| YONG-GAE Movements - 49 Ready Posture - WARRIOR READY STANCE A Pattern Meaning YONG-GAE is named after a famous general during the Koguryo Dynasty, Yon Gae Somoon. The 49 movements refer to the last two figures of 649 A.D., the year he forced the Tang Dynasty to quit Korea after destroying nearly 300,000 of their troops at Ansi Sung. |
YONG-GAE
| IV |
Blue Cottage Taekwon-Do
Yeon Gaesomun (603 - 665), was a powerful and controversial military dictator and
Generalissimo in the waning days of Goguryeo--one of the Three Kingdoms of ancient Korea.
Traditional Korean histories paint Yeon as a despotic leader, whose cruel policies and
disobedience to his monarch led to the fall of Goguryeo. However, his achievements in
defending Goguryeo against Chinese onslaughts have inspired Korean nationalist historians,
most notably the 19th century Korean historian and intellectual Sin Chaeho, to term Yeon the
greatest hero in Korean history. Many Korean scholars today echo Sin and praise Yeon as a
soldier-statesman without equal in Korean history, though other scholars strongly disagree.
Chinese and Japanese scholars continue to hold an unfavorable view of Yeon.
Yeon Gaesomun was the first and eldest son of Yeon Taejo, the Mangniji during the reigns of
Kings Pyeongwon of Goguryeo and Yeongyang of Goguryeo. Information about Yeon
Gaesomun comes largely from the Samguk Sagi's accounts of Kings Yeongnyu and Bojang
(Goguryeo vols. 8-10) and its biography of Yeon Gaesomun (vol. 49), surviving tomb engravings
belonging to his sons Yeon Namsaeng and Yeon Namgeon, and the biographies of those same
sons that appear in the Xin Tangshu (New History of Tang).
Tang Chinese historical records give Yeon Gaesomun's surname as Cheon (Chinese, Quan,
meaning "spring"), because Yeon (Chinese , Yuan, meaning "riverhead") was the given name of
Emperor Gaozu of Tang (Li Yuan), founder and first emperor of Tang, and thus taboo to apply to
another by Chinese tradition. He is also sometimes referred to as Gaegeum .
Very little is known of Yeon's early days, until he became the commander of the western district,
where he oversaw the building of the Cheolli Jangseong, a defensive wall against China.
Overthrow of the throne
Yeon Gaesomun's 642 coup d'etat came as the culimnation of a lengthy power struggle between
the military and the executive officials. Traditional Chinese and Korean historians believed that
his motive was simply his thirst for power. With the rise of Korean nationalism, many revisionist
Korean historians now assert that his motive was to make Goguryeo take a tougher stance
against Tang China (they have some trouble explaining why Yeon ordered invasions of Silla
rather Tang China after his assumption of power)
King Yeongnyu ultimately plotted to execute Yeon, allegedly due to his brutality by traditional
Korean and Chinese sources, but Yeon struck first. In 642, Yeon arranged a lavish banquet to
which the most powerful nobles of the kingdom were invited. When all the invitees were present,
Yeon's soldiers ambushed and killed most of them. Yeon then proceeded to the palace where he
murdered the king as well. According to traditional Chinese and Korean sources, the murder
was extremely gruesome and the king's body was desecrated afterwards; the brutal murder of
the King and several hundred officials probably contributed much to the almost unanimously
unfavorable view of Yeon among traditional Korean and Chinese historians.
After placing Bojang Taewang, nephew of Yeongnyu, on the Goguryeo throne, Yeon appointed
himself Dae Mangniji , the highest possible rank of Goguryeo under the Taewang; associated
with commander of military affairs, and leader of political affairs). Subsequently, in this role Yeon
went on to assume de facto control over Goguryeo affairs of state until his death around 666.
His role in the murder of the Goguryeo king was taken as the primary pretext for the failed Tang
invasion of 645.
Wars with China
The series of wars between Goguryeo and the Tang is one of the most important conflicts in
Northeastern Asian history, for many believe that they were the main cause of the ultimate
demise of once-powerful Goguryo. Yeon was a central protagonist in this important series of
wars, as well as its chief cause.
In the beginning of his rule, Yeon was briefly conciliatory toward Tang China. For instance, he
supported Taoism at the expense of Buddhism, and in 643 sent emissaries to the Tang court to
request Taoist sages, eight of whom were brought to Goguryeo. This gesture is considered by
some historians as an effort to pacify the Tang and buy time to prepare for a Tang invasion that
Yeon thought inevitable, given Yeon's ambitions to annex Silla.
Relations with Tang deteriorated, however, as Goguryeo launched new invasions of Silla, In the
beginning, Taizong's noted military acumen enabled him to conquer a number of major border
city fortresses of Goguryeo. Eventually, however, Taizong's invasion was met with two major
setbacks. First, Taizong's main army was stymied and bogged down for several months at Ansi
Fortress due to the resistance of the celebrated commander, Yang Man-chun. Second, the elite
marine force that Taizong sent to take Pyongyang, Goguryeo's capital, was defeated by Yeon
who, according to the Joseon Sanggosa, then immediately marched his legions to relieve
Yang's Goguryeo forces at Ansi Fortress.
Taizong, caught between Yang's forces in the front and Yeon's counter-attacking forces closing
in behind him as well as suffering from the harsh winter and dangerously low food supplies
Taizong was forced to retreat back home. (Zizhi Tongjian). During the retreat itself, a large
number of Taizong's soldiers were slain by Yeon and his pursuing army. However, Taizong and
the bulk of the invading army survived. according to the Chinese history books, Taizong's first
invasion of Gogoryeo was not a complete defeat, as Taizong took a substantial part of the
territory that was under Goguryeo influence before the invasion and inflicted heavy casualties
on Goguryeo's side (both soldiers and civilians). After the invasion, Goguryeo was never again
able to launch attacks on China, as it once did during the peak of its power.
