Discover

(Redirected from King Mu of Baekje)

King 'Mu of Baekje' (600 - 641, ? - 641) was the 30th king of Baekje, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. He was the son of King Beop.^[1]

Contents

Background

Reign

Seodong-yo

Notes and references

See also

Background

During his reign, the Three Kingdoms (Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla) were at war with each other, as alliances shifted and the neighboring China also experienced a change of dynasties.
Because reliable historical sources are hard to find for the Three Kingdoms period, the specifics of Mu's policies are not known.

Reign

Early in his reign, Mu attacked Silla several times. He also requested assistance from Sui Dynasty of China to attack Goguryeo. Following the Goguryeo-Sui War, the Sui was replaced by the Tang Dynasty in China in 618.
In 627, he attempted to recover land lost to Silla, but stopped when Tang intervened diplomatically. The same year, he sent the Buddhist monk Gwalleuk to Japan with texts on Buddhism, astronomy, history, and geography.
He formally established the Mireuksa temple in 634. He is also said to have ordered the repair of Baekje's Sabi Palace in 630, and the construction near his palace of the earliest known artificial lake in Korea ^[2]. His policies in the latter half of his reign, which emphasized construction projects at the expense of national defence, are often thought to have contributed to the fall of Baekje which took place twenty years after his death.
There is reason to believe that he moved the capital of Baekje from Sabi in Buyeo County to Iksan, at least briefly. Archaeological evidence in Iksan, including tombs attributed to Mu and his wife Seonhwa, appears to confirm this. ^[3]
Mu retained close ties with Tang China, but Tang later allied with Silla in the wars that ultimately unified the Korean Peninsula under Silla's rule by 668.

Seodong-yo

The Samguk Yusa relates a legend regarding Mu's marriage to a princess of Silla, although historians consider it unlikely to be true, given the hostilities between the rival kingdoms. In this story, the young Seodong (Mu's childhood name) falls in love with a Silla princess, and intentionally spreads a song about the princess and himself among the people. Thanks to this song ("Seodong-yo," or "Seodong's Song") the Silla king banishes the princess, and Mu marries her and becomes the king of Baekje.
Mu is one of the main characters of the South Korean television drama Seo Dong Yo (서동요). In the drama, Mu appears as the hidden fourth son of King Wideok of Baekje. Mu meets his future wife and love, Princess Seonhwa of Silla, after his mother's death.

Notes and references

1. Baekje Bon-gi 5, ''Samguk Yusa''.
2. http://100.naver.com/100.nhn?type=image&media_id=277013&docid=64920&dir_id=11050102
3. http://www.ocp.go.kr:8091/visit/english/theme/theme06_3.html

See also

★ Rulers of Korea

★ History of Korea

★ Three Kingdoms of Korea