Ŭl P'aso (; died 203) was the ''kuksang'' (Prime Minister) of

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 ...

under its 9th ruler King Gogukcheon. Ŭl P'aso was a native of Chwa-mul village () near the West

Amnok River The Yalu River () or Amnok River () is a river on the border between China and North Korea. Together with the Tumen River to its east, and a small portion of Paektu Mountain, the Yalu forms the border between China and North Korea. Its valle ...

Valley. He was the descendant of Ŭl So (), a government minister under

King Yuri King Yuri ( 38 BC – 18 AD, r. 19 BC – 18 AD) was the second ruler of Goguryeo, the northernmost of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. He was the eldest son of the kingdom's founder Jumong. As with many other early Korean rulers, the events of h ...

(r.19 BC - AD 18), but by the time of King Gogukcheon he belonged to a farming family, probably in the sense of managing an estate rather than himself guiding the plough, since he was literate and had enough connections to have a "reputation" for wisdom. During the twelfth year of reign of King Gogukcheon (190), powerful aristocrats from the tribe of Yŏnna (), who were relatives of the queen, seized land from the commoners. When the king attempted to punish them, they rose up in rebellion but were crushed by the royal army. The king asked the four tribes to select a man of wisdom to serve him. King Gogukcheon's sudden shift from an aristocratic to meritocratic style of government resulted in the discovering of many talented people throughout the kingdom. Among these selected individuals was An Ryu (), who was a student and neighbor of Ŭl P'aso. An Ryu rejected the king's request but recommended Ŭl to the king, and ''

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 ...

'' says that the king summoned Ŭl to the capital, and eventually gave him the position of Prime Minister in 191. Ŭl P'aso helped the king rule the kingdom wisely, but was constantly attacked politically by jealous nobles, for it was precisely their power the King had brought him in to undermine. The king threatened them with extermination if they continued to disobey, and since he had begun his reforms by executing or banishing the followers of his maternal relatives for encroaching on royal power, they believed him and quieted down. Ŭl died in 203, during the reign of King Sansang, the successor of King Gogukcheon.Samguk sagi 45:419-420, translated in Peter H. Lee, Sourcebook of Korean Civilization, pp. 42–3

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ŭl, P'aso 203 deaths 3rd-century government officials 2nd-century government officials Year of birth unknown 2nd-century Korean people Goguryeo people

See also

References