Gang Gam-chan
| Gang Gam-chan | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
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, but is best known for his military victories during the Third Goryeo-Khitan War.
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. Gam Gam-chan's birth site is called 落星垈 (낙성대), "site of the fallen star," near Seoul's Nakseongdae Station on the Line 2 subway.
Kang was small for a child, 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
The Khitans were an ethnic group, later subsumed by the Mongols, that dominated much of Manchuria (Northeast China) about a thousand years ago through the Liao Dynasty. 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 supported negotiations, which did the king in his decision, and an emissary Seo Hui was sent to meet Gen. Xiao. Successful negotiations led to the withdrawal of Khitan forces and friendly relationship between Liao and Goryeo.
In 1004 Liao defeated the Chinese Song Dynasty in the south, and the Song emperor was forced to pay tribute. The only remaining power in the region was Goryeo. In 1009, General Gang Jo of Goryeo led a coup and murdered King Mokjong, deposing him and establishing military rule. He also dissolved the peace agreement with the Khitan Liao Dynasty, who saw this as reason to attack. 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 surrender to the invading Liao troops and to leave the palace. The King followed Gang's advice and managed to escape from the burning capital. A Korean insurgency began to harass Khitan forces, which finally compelled Shengzong to withdraw his army. The Khitans had won the war but gained no benefit; rather spending precious resources in vain and reducing the national treasury. Thus another bloody war between the two nations was foreshadowed, and tensions would further lead to the Second Goryeo-Khitan War. Gang Gam-chan was promoted to prime minister.
In 1018, General Xiao Baiya, under orders of the Liao administration, 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. However, Gang advised the king to declare war against the Liao because the enemy contingent was much smaller than in previous invasions. He volunteered to be the acting deputy war minister for the duration of the war, at the age of seventy-one. He led about 208,000 men toward the Goryeo-Liao 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. General Kang returned to the capital and was welcomed as the military hero who saved the kingdom. After the war, Kang 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 or 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 Kang 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
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.
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.[1]
See also
- List of Goryeo people
- Military history of Korea
- Battle of Kwiju
- Goryeo
- Goryeo-Khitan War
- List of Korea-related topics
External links
- Empas article, in Korean. Retrieved November 18, 2007.
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.
- ↑ [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.
