Wang Kon Biography

This Biography consists of approximately 2 pages of information about the life of Wang Kon.

Wang Kon Biography

This Biography consists of approximately 2 pages of information about the life of Wang Kon.
This section contains 477 words
(approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page)
Buy the Wang Kon Biography

Encyclopedia of World Biography on Wang Kon

Wang Kon (877-943) was the founder of the Korean Koryo dynasty and a descendant of a powerful clan at Songdo which controlled maritime trade on the Yesong River. The legends of his ancestors and his rise to power bespeak the clan's intimate association with the sea.

Wang Kon first served as a general under Kungye of Later Koguryo, one of the Later Three Kingdoms. A Silla prince who took to the hills on account of political squabbling at court, Kungye was something of a megalomaniac and Buddhist fanatic, styled himself a Maitreya, and indulged in butchery in his sumptuous palaces. Finally, Wang's colleagues decided to make Wang king, and he ascended the throne at Ch'orwon, the capital of Later Koguryo (918). A year later, Wang transferred the capital to Songdo (modern Kaesong), his clan's stronghold, for personal, strategic, and geomantic reasons.

The destruction of Later Paekche, established by Kyonhwon...

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This section contains 477 words
(approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page)
Buy the Wang Kon Biography
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Wang Kon from Gale. ©2005-2006 Thomson Gale, a part of the Thomson Corporation. All rights reserved.