Wiman Chosŏn (194–108 BC) was a dynasty ofOld Chosŏn (Go-Joseon). It began withWiman's (Wei Man) seizure of the throne fromKing Jun of Joseon and ended with the death ofKing Ugeo, who was Wiman's grandson. Apart from archaeological data, the main source on this historical period comes from chapter 115 ofSima Qian'sShiji.[1] Wiman was originally a Chinese military leader from theKingdom of Yan under theHan dynasty.[2][3][4][5][6]
According toSima Qian, Wiman was a general from theKingdom of Yan of northeastern China after the collapse of China'sQin dynasty, who submitted to Gojoseon's KingJun. Jun accepted and appointed Wiman commander of the western border region of Gojoseon, which probably corresponds to the west of the present-dayLiaoning. Despite the generosity that King Jun had demonstrated, Wiman revolted and destroyed Gojoseon. In 194 BC, he established Wiman Chosŏn and decided to locate his capital inWanggeom-seong. Many Korean historians believe that the exact location of Wanggeom-seong was Yodong (요동) in Liaodong, China.
In this period, Wiman Chosŏn expanded to control a vast territory and became strong economically by controlling trade between the Han dynasty and the peoples ofManchuria. TheEmperor Wu of Han thought that Wiman Chosŏn increasingly threatened the Han dynasty, and Wiman Chosŏn would ally with theXiongnu.
Around 128-126 BCE, theCanghai Commandery covered an area in the northern Korean Peninsula and southern Manchuria; it was centered in what is nowSouth Hamgyong Province.Namnyŏ [ko] (남려;南閭)), who was a monarch of the Eastern Ye and a subject of Wiman Chosŏn, revolted against King Ugeo, later surrendering to theHan dynasty with 280,000 people.[a] The Canghai Commandery was established following this revolution, however, in two years, it was abolished byGongsun Hong.[7]
Wiman's grandson,King Ugeo, allowed many exiles from Han China to live in Joseon. However, theHan Chinese population grew, and King Ugeo prevented theJin state from communicating with the Han dynasty. As a result, in 109 BC,Emperor Wu of Han invaded Wiman Chosŏn near theLuan River. After failing several times to defeat Wiman Chosŏn's armies, Han Wudi tried to convince the princes of Wiman Chosŏn to kill King Ugeo. The conspiracy failed, leading to the destruction of the Go-Joseon kingdom. After the war, the Han Emperor Wudi sentenced two generals to death for failing to defeat Joseon.
After a year of battle, Wanggeom-seong was captured and Wiman Chosŏn was destroyed. The Han dynasty established theFour Commanderies of Han in the areas it captured, corresponding to the current area of theLiaodong Peninsula and the northwestern Korean Peninsula. The Commanderies eventually fell to the rising Goguryeo in the 4th century.
^Peterson & Margulies 2009, p. 6: "The term was used again by a refugee from the Han dynasty named Wiman, who about 200 B.C.E. set up a kingdom in Korea called Wiman Choson."
^Cotterell 2011, Imperial Crisis: The Failure of the Later Han: "The earliest documented event in Korean history involves China. After an unsuccessful rising against the first Han emperor Gaozu, the defeated rebels sought refuge beyond the imperial frontier and one of them Wiman, took control of Choson, a Korean state in the north of the peninsula."
^Kim 2012, p. 10: "For instance, Wiman, a refugee from the Yan dynasty, which then existed around present-day Beijing, led his band of more than 1,000 followers into exile in Old Chosŏn in the early second century bc."
^Tennant 1996, p. 18: "Retaliation by the Han then brought in refugees from Yan, the most notable of whom was a war lord, Weiman ('Wiman'in Korean), who somewhere about 200 BC led his followers into the territory held by Choson."
^Xu 2007, p. 220"Here, Wiman was described as a "Gu Yanren 故燕人" or a person from former Yan. It is confusing because there were two Yans around this period. The first was the Yan state, which was one of the seven states during the Warring States period, and the second was the vassal state of Yan of the Han dynasty."
Lee, Hyun-Hee; Park, Sung-Soo; Yoon, Nae-Hyun (2005).New History of Korea. Korean Studies Series. Vol. 30. Paju, Gyeonggi: Jimundang.ISBN978-8-9880-9585-0.
Sima, Qian; Watson, Burton (1993).Records of the Grand Historian. Vol. Han Dynasty II. Translated by Watson, Burton (Revised ed.). New York: Columbia University Press.ISBN978-0231081672.
Yap, Joseph P.; Sima Guang (2009). "Chapter 5. 109 BC".Wars With the Xiongnu: A Translation FromZizhi tongjian. AuthorHouse.ISBN978-1-4490-0604-4.
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