Seo Hui () (942 – 8 August 998) was a

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

n politician and diplomat during the early days of the Goryeo Dynasty of

(918–1392). Seo is best remembered for his diplomatic skills that led 60,000 Khitan troops to withdraw from Goryeo without a battle.

Family

Seo Hui was of the

Icheon Seo clan Icheon Seo clan () is one of the Korean clans. Their Bon-gwan is in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province. According to the research held in 2015, the number of Icheon Seo clan was 199792. Their founder was who was a descendant of King Jun of Gojoseon, the ...

and was the son of Seo Pil (徐弼) who, during the King Gwangjong's reign, served as ''Naeuiryeong'' (內議令), the highest official post of ''Naeuiseong'' ( 內議省), the advisory council for the King. Until the time of his grandfather, Seo Sin-il (徐神逸), the Seo clan was a ''hojok'' ( 豪族) or a powerful local

gentry Gentry (from Old French ''genterie'', from ''gentil'', "high-born, noble") are "well-born, genteel and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past. Word similar to gentle imple and decentfamilies ''Gentry'', in its widest c ...

based in what is now the Icheon areas, in the southeast of the

Gyeonggi Province Gyeonggi-do (, ) is the most populous province in South Korea. Its name, ''Gyeonggi'', means "京 (the capital) and 畿 (the surrounding area)". Thus, ''Gyeonggi-do'' can be translated as "Seoul and the surrounding areas of Seoul". Seoul, the na ...

. Like his father, Seo Hui became a ''jaesang'' ( 宰相), the collective term referring to officials with a high rank in

ancient Korea The Lower Paleolithic era in the Korean Peninsula and Manchuria began roughly half a million years ago. Christopher J. Norton, "The Current State of Korean Paleoanthropology", (2000), ''Journal of Human Evolution'', 38: 803–825. The earliest ...

. His sons, Seo Nul (徐訥) and Seo Yu-geol (徐惟傑) also followed their father's footstep by serving respectively as ''Munhasijung'' ( 門下侍中), the title of the highest minister of state, and ''Jwabokya'' (左僕射), the second rank of ''Sangseoseong'' ( 尙書省), Secretariat for State Affairs of Goryeo. As one of Seo Nul's daughters later became a queen by marrying King Hyeonjong, Seo Hui's clan was related to the King on the King's mother's side. With this background and his own talent, Seo Hui managed to establish a successful career. Wives and issue(s): #Lady of the

Cheongju Han clan The Cheongju Han clan (Hangul: 청주 한씨, Hanja: 淸州韓氏) is a Korean noble family. It is also called the House of Han or the Han clan of Cheongju. It is considered one of the most prominent clans since the Gojoseon period. In the ...

(부인 청주 한씨) ##Seo-Nul (?–1042) (서눌) – 1st son. ##Seo Yu-geol (서유걸) – 2nd son. ##Seo Yu-wi (서유위) – 4th son. #Unknown woman? ##Seo Ju-haeng (서주행) – 3rd son. Ancestry Seo Hui had 1 older brother, Seo Yeom (서염, 徐廉) and 1 younger brother, Seo Yeong (서영, 徐英).

Career

After Seo Hui passed

gwageo The ''gwageo'' or ''kwago'' were the national civil service examinations under the Goryeo and Joseon dynasties of Korea. Typically quite demanding, these tests measured candidates' ability of writing composition and knowledge of the Chinese clas ...

, the state examination, with a high grade, in March 960, the 11th year of King Gwangjong's reign, he served for the government as the ''Gwangpyeongwon eorang'' () and ''Naeui sirang'' () posts. In 983, Seo became ''Byeonggwan eosa'' (), the official in charge of military affairs. Soon after that, he was appointed to important positions like ''Naesasirang pyeongsangsa'' (), the second rank of ''Naesaseong'' (Supreme Council during the period), and finally he was raised to the highest position of Taebo Naesaryeong, the head of Supreme Council. In addition to his role in domestic politics, Seo engaged in diplomacy by going to China in 972 and playing an important role in re-establishing the diplomatic relationship between Goryeo and the Chinese

Song Dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...

, which had been broken off over a decade earlier.

Negotiations with Liao

However, he is most remembered in his diplomatic career for his direct negotiations with General Xiao Sunning of the

Liao Dynasty The Liao dynasty (; Khitan language, Khitan: ''Mos Jælud''; ), also known as the Khitan Empire (Khitan: ''Mos diau-d kitai huldʒi gur''), officially the Great Liao (), was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that exi ...

, which prevented a fullscale invasion by a host of Khitan troops: According to the story, after Xiao captured Pongsan county in 993 and forced Goryeo's forces to retreat behind the

Taedong River The Taedong River (Chosŏn'gŭl: ) is a large river in North Korea. The river rises in the Rangrim Mountains of the country's north where it then flows southwest into Korea Bay at Namp'o.Suh, Dae-Sook (1987) "North Korea in 1986: Strengthenin ...

