King Dongcheon東川王

King Dongcheon's name was Uwigeo (憂位居), and his name as a child was Gyoche (郊彘), and he was the son of King Sansang. His mother was a woman of Jutong village who became the lesser queen of King Sansang, and the histories have lost her clan and her surname. In the seventeenth year of the former king he was set up as crown prince, and at this time he succeeded to the throne.

The king was generous and kind by nature. The queen wished to test the king's heart, and she watched for a time when the king went out to travel and had someone cut the mane of the horse the king rode. The king came back and said. "The horse has no mane. It is a pity." Again she had an attendant spill the soup on the king's clothes on purpose when the food was brought in, and again he did not grow angry.

In the second year, in spring, the second month, the king went to Jolbon and sacrificed at the shrine of the founder, and a great pardon was granted. In the third month Lady U was raised to be queen dowager.

In the fourth year, in autumn, the seventh month, Go Uru the guksang died, and Myeongnim Eosu, of the rank of utae, was made guksang.

In the eighth year Wei sent envoys and made peace.

In autumn, the ninth month, Queen Dowager U died. The queen dowager left these words as she came to her end. "I have lost my good name. With what face shall I meet Gugyang (King Gogukcheon) under the ground? If the officers cannot bear to push me into a ditch, then I beg you to bury me beside the tomb of King Sansang." In the end she was buried as she had said.

A shaman said. "Gugyang came down to me and said, 'Yesterday I saw Lady U go back to Sansang, and I could not bear my anger, and I fought with him. When I drew back and thought of it, my face was too thick and I could not bear to look upon the people of the country. Tell it at the court, and screen me with something.'" For this reason pines were planted seven deep before the tomb.

In the tenth year, in spring, the second month, Sun Quan the king of Wu sent his envoy Hu Wei to seek peace. The king held the envoy, and when autumn came, in the seventh month, he beheaded him and sent the head to Wei.

In the eleventh year an envoy was sent to Wei to give greeting for the changing of the reign name. This was the first year of Jingchu.

In the twelfth year Sima Xuanwang (Sima Yi), the grand tutor of Wei, led a host and struck Gongsun Yuan. The king sent the jubu and the daega to lead a thousand soldiers and help him.

In the sixteenth year the king sent a general, and they fell upon Xi'anping in Liaodong and broke it.

In the seventeenth year, in spring, the first month, the king's son Yeonbul was set up as crown prince, and those within the country were pardoned.

In the nineteenth year, in spring, the third month, a man of the east sea offered a beautiful woman, and the king took her into the inner palace. In winter, the tenth month, an army was sent out and raided the northern border of Silla.

In the twentieth year, in autumn, the eighth month, Wei sent Guanqiu Jian, the inspector of Youzhou, to lead ten thousand men out from Hyeondo and raid the country. The king led twenty thousand foot and horse and met them in battle by the Biryu river and broke them, and three thousand heads and more were taken. He led his soldiers on and fought a second time in the valley of Yangmaek, and broke them again, and three thousand men and more were killed or taken.

The king said to his generals. "The great army of Wei is no match for our small army after all. Guanqiu Jian is a famous general of Wei, and today his life is in the hollow of my hand." Then he led five thousand armored horse and went forward and struck them.

Jian made a square formation and fought with his mind set on death, and the Goguryeo army broke utterly, and eighteen thousand men and more died. The king fled with a thousand horse and more to the Amnogwon plain.

In winter, the tenth month, Jian attacked the fortress of Hwando and took it and put it to the sword. Then he sent the general Wang Qi to pursue the king.

The king fled to South Okjeo and came to Jungnyeong. His soldiers scattered until almost none were left, and only Milu of the eastern division was at his side. He said to the king. "The men who pursue us press very hard, and there is no way to escape. Your servant begs to set his mind on death and hold them off. The king may get away."

Then he gathered men who would face death and went with them against the enemy and fought with all his strength. The king got away by a side path and went on, and he leaned upon the mountain valleys and gathered his scattered troops and guarded himself, and he said. "If there is anyone who can bring Milu back, I will reward him richly."

Yu Okgu of the lower division stepped forward and answered. "Your servant will go and try."

In the end he saw Milu lying face down on the field of battle, and he took him on his back and came away. The king laid him upon his thigh, and after a long while he came to.

The king went by side paths, turning this way and that, and came to South Okjeo, but the Wei army did not stop pursuing. The king's plans were spent and his strength was bent, and he did not know what to do.

Yuyu, a man of the eastern division, came forward and said. "The danger presses very hard, and we must not die for nothing. Your servant has a foolish plan. I beg to take food and go to comfort the Wei army, and then to watch for a gap and stab their general dead. If your servant's plan comes about, the king may rouse himself and strike and win."

The king said. "Do so."

Yuyu went into the Wei army and gave himself up falsely and said. "Our lord has offended the great country, and he has fled to the shore of the sea and has nowhere to set his body. He means to beg to surrender before your camp and to give his death over to the officer of punishments. First he has sent a small servant to offer these poor things as a relish for your followers."

The general of Wei heard him and was about to accept the surrender. Yuyu had hidden a knife in the food vessel, and he came forward and drew the knife and stabbed the general of Wei in the chest, and they died together, and the Wei army fell into disorder.

The king divided his soldiers into three roads and struck hard, and the Wei army was thrown into confusion and could not form its ranks, and in the end it drew back by way of Nangnang.

The king won back his country and weighed the merits, and he made Milu and Yuyu first. He gave Milu Geogok and Cheongmokgok, and he gave Okgu Amnok and the Dunulhawon plain, to be their fief lands. Yuyu was given the rank of gusaja after his death, and his son Dau was made daesaja.

In this campaign the general of Wei came to the southern border of Suksin and cut his merits into stone, and he came also to Mount Hwando and carved the name Bulnae fortress and went back.

At the start, his officer Deungnae saw the king raiding China and turning against it, and he remonstrated several times, but the king did not follow him. Deungnae sighed and said. "Soon I shall see mugwort growing upon this land." In the end he ate nothing and died.

Guanqiu Jian commanded his armies not to break down Deungnae's grave and not to cut down his trees, and when they took his wife and children he set them all free.

In the twenty-first year, in spring, the second month, the king held that the fortress of Hwando had been through the disorder and could not be the capital again, and he built the fortress of Pyeongyang and moved there the people and the shrine and the altars of the state. Pyeongyang was of old the dwelling of Wanggeom the immortal. Some say that it was Wanggeom, where the king had his capital.

In the twenty-second year, in spring, the second month, Silla sent envoys and bound a peace.

In autumn, the ninth month, the king died. He was buried at Siwon and was called King Dongcheon (東川王). The people of the country longed for his kindness, and there was none who did not grieve. Many of his close officers wished to kill themselves and follow him, but the king who succeeded him held that this was not the rite and forbade it. When the day of the burial came, very many went to the grave and died by their own hand. The people of the country cut brushwood and covered the bodies with it, and so they called that place Siwon (柴原).