Goguryeo髙句麗

Goguryeo is Jolbon Buyeo (卒本扶餘). Some say "it is the present Hwaju (和州)" or "it is Seongju (成州)," but both are wrong. Jolbon Province lies on the border of Liaodong (遼東).

The Basic Annals of Goryeo (高麗本記) in the Guksa (國史) say —

The founder, the Holy Emperor Dongmyeong (東明聖帝), had the surname Eon (言氏) and the name Jumong (朱蒙).

Before this, Hae Buru (解夫婁), King of North Buyeo, had already moved away to East Buyeo, and when Buru died, Geumwa (金蛙) succeeded to the throne. At that time he found a woman at the Ubalsu (優渤水) south of Mount Taebaek. When he questioned her, she said this.

"I am the daughter of Habaek (河伯), and my name is Yuhwa (柳花). When I went out to play with my younger sisters, there was a man who called himself Hae Mosu (解慕漱), the son of the Emperor of Heaven (天帝). He lured me into a house by the Amnok River below Mount Ungsin (熊神山) and lay with me, then went away and did not return.〔The Dangun gi says: "Dangun married the daughter of Habaek of the Western River, and she bore a son named Buru." Now according to this record, Hae Mosu lay with the daughter of Habaek in secret and afterward Jumong was born. The Dangun gi says "she bore a son named Buru," so Buru and Jumong are brothers by different mothers.〕 My parents scolded me for following a man without a matchmaker, and at last sent me to live in exile here."

Geumwa thought this strange and shut her in a room, and sunlight shone on her. She drew back to avoid it, but the sunlight followed her and shone on her again. Because of this she conceived and laid an egg, about five doe in size.

The king threw it away and gave it to the dogs and pigs, but none would eat it. He threw it on the road, and the oxen and horses avoided it. He threw it in the fields, and the birds and beasts covered it. The king tried to split it open but could not break it, so he gave it back to its mother.

The mother wrapped it in cloth and set it in a warm place, and a child broke the shell and came out. His frame and looks were splendid and remarkable. At only seven years of age his talent was beyond the ordinary. He made his own bow and arrows, and of a hundred shots he hit a hundred. In the custom of that country a good archer was called jumong, and so this became his name.

Geumwa had seven sons who always played with Jumong, but their skill could not match his. The eldest son Daeso (帶素) said to the king, "Jumong was not born of a human. If we do not deal with him early, I fear there will be trouble later." The king did not listen, and had Jumong tend the horses.

Jumong could tell which horses were fine. He cut their feed to make them thin, and fed the dull ones well to make them fat. The king rode the fat horses himself and gave the thin ones to Jumong.

The king's sons and the ministers plotted to harm Jumong. His mother learned of it and told him, "The people of this country are going to harm you. With your talent and wits, where could you not go? You must make your plans quickly."

Then Jumong made friends with three men, Oi (烏伊) and the others, and set out. He came to the Eomsu (淹水)〔Now unknown.〕 and called out to the water. "I am the son of the Emperor of Heaven and the grandson of Habaek. Today I am fleeing, and those who pursue me are almost upon me. What shall I do?"

Then the fish and turtles formed a bridge so that he could cross. Once he had crossed, the bridge came apart, and the pursuing horsemen could not cross.

He came to Jolbon Province〔The border of Xuantu Commandery.〕 and at last set his capital there. He had no time to build a palace, and only tied up a thatched hut by the Biryusu (沸流水) and lived there. He named the state Goguryeo, and from this took Go (高) as his surname.〔His original surname was Hae (解). Now he said of himself that he was the son of the Emperor of Heaven, born by receiving the sunlight, and so he took Go as his surname.〕

At this time he was twelve years old. In the second year of Jianzhao (建昭) under Emperor Xiaoyuan (孝元帝) of Han (漢), a gapsin year, he ascended the throne and called himself king. When Goguryeo was at its fullest strength, it had two hundred ten thousand five hundred and eight households.

It is recorded in the twenty-first volume of the Zhulin zhuan (珠琳傳).

"Long ago a serving maid (侍婢) of King Yeongpumni (寧禀離王) became pregnant. A diviner read her fortune and said, 'The child will be noble and will surely become king.' The king said, 'It is not my child. It must be killed.' The maid said, 'A breath came down from Heaven, and so I conceived.' When the child was born, it was held to be ill-omened. It was cast into a pen, but the pigs breathed on it. It was cast into a stable, but the horses gave it milk. So it did not die, and at last it became King of Buyeo."

〔This means that Emperor Dongmyeong became King of Jolbon Buyeo. This Jolbon Buyeo was also a secondary capital of North Buyeo, and so he is called King of Buyeo. Yeongpumni is another name for King Buru.〕