Goryeo-Khitan Wars
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The Goryeo-Khitan Wars refers to a series of 10th and 11th-century invasions of Korea's Goryeo Dynasty by the Khitan Liao Dynasty near the present-day border between China and North Korea. The Goryeo-Khitan Wars consisted of the first, the second, and third campaigns.
 History of Korea
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Jeulmun Period
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Background
During the Three Kingdoms of Korea period, Goguryeo occupied the northern Korean Peninsula and parts of Manchuria. With Goguryeo's fall in 668 C.E., Silla unified the Three Kingdoms, while Silla's ally Tang Dynasty China briefly occupied the northern parts of Goguryeo territory. A former Goguryeo general revived Goguryeo's Manchurian territory as the new kingdom of Balhae. Immediately following the fall of Goguryeo, the Tang Dynasty divided and eventually drove out from most of Central Asia Turkic peoples (called Göktürks). Another Turkic tribe, the Uyghurs, replaced the Göktürks but they exerted weak influence in the region.
As Balhae, the Uyghur and the Tang Dynasty weakened, the Tungusic Khitan people emerged in the region now called Inner Mongolia, and began the expansion of their territory. Following Tang's fall in 907 C.E., China experienced a long civil war. In 911 C.E., threatened by Khitan expansion, Balhae sought assistance from the declining Unified Silla. Records state that Balhae also requested help from Silla's successor dynasty Goryeo during the Later Three Kingdoms. In 916, Khitan chief Yelü Abaoji, founded the Liao Dynasty, replacing the Uyghurs as the dominant power of present-day Mongolia.
Goryeo-Khitan relations
The Goryeo dynasty succeeded the Unified Silla dynasty in 918. The Khitan destroyed Balhae in 926, many of Balhae's ruling class fleeing south, joining the newly founded Goryeo Dynasty. Historically, Korea had maintained close relations with the traditional dynasties of China, but considered the northern peoples barbarians, especially after Balhae's fall. The Khitan took control of sixteen Chinese provinces south of the Great Wall establishing the foundation of the short-lived Later Jin Dynasty (936-947), which ruled only a small part of China.
In 922, the Khitan leader Yelü Abaoji sent horses and camels to Goryeo as a gift, seeking friendly relations. When Balhae fell, Emperor Taejo embraced Balhae refugees, pursuing a policy of northern expansion. In 942, the Khitan sent fifty camels to Goryeo, but Taejo refused the gift, exiling the envoy to an island and starving the camels to death. Succeeding Goryeo rulers continued the anti-Khitan policy. Jeongjong raised an army of 300,000 to defend against the Khitan. Gwangjong built fortresses along the northwest, and aggressively developed present-day Pyongyang and Hamgyong.
Liao's expansion
In 946 C.E., the Khitan Liao Dynasty sought to seize all of China. As the Song Dynasty moved to unify China in 960, internal conflict among Liao royal family members briefly stopped the Khitan goal of Chinese conquest. In 962, Gwangjong allied with Song China, pursuing a northern expansion policy. Additionally, some Balhae refugees had formed a small state called Jeongan-guk in mid-Yalu River region and allied with Song and Goryeo against the Khitan. The Khitan eventually regained internal stability under the strong leadership of Emperor Shengzong, who sought to counter regional isolation. After conquering Jeongan-guk in 986 and attacking Jurchen tribes in lower Yalu in 991 C.E., the Khitans initiated attacks against Goryeo.
First Invasion
Background
In late August 993, Goryeo intelligence sources along the frontier learned of an impending Khitan invasion. King Seongjong of Goryeo quickly mobilized the military and divided his forces into three army groups to take up defensive positions in the northwest. Advanced units of the Goryeo army marched northwestward from their headquarters near modern Anju on the south bank of the Ch'ongch'on River. The seriousness of the situation compelled King Seongjong to travel from the capital to Pyongyang to personally direct operations.
The Khitan Attack
That October, a massive Khitan army numbering nearly 800,000 men under the command of General Xiao Sunning swarmed out of Liao from the Naewon-song Fortress and surged across the Yalu River into Goryeo. Waves of Khitan warriors swept across the river and fanned out over the countryside. In bloody seesaw warfare, the fierce resistance of Goryeo soldiers at first slowed, then considerably hampered, the Khitan advance at the city of Pongsan-gun. As they had done with the Chinese, Goryeo's army never surrendered. It stood firm against frontal attacks, broke to retreat and lay ambushes, and launched flanking attacks against the Khitan. Goryeo warriors finally halted Xiao Sunning's army at the Ch'ongch'on River. In the face of such quick and determined resistance, the Khitan decided that further attempts to conquer the entire peninsula would be far too costly, and sought instead to negotiate a settlement with Goryeo.
