The founding legends of the Goryeo royal family is a mythical account of the ancestral family of

Wang Kŏn Taejo (; 31 January 877 – 4 July 943), personal name Wang Kŏn (), also known as Taejo Wang Kŏn (), was the founder of the Goryeo Dynasty of Korea. He ruled from 918 to 943, achieving unification of the Later Three Kingdoms in 936. Background ...

, who united the Korean Peninsula during the

Later Three Kingdoms The Later Three Kingdoms period (; c. 890s – 936 AD) of ancient Korea saw a partial revival of the old three kingdoms which had dominated the peninsula from the 1st century BC to the 7th century. After the Unified Silla kingdom had ruled Kor ...

period and founded the

Goryeo Goryeo (; ) was a Korean state founded in 918, during a time of national division called the Later Three Kingdoms period, that unified and ruled the Korea, Korean Peninsula until the establishment of Joseon in 1392. Goryeo achieved what has b ...

dynasty of Korea.

Legends

According to the ''Pyeonnyeon Tongnok'' () written by Kim Gwan-ui during the

period, the origin of the Goryeo royal family is from

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 ...

. Hogyŏng, who called himself General Seonggol, came from

Mount Baekdu Paektu Mountain or Baekdu Mountain () is an active stratovolcano on the Chinese–North Korean border. In China, it is known as Changbai Mountain (). At , it is the tallest mountain in North Korea and Northeast China and the tallest mountai ...

and traveled far and wide, finally settling down in Songak (modern

Kaesong Kaesong (, ; ) is a special city in the southern part of North Korea (formerly in North Hwanghae Province), and the capital of Korea during the Taebong kingdom and subsequent Goryeo dynasty. The city is near the Kaesong Industrial Region cl ...

) and starting a family. While hunting on Mount Pyeongna, he met a widowed

mountain spirit A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

who asked for his hand in marriage and to become the king of the mountain. Gang Chung, a son of Hogyŏng, planted pine trees on Mount Songak so that rocks wouldn't be visible in order to fulfill a prophecy, based on

feng shui Feng shui ( or ), sometimes called Chinese geomancy, is a traditional form of geomancy that originated in ancient China and claims to use energy forces to harmonize individuals with their surrounding environment. The term ''feng shui'' mean ...

, that his descendant would unite the " Sam Han" (), another name for the

Three Kingdoms of Korea The Three Kingdoms of Korea or Samhan (Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla) competed for hegemony over the Korea, Korean Peninsula during the ancient period of History of Korea, Korean history. During the Three Kingdoms period (), many states and statele ...

. He begot a son named Po-yuk, whose daughter Chin-ŭi had a child named Chakchegŏn with a member of the royal family of the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

; according to the

Goryeosa ''Goryeosa'' (), or ''History of Goryeo'', is an extensive historical record of the Goryeo dynasty, compiled by the officials of Goryeo's successor state, Joseon. Its compilation started during the reign of Taejo of Joseon, Taejo (the founding ...

, which cites the ''Pyeonnyeon Tongnok'', the father of the child was Emperor Suzong. The union fulfilled a prophecy given to Boyuk by a sage that the

Son of Heaven Son of Heaven, or ''Tianzi'' (), was the sacred monarchial and imperial title of the Chinese sovereign. It originated with the Zhou dynasty and was founded on the political and spiritual doctrine of the Mandate of Heaven. Since the Qin dynasty ...

from the Tang dynasty would come to him and become his son-in-law. After reaching adulthood, Chakchegŏn, who was described as courageous and exceptionally intelligent, set sail for Tang to meet his father Emperor Suzong. However, he was caught in a storm in the middle of the

Yellow Sea The Yellow Sea, also known as the North Sea, is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean located between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula, and can be considered the northwestern part of the East China Sea. Names It is one of four ...

and encountered a dragon woman () whom he brought back home and married. The ''Seongwonnok'' () identifies the "dragon woman" as the daughter of a man from

Pyongsan County P‘yŏngsan County is a county in North Hwanghae Province, North Korea. Etymology During the Korea under Japanese rule, Japanese occupation of Korea, the county was called Heizan () and was a part of the now-defunct Kōkai-dō, Kokai Province. A ...

named ''Tu Ŭn-chŏm'' (), Pyongsan County was called Pyeongju () during the

period, and was home to General

Sin Sung-gyŏm Sin Sung-gyŏm (; 882 – October 927) was a Korean general during the turbulent Later Three Kingdoms period in the early 10th century. Born in Gwanghaeju (present-day Chuncheon), he became a general in the kingdom of Taebong. He was instrumenta ...

of the Pyongsan Sin clan, who sacrificed himself to save Wang Kŏn at the Battle of Gongsan. The dragon woman, known posthumously as

Queen Wonchang Queen Wonchang () or Queen Gyeongheon (), was the grandmother of Wang Kŏn, founder of the Goryeo dynasty which she later Posthumously honoured as a queen alongside her husband in 919.''History of Goryeo ''Goryeosa'' (), or ''History of Gory ...

, gave birth to Wang Ryung, whose son Wang Kŏn would become the founder of Goryeo.

Interpretations

The story that Wang Kŏn was descended from either Suzong or Xuanzong was dismissed in the Goryeosa. The

Encyclopedia of Korean Culture The ''Encyclopedia of Korean Culture'' () is a Korean-language encyclopedia published by the Academy of Korean Studies and DongBang Media Co. It was originally published as physical books from 1991 to 2001. There is now an online version of the ...

interprets Chakchegŏn being the son of Emperor Suzong of the Tang dynasty as a hagiography and his marriage to the dragon woman from the Yellow Sea as symbolic of the maritime influence of Wang Kŏn's ancestors, who engaged in trade with China for generations. Likewise, the

Doosan Encyclopedia ''Doosan Encyclopedia'' () is a Korean-language encyclopedia published by Doosan Donga (). The encyclopedia is based on the ''Dong-A Color Encyclopedia'' (), which comprises 30 volumes and began to be published in 1982 by Dong-A Publishing (). ...

agrees that the claim of Emperor Suzong being Wang Kŏn's great-grandfather was invented to increase the legitimacy of the Goryeo royal family by linking it to the Tang royal family. According to Bae Han-cheol, the father of Chakchegŏn was a Korean merchant from one of the "Silla Quarters" () in China, which were autonomous settlements of Korean merchants in the Tang dynasty.

Foreign accounts

Xu Jing (), an envoy from the

Song dynasty The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Fiv ...

who went to Goryeo in 1123, documented in the ''Gaoli Tujing'' () that the ancestors of the Goryeo royal family were a great clan of Goguryeo.

Sinchon Gang clan

The ''daedongbo'' (a compilation genealogy book of related clans) of the Sinchon Gang clan claims that Gang Hogyeong was the 67th generation descendant of Gang Hu (), a grandson of King Wen of the

Zhou dynasty The Zhou dynasty ( ) was a royal dynasty of China that existed for 789 years from until 256 BC, the longest span of any dynasty in Chinese history. During the Western Zhou period (771 BC), the royal house, surnamed Ji, had military ...

. However, the historical veracity of that claim cannot be verified. Furthermore, the true progenitor of the Sinchon Gang clan is considered to be Gang Ji-yeon, a 14th generation descendant of Gang Hogyeong, not Gang Hogyeong himself.

References

{{Goryeo topics Goryeo Korean mythology

Legends

Interpretations

Foreign accounts

Sinchon Gang clan

See also

References