The House of Ko () was the

dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a monarchy, monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A dynasty may also be referred to as a "house", "family" or "clan", among others. H ...

that founded and ruled over the ancient

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

n kingdom 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 ...

. Its founder, Chumong, broke away from another ancient Korean kingdom called

Dongbuyeo Eastern Buyeo, also rendered as Dongbuyeo or Eastern Fuyu, was an ancient kingdom that developed from Buyeo, Northern Buyeo (Northern Fuyu), until it was conquered by Goguryeo. According to the ''Samguk Sagi'', it was established when the Buyeo ...

to start his own kingdom.

Founding

The House of Ko was founded and descended from one

common ancestor Common descent is a concept in evolutionary biology applicable when one species is the ancestor of two or more species later in time. According to modern evolutionary biology, all living beings could be descendants of a unique ancestor commonl ...

, who was Chumong, also the first ruler of Goguryeo. Chumong was the son of Hae Mo-su of Buyeo and Lady Yuhwa. Lady Yuhwa was the daughter of Habaek, the god of the Amnok River or, according to an alternative interpretation, the sun god Haebak (). As a descendant of Hae Mo-su, Chumong was driven by the goal of reuniting all of Gojoseon's ancient territory into one whole empire and one whole nation. With this goal in mind, he set off from

and began building the foundations for his kingdom. After three years, he had already conquered several of the neighboring kingdoms and was ready to go into the final phase of constructing his kingdom. He completed this phase by holding hands with

Jolbon Jolbon () was the first capital of Goguryeo, which arose in the north of the Korean Peninsula. Jolbon is thought to have been in modern Wunü Mountain, Liaoning province of China. Jolbon was also known by the names of Heulseunggol-seong in the ''B ...

and bringing it under his control. In 37 BC, Chumong finally established his kingdom and named it 'Goguryeo'. He also changed his last name from 'Hae' to 'Ko,' which means 'high.' Goguryeo progressed and continued to grow stronger under Ko Chumong's reign of 19 years. His first wife and their son, Yuri, soon to be Emperor King Yuri, fled from Dongbuyeo and came to Goguryeo during the last year of Chumong's reign. Chumong proclaimed Yuri his successor and

Crown Prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title, crown princess, is held by a woman who is heir apparent or is married to the heir apparent. ''Crown prince ...

before dying five months later.

Complete transition of the family name

King Yuri rose to the throne in 19 BC and ruled until his death in 18 AD. During the reign of King Yuri to King Mobon, the kings of Goguryeo used the surname of Hae. In 53 AD, when the young prince Ko Kung took the throne as King

Taejo of Goguryeo Taejo (claimed 47 – 165) was the sixth monarch of Goguryeo, the northernmost of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, from AD 53 to 146. Under his reign, the young state expanded its territory and developed into a centrally ruled kingdom. His 93-year r ...

, he became the first king with the Ko surname in 3 generations. According to the ''

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 ...

'', the Goguryeo royal family claimed descent from the mythical god Gao Yang, who was the grandson of the

Yellow Emperor The Yellow Emperor, also known as the Yellow Thearch, or Huangdi ( zh, t=黃帝, s=黄帝, first=t) in Chinese, is a mythical Chinese sovereign and culture hero included among the legendary Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. He is revered as ...

Chinese mythology Chinese mythology () is mythology that has been passed down in oral form or recorded in literature throughout the area now known as Greater China. Chinese mythology encompasses a diverse array of myths derived from regional and cultural tradit ...

, and thus took the surname of "Ko" (高); however, this legend was discredited in the commentaries () by Kim Pusik, the compiler of the ''Samguk sagi'', who concluded that both Baekje and Goguryeo originated from Buyeo.

Height of power

Goguryeo's height of power came in the reign of King Gwanggaeto the Great of Goguryeo, who created and strengthened Goguryeo's cavalry and naval units to pacify the south and the north. Gwanggaeto the Great attacked and conquered

Buyeo Buyeo (; ; ), also rendered as Puyŏ or Fuyu, was an ancient kingdom that was centered in northern Manchuria in modern-day northeast China. It had ties to the Yemaek people, who are considered to be the ancestors of modern Koreans. Buyeo is ...

, Biryu-guk, the

Later Yan Yan, known in historiography as the Later Yan (; 384 – 407 or 409), was a dynastic state of China ruled by the Xianbei people during the era of Sixteen Kingdoms. The prefix "Later" to distinguish them from the Former Yan before them and othe ...

, Malgal, and the Ainu tribes. Goguryeo's height of power finally came, but the bringer of glory died at the young age of 39.

Decline

King Munjamyeong continued to expand Goguryeo's territories after receiving the full surrender of the ancient Korean state of Buyeo in 494. After the reign of King Munjamyeong, his son Heung-An became King Anjang. King Anjang continued to attack the southern kingdoms and weaken their power, further establishing the empire's power over both the

Korean peninsula Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically divided at or near the 38th parallel between North Korea (Dem ...

and

Manchuria Manchuria is a historical region in northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day northeast China and parts of the modern-day Russian Far East south of the Uda (Khabarovsk Krai), Uda River and the Tukuringra-Dzhagdy Ranges. The exact ...

. After King Anjang, his son became King Anwon.

Fall of Goguryeo

Goguryeo's 27th ruler, King Yeongryu, submitted to the newly-risen

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 ...

, despite the overwhelming victories that Goguryeo had achieved over the Sui. King Yeongryu was assassinated by Yŏn Kaesomun, who was ''Dae Mangniji'' (대막리지/Grand Prime Minister) of Goguryeo until 666 CE. King Bojang, the nephew of King Yeongryu, rose to the throne and ruled until 668 CE, when Goguryeo was destroyed by the coalition armies of the Tang dynasty and

Silla Silla (; Old Korean: wikt:徐羅伐#Old Korean, 徐羅伐, Yale romanization of Korean, Yale: Syerapel, Revised Romanization of Korean, RR: ''Seorabeol''; International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA: ) was a Korean kingdom that existed between ...

. With the fall of Goguryeo, surviving remnants attempted to re-establish Goguryeo, under military commander Kŏm Mojam and Ansŭng, an illegitimate son of King Bojang, as their king. However by 670, strife between Kŏm Mojam and Ansŭng led to the former's assassination and Ansŭng's submission to Silla. Ansŭng settled down in Kŭmma-chŏ (modern-day

Iksan Iksan (; ) is a Administrative divisions of South Korea, city and major railway junction in North Jeolla Province, South Korea. The city center and railway junction was formerly called "Iri" (), but merged with Iksan County (''Iksan-gun'') in 19 ...

, South Korea) and was enfeoffed as the King of Bodeok, a Silla vassal state, in 674. By 683, Ansŭng was made to live in the Silla capital in Gyeongju. In 684, after a failed rebellion against Silla, Bodeok was annexed by the kingdom of Silla.

References