Battle of Tianmenling

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Battle of Tianmenling
Date 698 Location Tianmenling, Jilin Result Balhae victory
Belligerents
Tang Dynasty	Balhae Sumo Mohe
Commanders
Li Kaigu	Dae Jo-yeong

The Battle of Tianmenling (Traditional Chinese: 天門嶺之戰), also known as the Battle of Cheonmun-ryeong (Hangul: 천문령 전투) was a battle fought between Dae Jo-yeong, later founder of Balhae, and Li Kaigu (李楷固) a Khitans commander of Chinese Tang Dynasty.

After the fall of Goguryeo to the Silla-Tang armies, Dae Jo-yeong, along with his father Dae Jung-sang, were forced to move over into the Yinzhou province of the Tang Dynasty. In the confusion of the Khitan uprising (led by Li Jinzhong and Sun Wanrong) against the Tang in May 696, Dae Jung-sang and the Sumo Mohe leader Geolsa Biu sought independence from Tang. In spite of Empress Wu Zetian's appeasement policy, they fled eastward to the former land of Goguryeo.

The Tang sent general Li Kaigu to give chase, and subsequently Geolsa Biu and Dae Jung-sang were killed. Dae Jo-yeong integrated the Goguryeo people under the two leaders and resisted the Tang's attack. He scored an overwhelming victory over the Tang at the Battle of Tianmenling, which enabled him to establish his own kingdom. He claimed himself the King of Jin in 699 and put his capital at Dongmo Mountain in the south of today's Jilin province.

[edit] External links

• (Korean) 대조영과 이해고의 숙명을 건 천문령 전투, 부산일보
• HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE PRE-DYNASTIC KHITAN