Micheon of Goguryeo

Micheon of Goguryeo
Hangul	미천왕 or 호양왕
Hanja	美川王, 好壤王
Revised Romanization	Micheon-wang or Hoyang-wang
McCune–Reischauer	Mich'ŏn-wang
Birth name
Hangul	고을불 or 을불리 or 우불
Hanja	高乙弗 or 乙弗利 or 憂弗
Revised Romanization	Go Eul-bul or Eulbulli or U-bul
McCune–Reischauer	Ko Ŭlbul or Ŭlbulli or Ubul

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 Micheon of Goguryeo (died 331, r. 300–331) was the 15th ruler of Goguryeo, the northernmost of the Three Kingdoms of Korea.

Background and Rise to the throne

He was the grandson of the 13th king Seocheon, and the son of the gochuga Go Dol-go, who was killed by his brother, the 14th king Bongsang.

Micheon lived in hiding as an indentured servant and a salt merchant, but was made king after Bongsang was overthrown by court officials. The tales of Micheon's life in hiding before becoming king are recorded in the Samguk Sagi. He is said to have been a servant of a local lord, and was made to throw stones into a pond throughout the night, to keep the frogs quiet. He escaped and met a salt merchant, and faced much hardship while travelling selling salt.

Meanwhile, King Bongsang became increasingly unpopular, and court officials, led by Prime Minister Chang Jo-Ri, carried out a coup that overthrew King Bongsang, and placed King Micheon on the throne.

Reign

Micheon continuously developed the Goguryeo army into a very powerful force. During the disintegration of China's Jin Dynasty, he expanded Goguryeo's borders into the Liaodong Peninsula and the other Chinese commanderies. His first military campaign was in 302, against the Xuantu Commandery. He annexed the Lelang commandery in 313 and Daifang commandery in 314 after attacked Seoanpyeong (西安平; near modern Dandong) in Liaodong.

In his reign, Goguryeo was faced with growing Xianbei influence in the west, particularly Murong Bu (慕容部) incursions into Liaodong. Micheon allied with other Xianbei tribes against the Murong Bu, but their attack was unsuccessful. In 319, the Goguryeo general Yeo Noja (여노자, 如奴子) was taken captive by the Murong Bu. Throughout this period, Goguryeo and the Murongbu attacked each other's positions in Liaodong, but neither was able to gain a lasting victory.

Death and aftermath

Micheon died and was buried in 331 at Micheon-won. Twelve years later in the reign of King Gogugwon, his remains were dug up by the Former Yan invaders, and held for ransom.

See also

• List of Korea-related topics
• History of Korea
• Three Kingdoms of Korea
• List of Korean monarchs

External links

• Empas KoreanDB entry