Difference between revisions of "Gang Gam-chan" - New World Encyclopedia

From New World Encyclopedia
(links)
(images, submit)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Claimed}}{{started}}{{Ready}}
+
{{Claimed}}{{started}}{{Ready}}{{Images OK}}{{Submitted}}
 
{{Infobox Korean name|img=Gang_gamchan3.JPG|hangul=강감찬|hanja=姜邯贊|rr=Gang Gam-chan|mr=Kang Kamch'an}}
 
{{Infobox Korean name|img=Gang_gamchan3.JPG|hangul=강감찬|hanja=姜邯贊|rr=Gang Gam-chan|mr=Kang Kamch'an}}
  
'''Kang Kam-chan''' or '''Gang Gam-chan''' (948-1031) was a medieval [[Korea|Korean]] government official and military commander during the early [[Goryeo]] Dynasty (918-1392). He was career scholar and government official, serving as Prime Minister under [[Taejo of Goryeo|Wang Geon]], and is best known for leading Goryeo's military to victory during the [[Third Goryeo-Khitan War]].
+
'''Kang Kam-chan''' or '''Gang Gam-chan''' (948-1031) was a medieval [[Korea|Korean]] government official and military commander during the early [[Goryeo]] Dynasty (918-1392). He was career scholar and government official, serving in a number of posts, including Prime Minister, and is best known for leading Goryeo's military to victory during the [[Third Goryeo-Khitan War]], thus securing a long lasting peace with Goryeo's neighbors to the north.
  
 
==Early days==
 
==Early days==

Revision as of 04:34, 5 December 2007

Gang Gam-chan
Gang_gamchan3.JPG
Korean name
Hangul 강감찬
Hanja 姜邯贊
Revised Romanization Gang Gam-chan
McCune-Reischauer Kang Kamch'an


Kang Kam-chan or Gang Gam-chan (948-1031) was a medieval Korean government official and military commander during the early Goryeo Dynasty (918-1392). He was career scholar and government official, serving in a number of posts, including Prime Minister, and is best known for leading Goryeo's military to victory during the Third Goryeo-Khitan War, thus securing a long lasting peace with Goryeo's neighbors to the north.

Early days

Gang was born in 948 into a prominent aristocratic family in the hyeon of Geumju (now Gwanak-gu in Seoul). His father was also worked for the king, Wang Geon, and had been awarded for helping establish a new dynasty and unify the Korean Peninsula. A legend tells that on the day he was born a meteor fell toward his house, and an advisor to the king visited to find that a baby had just been born there, whom he predicted would become great and be long remembered. Gang Gam-chan's birth site is called Nakseongdae (site of the fallen star, 낙성대,落星垈 ), near Seoul's Nakseongdae Station on the Line 2 subway.

As a child, Gang was small for his age, but he showed signs of leadership and loyalty at an early age. At seven he began to learn Confucian philosophy, military tactics and martial arts from his father. After his father's death in 964, he left his household and traveled around the country. In 983 he received the top score in the civil service examination, and qualified as a government official at age thirty-six. In 992 he joined the royal court as a deputy under the Minister of Education.

Goryeo-Khitan Wars

Background

The Khitans were an ethnic group that established the Liao Dynasty and dominated much of Manchuria during the much of the 10th, 11th, and 12th centuries. Manchuria is located in the southwestern portion of China, directly across the border from Korea. Conflicts over territory were frequent throughout all of Korea's dynastic periods, and during the Goryeo Dynasty, there were numerous conflicts with the Khitans over Goryeo's northern territory and the southern portion of Manchuria.

Gang Gam-chan's involvement

In 993, Khitan General Xiao Sunning invaded Goryeo on the Korean peninsula. Opinion among the Goryeo court officials was divided, to fight or negotiate. Gang Gam-chan was among those who supported negotiations, and the king sent Seo Hui who volunteered to meet the Khitans; a truce led to the withdrawal of Khitan forces, Goryeo's breaking relations with the Chinese Song Dynasty, and an agreement for friendly relations between Liao and Goryeo.

