- Dongcheon of Goguryeo
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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.
Contents
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
See also
- List of Korea-related topics
- History of Korea
- Three Kingdoms of Korea
- List of Korean monarchs
- Goguryeo–Wei Wars
Categories:- Goguryeo rulers
- 209 births
- 248 deaths
- 3rd-century monarchs in Asia
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