Sŏ Hŭi
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Sŏ Hŭi (; ; 942 – 8 August 998) was a
Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...
n politician and diplomat during the early days of the
Goryeo Goryeo (; ) was a Korean state founded in 918, during a time of national division called the Later Three Kingdoms period, that unified and ruled the Korea, Korean Peninsula until the establishment of Joseon in 1392. Goryeo achieved what has b ...
period. His
art name An art name (pseudonym or pen name), also known by its native names ''hào'' (in Mandarin Chinese), ''gō'' (in Japanese), ' (in Korean), and ''tên hiệu'' (in Vietnamese), is a professional name used by artists, poets and writers in the Sinosp ...
was Yŏmyun and his
posthumous name A posthumous name is an honorary Personal name, name given mainly to revered dead people in East Asian cultural sphere, East Asian culture. It is predominantly used in Asian countries such as China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, Malaysia and Thailand. ...
was Changwi. Sŏ is best remembered for his diplomatic skills that led 60,000 Khitan troops to withdraw from Goryeo.


Family

Sŏ Hŭi was of the Icheon Sŏ clan and was the son of who, during the King Gwangjong's reign, served as Secretary-General (), the highest official post of the Department of the Royal Secretariat (). Until the time of his grandfather, , the Sŏ clan was a , or a powerful local
gentry Gentry (from Old French , from ) are "well-born, genteel and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past. ''Gentry'', in its widest connotation, refers to people of good social position connected to Landed property, landed es ...
clan based in the modern-day Icheon area, in the southeast of
Gyeonggi Province Gyeonggi Province (, ) is the most populous province in South Korea. Seoul, the nation's largest city and capital, is in the heart of the area but has been separately administered as a provincial-level ''special city'' since 1946. Incheon, ...
. Like his father, Sŏ Hŭi became a , the collective term referring to officials with a high rank in
ancient Korea The Lower Paleolithic era on the Korean Peninsula and in 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 earli ...
. His sons, and Sŏ Yu-gŏl () also followed their father's footstep by serving respectively as , the title of the highest minister of state, and Vice Director of the Left (左僕射), the second rank of , Secretariat for State Affairs of Goryeo. As one of Sŏ Nul's daughters later became a queen by marrying King Hyeonjong, Sŏ Hŭi's clan would become maternal relatives of the king. With this background and his own talent, Sŏ Hŭi managed to establish a successful career. Wives and issue(s): #Lady of the
Cheongju Han clan The Cheongju Han clan () is a Korean clan well known for their many female members including six queens. The Cheongju Han clan was one of the most prominent clans during the Goryeo period and Joseon period, currently, the Cheongju Han is kno ...
() ##Sŏ Nul (; ?–1042) – 1st son. ##Sŏ Yu-gŏl () – 2nd son. ##Sŏ Yu-wi () – 4th son. #Unknown woman? ##Sŏ Chu-haeng () – 3rd son. Ancestry Sŏ Hŭi had 1 older brother, Sŏ Yŏm () and 1 younger brother, Sŏ Yŏng ().


Career

After Sŏ Hŭi passed
gwageo The () or ''kwagŏ'' were the national civil service examinations under the Goryeo (918–1392) and Joseon (1392–1897) periods of Korea. Typically quite demanding, these tests measured candidates' ability of writing composition and knowledge ...
, 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, Sŏ 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 the Chancellory, 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, Sŏ 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 ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Fiv ...
, 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 Xiao may refer to: * Filial piety (), or "being good to parents", a virtue in Chinese culture * Xiao (flute) (), a Chinese end-blown flute * Xiao (rank) (), a rank used for field officers in the Chinese military * Xiao County (), in Anhui, China ...
of the Liao dynasty, which prevented a fullscale invasion by a host of Khitan troops: According to the story, after Xiao captured
Pongsan Pongsan County is a county in North Hwanghae province, North Korea. Administrative divisions Pongsan county is divided into 1 '' ŭp'' (town), 1 '' rodongjagu'' (workers' district) and 18 '' ri'' (villages): Transport Pongsan county is served ...
county in 993 and forced Goryeo's forces to retreat behind the
Taedong River The Taedong River () 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: Strengthening the Soviet ...
, 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 Seongjong (15 January 961 – 29 November 997), personal name Wang Ch'i, was the sixth king of the Goryeo dynasty of Korea. Reign Seongjong was born on 15 January 961, the second son of Daejong, and a grandson of King Taejo (the founder of t ...
initially accepted Liao's demands, planning on the advice of his negotiators to give up the land north of
Pyongyang Pyongyang () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is sometimes labeled as the "Capital of the Revolution" (). Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. Accordi ...
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 southeas ...
and P'aryŏng. Sŏ Hŭi, 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". Sŏ rhetorically referred to the land that King Gwangjong had conquered from the
Jurchens Jurchen (, ; , ) is a term used to collectively describe a number of East Asian people, East Asian Tungusic languages, Tungusic-speaking people. They lived in northeastern China, also known as Manchuria, before the 18th century. The Jurchens wer ...
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, Sŏ 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.

Sŏ: 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?"

Sŏ 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 () or Amnok River () is a river on the border between China and North Korea. Together with the Tumen River to its east, and a small portion of Paektu Mountain, the Yalu forms the border between China and North Korea. Its valle ...
, but envisioned a future in which this situation of confinement would change. Later, Sŏ Hŭi fortified the newly expanded territory, which gave Goryeo a decisive victory in the second and third conflicts after his death.


Later life and death

Sŏ Hŭi 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's KBS' second histocal series set in Goryeo after ''Taejo W ...
''. * Portrayed by
Im Hyuk Im Hyuk (born Im Jung-hyuk; May 31, 1949) is a South Korean actor. Im has starred in television series since 1969, notably in historical drama A historical drama (also period drama, period piece or just period) is a dramatic work set in the pa ...
in the 2009
KBS2 KBS 2TV is a South Korean free-to-air Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen ...
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 gran ...
''.


See also

*
List of Goryeo people {{Short description, none This is a list of notable people from the Goryeo dynasty, a period in Korean history lasting from 918 to 1392. Rulers ''For a chronological list of rulers, see List of Korean monarchs'' # King Taejo (918–943) # Kin ...
*
Goryeo Goryeo (; ) was a Korean state founded in 918, during a time of national division called the Later Three Kingdoms period, that unified and ruled the Korea, Korean Peninsula until the establishment of Joseon in 1392. Goryeo achieved what has b ...
* Goryeo-Khitan Wars


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:So, Hui 942 births 998 deaths 10th-century Korean people People of the Goryeo–Khitan War Korean diplomats 10th-century diplomats Hui