Later Baekje and Gyeon Hwon後百濟·甄萱

Later Baekje and Gyeon Hwon.

The biography in the Samguksa says this:

"Gyeon Hwon was a man of Gaeun County in Sangju, born in the eighth year of Xiantong, the year jeonghae. His original surname was Yi, but later he took Gyeon (甄) as his surname.

His father Ajagae lived by farming. In the Guangqi years he held Sabulseong〔It is the present Sangju.〕 and called himself general.

He had four sons, all known to the world. Hwon was called outstanding and was full of plans and strategy."

The Ibigagi says this. Sado, the queen of Great King Jinheung, had the posthumous title Lady Baengnyung. Wanggyopari, the wife of Jakjin of the rank of gakgan, who was the son of Seonpum of the rank of pajingan, who was the son of her third son Lord Guryun, bore Wonseon of the rank of gakgan, and this was Ajagae.

Ajagae's first wife was Lady Sangwon and his second wife Lady Namwon, and they bore five sons and one daughter.

The eldest son was Sangbo Hwon, the second General Neungae, the third General Yonggae, the fourth Bogae, the fifth General Sogae, and the one daughter Daejudogeum.

The Gogi also says this:

"Long ago a rich man lived in the north village of Gwangju. He had a daughter of proper looks and bearing.

She said to her father, 'A man in purple clothes always comes to my bed and lies with me.'

Her father said, 'Thread a needle with a long thread and stick it in his clothes.'

She did so.

At daybreak she followed the thread, and under the north wall the needle was stuck in the waist of a great earthworm.

Afterward, because of this, she conceived and bore a boy, and at the age of fifteen he called himself Gyeon Hwon.

In the first year of Jingfu, the year imja, he called himself king and set up his capital in Wansan District.

He ruled forty-three years. In the first year of Qingtai, the year gabo, Hwon's three sons rebelled, and Hwon threw himself upon Taejo.

His son Geumgang ascended the throne, and in the first year of Tianfu, the year byeongsin, he fought the Goryeo army at Ilseon District. Baekje was defeated and the country perished, so it is said."

At first, when Hwon was still in swaddling clothes, his father was plowing in the fields.

His mother, carrying out his meal, laid the child under the trees, and a tiger came and suckled him. Those in the village who heard of it thought it strange.

When he grew up, his body and face were grand and striking, and his spirit was free and far from ordinary.

He joined the army and went to the royal capital, then went to guard the southwestern coast. He slept on his spear waiting for the enemy, and his courage always put him at the head of the soldiers, so for his service he was made a lieutenant general.

The first year of Jingfu under Emperor Zhaozong of Tang was the sixth year of the reign of Queen Jinseong of Silla.

Favorites at her side secretly played with the power of the state, and discipline grew loose and disordered. On top of this came famine. The people scattered, and bandits rose like swarms of bees.

Then Hwon secretly nursed a rebellious heart. He called his followers together and attacked the provinces and counties southwest of the capital.

Wherever he went, people answered like an echo, and within ten days or a month his followers numbered five thousand.

At last he raided Mujinju and made himself king, yet he still did not dare to call himself king openly. He signed himself 'Commander of the Southwest of Silla, Acting Governor of Jeonju, Vice Censor-in-Chief, Pillar of State, Founding Duke of Hannam.'

This was the first year of Longhua, the year giyu. Some say it was the first year of Jingfu, the year imja.

At that time the bandit Yanggil of Bugwon was grand and strong, and Gung Ye threw himself upon him and served under his banner.

Hwon heard of it and from afar gave Yanggil a post, making him a lieutenant general.

Hwon went around to the west and came to Wansanju, and the people of the district welcomed and cheered him.

Glad to have won the people's hearts, he said to those around him:

"Six hundred years and more after Baekje founded its state, Emperor Gaozong of Tang, at the request of Silla, sent General Su Dingfang with one hundred and thirty thousand troops by ship across the sea. Gim Yusin of Silla rolled up the land, passed through Hwangsan, joined the Tang army, attacked Baekje, and destroyed it.

How could I now not dare to set up a capital and wash away the old grievance?"

