Battle
Goguryeo–Wei War 曹魏與高句麗的戰爭
About this event
The Goguryeo–Wei War was the campaign in the Zhengshi era in which Guanqiu Jian, Wei's Inspector of You Province, attacked Goguryeo, which had repeatedly raided and rebelled, and destroyed its capital. Guanqiu Jian went out to Xuantu with 10,000 foot and horse, defeated the 20,000 men led by Gung (宮), King of Goguryeo, at Yanggu (梁口) on the Biryu River (沸流水), climbed up to Hwando (丸都) and put the capital to the sword; in the 6th year of Zhengshi (245) he attacked again and had Wang Qi (王頎), Administrator of Xuantu, pursue the fleeing Gung beyond Okjeo (沃沮) as far as the southern border of the Sushen (肅慎). Records, Wei 28 §16–17
Chen Shou recorded this campaign in detail in the passage on Guanqiu Jian in the Biographies of Wang, Guanqiu, Zhuge, Deng and Zhong, Records of Wei 28, and also included it in the passages on Goguryeo, Eastern Okjeo and Buyeo in the Biographies of the Wuhuan, Xianbei and Eastern Yi, Records of Wei 30, and in the Annals of the Three Young Emperors, Records of Wei 4. The years differ from one chapter to another: the Goguryeo passage says that Gung was defeated by Guanqiu Jian in the 5th year of Zhengshi (244), while the Annals of the Three Young Emperors record it as an event of the 2nd month, in spring, of the 7th year of Zhengshi (246). The campaign does not appear in the Romance. Records, Wei 28 §16–18Records, Wei 30 §41 · 59 · 66–67Records, Wei 4 §19
Course of events in the Records
Gung, King of Goguryeo, was named Wigung (位宮), a name given because he resembled his great-grandfather Gung. In the 2nd year of Jingchu (238), when Sima Yi attacked Gongsun Yuan, Gung gave his jubu and daega several thousand men to aid the Wei army, but in the 3rd year of Zhengshi (242) he raided Xi'anping. Guanqiu Jian had become Inspector of You Province and General Who Crosses the Liao in the Qinglong era, had led the way in the campaign against Liaodong, and had been made Marquis of Anyi for his merit in the pacification of Gongsun Yuan. Records, Wei 30 §58–59Records, Wei 28 §14–15
In the Zhengshi era, because Goguryeo had repeatedly raided and rebelled, Guanqiu Jian led 10,000 foot and horse from the various commanderies out to Xuantu and attacked along several routes. Gung led 20,000 foot and horse out to the Biryu River and fought a great battle at Yanggu, but was defeated again and again and fled; Guanqiu Jian, tethering his horses and hanging his carts, passed through the steep roads, climbed up to Hwando and put the capital of Goguryeo to the sword, beheading or capturing men by the thousand. Deungnae (得來), a paeja who had remonstrated with Gung many times, lamented that this land would soon be overgrown with weeds and starved himself to death; Guanqiu Jian ordered that his tomb not be destroyed nor its trees cut, and released his wife and children. Gung fled with only his wife and children. Records, Wei 28 §16–17
In the 6th year of Zhengshi (245), when Guanqiu Jian attacked again, Gung fled to Maegu (買溝). Guanqiu Jian sent Wang Qi, Administrator of Xuantu, to pursue him, and Wang Qi passed Okjeo and went on more than a thousand li to reach the southern border of the Sushen. Guanqiu Jian carved a record of his achievement in stone and inscribed texts on the mountains of Hwando and at Bullae Fortress (不耐城); those killed or received in surrender numbered more than 8,000 in all, and more than a hundred men were made marquises for their merit. The Eastern Okjeo passage records that when Gung fled to Okjeo, the Wei army destroyed all the towns and villages of Okjeo and beheaded or captured more than 3,000 people, and when Gung fled on to Northern Okjeo, Wang Qi pursued him separately as far as the end of its eastern border. Records, Wei 28 §17–18Records, Wei 30 §66–67
The Buyeo passage records that when Guanqiu Jian attacked Goguryeo he sent Wang Qi to Buyeo, and Wigeo (位居), King of Buyeo, sent a daega to welcome him outside the city and supplied the army with provisions. The Annals of the Three Young Emperors record that in the 2nd month, in spring, of the 7th year of Zhengshi (246) Guanqiu Jian attacked Goguryeo and in the 5th month, in summer, attacked the Yemaek (濊貊), defeating them all, and that Nahae (那奚) and some dozens of other states of the Han (韓) each led their tribes to surrender. Records, Wei 30 §41Records, Wei 4 §19
At the head of the Biographies of the Eastern Yi, Chen Shou wrote that when Goguryeo rebelled, a detached force was sent to pursue it to the farthest reaches, passing Okjeo, treading the court of the Sushen and reaching the great sea in the east; on this journey the various states were surveyed and their laws and customs collected, so as to supply what the earlier histories had lacked. The Goguryeo passage says that Gung was defeated by Guanqiu Jian in the 5th year of Zhengshi (244), and adds, "This affair is in the biography of Guanqiu Jian." Records, Wei 30 §33 · 59
Written by 3KDEX (not yet reviewed) — The tags at the end of each paragraph link to the exact passage in the Records volume or Romance chapter it is based on.
Belligerents
| Item | A | B |
|---|---|---|
| Factions | Wei | |
| Commanders | Guanqiu Jian, Wang Qi(王頎) | |
| Strength | 督諸軍步騎萬人 | 宮將步騎二萬人 |
| Casualties | 斬獲首虜以千數 |
Factions, commanders, strength and casualties are checked against the source texts (3KDEX). Strength and casualties show only figures stated in the sources. Source: Wei 28 §16