Hangul 태종 무열왕 Hangul 김춘추 McCune–Reischauer T'aejong Muyol Died 661 AD | Name Muyeol Silla Hanja 太宗 武烈王 Hanja 金春秋 | |
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Parents Princess Cheonmyeong of Silla Similar People Munmu of Silla, Queen Seondeok of Silla, Jinheung of Silla, Beopheung of Silla, Princess Seonhwa of Silla | ||
Revised Romanization Taejong Muyeol Children Munmu of Silla, Kim Inmun | ||
King Taejong Muyeol (604 – June 661), born Kim Choon-Choo, was the 29th monarch of the southern Korean kingdom of Silla (Sinra) and ruled from 654 to 661. He is credited for leading the unification of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. He was a friend and superior of Kim Yusin, a renowned army general, who eventually became his brother-in-law after marrying Taejong's sister.
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Background
King Taejong Muyeol was born with the "sacred bone" rank of seonggol. His father, Kim Yongsu (金龍樹), was a son of Silla's 25th ruler, King Jinji. When King Jinji was overthrown, all royalty from his line, including Kim Yongsu, were deemed unfit to rule over the kingdom. However, as he Yongsu was one of the few remaining seonggols, and married a seonggol princess (King Jinpyeong's daughter Princess Cheonmyeong), their child, Kim Chunchu, became seonggol and thus had a claim to the throne. Kim Yongsu was a powerful figure in the government. However, he lost all of his power to Kim Baekban, the brother of the king. In order to survive, he had accepted to become a jingol, the rank that was right below seonggol. Therefore, he lost his chance of becoming the king, and so did his child, Kim Chunchu. Following the death of his aunt, Queen Seondeok, Chunchu was passed over in favor of Jindeok of Silla, the last verifiable seonggol. With her death, all the seonggols were dead, so somebody with the royal blood in the jinggol rank had to succeed the throne. Kim Alcheon (a.k.a. So Alcheon), who was then Sangdaedeung (highest post of government) of Silla was the original favorite to succeed the throne. His father was a seonggol, who married a jingol wife so that his son would not be a seonggol and suffer from the fight for the throne. However, Kim Yushin supported Kim Chunchu, and Alcheon eventually refused the throne and supported Chunchu's claim. As a result, Kim Chunchu succeeded the throne as King Muyeol.
Reign
He was well acquainted with the Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty, for he and the Emperor were friends before Gaozong became an Emperor. King Muyeol was a great support to the Emperor, and the Emperor returned the support to King Muyeol. He constantly pleaded with the Tang for reinforcements to destroy Baekje, to which the Tang finally acquiesced in 660, sending 130,000 troops under General Su Dingfang. Meanwhile, Kim Yusin set out from Silla with 50,000 soldiers and fought the bloody Battle of Hwangsanbeol leaving Baekje devastated and unprotected. King Uija of Baekje finally surrendered, leaving only Goguryeo to face Silla as an adversary on the Korean peninsula.
In June of the following year King Muyeol died, leaving his son Kim Beopmin to assume the throne as King Munmu.