In 1004 Liao defeated Song in the south and the emperor was forced to pay tribute. The only remaining challenge to Liao supremacy in the region was Goryeo. In 1009, General Gang Jo of Goryeo led a coup and assassinated King Mokjong; he set up the crown prince as king but also established military rule under his own power, and began trading again with Song. The Khitans saw this as reason to invade. In 1010 Emperor Shengzong of Liao led a massive invasion with 800,000 soldiers, commanding the troops himself. He easily defeated the Goryeo army under General Gang Jo and had Gang Jo executed. However, Gang Gam-chan urged King Hyeonjong not to surrender to the invading Liao troops. The king followed Gang's advice and escaped southward from the burning capital Kaesong to set up headquarters in Naju on the Yellow Sea. The Khitans failed to secure a Goryeo surrender and retreated; a Korean insurgency attacked Shengzong's forces relentlessly on their way back north, compelling him to withdraw. Gang Gam-chan was promoted to prime minister.

Continued tensions led to the further fighting. In 1018, Liao General Xiao Baiya led 100,000 men into Goryeo. This time many officials urged the king to sue for peace since the damage from the First Goryeo-Khitan War had left Goryeo difficult to recover. Gang, however, noting that the enemy contingent was much smaller than in previous invasions, advised the king to declare war. At the age of seventy-one he volunteered to serve as second-in-command of the army until the Khitans were forced out. He led about 208,000 men toward the border. The first battle of the war was the Battle of Heunghwajin, a significant victory: Goryeo dammed a stream and released it just as the Khitans were crossing. However, General Xiao did not give up hope of capturing the capital Kaeseong, and continued to march south. Later, Xiao realized it was impossible and decided to retreat. General Gang Gam-chan knew that the Khitan army would withdraw from the war, and awaited them at the fortress of Kwiju, where he encountered the retreating Khitans in 1019. Discouraged and starving, the Khitans were defeated by the Goryeo Army. Only General Xiao and few remaining survivors managed to escape from the devastating defeat. This battle is known as the Battle of Kwiju in Korea.

The Invasion and Battle of Kwiju

Khitan troops under the command of General Xiao Baiya held two cities on the Goryeo side of the Yalu River in anticipation of taking the region of the Six Garrison Settlements by force. Construction workers labored throughout the summer and autumn of 1018 to build a large, well-fortified bridge across the Yalu, completing the project in the end of that winter. General Xiao led a force of 100,000 men across the completed bridge onto Goryeo's frozen countryside in December of that year. Columns of Goryeo troops ambushed the Khitan from the moment they set foot on Goryeo territory. After breaking out of the ambush, the Khitan army drove southward, only to meet even stiffer resistance in the region around the capital of Kaesong.

King Hyeonjong heard the news of invasion, and ordered his troops into battle against the Khitan invaders. General Gang Gam-chan, who did not have any military experience since he was a government official, became a commander of the Goryeo army of about 208,000 men (the Khitans still had advantages, even outnumbered 2 to 1, since Khitan troops were mostly mounted while the Koreans were not), and marched toward Yalu River.

Near the Garrison Settlement of Heunghwajin, there was a small stream. General Gang ordered the stream blocked until the Khitans began to cross it, and when the Khitans were mid-way across, he ordered that the dam be destroyed so that the water would drown much of the Khitan army. The damage was great, but the Khitans did not abandon their campaign.

The Khitan were beset by continuous harassing attacks, forcing General Xiao to abandon all thoughts of conquest. His attention soon focused on the grave problem of trying to extricate himself from the hellish winter of northwest Korea. In their rush north toward the Yalu River, the Khitan army retreated headlong into the well defended Kusong Garrison near the northwestern town of Kwiju. Goryeo's General Gang Gam-chan led a massive attack that annihilated all the Khitan army. Barely a few thousand of the Liao troops survived after the bitter defeat at Kusong.