So at last he called himself King of Later Baekje, set up offices, and divided their duties. This was the third year of Guanghua of Tang and the fourth year of King Hyogong of Silla.

In the fourth year of Zhenming, the year muin, the hearts of the people of Cheolwongyeong suddenly changed, and they raised Taejo of Goryeo to the throne.

Hwon heard of it and sent an envoy with congratulations, and presented peacock fans, bamboo arrows from Jirisan, and other things.

Hwon kept peace with Taejo on the surface and rivalry underneath, and presented a dapple-gray horse to Taejo.

In the third year, in winter, in the tenth month, Hwon led three thousand horsemen to Jomulseong.

Taejo also came with picked troops to contend with him. Hwon's troops were sharp, and neither side could win.

Taejo wished to make peace for the moment and wear down Hwon's army. He sent a letter asking for peace and gave his cousin Wangsin as a hostage, and Hwon also sent his nephew Jinho, so that hostages were exchanged.

In the twelfth month Hwon attacked and took more than twenty fortresses, Geoseo and others, and sent an envoy to the Later Tang declaring himself a vassal.

In the fourth year Jinho died suddenly. Suspecting he had been killed on purpose, Hwon at once imprisoned Wangsin and sent a man to ask for the return of the dapple-gray horse he had sent the year before.

Taejo laughed and returned it.

In the second year of Tiancheng, the year jeonghae, in the ninth month, Hwon attacked and took Geunpumseong and burned it. The king of Silla asked Taejo for help.

Taejo was about to send out troops when Hwon raided and took Goulbu, advanced his army to Sirim, and suddenly entered the royal capital of Silla.

The king of Silla was out amusing himself with his lady at Poseokjeong at the time, and so the collapse was very great.

Hwon dragged off the king's lady by force and violated her, and had Gim Bu, a kinsman of the king of a younger generation, succeed to the throne.

After that he captured the king's younger brother Hyoryeom and the prime minister Yeonggyeong, and also took the treasures of the country, its weapons, its sons and daughters, and the most skilled of its craftsmen, and went home with them.

Taejo, with five thousand picked horsemen, met Hwon at the foot of Gongsan and fought a great battle.

Taejo's generals Gimnak and Sin Sunggyeom died, all his troops were routed, and Taejo escaped with barely his life.

Then he did not contend with Hwon, but let his guilt fill to the brim.

Hwon rode his victory and plundered Daemokseong, Gyeongsanbu, and Gangju one after another, and attacked Bugokseong.

Hongsul, the governor of Uiseongbu, also died fighting against him.

Taejo heard of it and said, "I have lost my right arm."

In the second year, in the first month, Taejo replied in these words:

"Looking up, I received what Heaven lent me. Looking down, I was pressed by the people's support. Unworthily I took up the authority of a commander and went forward to the seat of governing the country.

In the tenth month of the year gyeyu, trouble suddenly arose, and at last our armies clashed.

At first you made light of the enemy and charged straight ahead, like a mantis blocking a cart wheel. In the end you saw the difficulty and bravely withdrew, like a mosquito carrying a mountain on its back.

You folded your hands, laid out your words, pointed to heaven, and swore, 'From this day on there shall be peace forever. If I break this oath, may the gods strike me down.'

I too honored the martial virtue that lays down the spear and hoped for the kindness that does not kill. So I lifted the siege ring to rest the weary soldiers, and I did not refuse the hostages. I wished only to give the people peace.

This was the great kindness I showed to the people of the south.

How could I have known that before the blood of the oath was dry your wicked might would rise again, that the poison of bees and scorpions would harm the people, and that the madness of wolves and tigers would block the borders of the capital?

You saw a gain as small as a hair and forgot a kindness as great as heaven and earth. You cut down the king, burned the palace, chopped the ministers into pickle, and slaughtered the people.

Your wickedness overflows beyond Jie and Zhou, and your cruelty is worse than an owl's.

If you cannot correct your faults, your regret will come too late to catch up."

〔This letter was written by Choe Chiwon.〕

In the third year of Changxing, Hwon's minister Gongjik, who was brave and full of strategy, came and surrendered to Taejo.

