Taebong

Taebong was a state established by Gung Ye (hanja: 弓裔 ) on the Korean Peninsula in 901 during the Later Three Kingdoms.

Name

The state's initial name was Goryeo, after the official name of Goguryeo, a previous state in Manchuria and the northern Korean Peninsula, from the 5th century. Gung Ye changed the state's name to Majin in 904, and eventually to Taebong in 911. When Wang Geon overthrew Gung Ye and enthroned himself as Taejo of Goryeo, he restored its original name.

To distinguish Gung Ye's state from Wang Geon's state, later historians call this state Later Goguryeo (Hugoguryeo) or Taebong, its final name.

History

According to legend, Gung Ye was a son of either King Heonan or King Gyeongmun of Silla. A soothsayer prophesied that the newborn baby would bring disaster to Silla, so the King ordered his servants to kill him. However, his nurse hid Gung Ye and raised him secretly. He joined Yang Gil's rebellion force in 892. Silla, after nearly a millennium as a centralized kingdom, was quickly declining, and Gung Ye instigated his own rebellion and absorbed Wang Geon's forces at Songak. In 898, He set up the capital in Songak. He eventually defeated Yang Gil and other local lords in central Korea to proclaim himself king in 901.