Yŏn Namsaeng (; 634–679) was the eldest son of the

Goguryeo Goguryeo (37 BC – 668 AD) (; ; Old Korean: Guryeo) also later known as Goryeo (; ; Middle Korean: 고ᇢ롕〮, ''kwòwlyéy''), was a Korean kingdom which was located on the northern and central parts of the Korea, Korean Peninsula an ...

' (대막리지, 大莫離支; highest-ranking official or dictator; "prime minister")

Yŏn Kaesomun Yŏn KaesomunSome Chinese and Korean sources stated that his surname was Yŏngae () and personal name was Somun (), but the majority of sources suggest a one-syllable surname and a three-syllable personal name. (; 594–666) was a powerful milit ...

(603? – 665). In 665, Yŏn Namsaeng succeeded his father and became the 2nd Tae Mangniji of

Tae Mangniji

Yŏn Namsaeng was said to have become Tae Mangniji sometime before the death of Yŏn Kaesomun, who is said to have stepped down from the position and took the honorary position of ''Tae Mangniji''. After the death of his father, Yŏn Namsaeng prepared for war with the Tang, and set out on an inspection of the border fortresses in Yodong, and other fortresses throughout the kingdom. He left his brothers, Yŏn Namgŏn and Yŏn Namsan, in charge of Pyongyang before he left. Namgŏn and Namsan took advantage of their brother's absence and took control of Pyongyang and the Royal Courts. They falsely accused Namsaeng of being a traitor, and forced the King Bojang to order Namsaeng's arrest. With nowhere else to go, Namsaeng fled to

Tang China The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

at the urge of his son, who had escaped death at the hands of his uncles. Namsaeng fled to the Tang, and received a high position in the Tang military.

Fall of Goguryeo and death

From there he helped lead a Tang-sponsored military campaign into Goguryeo with hopes of regaining power. This campaign ultimately destroyed Goguryeo in 668. He died in the domains of the Tang-established

Protectorate General to Pacify the East The Protectorate-General to Pacify the East () was an administrative division of the Chinese Tang dynasty in Manchuria and the northern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula. It was established after the Tang dynasty defeated Goguryeo and annexed ...

, or Andong Duhufu (安東都護府), the Chinese administration established in

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 ...

following the fall of Goguryeo in 668 and meant to administer the former Goguryeo domains. Namsaeng was buried on Mt. Mang in

Luoyang Luoyang ( zh, s=洛阳, t=洛陽, p=Luòyáng) is a city located in the confluence area of the Luo River and the Yellow River in the west of Henan province, China. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zheng ...

, Tang's eastern capital. Namsaeng's tomb stele, along with that of his brother Namgŏn, has been discovered. Namsaeng's biography (Quan Nansheng 泉男生傳) appears in the ''Xin Tangshu'' (New History of Tang), book 110. The Chinese rendering of Namsaeng's family name is Cheon (泉, Chinese Quan) rather than Yŏn (淵), because Yŏn (Chinese, Yuan) was the given name of

Emperor Gaozu of Tang Emperor Gaozu of Tang (7 April 566 – 25 June 635), born Li Yuan, courtesy name Shude, was the founding Emperor of China, emperor of the Tang dynasty of China, reigning from 618 to 626 CE. Under the Sui dynasty, Li Yuan was the governor in t ...

(Li Yuan 李淵), founder and first emperor of Tang, and

taboo A taboo is a social group's ban, prohibition or avoidance of something (usually an utterance or behavior) based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, offensive, sacred or allowed only for certain people.''Encyclopædia Britannica ...

to apply to another by Chinese tradition.

In popular culture

* Portrayed by Im Ho in the 2006–2007 KBS TV series '' Dae Jo-yeong''. * Portrayed by Ahn Jae-mo in 2006–2007 SBS TV series ''

''. * Portrayed by

No Min-woo No Min-woo (; born May 29, 1986) is a Japanese-born South Korean actor, musician, singer, songwriter and rapper. He is also known under the stage names ICON and MINUE. He debuted as a drummer in TRAX in 2004, and left the band two years later. ...

in the 2013

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 ''

The Blade and Petal ''The Blade and Petal'' (; lit. "Sword and Flower") is a 2013 South Korean television series that aired on KBS2 from July 3 to September 5, 2013, on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 21:55 for 20 episodes. Kim Ok-vin and Uhm Tae-woong play star-crosse ...

''.

References

Sources

Samguk Sagi ''Samguk sagi'' () is a historical record of the Three Kingdoms of Korea: Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla. Completed in 1145, it is well-known in Korea as the oldest surviving chronicle of Korean history. The ''Samguk sagi'' is written in Classical ...

Old Book of Tang The ''Old Book of Tang'', or simply the ''Book of Tang'', is the first classic historical work about the Tang dynasty, comprising 200 chapters, and is one of the Twenty-Four Histories. Originally compiled during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdo ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yŏn, Namsaeng 634 births 679 deaths Military history of Korea Tang dynasty generals at war against Goguryeo 7th-century government officials 7th-century Korean people

Tae Mangniji

Fall of Goguryeo and death

In popular culture

See also

References

Sources