Hwon seized Gongjik's two sons and one daughter, branded them with fire, and cut the tendons of their legs.

In autumn, in the ninth month, Hwon sent Ilgil with ships into the Yeseong River of Goryeo. He stayed three days, seized one hundred ships from the three districts of Yeomju, Baekju, and Jinju, burned them, and left.

In the first year of Qingtai, the year gabo, Hwon heard that Taejo was encamped at Unju. He picked armored soldiers, had them eat on their sleeping mats, and came, but before he reached the camp,

General Yu Geumpil struck him with strong horsemen and took more than three thousand heads.

More than thirty fortresses north of Ungjin heard the news and surrendered of their own accord, and under Hwon's banner the diviner Jonghun, the physician Jigyeom, and the brave generals Sangbong, Choepil, and others surrendered to Taejo.

In the year byeongsin, in the first month, Hwon said to his sons:

"This old man set up the name of Later Baekje at the end of Silla, and it has now been many years.

Our troops are twice the northern army's, yet still we have no advantage. It seems Heaven is lending its hand to Goryeo.

On the whole it would be right to go over to the northern king and keep our lives."

His sons Singeom, Yonggeom, and Yanggeom, all three, would not agree.

Hwon had many wives and concubines and some ten or more sons. The fourth son, Geumgang, was tall and full of wisdom, and Hwon loved him especially and meant to pass the throne to him.

His elder brothers Singeom, Yanggeom, and Yonggeom knew this and were troubled and anxious.

At that time Yanggeom was governor of Gangju and Yonggeom governor of Jeongju, and only Singeom was at his father's side.

Neunghwan of the rank of ichan sent men to the two districts of Gangju and Jeongju and plotted with Yanggeom and the others.

In the second year of Qingtai, the year eulmi, in spring, in the third month, together with Yeongsun and others he urged Singeom to shut Hwon in a temple at Geumsan and sent men to kill Geumgang.

Singeom called himself great king and declared an amnesty within the borders.

At first Hwon was asleep and had not yet risen when he heard from afar shouting in the palace courtyard, and asked what the sound was.

They told their father, "Because the king is old and dim in the essential affairs of the army and the state, the eldest son Singeom has taken over his father's throne, and that is the sound of the generals cheering and congratulating."

Soon they moved their father to the temple at Geumsan and set thirty strong men, Padal and others, to guard him.

A children's song says this:

Pitiful child of Wansan, you have lost your father and your tears stream down.

Hwon was shut up together with two young people of his rear palace, a man and a woman, the serving maid Gobinyeo, the attendant Neungunam, and others.

In the fourth month they brewed wine and got the thirty guards drunk.

Then Hyangu of the rank of sowonbo, Oyeom, Chungjil, and others came by sea to receive him.

When he arrived, because Hwon was ten years older, Taejo honored him with the title Sangbo (尙父) and lodged him in the southern palace.

He gave him Yangju as a fief, with fields, farms, forty slaves, and nine horses, and made Singang, who had come earlier from that country and surrendered, his steward.

General Yeonggyu, Gyeon Hwon's son-in-law, said secretly to his wife:

"The great king toiled for more than forty years and his work was nearly done, when in a single morning, by a disaster from within his own house, he lost his land and went over to Goryeo.

It is said that a faithful woman does not take two husbands, and a loyal minister does not serve two lords.

If I abandon my own lord and serve his rebellious son, with what face could I look on the righteous men of the world?

Moreover, I hear that Lord Wang of Goryeo is kind and generous, diligent and frugal, and has won the people's hearts. It seems Heaven has opened the way for him. He will surely be master of the Samhan.

Why not send a letter to comfort our king, and at the same time show devotion to Lord Wang, and so plan for good fortune in the days to come?"

His wife said, "Your words are my own mind."

So in the first year of Tianfu, the year byeongsin, in the second month, he sent a man to convey his intent to Taejo:

"If you raise the banner of righteousness, I ask to answer from within and welcome the royal army."