Beginning of Negotiations
What the Khitan could not take on the battlefield with arms, they tried to steal with words. Without a hint of contrition or humility, General Xiao Sunning demanded the surrender of the former territory of Balhae to Emperor Shengzong. He asked that Goryeo sever its relations with Song China and, in the boldest demand of all, that King Songjong accept vassal status under the Liao emperor and pay a set annual tribute to the Liao state. Instead of responding with a unified voice and rejecting General Xiao's demands outright, the Khitan ultimatum quickly became the topic of heated debate in the royal court at Kaesong. Government officials on one side believed that acceding to General Xiao would prevent further Khitan incursions and they urged the court to appease the Liao emperor. Many of the senior military commanders who had recently faced the Khitan army on the battlefield stood in opposition, including General Seo Hui, commander of an army group north of Anju.
While the bureaucrats argued in Kaesong, General Xiao launched a sudden attack across the Ch'ongch'on River directly at the Goryeo army headquarters in Anju. The Khitan assault was quickly repulsed, but it had the effect of agitating the royal court to a state of near panic.
Truce Negotiations
In an effort to calm the court nobility, minister Seo Hui volunteered to negotiate directly with General Xiao. The one key factor influencing the negotiations, and both parties knew it, was the heavy pressure being exerted on the Liao state by Song China. In face to face talks with his Khitan counterpart, minister Seo bluntly told General Xiao the Khitan had no basis for claims to former Balhae territory. In fact, since the Goryeo dynasty was without question successor to the former Goguryeo kingdom, that land rightfully belonged under Goryeo's domain. In a cleverly veiled threat, Seo Hui reminded General Xiao that the Liaodong Peninsula was also territory once under the dominion of Goguryeo. The Manchurian territories, including the Khitan capital at Liaoyang, should properly belong to Goryeo.
Aftermath
In a final remarkable act, minister Seo obtained Khitan consent to allow the region up to the Yalu River to be incorporated into Goryeo territory. General Xiao and the Khitan army not only returned to Liao without having achieved their goals, but the invasion literally ended with the Khitan giving up territory along the southern Yalu River to King Songjong. Seo Hui's brilliant diplomatic maneuver underscored his correct understanding of both the contemporary international situation and Goryeo's position in the region.
Following an exchange of prisoners, the Khitan army withdrew back across the Yalu River. The following year, Goryeo and the state of Liao established formal diplomatic relations. In an effort to help the process along, Goryeo temporarily suspended its diplomatic relations with Song China.
Second Invasion
The Second Goryeo-Khitan War was an 11th-century conflict between the kingdom of Goryeo and Khitan forces near what is now the border between China and North Korea. The Goryeo-Khitan Wars began in 993 with the first campaign and ended in 1018 with the third campaign.
Background
Expecting further Khitan incursions, King Songjong ordered the construction of what became known as the Six Garrison Settlements to extend the power of Goryeo all along the banks of the Yalu River. Peasant laborers built massive fortresses in the coastal plains and foothills between the Ch'ongch'on and Yalu Rivers near the modern cities of Uiju, Yongch'on, Sonch'on, Ch'olsan, Kusong, and Kwaksan. With its modernized defensive fortifications completed, Goryeo reopened diplomatic relations with Song China. Khitan Emperor Shengzong viewed this defiant action and the growing strength of Goryeo forces stationed south of the Yalu River with alarm. He not only voiced displeasure over these developments, but demanded that Goryeo turn over its Six Garrison Settlements to the Liao empire. King Songjong immediately rejected his demand out of hand, thereby causing tensions between the Liao state and Goryeo to heighten once again.
The Invasion
Gang Jo's bloody coup in Kaesong provided the Liao emperor an opportune pretext to invade Goryeo under the guise of avenging King Mokjong's murder. In the winter of 1010, an army of 400,000 Khitan troops left the Naewon-song Fortress under the personal command of Emperor Shengzong and marched across the frozen Yalu River into the Goryeo frontier. General Gang successfully fought off the first Khitan assault from defensive positions around the Sonch'on Garrison. Undaunted, the Khitan warriors regrouped and launched a second attack. This time they overran the garrison and captured General Gang. Despite repeated demands from the Khitan emperor that Gang Jo vow allegiance to him, the heroic Goryeo general steadfastly refused to bow in submission. Emperor Shengzong executed him on the spot.
