Hangul 무왕 Hangul 장, also 무강 or 헌병 Parents Wideok of Baekje Hanja 武王 Hanja 璋, also 武康 or 獻丙 Grandparents Seong of Baekje | Revised Romanization Mu-wang Name Mu Baekje McCune–Reischauer Mu-wang Died 641 AD | |
Great-grandparents Muryeong of Baekje | ||
King Mu of Baekje (580–641) (r. 600–641) was the 30th king of Baekje, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. He was the son of King Beop or King Wideok.
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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 602. 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. 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 Queen Seonhwa, appears to confirm this.
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 Silla princess Seonhwa, and intentionally spreads a song about the princess and himself among the people. Thanks to this song ("Seodong-yo," or "Seodong's Song"), King Jinpyeong of Silla banishes the princess, and Mu marries her and becomes the king of Baekje.