King Jangsu | |
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King of Goguryeo | |
Reign | 413-491 (78 years) |
Predecessor | Gwanggaeto the Great |
Successor | Munjamyeong of Goguryeo |
Born | 394 |
Died | 491 (aged 96–97) |
Issue | Crown Prince Juda |
Father | Gwanggaeto the Great |
Jangsu of Goguryeo | |
Hangul | 장수태왕 |
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Hanja | 長壽太王 |
Revised Romanization | Jangsu-taewang |
McCune–Reischauer | Changsu-taewang |
Birth name | |
Hangul | 거련 or 연 |
Hanja | 巨連 or 璉 |
Revised Romanization | Georyeon or Yeon |
McCune–Reischauer | Kǒryǒn or Yǒn |
Monarchs of Korea Goguryeo |
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Jangsu of Goguryeo (394–491, r. 413–491) was the 20th monarch of Goguryeo, the northernmost of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. He was born in 394 as the eldest son of Gwanggaeto the Great. He became the crown prince in 408, and upon his father's death in 413, became the ruler at the age of 19.
Jangsu reigned during the golden age of Goguryeo, when it was a powerful empire and one of the great powers in East Asia. He continued to build upon his father's territorial expansion through conquest, but was also known for his diplomatic abilities. Like his father, Gwanggaeto the Great, Jangsu also achieved a loose unification of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. In addition, Jangsu's long reign saw the perfecting of Goguryeo's political, economic and other institutional arrangements. He is also noted for building the Gwanggaeto Stele, dedicated to his father. Jangsu's posthumous name means "Long Life", based on his longstanding reign of 79 years until the age of 98, the longest reign in East Asian history.
During his reign, Jangsu changed the official name of Goguryeo (Koguryŏ) to the shortened Goryeo (Koryŏ), from which the name Korea originates.
During his early reign, Jangsu dedicated much of his efforts toward stabilizing an empire that had experienced great and sudden growth as a direct result of his father's conquests. Jangsu built a magnificent tomb for his father, Gwanggaeto the Great, and along with it an imposing 6 meter tall tombstone engraved with his father's accomplishments (now known as the Gwanggaeto Stele).
In 427, he transferred the Goguryeo capital from Gungnae Fortress (present-day Ji'an on the China-North Korea border) to Pyongyang, a more suitable region to grow into a burgeoning metropolitan capital, which led Goguryeo to achieve a high level of cultural and economic prosperity.