Kim Alji
Kim Alji (김알지, 金閼智) was a historical figure in Korean history. His descendents formed the Kim royal clan of Silla, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea.
His legendary birth is said to have occurred during the reign of Silla's fourth ruler, King Talhae of Silla. Though Kim Alji did not rule as King of Silla, his descendants did. Today, 1.7 million South Koreans are in the Gyeongju Kim clan, who trace their genealogy to Kim Alji.
Birth legend
The Samguk Yusa and Samguk Sagi both contain nearly the same story about Kim Alji's birth.
In the year 65 (9th year of Talhae's reign), King Talhae heard a rooster crowing in Sirim, west of Geumseong (Gyeongju, the Silla capital at the time). He sent his minister Hogong who was form Japan [1] to investigate, who found a golden box hanging on a branch. Light was emanating from the box, and a white rooster was crowing under it.
Hearing this report, the king ordered the box brought to him. When the king opened the box, there was an infant inside. The king was very pleased and reared him. Because he was born from a golden box and was very clever, the king named him "Kim (金, meaning the gold) Alji (閼智, meaning a child)." The forest where the box was found was named Gyerim (rooster forest), which also was used as the name of Silla.
This legend is similar to the birth legend of the founder of Silla, Bak Hyeokgeose of Silla (who is said to have called himself Alji Geoseogan).
Modern interpreters have suggested that the Kim Alji may have been the chief of a "gold" (al) clan of northern Korea/Manchuria.
According to a recent theory, Kim Alji may have been a descendant of Kim Iljae, a Xiongnu prince who had been directly recruited under Emperor Han Wudi. Not much else is known about Kim Alji except that the legend describing him as an adopted orphan of King Talhae is a symbolizing that the king gladly excepted Alji after he and his family fled China.
Life
It has been assumed that Alji was an upper-class man in Han Chinese society before the Han dynasty fell in 220 C.E. A dispute among Han officials resulted in the expelling of Kim Iljae's line from the Han court. This led to the eventual migrating of Kim Iljae's descendants to Gojoseon's ancient territories. Kim Alji led his family into the Korean peninsula during 65 C.E. Along with the Kim family was most likely an army trained in the ways that Han soldiers were trained at the time. Kim Alji and his family were carriers of the Chinese culture into the Korean peninsula, giving an explanation as to why the kingdom of Silla was the most sinicized and favored the Chinese the most. Kim Alji was accepted into Silla by King Talhae and given a position in the Silla government as well. With this, Kim Alji rapidly gained power and even began imposing the King himself. However, when the time came for Talhae to select his successor, Kim Alji refused the throne just as Talhae had done earlier in his lifetime. Unlike Talhae, however, Kim Alji would truly never receive the throne.
Death
The circumstances and time of his death are currently unknown and cannot be precisely located within any records, but it is known that his descendants continued to serve as powerful officials within the Silla court until the time came when they took power.
Royal Kim clan
Kim's son was Sehan (세한(勢漢)), and subsequent generations are recorded as: Ado (아도(阿都)) - Suryu (수류(首留)) - Ukbo (욱보(郁甫)) - Gudo (구도(俱道)). Gudo's son (Kim Alji's seventh generation descendant) was the first Silla king of the Kim line, Michu of Silla.
Legacy
The monument to King Munmu of Silla refers to five mythical ancestors whose historical equivalents are uncertain. A certain Mr. Kim Jae Seop claims that these ancestors refer to the mythical Chinese Emperor Shun, one of the Five August Ones, Duke Mu of Qin, an ancestor of Emperor Qin Shi Huang, a Qin prince who fled east after the fall of the dynasty, Kim Iljae, and Kim Alji.
See also
- Michu of Silla
- Gyeongju Kim
Sources
- ↑ 三國史記 卷第一 新羅本紀第一 始祖赫居世, 瓠公者 未詳其族姓 本倭人
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