Yeon Gaesomun

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For the historical drama, see Yeon Gaesomun (TV series).

Yeon Gaesomun
Hangul 연개소문 Hanja 淵蓋蘇文 Revised Romanization Yeon Gaesomun McCune-Reischauer Yŏn Kaesomun

Yeon Gaesomun (603 - 665), was a powerful and controversial military dictator and Generalissimo in the waning days of Goguryeo—one of the Three Kingdoms of ancient Korea.

Traditional Korean histories paint Yeon as a despotic leader, whose cruel policies and disobedience to his monarch led to the fall of Goguryeo. However, his achievements in defending Goguryeo against Chinese onslaughts have inspired Korean nationalist historians, most notably the 19th century Korean historian and intellectual Sin Chaeho, to term Yeon the greatest hero in Korean history. Many Korean scholars today echo Sin and praise Yeon as a soldier-statesman without equal in Korean history, though other scholars strongly disagree. Chinese and Japanese scholars continue to hold an unfavorable view of Yeon.

Background

Yeon Gaesomun was the first, and oldest son of Yeon Taejo, the Prime minister (막리지, 莫離支) of Goguryeo, during the reigns of Kings Pyeongwon of Goguryeo and Yeongyang of Goguryeo. Information about Yeon Gṣaesomun comes largely from the Samguk Sagi's accounts of Kings Yeongnyu and Bojang (Goguryeo vols. 8-10) and its biography of Yeon Gaesomun (vol. 49), surviving tomb engravings belonging to his sons Yeon Namsaeng and Yeon Namgeon, and the biographies of those same sons that appear in the Xin Tangshu (New History of Tang).

Tang Chinese historical records give Yeon Gaesomun's surname as Cheon 泉 (Chinese, Quan, meaning "spring"), becaujse Yeon (Chinese 淵, Yuan, meaning "riverhead") was the given name of Emperor Gaozu of Tang (Li Yuan, 李淵), founder and first emperor of Tang, and thus taboo to apply to another by Chinese tradition (see naming taboo). He is also sometimes referred to as Gaegeum (개금/蓋金).

Very little is known of Yeon's early days, until he became the Governor of the Western province (西部), where he oversaw the building of the Cheolli Jangseong, a network of military garrisons to defend the Liaodong area from Tang invaders.

Overthrow of the throne

Yeon Gaesomun's 642 coup d'etat came as the culimnation of a lengthy power struggle between the military and the executive officials. Traditional Chinese and Korean historians believed that his motive was simply his thirst for power. With the rise of Korean nationalism, many revisionist Korean historians now assert that his motive was to make Goguryeo take a tougher stance against Tang China (they have some trouble explaining why Yeon ordered invasions of Silla rather Tang China after his assumption of power). At the time the emperor was basically submitting to Tang for a peaceful diplomacy.

In 642, Yeon arranged a lavish banquet to celebrate his rise to the position of Eastern Governor to which one hundred the opposing Politicians of the kingdom were invited. Yeon's soldiers ambushed and killed all one hundred ministers that were present. Yeon then proceeded to the palace and murdered the king. According to traditional Chinese and Korean sources, Yeon's men dismembered the dead king's corpse into pieces and discarded it unaccordingly. After placing Bojang Taewang (r. 642-668),a nephew of Yeongnyu, on the Goguryeo throne, Yeon appointed himself Dae Mangniji (대막리지, 大莫離支, the highest possible rank of Goguryeo under the Taewang; associated with commander of military affairs, and leader of political affairs. Subsequently, in this role Yeon went on to assume de facto control over Goguryeo affairs of state until his death around 666.

His role in the murder of the Goguryeo king was taken as the primary pretext for the failed Tang invasion of 645.

Wars with China

The series of wars between Goguryeo and the Tang is one of the most important conflicts in Northeastern Asian history, for many believe that they were the main cause of the ultimate demise of once-powerful Goguryeo. Yeon was a central protagonist in this important series of wars, as well as its chief cause.

In the beginning of his rule, Yeon was briefly conciliatory toward Tang China. For instance, he supported Taoism at the expense of Buddhism, and in 643 sent emissaries to the Tang court to request Taoist sages, eight of whom were brought to Goguryeo. This gesture is considered by some historians as an effort to pacify the Tang and buy time to prepare for a Tang invasion that Yeon thought inevitable, given Yeon's ambitions to annex Silla.

Relations with Tang deteriorated, however, as Goguryeo launched new invasions of Silla, In the beginning, Taizong's noted military acumen enabled him to conquer a number of major border city fortresses of Goguryeo. Eventually, however, Taizong's invasion was met with two major setbacks. First, Taizong's main army was stymied and bogged down for several months at Ansi Fortress due to the resistance of the celebrated commander, Yang Man-chun. Second, the elite marine force that Taizong sent to take Pyongyang, Goguryeo's capital, was defeated by Yeon who, according to the Joseon Sanggosa, then immediately marched his legions to relieve Yang's Goguryeo forces at Ansi Fortress.

Taizong, caught between Yang's forces in the front and Yeon's counter-attacking forces closing in behind him as well as suffering from the harsh winter and dangerously low food supplies Taizong was forced to retreat back home. (Zizhi Tongjian). During the retreat itself, a large number of Taizong's soldiers were slain by Yeon and his pursuing army. However, Taizong and the bulk of the invading army survived. Taizong's first invasion of Goguryeo was defeated. However Taizong inflicted heavy casualties on Goguryeo's side (both soldiers and civilians). After the invasion, Goguryeo was never again able to launch attacks on China, as it once did during the peak of its power.

