Yeon Namgeon (淵男建, 연남건) (635 ~ ? 연개소문의 맏아들인 연남생이 634년에 탄생했고 막내아들인 연남산이 639년 출생했으므로 적어도 1년 이상 차이가 난다.) was the second son of the

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 ...

military leader and dictator Yeon Gaesomun (Unknown-665), and third Dae Magniji of Goguryeo during the reign of Goguryeo's last ruler, King Bojang.

Fall of Goguryeo

Following the death of his father in 666, Namgeon became embroiled in a power struggle with his elder brother

Yeon Namsaeng Yeon Namsaeng (연남생, 淵男生) (634–679) was the eldest son of the Goguryeo '' Dae Magniji'' (대막리지, 大莫離支; highest ranking official or dictator; "prime minister") Yeon Gaesomun (603?-665). In 665, Yeon Namsaeng succeeded h ...

. Namgeon and his younger brother Namsan staged a coup against their older brother when he was inspecting all of the fortresses of Goguryeo to prepare for war against the Tang. Namgeon and Namsan's coup forced Namsaeng to surrender to the Tang, and ultimately led to the destruction of

. Namgeon appointed himself ''Dae Mangniji'' (대막리지, 大莫離支) and seized control of the government. During Tang’s subsequent invasion of 668, Namgeon led armed resistance to the Chinese forces near the Amnok River and continued to resist the Tang forces all the way 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 populat ...

. With Goguryeo’s defeat, Namgeon found himself a prisoner of war and was transported to China and later banished to Qianzhou (黔州), in what is today China’s

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of t ...

province, where he apparently died. The tomb

stele A stele ( ),Anglicized plural steles ( ); Greek plural stelai ( ), from Greek language, Greek , ''stēlē''. The Greek plural is written , ''stēlai'', but this is only rarely encountered in English. or occasionally stela (plural ''stelas'' or ...

s of Namgeon's siblings Namsaeng and Namsan are extant but offer no particulars regarding the life of Namgeon. Had Namgeon and his brothers united to work together, Goguryeo would have lasted for a much longer period of time, but Silla sent their spies into the brothers' inner circle of advisors to try and create a rift between the brothers.

Popular culture

* Portrayed by Ahn Hong-jin in the 2006-2007 KBS TV series '' Dae Jo Yeong''. * Portrayed by Kim Hong-pyo in 2006-2007 SBS TV series '' Yeon Gaesomun''.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yeon, Nam-geon Goguryeo 7th-century heads of government Goguryeo people

Fall of Goguryeo

Popular culture

See also

Notes