Wiman Joseon (194 - 108 BC) was part of the Gojoseon period (2333 BC? - 108 BC) of Korean history. It began with Wiman's seizure of the throne from Gojoseon's King Jun and ended with the death of King Ugeo who was a grandson of Wiman.
Founding[edit]
Wiman is said to have been a general from the Chinese state of Yan, who submitted to Gojoseon's King Jun. Jun accepted and appointed Wiman as the commander of the western border region of Gojoseon, which corresponds to the west of the present-day Liaoning. Despite the generosity that King Jun had demonstrated, Wiman revolted and destroyed Gojoseon. In 194 BCE, he established Wiman Joseon and decided to locate his capital in Wanggeom-seong (왕검성, 王險城). Shihchi jijie says that Wanggeom-seong is Pyongyang city.[1] The exact location of Wanggeom-seong remains unsettled due to lack of definite archaeological evidence.
In this period, Wiman Joseon expanded to control a vast territory and became strong economically by controlling trade between China's Han Dynasty and many nations at Manchuria. Emperor Wu of Han thought that Wiman Joseon increasingly threatened Han China, and Wiman Joseon would ally with the Xiongnu.
Wiman's grandson, King Ugeo (우거,右渠), allowed many exiles from Han China to live in Wiman Joseon. The number of Han grew, however, and King Ugeo prevented the Jin state from communicating with the Han Dynasty. As a result, in 109 BC, Wudi of China invaded Wiman Joseon near the Luan River. After failing several times to defeat Wiman Joseon's armies, Han Wudi tried to convince the princes of Wiman Joseon to kill King Ugeo.[2] The conspiracy failed and it led to the destruction of the Gojoseon kingdom. After the war Wudi of Han China sentenced two generals to death for failing to defeat Wiman Joseon. For more details of the war between Wiman Joseon and Han China, see the authoritative Chinese history book Shiji (Chapter 115) by Sima Qian.
After a year of battle, Wanggeom-seong was captured and Wiman Joseon was destroyed. Han China established Four Commanderies of Han in the captured areas, which corresponds to the current area of Liaodong peninsula and the northwestern Korean peninsula. The Commanderies eventually fell to the rising Goguryeo in 4th century AD.
Several nations were formed in its place. Among them was the Nangnang Nation. The Nangnang Nation must be differentiated from the Lelang commandery.[3]
References[edit]
- ^ Shiji (史記集解), Chapter 115 Records of Joseon
- ^ §µªZ¥»¬ö²Ä¤Q¤G
- ^ New History of Korea. Written by Lee Hyun Hee, Park Sung Soo, Yoon Nae Hyun, published by Jimundang, Published year 2005
4. Yap, Joseph P. Chapter 5. 109 BCE. "Wars With The Xiongnu, A Translation From Zizhi tongjian" AuthorHouse (2009) ISBN 978-1-4490-0604-4
See also[edit]
Korea portal
