Wang Kon
(877–943), founder of the Koryo dynasty, Korea. Wang Kon, posthumously known as T'aejo, was born in Songak (modern Kaesong, North Korea). He came from a prominent merchant family that had built up its wealth in the China trade. At the start of the tenth century, Wang Kon became a major lieutenant to a regional lord, Kungye (d. 918). Under him, Wang Kon proved to be both an able soldier on land and a skilled commander at sea. In 918, wearied by Kungye's tyrannical acts, Wang Kon overthrew Kungye and founded a new dynasty called Koryo (918–1392).
From his capital at Songak, Wang Kon struggled to unify the Korean peninsula. In 935, the former Shilla kingdom (57 BCE–935 CE) peacefully surrendered to Koryo, and then in 936 Wang Kon forced the other rival state, Later Paekche (18 BCE–663 CE), to submit. With the kingdom unified, Wang Kon spent the remainder of his reign stabilizing the dynasty. He married twenty-nine women from various parts of the peninsula, used both indigenous techniques and political institutions modeled on Chinese practices, and turned to Buddhism as ways to unify the country. Before he died, he issued Ten Injunctions instructing his descendants how to govern so as to ensure the success of the dynasty. These Ten Injunctions serve as an excellent political and intellectual statement of the era. Three of Wang Kon's sons succeeded him as monarchs.
Further Reading
Lee, Ki-baik. (1984) A New History of Korea. Boston, MA: Harvard University Press.
Lee, Peter H., ed. (1993) Sourcebook of Korean Civilization. New York: Columbia University Press.
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