It is speculated that after Taizong's failure of conquering Goguryeo the personal rivalry with Yeon became an obsession with Taizong and his son Gaozong. They invaded Goguryeo two more times in 661 and 667 and were unsuccessful at both times—perhaps most notably during Yeon's defeat of the Tang forces in 662 at the Sasu River (蛇水, Probably present-day Botong river) where the invading general and all 13 of his sons were killed in the battle. Yeon's victory in Sasu is today considered by many Koreans to be one of the three greatest military victories in Korean history. With increasing domestic issues in China, Tang was once again forced to retreat. However, the population and economy were severely damaged after the three major invasions and never recovered. both Silla and Tang continued their invasions for over 8 years, ultimately leading to the demise of Goguryeo. However, at least while Yeon Gaesomun was alive, Tang and Silla were not able to conquer Goguryeo.

Death

The most likely date of Yeon's death is that recorded on the tomb stele of Namsaeng, Yeon Gaesomun's eldest son: the twenty-fourth year of the reign of Bojang (665). However, the Samguk Sagi records the year as 666, and the Japanese history Nihonshoki gives the year as the twenty-third year of the reign of King Bojang (664).

He apparently died of natural causes.

Yeon Gaesomun had at least three sons, (eldest to youngest) Yeon Namsaeng, Yeon Namgeon, and Yeon Namsan. After his death, the country was weakened by a succession struggle between his brother and three sons, and in 668 fell relatively swiftly to the Silla-Tang armies.

Controversy and Legacy

Template:Cleanup-section Yeon has been one of the most—if not the most—controversial figures in Korean history. The many controversies surrounding him revolve around two issues: his character and his role in the fall of Goguryeo.

First, in terms of his character, later Confucian scholars have mercilessly criticized Yeon for the coup and the regicide that brought him to power. In their eyes, he was a disloyal subject who sought personal power above all else. In particular, extant Tang and Silla sources have consistently portrayed Yeon as a brutal and arrogant dictator. According to their testimony, for instance, Yeon carried five swords at a time, and would have men prostrate themselves so that he might use their backs to mount or dismount his horse.

Yeon's modern-time defenders, however, dismiss these Tang and Silla sources as biased calumnies of enemy historians. Moreover, they argue that Yeon's subsequent single-mindedness and success in defending Goguryeo testifies his genuine patriotism (though Taizong's first invasion was provoked by Yeon's attacks on Silla, and subsequent attacks were possibly due to Taizong and his son's personal hatred against Yeon).

Second, in terms of his role in the downfall of Gogureyo, Yeon's detractors blame Yeon for needlessly provoking the Tang to attack Goguryeo (see above) and thereby ensuring its downfall. They point out that, while Goguryeo remained a formidable regional power before Yeon assumed power, it was completely destroyed by Silla and Tang within a short time soon after his death. They also point out that the population of Gogureyo decreased dramatically during Yeon's rule, and much of the economy was destroyed due to constant wars with Tang China and Silla.

Yeon's defenders rejoin by claiming that the Tang would have invaded Goguryeo, regardless of Goguryeo's attitude vis-a-vis Tang (although a major reason for Taizong's first invasion of Goguryeo was Yeon's invasion of Silla, another Korean kingdom that allied with Tang). They add that continuing to appease the Tang—as King Yongnyu had done—is tantamount to Neville Chamberlain's appeasement of Hitler.

For many modern Korean nationalists, Yeon is a symbol of that magic historical juncture where the pinnacle of Korean history and its Chinese counterpart violently collided, and the Koreans unambiguously triumphed over the Chinese. It is no wonder in this age of renascent conflict between South Korea and China over the historical ownership of part of Manchuria, Yeon has undegone a dramatic rehabilitation, and he is for the first time by a large number of South Koreans, most of them descendants of the people of Silla, the greatest hero in their history per Sin Chae-ho's words.

Another huge controversy that arises is the sources actually used to support the defeat of the Tang Dynasty. Some sources such as Sin's Joseon Sangosa claim that Taizong was forced into the outskirts of Beijing, but Sin's account has been challenged on the basis that it lacked support in traditional Korean and Chinese sources. For example, he stated that 100,000-200,000 Tang soldiers died, but both the ancient Korean history Samguk Sagi and ancient Chinese histories Book of Tang, New Book of Tang, and Zizhi Tongjian put the figure at 20,000, stating that there were only 100,000 Tang soldiers used total. The modern Chinese historian Bo Yang has speculated that the Yeon had the records altered so that he could claim credit for Yang Manchun's victory over Tang.

See also

• History of Korea
• List of Korea-related topics
• Three Kingdoms of Korea

Preceded by: Yeon Taejo	Daedaero of the Eastern Province of Goguryeo 642 - 665	Succeeded by: Yeon Namsaeng
Preceded by: Eulji Mundeok	Magniji (Prime Minister) of Goguryeo 642 - ?	Succeeded by: Yeon Namsaeng
Preceded by: 'None'	Dae Magniji (Grand Prime Minister) of Goguryeo 642 - 665	Succeeded by: Yeon Namsaeng

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