Dongmyeong of Goguryeo


Dongmyeong of Goguryeo, personal name Ko Chumong, was the founding monarch of the kingdom of Goguryeo, and was worshipped as a god-king by the people of Goguryeo and Goryeo. King Dongmyeong was also an important figure for the kingdom of Baekje, as the father of its founding monarch, King Onjo.

Names

Chumong, originally Buyeo slang for an excellent archer, was his personal name. He was commonly recorded as Chumong by various Chinese sources, including history books written by Northern Qi and Tang. This name became dominant in future writings including the Samguk sagi and the Samguk yusa. At some point in time prior to the compilation of the Samguk sagi, he was given the posthumous name of Dongmyeong, literally translating to the Brilliant Saintly King of the East.
In the earliest Goguryeo sources, such as the Gwanggaeto Stele and Tomb Epitaph of Moduru, refer to Dongmyeong by his personal name, Ch'umo. Moduru's epitaph refers to Dongmyeong as King Ch'umo the Divine.
His other names include Ch'umong, Chungmo, Nakamu, or Tomo. In the Samguk sagi, he was recorded as Chumong with the surname Ko, and was also known as Chunghae or Sanghae.

Life and myth

The records of Dongmyeong are often regarded as semi-legendary, and the extent to which the records are historical or mythological is debated. Much of the legend of King Dongmyeong of Goguryeo is appropriated from an earlier legend about the founding monarch of Buyeo, the similarly named. The origin myth of Buyeo's founding king was appropriated by Goguryeo monarchy in the 4th century AD to boost their own pedigree.
The founding myths of Goguryeo are told in ancient writings, including the Gwanggaeto Stele. The best-known versions of Chumo's life are found, with slight variations, in the Samguk sagi, Samguk yusa, and the "Dongmyeongwang" chapter of the Dongguk Yi Sangguk jip.

Birth

, the king of Buyeo, performed religious ceremonies in hope of having a son, as he was getting old without an heir. When he arrived at Gonyeon, he noticed his horse was shedding tears in front of a large rock. The king issued an ordered to remove the rock, and there he found a young boy who looked like a golden frog. The king treated the boy as a gift from heaven and named him Geumwa. Hae Buru adopted Geumwa and made him the Crown Prince when he became older.
Later, Aranbul, the minister of Buyeo, told Hae Buru that he received the messages from heaven. "Heaven will send its descendent and create a new kingdom above Buyeo, thus the king should resettle at Gaseopwon," a fertile land next to the ocean. Hae Buru and his followers relocated the capital and created a new kingdom called Eastern Buyeo. Meanwhile, in Buyeo, a person named Hae Mosu, proclaiming himself as the Son of Heaven, established the new capital at Buyeo.
After Hae Buru died, Geumwa became the next king of Eastern Buyeo. When he went to Wubalsu, which is located at the south of the mountain Taebaeksan, he met a woman named Lady Yuhwa, who was a daughter of Habaek. She told Geumwa that she was exiled by her father because she slept with Hae Mosu, who claimed to be the son of heaven, prior to marriage. She explained that Hae Mosu lured her to a place near the Yalu River, next to Ungsimsan. Geumwa thought her story was strange, so he locked her in a room. While Yuhwa was locked away, the sunlight followed her wherever she went, and she eventually became pregnant. After she gave a birth to a large egg, Geumwa gave the egg to dogs and pigs, but they refused to eat it. He then put the egg in the middle of the street, but cows and horses walked around it. The egg was also thrown on a field, but birds came to protect it. After multiple failed attempts to crack the egg, Geumwa returned the egg to Yuhwa. Later, a boy was born from the egg. The young boy learned how to craft a bow and arrows, and he became a master of archery by the age of 7, earning the nickname Chumong, a word used by the people of Buyeo to describe excellent archers.

Escaping Eastern Buyeo

, the eldest of the seven sons of Geumwa, was worried Dongmyeong would rise as a threat to him, but Geumwa commanded Dongmyeong to take care of the horses. While raising the horses, Dongmyeong intentionally gave more food to slow horses and gave less food to fast and talented horses to make them look unappealing and thin. When Geumwa went on a hunting trip with Dongmyeong and others, Dongmyeong was given a thin horse and fewer arrows, yet he was able to hunt more than anyone else who participated, since his thin horse was faster. This hunting episode further fueled Daeso's desire to kill Dongmyeong. Seeing the growing threat, Yuhwa asked Dongmyeong to leave and use his abilities elsewhere.
Dongmyeong and his three friends — Oi, Mari, and Hyeopbo — escaped from Eastern Buyeo, followed by cavalry sent out by Daeso. Dongmyeong and his companions arrived to Eomsasu, but failed to find a bridge to cross the river. As the cavalry were approaching, Dongmyeong asked the river for help, declaring himself a son of the Heavenly God and maternal grandchild of Habaek. Answering Dongmyeong's call, fish and softshell turtles floated up from the river and created a bridge for Dongmyeong to cross, then disappeared by the time the pursuing troops arrived.

