Dae Jung-sang (?–698?), also known as Geolgeol Jungsang, was a key contributor to the founding of

Balhae Balhae ( ko, 발해, zh, c=渤海, p=Bóhǎi, russian: Бохай, translit=Bokhay, ), also rendered as Bohai, was a multi-ethnic kingdom whose land extends to what is today Northeast China, the Korean Peninsula and the Russian Far East. It wa ...

, and the father of

Dae Jo-yeong Dae Joyeong (died 719) (; or in Korean) or Da Zuorong (大祚榮, 大祚荣, in Chinese), also known as King Go (; in Korean; Gao in Chinese), established the state of Balhae, reigning from 699 to 719. Life Early life Dae Joyeong wa ...

, the actual founder of Balhae. Though much of the credit for the founding of Balhae went to his son, many historians still give credit to Dae Jung-sang as the main supporter and leader in the founding of Balhae.

Background

Historical sources give different accounts of the ethnicity and background of Dae Jung-sang's son, Dae Joyeong. Among the official dynastic history works, the ''

New Book of Tang The ''New Book of Tang'', generally translated as the "New History of the Tang" or "New Tang History", is a work of official history covering the Tang dynasty in ten volumes and 225 chapters. The work was compiled by a team of scholars of the So ...

'' refers to Dae Joyeong and his state as

Sumo Mohe The Mohe, Malgal, or Mogher, or Mojie, were an East Asian Tungusic people who lived primarily in the modern geographical region of Northeast Asia. The two most powerful Mohe groups were known as the Heishui Mohe, located along the Amur River, a ...

(related to

Jurchens Jurchen (Manchu language, Manchu: ''Jušen'', ; zh, 女真, ''Nǚzhēn'', ) is a term used to collectively describe a number of East Asian people, East Asian Tungusic languages, Tungusic-speaking peoples, descended from the Donghu people. They ...

and later

Manchus The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized ethnic minority in China and the people from whom Manchuria derives its name. The Later Jin (1616–1636) and Q ...

) affiliated with Goguryeo. The ''

Old Book of Tang The ''Old Book of Tang'', or simply the ''Book of Tang'', is the first classic historical work about the Tang dynasty, comprising 200 chapters, and is one of the Twenty-Four Histories. Originally compiled during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdo ...

'' also states Dae's ethnic background as Mohe but adds that he was "高麗別種" (''gaoli biezhong''). The term is interpreted as meaning "a branch of the Goguryeo people" by South and North Korean historians, but as "distinct from Goguryeo" by Japanese and Chinese researchers. The ''

Samguk yusa ''Samguk yusa'' () or ''Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms'' is a collection of legends, folktales and historical accounts relating to the Three Kingdoms of Korea (Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla), as well as to other periods and states before, duri ...

'', a 13th-century collection of Korean history and legends, describes Dae as a Sumo Mohe leader. However, it gives another account of Dae being a former Goguryeo general, citing a now-lost Sillan record. Alexander Kim considers this unlikely since Goguryeo fell in 668 while Dae died in 719, and young men could not receive the rank of general.

Biography

In 696, the Khitan led a revolt that killed the cruel governor of the protectorate and gave Yingzhou back to the Khitan. Dae Jung-sang allied with the Baishan Mohe leader

Geolsa Biu Geolsa Biu was a 7th-century military leader of Baishan Mohe ancestry. Geolsa Biu took an active part in Balhae's effort for autonomy against the Tang Dynasty. Geolsa Biu died in the Battle of Tianmenling, in which Balhae achieved victory and de ...

(

Hangul The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The let ...

: 걸사비우,

Hanja Hanja (Hangul: ; Hanja: , ), alternatively known as Hancha, are Chinese characters () used in the writing of Korean. Hanja was used as early as the Gojoseon period, the first ever Korean kingdom. (, ) refers to Sino-Korean vocabulary, wh ...

: 乞四比羽

pinyin Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally written in Chinese for ...

: Qǐsì bǐyǔ), and the two powers opposed the Tang influence in 698. The two leaders resisted the Tang's attack, but were forced to retreat. Both Geolsa Biu, and Dae Jung-sang died in battle, but Dae Jo-yeong led the remaining Goguryeo and Malgal soldiers and defeated the Tang army at the

Battle of Tianmenling The Battle of Tianmenling (), or the Battle of Cheonmun-ryeong in Korean (), was a battle fought between Dae Jo-yeong, later founder of Balhae, and Li Kaigu (), a Khitan commander of the Chinese Tang dynasty and Wu Zhou dynasty. After the fall o ...

(Cheonmunryeong) and established the

. The state was created by the leader of the Mohe people, who subjugated the neighboring tribes both by diplomatic and military force. The people of Goguryeo were subject to diplomatic power and voluntarily recognized him as their leader. According to

Wu Zetian Wu Zetian (17 February 624 – 16 December 705), personal name Wu Zhao, was the ''de facto'' ruler of the Tang dynasty from 665 to 705, ruling first through others and then (from 690) in her own right. From 665 to 690, she was first empres ...

created Dae as Duke of Zhen (Jin),

as Duke of Xu (Heo), and pardon their crimes. Geolsa Biu refused the title and Wu sent general Li Kaigu to suppress the rebellions. Geolsa died in

led the others in victorious against Li. Dae Jung-sang died from sickness after the battle.

Family

The most notable and famous of his children was his eldest, Dae Jo-yeong. Dae Jung-sang had another son, Dae Ya-bal (대야발), and probably also had other children besides Dae Jo-yeong because the Balhae Royal line consisted of two lineages, one from Dae Jo-yeong and the other from Dae Ya-bal.

In popular culture

* Portrayed by

Im Hyuk Im Hyuk (born Im Jung-hyuk; May 31, 1949) is a South Korean actor. Im has starred in television series since 1969, notably in historical drama A historical drama (also period drama, costume drama, and period piece) is a work set in a past tim ...

in the 2006-2007 KBS TV series '' Dae Jo Yeong''.

References

External links

Relationship between Mohe, Jurchens and Hungarian names (Qiqi Zhongxiang and Qisi Piyu)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dae, Jung-Sang Balhae rulers Balhae people Mohe peoples 7th-century monarchs in Asia