Heukchi Sangji (黑齒常之, 630 – 689),

courtesy name A courtesy name (), also known as a style name, is a name bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to one's given name. This practice is a tradition in the East Asian cultural sphere, including China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.Ulrich Theobald ...

Hangwon(恒元), was a Korean-born Chinese military general of

Baekje Baekje or Paekche (, ) was a Korean kingdom located in southwestern Korea from 18 BC to 660 AD. It was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, together with Goguryeo and Silla. Baekje was founded by Onjo, the third son of Goguryeo's founder Jum ...

, one of the

Three Kingdoms of Korea Samhan or the Three Kingdoms of Korea () refers to the three kingdoms of Goguryeo (고구려, 高句麗), Baekje (백제, 百濟), and Silla (신라, 新羅). Goguryeo was later known as Goryeo (고려, 高麗), from which the modern name ''Kor ...

. He is remembered primarily as a leader of the Baekje Revival Movement to restore the kingdom after the capital fell in 660 to the Silla–Tang alliance. Later after their defeat he became a general of the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

. In China he was known as "''Heichi Changzhi''".

Background

In 1929 the tomb of Heukchi Sangji was discovered and excavated in

Luoyang Luoyang is a city located in the confluence area of Luo River (Henan), Luo River and Yellow River in the west of Henan province. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. According to the ''

Samguk Sagi ''Samguk Sagi'' (, ''History of the Three Kingdoms'') is a historical record of the Three Kingdoms of Korea: Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla. The ''Samguk Sagi'' is written in Classical Chinese, the written language of the literati of ancient Korea, ...

'', he was a man of the West Be (Bu, District) in Baekje who had surrendered to the army of the

at the fall of Baekje in 660, and became a distinguished Tang general. The epitaph states that his clan was a collateral branch of the Baekje royal family (Buyeo clan, 扶餘氏) but since their ancestors were enfeoffed with the Heuk-chi country (黑齒國), their descendants took this name. The epitaph also states that the Heukchi clan leaders held the rank of Dalsol (達率, 2nd court rank). According to the epitaph his great-grandfather was named Mundae (文大), his grandfather Deokhyeon (德顯), and his father was Sacha (沙次).

Baekje Revival Movement

In 660 a coalition of about 180,000 men of the Silla–Tang alliance led by Tang's

Su Dingfang Su Dingfang () (591–667), formal name Su Lie () but went by the courtesy name of Dingfang, formally Duke Zhuang of Xing (), was a Chinese military general of the Tang Dynasty who succeeded in destroying the Western Turkic Khaganate in 657. He wa ...

and Silla's

Kim Yu-sin Gim Yu-sin (sometimes romanized Kim Yu-shin, Gim Yu-sin, or Gim Yu-shin) (595 – 18 August 673) was a Korean military general and politician in 7th-century Silla. He led the unification of the Korean Peninsula by Silla under the reign of King ...

attacked Baekje and took the capital of Sabi. Sangji fled with several other generals to the Gangsan Fortress and joined the Baekje Revival Movement. He and his followers gathered 30,000 men in 10 days. Tang's

seemed to be eager to defeat him and

people. But he won continuously reoccupying 200 or more castles. In 663, Silla and Tang counterattacked, and besieged the restoration movement at a fortress known as Juryu Castle (주류성/周留城).At this point Boksin appears to have betrayed the restoration movement. He had

Dochim Dochim (died 661) was a Buddhist monk of Baekje, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. He is remembered primarily as a leader of a movement for the restoration of Baekje after the kingdom fell in 660 along with Gwisil Boksin. In 660, Baekje was a ...

killed and sought to slay Prince Pung as well. However, Pung killed him first, and fled to

Goguryeo Goguryeo (37 BC–668 AD) ( ) also called Goryeo (), was a Korean kingdom located in the northern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula and the southern and central parts of Northeast China. At its peak of power, Goguryeo controlled most ...

. The restoration movement was destroyed shortly thereafter at the

Battle of Baekgang The Battle of Baekgang or Battle of Baekgang-gu, also known as Battle of Hakusukinoe ( ja, 白村江の戦い, Hakusuki-no-e no Tatakai / Hakusonkō no Tatakai) in Japan, as Battle of Baijiangkou ( zh, c=白江口之战, p=Bāijiāngkǒu Zhīzh ...

. During this battle his follower Yong Sak betrayed him for the Tang but Heukchi Sangji kept marching onward defeating several Chinese armies. He surrendered and the Tang appointed him as the Outer General of the Lieutenant's Army and the Yangju Citizen of the Lieutenant's Army.

General of Tang

Heukchi Sangji sallied forth for Tang's war against

Göktürks The Göktürks, Celestial Turks or Blue Turks ( otk, 𐱅𐰇𐰼𐰰:𐰉𐰆𐰑𐰣, Türük Bodun; ; ) were a nomadic confederation of Turkic peoples in medieval Inner Asia. The Göktürks, under the leadership of Bumin Qaghan (d. 552) and ...

Death

But Heukichi and his patron General Zhao felt out of favour from Wu Zetian and the two was sentenced to prison when they were slandered against. Finally, he came to be in chains and sentenced to death in 689.

In popular culture

From 1939 to 1940, Korean writer

Hyun Jin-geon Hyeon Jingeon (September 2, 1900 – April 25, 1943) () was a Korean author. Life Hyun Jin-geon was born in Daegu, Korea in 1900 (Two different birth dates are given in the literature, September 2,Flowers of Fire: Twentieth Century Korean St ...

wrote a historic novel called Heukchi Sangji,which was a novel created to elevate national sentiments against the Japanese colonial times.

Notes