Four years later, the Goryeo and the Liao Dynasties established normal relations. The Khitan never again invaded Goryeo. Both the Liao Dynasty and Goryeo enjoyed a time of peace, and their cultures were at their height.[1]

General Gang returned to the capital and was welcomed as the military hero who saved the kingdom. After the war, Gang retired from both the military and the government to rest, since he was too old, already having become a national hero. He was appointed as Prime Minister in 1030, one year before his death. He died in 1031.

Legacy

General Gang Gam-chan's overwhelming victories in the battles of Gwiju and Heunghwajin are often compared with the victories of General Eulji Mundeok at the Battle of Salsu or Admiral Yi Sun-sin at the battles of Hansan and Myeongnyang, which, like Gang's battles, overcame disadvantages and successfully defended the country. Along with them, Gang is regarded as one of the greatest Korean military commanders in Korean history even though he was not primarily a warrior as were Eulji and Yi.

Following Gang's victories in the Third Goryeo-Khitan War, the peace among the three powerful East-Asian empires settled; Goryeo established a peaceful but tense relationship with Liao, which gave up the hope of taking over either Song or Goryeo. As a result, Goryeo broke off relationships with Song Dynasty, but continued commercial trading with the Chinese; Song continued to pay tribute to Liao, and Song would also pay tribute to Western Xia, which would pay tribute to the Khitans. The peace lasted for about a century. The Jurchens took advantage of this time to expand their power without any interruption until their establishment of Jin Dynasty. Song Dynasty got the least benefit from the peace, and secretly encouraged the Jurchens to attack Liao, but after the fall of the Khitans, the Jurchens turned on Song and took over its capital, forcing the Chinese to flee southward. The victories of General Gang thus marked the ending point of the chain of wars between countries and was the beginning of a triangle diplomacy (Goryeo, Liao, Song), setting the scene for the ascendancy of the Jurchens.

Shrine

Korean destroyer Gang Gam-chan Ham, launched March 16, 2006

A shrine to Gang Gam-chan, called "Anguksa," stands in Sadang-dong, Gwanak-gu, Seoul. His memorial tablet was enshrined at Samhyeonsa (renamed to Chunghyeonseowon) in 1658.

Naval warship Gang Gam-chan Ham

A KD-2–class (4,500 tons) Korean naval destroyer was named after the famous general, the Gang Gam-chan Ham, No. 979, built by Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering’s shipyard on Geoje Island, Gyeongsangnam-do Province, construction beginning July 2004, launched 2006 March 16, and delivered 2007 October 1.[2]

See also

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • Kim, Kumja Paik. 2003. Goryeo dynasty Korea's age of enlightenment, 918-1392. San Francisco: Asian Art Museum—Chong-Moon Lee Center for Asian Art and Culture in cooperation with the National Museum of Korea and the Nara National Munseum. ISBN 9780939117253
  • Pak, Sŏng-nae. 1998. Portents and politics in Korean history. Seoul, Korea: Jimoondang Pub. Co. ISBN 9788988095072
  • Saccone, Richard. 1993. Koreans to Remember: Fifty Famous People who Helped Shape Korea. Elizabeth, N.J.: Hollym International. ISBN 9781565910072


External links

Credits

New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:

The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia:

Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.

  1. However, as the balance of power on the Liao-Goryeo border shifted, the Jurchens, who lived around the border between the two nations, began to expand their power. Finally, in 1115, Jurchen chief Wányán Āgǔdǎ founded the Jin Dynasty in Manchuria, and began to attack both Khitans and Koreans. Within ten years Jurchen troops captured the Liao king, and finally Goryeo was forced to pay tribute to Jin.
  2. [Maeil Business News, "5th Korean Warship 'Gang Gam-chan Ham' Delivered to ROK Navy", 2007 October 1. For higher resolution photo see Daily, 2007 October 2.