Hangul 혜공왕 Hangul 김건운 Died 780 AD, Silla Hanja 惠恭王 Hanja 金乾運 Parents Gyeongdeok of Silla | Name Hyegong Silla McCune–Reischauer Hyegong Wang Role Gyeongdeok of Silla's son | |
Revised Romanization Hyegong Wang People also search for Gyeongdeok of Silla | ||
Hyegong of Silla (758–780) (r. 765–780) was the 36th ruler of the Korean kingdom of Silla. He was the son of King Gyeongdeok by Lady Manwol. Hyegong was the last descendant of King Muyeol to sit on the throne. Because of this, his reign is often regarded as the end of the middle period of the Silla state.
Hyegong became king at the age of 8, and did not adapt well to the role. According to the Samguk Sagi, as a young man Hyegong's dissolute life kept the palace in disarray. He faced rebellions led by high officials (Kim Daegong and others) in 768, 770 and 775. Faced in 780 with another rebellion, by his ichan Kim Ji-jeong, the king dispatched sangdaedeung Kim Yang-sang to put down the uprising. However, the rebel forces stormed the palace and slew the king and queen. Kim Yang-sang, who was an eleventh-generation descendant of King Naemul, then took the throne as King Seondeok.
Hyegong was thought to be effeminate, since his behavior was thought to be girlish, and historians described him as a man by appearance but a woman by nature, and so was killed in the April 780 rebellion that stormed the palace (for his subordinates could not accept his 'femininity'.)