This paper, based on the point of view that the trends of the Shandong area and its problem of reversion were very important issues to Goguryeo in its relations with Song, investigates and reveals the truth of how developments between Goguryeo and Son...
This paper, based on the point of view that the trends of the Shandong area and its problem of reversion were very important issues to Goguryeo in its relations with Song, investigates and reveals the truth of how developments between Goguryeo and Song were addressed.
Shandong was used as a place of cultural exchange and as a bridgehead connecting the Korean peninsula with China. On the other hand, this area was also used as a front-line military base when Chinese forces advanced on Korea.
Goguryeo performed active marine activities after securing Seoanpyeong(西安平), located at the mouth of the Yalu(鴨綠) River and Gyeonggi(京畿) Bay in the 4th century.
Goguryeo also territorialized Liadong(遼東) in the early 5th century. Goguryeo became interested in Shandong, which is accessible by sea and geographically close to Goguryeo. Goguryeo's increased interest in Shandong was shown to develop the external foreign relations with the forces occupying the area. The dispatching of envoys to Southern Yan(南燕) in the reign of Gwanggaeto the Great(廣開土大王) and sending envoys to Eastern Jin(東晋) during Jangsu's rule came from Goguryeo's foreign policy which aimed to form a strong relationship with the forces occupying the Shandong region.
The relationship with the Song Dynasty during the early reign of Jangsu (413-424) is also understood on the relevance to Shandong. The relations between Goguryeo and Song were established as Song was founded and then it installed rules of neighboring countries. Then Goguryeo and Song came and went a total of 5 times from 420 to 424. Song stabilized the unstable internal situation and was out to expand the relationship with Goguryeo with the intention of externally enhancing the dignity of the Emperor. This was also aimed at restraining the Northern Wei(北魏) Dynasty. Goguryeo pushed forward relations with Song, aiming to establish ties with the forces occupying the Shangdong area. From 422 to 423, the Shandong region was confused and unstable by the war between Song and Northern Wei, and Goguryeo was preparing to transfer its capital.
These were important direct causes for forming the relationship between Goguryeo and Song. However, Goguryeo had stopped dispatching envoys to Song for 12 years after 424. It seemed that Goguryeo's preparation for transferring its capital to Pyongyang(平壤) triggered confusion in its foreign relationship with Song.
In the mid-fifth century (436-461), Goguryeo dispatched envoys to Song a total of 11 times and this corresponded to 60% of the total number of dispatched envoys to Song. This showed that Goguryeo regarded Song as a very important partner in terms of foreign relations.
There were three reasons for Goguryeo to strengthen the ties at that time.
First, it was for defending the Liadong area. Goguryeo took up Liadong during the rule of Gwanggaeto the Great, but it had not established self-defense systems over the area by the mid-fifth century. In 438, Goguryeo had a conflict with Song over the positioning Feng Hong(馮弘) of Northern Yan(北燕) and, in this process, Song sent 7000 troops to Liadong from Shandong. This event caused a conflict between Song and Goguryeo. Because of this, Goguryeo became aware of the importance of Song and the Shandong region in terms of the defense of Liodong.
Second, there was an increase in the necessity for Goguryeo to understand the trends of the Shandong region in accordance with strengthening ties with the allied Silla(新羅) and Baekje(百濟). In the 450s, Silla had strengthened the alliance with Baekje away from Goguryeo's influence. As a result, the collision of Goguryeo and the allies Silla and Baekje(羅濟同盟) was in earnest, so Goguryeo had to concentrate its forces in the South. The military defense in the Northwestern region became relatively neglected in the process. Goguryeo had to grasp the trend of Shandong that might affect the northwestern area.
Finally there was the lasting chaotic situation of the Sandong region. During the time of the strengthening of the allies Silla and Baekje in the Southern Korean peninsula, the war between Song and Northern Wei broke out over the ownership of the Shandong and Henan(河南) areas. It contributed to Goguryeo in paying attention to the state of affairs of this area because this was related to the vested issue of Shandong. Goguryeo's intensive dispatch of envoys to Song in 450 was to explore and respond to these changes.
In the late fifth century (462-479), Goguryeo converted its center of foreign policy to Northern Wei from Song after resuming relations with Northern Wei in 462. From 462 to the collapse of Song in 479, Goguryeo dispatched envoys a total of 24 times to Northern Wei while only 6 times to Song.
The reason was that Northern Wei had reinforced control over Liaoxi(遼西) and the Shandong region through the war lasting from 467 to 469. In addition, Northern Wei obtained ownership over Shandong and its surrounding area. Because of these circumstances in Northern China, Goguryeo had to deepen its relationship with Northern Wei.
In the same period, there was a series of changes in relations between Goguryeo and Song. At first, the relationship between Goguryeo and Song developed based on Shandong, but it was maintained even after Song's loss of Shandong. This was because Goguryeo needed to hold back Baekje as Baekje had taken an aggressive stance toward Goguryeo.
As mentioned above, Goguryeo developed foreign policies based on the trends and issues of jurisdiction over the area of Shandong, with special interest during the reign of King Jangsu. The relationships with Southern Yan and Eastern Jin, or with Song, were part of Goguryeo's foreign policies which aimed to have friendly relations with the forces occupying the Shandong area.