Founding of Goguryeo

After escaping death, Dongmyeong met three people, each wearing different cloths at Modungok. Considering them as gifts from heaven, Dongmyeong gave a surname to each person: Jaesa, wearing hemp cloth, was named Geuk Jaesa ; Mugol, wearing monk cloth, was named Jungsil Mugol ; Mukgeo, wearing waterweed cloth, was named Sosil Mukgeo.This can be interpreted as the joining of three different groups, or as a meeting with three saints. Dongmyeong gave roles to everyone, and together they arrived at Jolboncheon.According to the history of Baekje, Dongmyeong arrived at Jolbon Buyeo, married the second daughter of the king of Jolbon Buyeo, and had two sons from her. Dongmyeong wanted to build a palace on the mountain, but he wasn't able to afford it. Thus, he built a thatched house near Biryusu and lived there. He named his newly founded nation Goguryeo, and he changed his surname to Ko at the age of 21. Hearing the news that a new nation was born, many people joined him.

Rule

In 37 BC, in the first year of his reign, Dongmyeong launched a preemptive strike on the Mohe near the border, fearing raids from them. The Mohe surrendered after the fight.
One day, Dongmyeong saw vegetable leaves floating on the Biryu River. He went hunting farther upstream and arrived at Biryuguk. Song Yang, the king of Biryu, saw Dongmyeong and commanded him to submit to Song's authority, since the State of Biryu was stronger and older. The two kings had an argument, then had an archery competition in which Dongmyeong was victorious. In June of 36 BC, Song Yang surrendered to Dongmyeong. Dongmyeong gave back Song Yang his old lands as a fief, renaming the land to Damuldo, which meant "to give back old territory", and enfeoffing Song Yang as the Marquis of Damul.
In July of 34 BC, the construction of walls and a palace was completed. In October of 32 BC, Dongmyeong sent Oi and Bu to Bunno, and conquered Haenginguk, which is located southeast of Taebaek Mountain. In November of 18 BC, the king ordered Bu Wiyeom to attack the Northern Okjeo, and Bu Wiyeom successfully made the Northern Okjeo submit to Goguryeo.
In August of 24 BC, Yuhwa died in Eastern Buyeo. A funeral was held, and a shrine was built to her as the dowager of Geumwa. In October, Dongmyeong sent an envoy along with regional products to Buyeo as a token of gratitude for the virtue and generosity shown by Geumwa.
In April of 19 BC, Dongmyeong's son, Yuri, and his mother fled from Buyeo, arriving at Goguryeo. Dongmyeong appointed Yuri as the crown prince of Goguryeo. In September, Dongmyeong, at the age of 39, mounted a dragon and ascended into Heaven and did not come back, according to the Gwanggaeto Stele. With only his whip left behind, it was buried at Yongsan in the place of his body. In the 15th century Joseon dynasty text, Tongguk yŏji sŭngnam, the author would change Dongmyeong's mount from a dragon to an "unicorn horse". In the Samguk sagi, the Confucian Kim Pusik understood the legend of Dongmyeong's ascension to heaven as metaphorical not literal. He wrote that Dongmyeong died and was buried at Yongsan and was posthumously given the title Dongmyeong.

Comparison and controversies

By noting the similarities in these myths, we can presume the following:
  • The legend of Dongmyeong was shared among kingdoms with Buyeo origins — Buyeo, Goguryeo, and Baekje — with variations.
  • There seems to have been an ancient kingdom located north of Buyeo which existed before the creation of Buyeo.
  • Dongmyeong and Chumong were considered as separate entities by Goguryeo; however, the legend was mixed together before the reign of Jangsu. Many Buyeo and Goguryeo royals intermarried after the birth of the kingdom of Goguryeo and appear to have mixed naturally or purposely to claim legitimacy and subjugate Buyeo.
  • Eastern Buyeo was created after the invasion of Xian Bei. Many people ran to North Okjeo and founded Eastern Buyeo rather than returning to Buyeo. The addition of Eastern Buyeo to the myth appears to have occurred in the process of Goguryeo claiming legitimacy and subjugating Eastern Buyeo, or was added during the unified Silla or Goryeo period.
  • The description of the Book of Wei has the most similarities with the story written in Samguk sagi. The myth was complete, with the exception of the stories related to Eastern Buyeo, by the time when the Book of Wei was written.
  • By the time Samguk sagi was written, Dongmyeong and Chumong were considered the same person. The story of Geumwa also seems to be influenced by Heokgeose of Silla.