Wei Man

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Wei Man
Korean name
Hangul:	위만
Hanja:	衛滿
McCune-Reischauer:	Wiman
Revised Romanization:	Wiman
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese:	衛滿
Simplified Chinese:	卫满
Hanyu Pinyin:	Wèi Mǎn
Wade-Giles:	Wei Man

Wei Man, known as Wiman in Korean, was a man from the State of Yan of China who established a kingdom in northwestern Korea in the 2nd century BC. He was the first figure in the history of Korea who was recorded in documents of the same age. The Records of the Grand Historian simply calls him Man, so the surname Wei was probably added later.

1 Biography
2 Notes
3 References
4 See also

[edit] Biography

Man served to Prince Lu Wan (盧綰) of the Yan Principality. Although Lu Wan was Emperor Gao's old ally, he was eventually suspected of rebellion and was attacked by the emperor. Lu Wan sought refuge to the Xiongnu in 195 B.C while Man fled to the east.

According to the Shiji, Man led 1,000 people, dressed in Korean costume and crossed the border river of Paesu (浿水; probably Amrok River). Based on the upper and lower fortresses of the former Qin Dynasty, he organized natives named the the Joseon and Chinese refugees from Yan and Qi, and came to the crown. He put the capital in Wanggeom (generally identified as P'yŏngyang).^[1] Since the Han Empire was not completely stabilized yet, the Governor of Liaodong appointed Man as an outer subject, provided that he did not prevent natives to go up to the empire. The appointment is dated at 191 B.C. or 192 B.C.^[2] With the support of the Han Empire, he expanded the territory by conquering a lot of small towns. His kingdom was eventually conquered by Emperor Wu in 108 B.C during the reign of his grandson Ugeo.

The Weilue, which was written about 400 years later, offers more detailed but less reliable information. It says that Man took power in a coup from King Zhun, a descendant of the Chinese sage Gija. Zhun fled to the south and proclaimed himself as King of Han. The historical accuracy of this story is more or less questioned by historians. Some scholars believe that this story came from the Han clan, who claimed themselves as descendants of Gija, and have spread to China because of Chinese direct rule of northern Korea. It is, however, generally agreed that there were certain kinds of polities in northwestern Korea before Man's kingdom, probably by the Chinese immigrants and aboriginal people.

[edit] Notes

^ In connection with the controversy over the location of Lelang Commandery, there is a minority view that Man's domain was located in Liaoning instead of northwestern Korea. However, it is generally accepted that Mazasu (馬訾水) or Paesu (浿水) refers to the Amrok River. And that Man's territory was bordered on the north by the Han Empire. P'yŏngyang is the most likely site for the capital Wangxian but lacks archaeological evidence. For more information, see [Tani:1987].
^ [Ibaragi:1984]

[edit] References

^ In connection with the controversy over the location of Lelang Commandery, there is a minority view that Man's domain was located in Liaoning instead of northwestern Korea. However, it is generally accepted that Mazasu (馬訾水) or Paesu (浿水) refers to the Amrok River. And that Man's territory was bordered on the north by the Han Empire. P'yŏngyang is the most likely site for the capital Wangxian but lacks archaeological evidence. For more information, see [Tani:1987].
^ [Ibaragi:1984]

Mikami Tsugio 三上次男: Kodai no seihoku Chōsen to Ei-shi Chōsen koku no seiji, shakaiteki seikaku 古代の西北朝鮮と衛氏朝鮮国の政治・社会的性格, Kodai Tōhoku Ajiashi Kenkyū 古代東北アジア史研究, pp. 3-22, 1966.
Ibaragi Kazuo 荊木計男: Ei Man Chōsen ō Sakuhō ni tsuite 衛満朝鮮冊封について, Chōsen Gakuhō 朝鮮学報 (Journal of the Academic Association of Koreanology in Japan) Vol. 113, pp.1-25, 1984.
Tani Toyonobu 谷豊信: Rakurō-gun no ichi 楽浪郡の位置, Chōsen shi kenkyūkai ronbunshū 朝鮮史研究会論文集 (Bulletin of Society for Study in Korean History), No 24, pp. 23-45, 1987.