Taejo was glad, gave the messenger rich gifts, and sent him back with thanks to Yeonggyu:

"If by your kindness we become one and the roads are no longer blocked, I will first pay my respects to you, General, and then go up into the hall and bow to your lady. I will serve you as an elder brother and honor her as an elder sister, and in the end I will surely repay you richly. The gods of heaven and earth have all heard these words."

In the sixth month Hwon said to Taejo:

"The reason this old servant threw himself upon Your Highness was only to rely on Your Highness's might to punish my rebellious son. I humbly beg you, great lord, to lend your divine troops and wipe out those bandits and rebels. Then your servant could die without regret."

Taejo said, "It is not that I do not wish to attack them. I am waiting for the right time."

First he sent the crown prince and General Sulhui with one hundred thousand foot and horse to advance to Cheonanbu.

In autumn, in the ninth month, Taejo led the three armies to Cheonan, joined the troops, advanced, and halted at Ilseon, and Singeom met him with his army.

On the day gabo they faced each other across the Illicheon, and the royal army formed its lines with its back to the northeast and facing the southwest.

As Taejo and Hwon were surveying the troops, white clouds shaped like swords and spears suddenly rose from the Goryeo army and moved toward the other side.

Then they beat the drums and advanced. The Baekje generals Hyobong, Deoksul, Aesul, Myeonggil, and others saw that the army was great and in good order, threw off their armor, and surrendered before the lines.

Taejo comforted them and asked where their commander was. Hyobong and the others said, "The commander Singeom is in the central army."

Taejo ordered General Gonghwon and the others to advance the three armies together and strike from both sides, and the Baekje army broke and fled.

At Tanhyeon in Hwangsan, Singeom, with his two younger brothers, the generals Budal and Neunghwan, and more than forty others, was taken alive and surrendered.

Taejo accepted the surrender, comforted all the rest, and allowed them to come up to the capital with their wives and children.

He asked Neunghwan, "The plan at the start to plot secretly with Yanggeom and the others, imprison the great king, and set up his son was your plan. Is this what the duty of a minister should be?"

Neunghwan bowed his head and could not speak. Then Taejo ordered him beheaded.

As for Singeom, he said that his seizing the throne had been forced on him by others and was not his true intent, and that he had also entrusted his life and begged forgiveness for his crime, so he specially spared his life.

Hwon, from worry and anguish, broke out in a boil on his back and died within a few days at the temple in Hwangsan. It was the eighth day of the ninth month, and he was seventy years old.

Taejo's military orders were strict and clear, and the soldiers did not trespass by so much as a hair. The provinces and counties were at ease, and old and young all shouted "Ten thousand years."

He said to Yeonggyu, "After the former king lost his country, not one of his ministers or sons comforted him. Only you and your wife kept up word across a thousand li, gave your whole devotion, and at the same time turned the credit to me. That loyalty cannot be forgotten."

He gave him the post of jwaseung, bestowed a thousand gyeong of fields, lent thirty-five post horses to bring his family, and gave posts to his two sons.

Gyeon Hwon rose in the first year of Jingfu of Tang, and down to the first year of Tianfu of Jin was forty-five years in all. He perished in the year byeongsin.

The historian's comment says this:

"Silla's fortune ran out and the Way was lost. Heaven gave no help, and the people had nowhere to turn.

Then bands of bandits took their chance and rose up like the bristles of a hedgehog.

The worst of them were two men only, Gung Ye and Gyeon Hwon.

Gung Ye was originally a prince of Silla, yet he turned and made his own country his enemy, even to cutting up the portraits of his ancestors. His cruelty was extreme.

Gyeon Hwon rose from among the people of Silla and ate Silla's stipend, yet he hid a heart bent on disaster and rejoiced in the country's danger. He invaded the capital and slaughtered the king and his ministers like beasts. Truly he was the chief evil under heaven.

So Gung Ye was cast off by his ministers, and Gyeon Hwon's disaster grew from his own sons. Both brought it on themselves. Who else is to blame?

Even the great talents of Xiang Yu and Li Mi could not stand against the rise of Han and Tang. How much less could wicked men like Ye and Hwon stand against Taejo of Goryeo?"