, he wrote to demand Goryeo's surrender: " r great country is about to unify land on all four directions" and to justify the expedition by charging: "your country does not take care of the people's needs, we solemnly execute heaven's punishment on its behalf". King Seongjong of Goryeo initially accepted Liao's demands, planning on the advice of his negotiators to give up the land north of

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 populat ...

to Xiao and drawing the Liao-Goryeo border in a straight line between

Hwangju Hwangju County is a county in North Hwanghae province, North Korea. Geography Hwangju is bordered to the northwest by Sariwŏn, to the northeast by Songrim and Kangnam, to the southwest by Yŏnt'an, to the south by Pongsan, and to the southeast ...

and P'aryŏng. Seo Hui, however, was convinced that the Liao were acting from a position of "fear of us" and begged the king to "return to the capital and let us, your officers, wage one more battle". Seo rhetorically referred to the land that King Gwangjong had conquered from the

Jurchens Jurchen (Manchu: ''Jušen'', ; zh, 女真, ''Nǚzhēn'', ) is a term used to collectively describe a number of East Asian Tungusic-speaking peoples, descended from the Donghu people. They lived in the northeast of China, later known as Manch ...

and which the Khitans (Liao) now held as "former Koguryŏ territory". After Xiao's forces were repulsed from further advances at the Battle of Anyung Fortress, Seo went to the Liao encampment to negotiate a settlement. Part of their conversation is excerpted:

Xiao: Your country arose in Silla territory. Koguryŏ territory is in our possession. But you have encroached on it. Your country is connected to us by land, and yet you cross the sea to serve China. Because of this, our great country came to attack you. If you relinquish land to us and establish a tributary relationship, everything will be all right.
Seo: That is not so. Our country is in fact former Koguryŏ, and that is why it is named Koryŏ and has a capital at P'yŏngyang. If you want to discuss territorial boundaries, the Eastern Capital of your country is within our borders.... Moreover, the land on both sides of the Yalu River is also within our borders, but the Jurchens have now stolen it.... If you tell us to drive out the Jurchens, recover our former territory, construct fortresses, and open the roads, then how could we dare not to have ributaryrelations?"

Seo reported to his king that he forged an agreement with Xiao to jointly "exterminate the Jurchens" and to seize their land so that Goryeo and Liao would have a closer land border and commensurate tributary relations. He lamented that the Jurchens would only allow Goryeo the land south of the

Yalu River The Yalu River, known by Koreans as the Amrok River or Amnok River, is a river on the border between North Korea and China. Together with the Tumen River to its east, and a small portion of Paektu Mountain, the Yalu forms the border between ...

, but envisioned a future in which this situation of confinement would change. This story in which Seo Hui supposedly stemmed a "Chinese" invasion of "Korean" territory by referencing a past regime's occupation of the disputed territory has become popular in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

in recent years with the advent of the Northeast Project, which claimed the ancient state of

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 mos ...

(Koguryŏ, 37 BCE–668 CE) was part of the Chinese empire. The South Korean online activist group VANK, for example, has posted a video in 2012 calling on "young Koreans" to become "the next generation of Seo Hui", by turning "this crisis of the loss of Korean history into another opportunity" for Korean territorial expansion, as it argues was the result of Seo's rhetoric.

Later life and death

Seo Hui died in 998, on the 14th day of the 7th lunar month (8 August 998).

In popular culture

*Portrayed by Han Bum-hee in the 2002–2003 KBS TV series ''

The Dawn of the Empire ''The Dawn of the Empire'' () is a South Korean historical television series which aired on KBS1 from March 2, 2002 to January 26, 2003 for 94 episodes every weekend at 21:45 ( KST). It revolves around the reigns of the second, third and fourth ki ...

''. * Portrayed by Im Hyuk in the 2009

KBS2 The Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) () is the national broadcaster of South Korea. Founded in February 1927, it is one of the leading South Korean television and radio broadcasters. KBS operates seven radio networks, ten television channels, a ...

TV series ''

Empress Cheonchu ''Empress Cheonchu'' (; also known as ''The Iron Empress'') is a 2009 South Korean period television series based on the title character, an actual historical figure and her lifelong struggle to protect the country her ancestors built. The grand ...

''.

References

*Kang, Jae-eun; Lee, Suzanne. (2006) ''The land of scholars'', Homa & Sekey Books, pp. 100–101, *Kim, Chun-gil, (2005), ''The history of Korea'', p. 57, Greenwood Publishing Group, *Lee, Ki-baek; Wagner, Edward W. (1984) ''A new history of Korea'', p. 125, Harvard University Press, *Lee, Peter H.; William Theodore De Bary, (2000), ''Sources of Korean Tradition: From early times through the sixteenth century'', Columbia University Press, pp. 171–174, *Rossabi, Morris. (1983), ''China among equals'', University of California Press, pp. 154–157,

External links

Seo Hui
on Naver encyclopedia . {{DEFAULTSORT:Seo, Hui 942 births 998 deaths 10th-century Korean people Goryeo–Khitan War Korean diplomats Icheon Seo clan