Myocheong (

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 ...

: 묘청,

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 ...

: 妙淸) was an influential

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

monk and

geomancer Geomancy (Greek: γεωμαντεία, "earth divination") is a method of divination that interprets markings on the ground or the patterns formed by tossed handfuls of soil, rocks, or sand. The most prevalent form of divinatory geomancy inv ...

of the royal court of the Goryeo dynasty.

Myocheong's Rebellion

During the reign of King Injong of Goryeo, Myocheong argued that Goryeo had become weakened by

Confucian Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a Religious Confucianism, religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, ...

ideals. His views directly conflicted with

Gim Busik Kim Bu-sik, or Gim Busik (; 1075–1151) was a statesman, general, Confucian scholar and writer during Korea's Goryeo period. He was a scion of the Silla royalty and a member of the Gyeongju Kim clan. Later he was the supreme chancellor from 1136 ...

, a China-oriented Confucian scholar. On a broader scale, this represented the ongoing struggle between the Confucian and Buddhist elements in Korean society. It was during this period that the Jin dynasty of China was exerting pressure on Goryeo. The trouble with the Jin dynasty was partly due to Goryeo's underestimation of the newly established state and the ill treatment of its envoys (i.e. killing them and humiliating their corpse). Taking advantage of the situation, Myocheong purposed to attack the Jin dynasty and that moving Goryeo's capital to

Pyongyang Pyongyang (, , ) is the capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is known as the "Capital of the Revolution". Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. According to the 2008 populatio ...

would assure success. King Injong was persuaded by Myocheong. However, the rest of the royal court and bureaucracy did not support the move, and the king had to back out of his commitments to Myocheong. Frustrated at the resistance of the southern elites (who feared losing their dominant position) against moving the capital to the former Goguryeo capital and reclaim former Goguryeo lands in Manchuria, Myocheong led a rebellion against the Goryeo government and formed a breakaway regime. He established in Pyongyang, known as Seo-gyeong (西京, “Western Capital”) at the time, his new state of Daewi (大為; 대위). According to Myocheong, the Goryeo capital of

Kaesong Kaesong (, ) is a special city in the southern part of North Korea (formerly in North Hwanghae Province), and the capital of Korea during the Taebong kingdom and subsequent Goryeo dynasty. The city is near the Kaesong Industrial Region close t ...

was "depleted of virtue." This made Pyongyang the ideal location for the supposed dynastic revival. The rebellion was crushed by forces led by the scholar-general Gim Busik.

References

External links

Myocheong

Myocheong
12th-century Korean people Goryeo Buddhist monks Geomancy {{Korea-politician-stub

Myocheong's Rebellion

See also

References

External links