy snowfall cut the supply route, they demanded troops and rations from Goryeo, which was the first contact between Goryeo and Mongol. Upon his approval from Gojong, Kim volunteered to enter the Mongol camp in February of 1219, and Goryeo and Mongol concluded the brotherhood pact on February 20 after the Khitans surrendered on February 14.  

The “pact of brotherhood”, achieved between Goryeo and Mongol following the Battle of Gangdong Castle, reflects Goryeo’s judgment not to enter an unnecessary confrontational phase with Mongol, who was armed with strong military power, and Mongol’s intentions to have a safety patch at the back to attack the Jin. The 1219 compromise between Goryeo and Mongol was accompanied by the latter’s unreasonable demand for offerings, but basically it was concluded as a result of their mutual relationship. For this reason, when Mongol began its invasion in 1231, Goryeo’s aim was to restore their relationship to what it had been at the time of the compromise in 1219. This was to reset their relationship under a limited set of conditions not involving political demands. Goryeo also emphasized that the 1219 brotherhood pact was the beginning of the Goryeo-Mongol relationship. The brotherhood pact, though, was reorganized into the emperor-feudal lord relationship with the appearance of the Yuan Empire. Goryeo was trying to preserve its identity while keeping the dynasty’s indigenous laws and institutions rather than acknowledging Yuan as a state of empire. And after the late 13^th century when this new order was in place, the ruling classes of the two countries began their historical considerations concerning the origin and progress of the Goryeo-Mongol relationship to restore the relations that had been severed by 30 years of war. In December of 1325 (12^th year of King Chungsuk), Yuan requested that Goryeo compile and report figures on who contributed most to Yuan since Taizu Genghis Khan at the request of its history institute. Consequently, the Goryeo people, including Kim Chwi-ryeo, who contributed to the Yuan Dynasty, were accounted for and Lee Je-hyeon’s ‘Gimkonghaenggunki’ was accomplished as one of these such works. This is why Lee Je-yeon took note of Khitan Yujong’s invasion, the Battle of Gangdong Castle, and the process of the brotherhood pact in ‘Gimkonghaenggunki’. The brotherhood pact of Kim Chwi-ryeo concluded 800 years ago was the starting point of diplomatic relations with Mongol.