Taejo of Goryeo
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|hangul=태조|hanja=太祖|rr=Taejo|mr=T'aejo|hangulp=신성왕|hanjap=神聖王|rrp=Sinseong-wang|mrp=Sinsŏng-wang|hangulb=왕건|hanjab=王建|rrb=Wang Geon|mrb=Wang K'n|
Taejo of Goryeo (877-943, r. 918-943
[Combining his rule of Taebong and Goryeo. He only established Goryeo in 936.]), was the founder of the
Goryeo Dynasty, which ruled
Korea from the 10th to the 14th century. He was a descendant of a powerful clan at Songdo, who controlled trade on the Yesong River. He was born in 877 in a wealthy merchant clan based on present-day
Kaesŏng. His father, Wang Yung, was leader of clan and gained much wealth from trade with
China.
Taejo began his career in the turbulent
Later Three Kingdoms period (후삼국 시대;
後三國時代;
Husamguk Sidae). In the later years of
Silla, many local leaders and bandits rebelled against the rule of Queen Jinsung, who did not have strong leadership or policy to improve condition of people. Among those rebels,
Gung Ye (궁예;
"";
Kung Ye) of northeastern region and
Gyeon Hwon (견훤;
"萱;
Kyŏn Hwŏn) of southeast gained more power. They defeated and absorbed much of the other rebellion group as their troops marched against local Silla officials and bandits. In 895, Gung Ye led his forces into far northwestern part of Silla, where Songdo was located. Wang Yung, along with many other local clans, quickly surrendered to Gung Ye. Wang Geon followed his father into service under
Gung Ye, the future leader of
Taebong, and he began his service under Gungye's command.
Wang Geon's ability as a military commander was soon recognized by Gung Ye, who promoted him to general and even regarded him as his brother. In 900, he led successful campaign against local clans and army of
Later Baekje in
Chungju area, gaining more fame and recognition from the king. In 903, he led famous naval campaign against the southwestern coastline of Hubaekje, while Gyeon Hwon was at war against Silla. He led several more military campaigns, and also helping conquered people who lived in poverty under Silla rule. Public favored him due to his leadership and generosity.
In 913, he was appointed as prime minister of newly renamed Taebong. Its king, Gung Ye, whose leadership helped foundation of the kingdom but began to refer himself as the Buddha, began to persecute people who expressed their opposition against his religious arguments. He executed many monks, then later even his own wife and two sons, and the public began to turn away from him. His costly rituals and harsh rule caused even more opposition.
In 918, four top-ranked generals of Taebong"
Hong Yu (홍유;
洪'),
Bae Hyeongyeong (배현경;
裵玄慶;
Pae Hyŏn-gyŏng),
Shin Sung-gyeom (신숭겸;
"崇謙;
S(h)in Sung-gyŏm) and
Bok Jigyeom (복지겸;
卜智謙;
Pok Chi-gyŏm)"met secretly and agreed to overthrow Gungye's rule and crown Wang Kon as their new king. Wang first opposed the idea but later agreed to their plan. At the same year Gung Ye was overthrown and killed near his capital,
Cheorwon. When Gung Ye was assassinated in
918, the generals selected him to be the new king of this short-lived state. Wang was crowned king and renamed the kingdom Goryeo, thus beginning
Goryeo Dynasty. The next year he moved the capital back to his hometown, Songak.
He promoted Buddhism as national religion, and called for the reconquest of northern part of Korea and Manchuria, which was controlled by
Balhae. Balhae rule over vast region of Manchuria and parts of Siberia was overthrowned by Khitan invasion in 926, and the majority of its people came to Goryeo as refugees. Taejo accepted them as his citizens, since Balhae and Goryeo came from common ancestry of
Goguryeo, and captured the old, then abandoned capital city of Goguryeo,
P'yŏngyang. He also seek for alliance and cooperation with local clans rather than trying to conquer and bring them under his direct control.
In 927, Gyeon Hwon of Hubaekje led forces into Silla's capital,
Gyeongju, capturing and executing its king,
King Gyeongae. Then he established King Gyeongsun as his puppet monarch before he turned his army toward Goryeo. Taejo, hearing of the news, planned to strike Gyeon's troops on the way back home at Gongsan near
Daegu. He met Hubaekju forces and suffered disastrous defeat, losing most of his army including his best warrior Shin Sunggyeom, the very same man who crowned Wang as a king. However, Goryeo quickly recovered from defeat and successfully defended Hubaekje attack on its front.
In 935, the last king of Silla, King Gyeongsun, felt there was no way to revive his kingdom and surrendered his entire land to Taejo. Taejo gladly accepted his surrender and gave him the title of prince, and accepted his daughter as one of his wives (Wang had six queens, and many more wives as he married daughters of every single local leader). It caused much disgust to Gyeon Hwon. Gyeon's father, who held his own claim of
Sangju region, also defected and surrendered to Goryeo and was received as the father of an emperor.
In the same year, Gyeon Hwon's oldest son,
Singeom (신검;
神劍;
S(h)in-gŏm), led a coup against his father, who favored his half-brother as his successor to the throne. Gyeon Hwon was sent into exile and imprisoned in a Buddhist temple, but escaped to Goryeo and was treated like his father, who died just before his surrender.
In 936, Wang led his final campaign against Singeom of Later Baekje. Singeom fought against Taejo, but facing much disadvantage and inner conflict, he surrendered to Taejo. Wang finally occupied Hubaekje formally, and unified Korea as single country; for the first time in Korean history. He ruled until 943, and died from disease.
Taejo sought to bring even his enemies into his ruling coalition. He gave titles and land to rulers and nobles from the various countries he had defeated: Later Baekje, Silla, and also
Balhae which disintegrated around the same time. Thus he sought to secure stability and unity for his kingdom which had been lacking in the later years of Silla.
The unification of the Later Three Kingdoms in 936 was very important in Korean history; the unification of 668 by Silla was completed in only half of the nation, since the northern part was ruled by Balhae, the revival of Goguryeo. However, Wang's unification in 936 was a full-scale unification, with the agreement of all Korean people—and the nation remained as single, unified country until 1948, when Korea was divided into North and South. Many modern Koreans look on his legacy—the only one who unified the divided nation in its whole history—to find hope in his leadership and comparisons with the current situation.
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