Wi Man
衛滿
위만
King of Wiman Joseon
Reign194 BCE – Unknown
SuccessorUnknown
HouseWi
Wiman of Gojoseon
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese衛滿
Simplified Chinese卫满
Korean name
Hangul위만
Hanja衛滿
Wiman Joseon monarchs
Wiman 194 BCE–?
Unknown  ?–?
Ugeo ?–108 BCE

Wi Man (in Korean) or Wei Man (in Chinese) was a Chinese military general and monarch. He was originally a military leader of the Chinese Kingdom of Yan.[note 1] When king Lu Wan of Yan was defeated by the Han in 195 BCE, Wi Man fled to Gojoseon in north-western Korea and later usurped power from its king in 194 BCE, establishing Wiman Joseon. Recorded in the Records of the Grand Historian and the Book of Han, Wiman was the first ruler in the history of Korea to have been recorded in documents from the same time period.

Biography

Gojoseon at its decline in 108 BCE

After Emperor Gaozu of Han suppressed the rebellion of Zang Tu, king of Yan, he appointed general Lu Wan as Yan's new king. In 196 BC, Emperor Gaozu suspected Lu Wan of plotting rebellion and ordered an attack against Yan. Lu Wan fled to the Xiongnu while his general Wiman (Wei Man) led a thousand followers east to Gojoseon.[1] He was initially ordered to fortify Gojoseon's northwestern border by King Jun of Gojoseon, however with the help of Yan refugees, Wiman usurped the throne (194~180 BCE). King Jun fled to Jin and called himself the "King of Han."

Wiman's capital of Gojoseon was Wanggeom-seong, generally identified as Pyongyang.[2] Since the Han dynasty was not completely stabilized yet, the governor of Liaodong appointed Wiman as an outer subject, provided that he did not prevent natives going up to the empire. The appointment is dated at 191 or 192 BCE.[3] Having superior military strength, Wiman Joseon was able to subjugate the state of Jinbeon (진번, 眞番) and Imdun (임둔, 臨屯), vastly extending its borders. His kingdom was eventually conquered by Emperor Wu of Han in 108 BCE during the reign of Ugeo of Gojoseon.

Family

References

  1. ^ Lee, Ki-baik: Walled-Town States and Confederated Kingdoms. The New History of Korea, page 16-17. Harvard University Press, 1984
  2. ^ Concerning controversy over the location of Lelang Commandery, there is a minority view that Wiman's domain was located in Liaoning instead of north-western Korea. However, it is generally accepted that the river referred to as "Majasu" (마자수, 馬訾水) refers to the Yalu River and "Paesu" (패수, 浿水) refers to the Yalu River or Ch'ongch'on River or Daling River, and that Wiman's territory was bordered on the north by the Han Dynasty. P'yŏngyang is the most likely site for the capital Wanggeom-seong but lacks archaeological evidence. For more information, see (Tani:1987).
  3. ^ (Ibaragi:1984)

Notes

  1. ^
    • Peterson, Mark (2009). Brief History of Korea. Infobase Publishing. p. 6. ISBN 978-1-4381-2738-5.
    "The term was used again by a refugee from the Han dynasty named Wiman, who about 200 B.C.E. set up a kingdom in Korea called Wiman Choson."
    "The earliest documented event in Korean history involves China. After an unsuccessful rising against the first Han emperor Gaozu, the defeated rebels sought refuge beyond the imperial frontier and one of them Wiman, took control of Choson, a Korean state in the north of the peninsula."
    "For instance, Wiman, a refugee from the Yan dynasty, which then existed around present-day Beijing, led his band of more than 1,000 followers into exile in Old Chosŏn in the early second century bc."
    "Retaliation by the Han then brought in refugees from Yan, the most notable of whom was a war lord, Weiman ('Wiman'in Korean), who somewhere about 200 BC led his followers into the territory held by Choson."
    "Here, Wiman was described as a "Gu Yanren 故燕人"or a person from former Yan. It is confusing because there were two Yans around this period. The first was the Yan state, which was one of the seven states during the Warring States period, and the second was the vassal state of Yan of the Han dynasty."

Sources

Wiman of Gojoseon House of Wi Regnal titles Preceded byJun of Gojoseon King of Gojseon 194 BC – c. 161 BC UnknownNext known title holder:Ugeo
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