Wiman Joseon (194–108 BC) was a dynasty of

Gojoseon Gojoseon () also called Joseon (), was the first kingdom on the Korean Peninsula. According to Korean mythology, the kingdom was established by the legendary founder named Dangun. Gojoseon possessed the most advanced culture in the Korean Pen ...

. It began with

Wiman Wi Man (in Korean) or Wei Man (in Chinese) was originally a military leader of the Chinese Kingdom of Yan. * :"The term was used again by a refugee from the Han dynasty named Wiman, who about 200 B.C.E. set up a kingdom in Korea called Wiman ...

's (Wei Man) seizure of the throne from

Gija Joseon Gija Joseon (1120–194 BC) was a dynasty of Gojoseon allegedly founded by the sage Jizi (Gija), a member of the Shang dynasty royal house. Concrete evidence for Jizi's role in the history of Gojoseon is lacking, and the narrative has been c ...

's King Jun and ended with the death of King Ugeo who was a grandson of Wiman. Apart from archaeological data, the main source on this historical period comes from chapter 115 of

Sima Qian Sima Qian (; ; ) was a Chinese historian of the early Han dynasty (206AD220). He is considered the father of Chinese historiography for his ''Records of the Grand Historian'', a general history of China covering more than two thousand years b ...

's ''

Records of the Grand Historian ''Records of the Grand Historian'', also known by its Chinese name ''Shiji'', is a monumental history of China that is the first of China's 24 dynastic histories. The ''Records'' was written in the early 1st century by the ancient Chinese hist ...

''. Wiman was originally a Chinese military leader from the Kingdom of Yan under the

Han dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...

Founding

According to

, Wiman was a general from the Kingdom of Yan of northeastern China after the collapse of China's

Qin dynasty The Qin dynasty ( ; zh, c=秦朝, p=Qín cháo, w=), or Ch'in dynasty in Wade–Giles romanization ( zh, c=, p=, w=Ch'in ch'ao), was the first Dynasties in Chinese history, dynasty of Imperial China. Named for its heartland in Qin (state), ...

, who submitted to Gojoseon's King Jun. Jun accepted and appointed Wiman commander of the western border region of Gojoseon, which probably corresponds to the west of the present-day

Liaoning Liaoning () is a coastal province in Northeast China that is the smallest, southernmost, and most populous province in the region. With its capital at Shenyang, it is located on the northern shore of the Yellow Sea, and is the northernmost ...

. Despite the generosity that King Jun had demonstrated, Wiman revolted and destroyed Gojoseon. In 194 BC, he established Wiman Joseon and decided to locate his capital in

Wanggeom-seong Wanggeom-seong ( ko, 왕검성) was the capital city of Gojoseon from 194 to 108 BC. It is also known as ''Wangheom-seong'' (; 王險城). Conflicting opinions about its location One theory suggests the capital was around the modern city of Pyon ...

(왕검성, 王險城). Many Korean historians believe that the exact location of Wanggeom-seong was Yodong (요동) in Liaodong, China. In this period, Wiman Joseon expanded to control a vast territory and became strong economically by controlling trade between the Han dynasty and the peoples of

Manchuria Manchuria is an exonym (derived from the endo demonym " Manchu") for a historical and geographic region in Northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day Northeast China (Inner Manchuria) and parts of the Russian Far East (Outer Manc ...

. The

Emperor Wu of Han Emperor Wu of Han (156 – 29 March 87BC), formally enshrined as Emperor Wu the Filial (), born Liu Che (劉徹) and courtesy name Tong (通), was the seventh emperor of the Han dynasty of ancient China, ruling from 141 to 87 BC. His reign la ...

thought that Wiman Joseon increasingly threatened the Han dynasty, and Wiman Joseon would ally with the

Xiongnu The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu, the supreme leader after 20 ...

Canghai commandery

Around the period from 128 BC to 126 BC, Canghai commandery, covering an area in northern

Korean peninsula 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 ...

to southern

, existed. Nan Lü (

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 ...

