Yeongyang of Goguryeo
| Yeongyang of Goguryeo | |
| Hangul | 영양왕 or 평양왕 |
|---|---|
| Hanja | 嬰陽王 or 平陽王 |
| Revised Romanization | Yeong-yang-wang or Pyeong-yang-wang |
| McCune–Reischauer | Yŏng-yang-wang or P'yǒng-yang-wang |
| Birth name | |
| Hangul | 원 |
| Hanja | 元 |
| Revised Romanization | Won |
| McCune–Reischauer | Wǒn |
|
Monarchs of Korea Goguryeo |
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King Yeongyang of Goguryeo (died 618) (r. 590–618) was the 26th king of Goguryeo, the northernmost of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. He was the eldest son of King Pyeongwon (r. 559–590).
He is noted for repelling a series of invasions by the Chinese Sui Dynasty between 598 to 614, known as the Goguryeo-Sui Wars. He fended off four Sui campaigns by Emperors Wendi and Yangdi, including the great assault of 612, during which more than a million troops invaded Goguryeo territory.
The Samguk Sagi relates that Yeongyang was of unsurpassed charisma and had a magnanimous character, and "made it his undertaking to relieve the sufferings of the world and bring peace to the people". He was named Crown Prince by his father in 566, and he assumed the throne when the king died in 590.
King Yeongyang's reign took place in the context of heightened rivalry among the Korean Three Kingdoms of Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla, as well as the unification of China by the Sui and China's growing ambitions. Initially Yeongyang enjoyed cordial relations with Sui, receiving from the Sui emperor Wendi his enfeoffment as king of Goguryeo and attendant "offices and ranks" by tradition granted by Chinese dynasties to tribute monarchs. At the same time, Yeongyang strengthened relations with the Khitan and Mohe tribes to the north, in the preparations for war against China begun by his father.
In 598 however the Sui emperor Wendi grew incensed by a Goguryeo armed incursion into the Liaodong peninsula, a region claimed by Sui. It was largely this affront, combined with Sui's own geopolitical ambitions to reestablish the hegemony enjoyed by the Han Dynasty, that induced Wendi to launch a 300,000-men invasion of Goguryeo in 598. The 598 Sui invasion was foiled by disease and the weather (a severe storm wreaked havoc on the would-be invasion fleet).
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