It is speculated that after Taizong's failure of conquering Goguryeo the personal rivalry with
Yeon became an obsession with Taizong and his son Gaozong. They invaded Goguryeo two
more times in 661 and 667 and were unsuccessful at both times--perhaps most notably during
Yeon's defeat of the Tang forces in 662 at the Sasu River, Probably present-day Botong river)
where the invading general and all 13 of his sons were killed in the battle. Yeon's victory in Sasu
is today considered by many Korean to be one of the three greatest military victories in Korean
history. With increasing domestic issues in China, Tang was once again forced to retreat.
However, the population and economy were severely damaged after the three major invasions
and never recovered. both Silla and Tang continued their invasions for over 8 years, ultimately
leading to the demise of Goguryeo. but at least while Yeon Gaesomun was alive, Tang and Silla
was not able to conquer the Goguryeo.
Death
The most likely date of Yeon's death is that recorded on the tomb stele of Namsaeng, Yeon
Gaesomun's eldest son: the twenty-fourth year of the reign of Bojang (665). However, the
Samguk Sagi records the year as 666, and the Japanese history Nihonshoki gives the year as
the twenty-third year of the reign of King Bojang (664).
He apparently died of natural causes.
Yeon Gaesomun had at least three sons, (eldest to youngest) Yeon Namsaeng, Yeon Namgeon,
and Yeon Namsan. After his death, the country was weakened by a succession struggle
between his brother and three sons, and in 668 fell relatively swiftly to the Silla-Tang armies.
Some sources say the later would-be king of Goguryeo, Anseung, was the son of Yeon Jeongto,
the younger brother of Yeon Gaesomun.
Controversy and Legacy
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Yeon has been one of the most — if not the most — controversial figures in Korean history. The
many controversies surrounding him revolve around two issues: his character and his role in
the fall of Goguryeo.
First, in terms of his character, later Confucian scholars have mercilessly criticized Yeon for the
coup and the regicide that brought him to power. In their eyes, he was a disloyal subject who
sought personal power above all else. In particular, extant Tang and Silla sources have
consistently portrayed Yeon as a brutal and arrogant dictator. According to their testimony, for
instance, Yeon would have men prostrate themselves so that he might use their backs to mount
or dismount his horse.
Yeon's modern-time defenders, however, dismiss these Tang and Silla sources as biased
calumnies of enemy historians. Moreover, they argue that Yeon's subsequent single-
mindedness and success in defending Goguryeo testifies his genuine patriotism (though
Taizong's first invasion was provoked by Yeon's attacks on Silla, and subsequent attacks were
possibly due to Taizong and his son's personal hatred against Yeon).
Second, in terms of his role in the downfall of Gogureyo, Yeon's detractors blame Yeon for
needlessly provoking the Tang to attack Goguryeo (see above) and thereby ensuring its
downfall. They point out that, while Goguryeo remained a formidable regional power before
Yeon assumed power, it was completely destroyed by Silla and Tang within a short time soon
after his death. They also point out that the population of Gogureyo decreased dramatically
during Yeon's rule, and much of the economy was destroyed due to constant wars with Tang
China and Silla.
Yeon's defenders rejoin by claiming that the Tang would have invaded Goguryeo, regardless of
Goguryeo's attitude vis-a-vis Tang (although a major reason for Taizong's first invasion of
Goguryeo was Yeon's invasion of Silla, another Korean kingdom that allied with Tang). They add
that continuing to appease the Tang--as King Yongnyu had done--is tantamount to Neville
Chamberlain's appeasement of Hitler.
For many modern Korean nationalists, Yeon is a symbol of that magic historical juncture where
the pinnacle of Korean history and its Chinese counterpart violently collided, and the Koreans
unambiguously triumphed over the Chinese (it should be kept in mind, however, that Tang
China was also simulatneously engaging in military ventures on its Western and Southern
frontiers). It is no wonder in this age of renascent conflict between South Korea and China over
the historical ownership of part of Manchuria, Yeon has undegone a dramatic rehabilitation, and
he is for the first time by a large number of South Koreans, most of them descendants of the
people of Silla, the greatest hero in their history per Sin Chae-ho's words.
Another huge controversy that arises is the sources actually used to support the defeat of the
Tang Dynasty. Some sources such as Sin's Joseon Sangosa claim that Taizong was forced into
the outskirts of Beijing, but Sin's account has been challenged on the basis that it lacked
support in traditional Korean and Chinese sources. For example, he stated that 100,000-200,000
Tang soldiers died, but both the ancient Korean history Samguk Sagi[2] and ancient Chinese
histories Book of Tang[3], New Book of Tang[4], and Zizhi Tongjian[5] put the figure at 20,000,
stating that there were only 100,000 Tang soldiers used total. The modern Chinese historian Bo
Yang has speculated that the Yeon had the records altered so that he could claim credit for Yang
Manchun's victory over Tang.[6]
Media
Yeon is being the chief subject of new historical drama Yeon Gaesomun released in 2006 by
SBS in Korea. He was also featured in the KBS drama Dae Jo Young which is about the
founding monarchy of Balhae. The latter depicts him somewhat as a cruel ruthless dictator,
while Yeon shows otherwise.