: 南閭), who was a monarch of

Dongye Dongye may refer to: *Eastern Ye, chiefdom in northeastern Korean peninsula from roughly 3rd-century BC to around early 5th-century AD Towns in China * Dongye, Wutai County, Shanxi *Dongye, Yangcheng County Dongye () is a town in Yangcheng Count ...

and a subject of Wiman Joseon, revolted against

Ugeo of Gojoseon Ugeo (, died 108 BC) was the last king of Wiman Joseon, the last remnant of Gojoseon. He was a grandson of Wi Man. Ugeo was killed by an assassin sent by a faction advocating surrender. Even after the death of Ugeo, Gojoseon resisted the H ...

and then surrendered to the

with 280,000 people. The

Canghai Commandery The Canghai Commandery was an administrative division of the Chinese Han dynasty established by the Emperor Wu in 128 BC. History The commandery covered an area in northern Korean peninsula to southern Manchuria. Nan Lü ( Hanja:南閭), who ...

was established following this revolution, however in 2 years, it was abolished by

Gongsun Hong Gongsun Hong (公孫弘; Wade–Giles: Kung-sun Hung; 200 – 121 BCE) was a Chinese philosopher and politician in the Western Han dynasty under Emperor Wu. Together with the more famous Confucian scholar Dong Zhongshu, Gongsun was one of the ea ...

.창해군
한국민족문화대백과

Encyclopedia of Korean Culture The ''Encyclopedia of Korean Culture'' is a Korean language encyclopedia published by the Academy of Korean Studies and DongBang Media Co. The articles in the encyclopedia are aimed at readers who want to learn about Korean culture and histor ...

Fall

Wiman's grandson, King Ugeo (우거, 右渠), allowed many exiles from

of China to live in Wiman Joseon. However, the number of Han grew, and King Ugeo prevented the Jin state from communicating with the Han dynasty. As a result, in 109 BC, the

invaded Wiman Joseon near the Luan River. After failing several times to defeat Wiman Joseon's armies, Han Wudi tried to convince the princes of Wiman Joseon to kill King Ugeo. The conspiracy failed and it led to the destruction of the Gojoseon kingdom. After the war, Wudi of Han dynasty sentenced two generals to death for failing to defeat Wiman Joseon. After a year of battle, Wanggeom-seong was captured and Wiman Joseon was destroyed. The Han dynasty established the

Four Commanderies of Han The Four Commanderies of Han (; ) were Chinese commanderies located in the north of the Korean Peninsula and part of the Liaodong Peninsula from around the end of the second century BC through the early 4th AD, for the longest lasting. The comma ...

in the captured areas, which corresponds to the current area of

Liaodong peninsula The Liaodong Peninsula (also Liaotung Peninsula, ) is a peninsula in southern Liaoning province in Northeast China, and makes up the southwestern coastal half of the Liaodong region. It is located between the mouths of the Daliao River (the ...

and the northwestern Korean peninsula. The Commanderies eventually fell to the rising Goguryeo in 4th century AD. Several nations were formed in its place. Among them was the Nangnang Nation. The Nangnang Nation must be differentiated from the

Lelang The Lelang Commandery was a commandery of the Han dynasty established after it had conquered Wiman Joseon in 108 BC and lasted until Goguryeo conquered it in 313. The Lelang Commandery extended the rule of the Four Commanderies of Han as far so ...

commandery.

Monarchs of Wiman Joseon

Maps

File:History of Korea-108 BC.png, Korea in 108 BC. Gojoseon before destroyed by Han dynasty. File:Hangunhyeon.PNG,

Han Dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...

destroys Wiman Joseon, and establishing the Four Commanderies. File:History of Korea-315.png, Korea in 315.

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 ...

recovered the former Gojoseon territory.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * *

External links

* http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-9500.html * http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Asia-and-Oceania/Korea-Democratic-People-s-Republic-of-DPRK-HISTORY.html * http://www.bartleby.com/65/ko/Korea.html * https://web.archive.org/web/20030310223530/https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/04/eak/ht04eak.htm * https://web.archive.org/web/20060301054640/http://www.metmuseum.org/explore/publications/pdfs/korea/divided/History-Religions.pdf * https://www.nytimes.com/books/first/c/cumings-korea.html?_r=1&oref=slogin * http://www.mmtaylor.net/Literacy_Book/DOCS/Part_2_Korea.html {{Authority control Gojoseon History of Manchuria Former countries in Chinese history Former countries in Korean history