Emperor Shengzong's army defeated the Sunchun Garrison and easily pierced Goryeo's defenses, bypassing the coastal garrison at Kwaksan and pushing south to lay siege to the city of Pyongyang. Only a staunch defense by Goryeo defenders prevented the fall of the city. When news of Gang Jo's death reached the royal court at Kaesong, the government nearly panicked. The king's ministers clamored for an immediate and unconditional surrender. King Hyeonjong rejected the plea of his ministers and instead took the advice of one of his generals. Hoping to buy time for the remaining Goryeo forces to reorganize and counterattack when the Khitan thrust lost its momentum, Hyungjong directed the court to move far south to the port city of Naju.
Negotiations
Emperor Shengzong continued drive his forces southward. Khitan troops eventually reached the capital at Kaesong and took the city. The Khitan army savagely raped and pillaged its way through Kaesong. Hoping to end the hostilities, King Hyungjong attempted to sue for peace. The Khitan emperor haughtily ordered Goryeo to cede the strategic border region then under the control of the Six Garrisons. He also demanded that if King Hyeonjong wanted the Khitan to withdraw from Goryeo, he should come to the capital at Liaoyang and show his obeisance to the Liao Dynasty. Hyeonjong knew full well that such an act would amount to acknowledgement of Goryeo's vassal status to the Liao emperor. The young king stubbornly refused such an absurd request and never took the royal journey north.
Aftermath
Despite their success on the battlefield, the Liao invasion brought the Khitan no particular advantage. After driving deep into the heart of Goryeo, Emperor Shengzong and his troops found themselves ever more dependent on thinly stretched supply lines that ran between the Naewon-song Fortress and Kaesong. Fearing that he might be cut off and isolated deep within Goryeo, Shengzong decided to withdraw his army. Goryeo's warriors counterattacked the Khitan mercilessly during its northward retreat and inflicted horrendous casualties. Between 20,000 - 30,000 Khitan soldiers reportedly died in their frantic attempt to recross the Yalu River into Liao.
Third Invasion
The Third Goryeo-Khitan War was an 11th-century conflict between the kingdom of Goryeo and Khitan forces near what is now the border between China and North Korea. The Goryeo-Khitan Wars began in 993 with the first campaign and continued with the second campaign.
Background
In 993, Khitans under General Xiao Sunning invaded Korea, but retreated after truce negotiations with minister Seo Hui of Goryeo, establishing friendly relations between the two nations. In 1004, Khitans invaded China. Chinese forces were terribly defeated, and the Chinese were forced to pay tribute to the Liao emperor.
However, the tension between Goryeo and Liao created another war. In 1009, General Gang Jo of Goryeo led a coup against King Mokjong, killing the king and establishing military rule. In 1010, the alliance was broken and Liao attacked Korea for General Gang's treason. Also, Khitans claimed six garrison settlements east of the Yalu River, which Goryeo claimed as its territory in truce negotiations during 993. The Koreans fought fiercely but were defeated. However, the Goryeo king managed to retain his claim on the six garrison settlements. The Khitans retreated from the peninsula, with no great prize for the war, but they did not give up their hope of gaining the six garrison settlements and making Goryeo pay tribute.
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.
Aftermath
Four years later, Goryeo and the Liao dynasty reached a negotiated peace agreement and 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. 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. In 1125, Jurchen troops captured the Liao king with help from the Chinese, who encouraged the Jurchens in the hope of gaining territories they lost to the Khitans before. Most Khitans fled to Turkestan, where they established the Kingdom of Western Liao(Kara-Khitai). Many of them were forced to surrender to the Jurchens, while Goryeo was forced to pay tribute to Jin.
See also
Notes
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Grousset, René. 1970. The empire of the steppes; a history of central Asia. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press. ISBN 9780813506272
- Kang, Eung-cheon, and Joel Levin. 2005. Koryeo dynasty: a journey into the noble tradition of Korea. Virtual museum of Korean history, 7. Korea: Sakyejul Publ. ISBN 9788958280972
- 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
External links
- Koryo and the Khitan (1). Retrieved October 4, 2007.
- Koryo and the Khitan (2). Retrieved October 4, 2007.
- Korea Britannica. Retrieved October 4, 2007.
- Doosan Encyclopedia. Retrieved October 4, 2007.
- Dongsuh Encyclopedia. Retrieved October 4, 2007.
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