Gyeong Dae-seung (

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 le ...

: 경대승,

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, ...

: 慶大升) (1154 – 4 August 1183) was the third of many military dictators who ruled during the late period of the

Goryeo Goryeo (; ) was a Korean kingdom founded in 918, during a time of national division called the Later Three Kingdoms period, that unified and ruled the Korean Peninsula until 1392. Goryeo achieved what has been called a "true national unificat ...

. Unlike his predecessors, General Gyeong was determined to fix Goryeo's problems and help the people prosper. His popularity with the people aroused the jealousy of King

Myeongjong of Goryeo Myeongjong of Goryeo (8 November 1131 – 3 December 1202) (r. 1170–1197) was 19th monarch of the Goryeo dynasty of Korea. He was the third son of King Injong. Although it was intended that Injong's second son should succeed his father,It ...

. His military dictatorship over Goryeo signified a brief period of peace within the war-ravaged kingdom.

Background

General Gyeong Dae-Seung was born to Gyeong Jin into the

Cheongju Cheongju () is the capital and largest city of North Chungcheong Province in South Korea. History Cheongju has been an important provincial town since ancient times. In the Cheongju Mountains, specifically in the one where Sangdang Sanseong is ...

Gyeong clan in the year 1154. At the time of his birth, the warrior-class of the nation was highly undermined and deprived of the luxuries that its civilian and scholar counterparts were able to see excessively. The young Gyeong began his military training at the age of 15, and served under the regimes of both

Yi Ui-bang Yi Ui-bang (, 1121 – 12 January 1175) was a military ruler of Korea during the Goryeo period. He was one of many military dictators of Goryeo in the aftermath of the 1170 warrior rebellion. Life Background Yi originated from the Jeonju Yi ...

and

Jeong Jung-bu Jeong Jung-bu (1106 – 18 October 1179) was a medieval Korean soldier and military dictator during the Goryeo Dynasty (918–1392). He was a career soldier, qualified on military part of civil service examination. He was most noted for leading ...

. When his father died, he took charge of his household and began helping the poor, and made the decision of using the private army,

Tobang Dobang (都房), also written as Tobang, was a Goryeo Dynasty private military unit that originated as the personal body guard for Gyeong Dae-seung (경대승). After the military revolt of the generals in 1170 during the reign of King Uijong o ...

that his father had built.

Dictator

In 1179, the young General Gyeong led a revolt against the current-reigning dictator Jeong Jung-bu, killing his son and son-in-law in the process of overthrowing the regime. At the age of 26, Gyeong had overthrown the powerful Jeong military regime and had become the undisputed military dictator of Goryeo. The greatest help to Gyeong was his lifelong friend General Kim Ja-Gyuk, who wanted to put Gyeong on the Imperial throne. Gyeong did not allow such things to overcome his original purpose for taking power. Gyeong Dae-seung became very popular among the people and received the name, "Righteous, young general." Emperor Myeongjong became jealous of Gyeong's popularity and power, and rejected the young general as merely another bloodthirsty barbaric warrior who was greedy for power. Despite efforts to restore peace, Gyeong was faced with assassination attempts, the most notable being an attempt by his friend Kim Ja-Gyuk to poison him. This attempt failed and Gyeong was the military dictator of Goryeo for five years until he became ill (possibly tuberculosis) that eventually killed him.

Death and aftermath

Gyeong Dae-seung died in August 1183. With the death of Gyeong, Yi Ui-bang's former lieutenant Yi Ui-min returned to Kaesong and took power over Goryeo, undoing Gyeong's legacy.

Popular culture

* Portrayed by Park Yong-woo in the 2003-2004 KBS TV series ''

Age of Warriors ''Age of Warriors'' () is a South Korean historical television series. It aired on KBS1 from February 8, 2003, to August 15, 2004, every Saturday and Sunday at 21:45 ( KST) for 158 episodes. The series is set during the military rule over Goryeo ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gyeong, Dae-Seung 1154 births 1183 deaths Goryeo Buddhists Korean generals Regents of Korea Leaders who took power by coup

Background

Dictator

Death and aftermath

Popular culture

See also

References