Home > King Gwanggaeto the Great of Goguryeo

Emperor Gwanggaeto (meaning "broad expander of territory") was born in 374 and ascended to the throne in 391, at the age of just seventeen, to become the 19th king of the Goguryeo Dynasty. His era name was Youngrak. He ruled over Goguryeo at the time in Korea's history known as the Three Kingdoms, so called because during this time the Korean peninsula was constantly being fought over by the three Goguryeo, Silla and Baekje dynasties. He is sometimes referred to as Great Emperor Yeongnak, after the era name selected by him.

He expanded Goguryeo’s territories far into the Korean peninsula by advancing southward at the expense of the Baekje dynasty to occupy the north of the Han River, and occupied Manchurian territory to the east of Liaohe . On his death in 413, at just 39 years of age, Goguryeo ruled everything between the Sungari and Han Rivers. This gave it control over two thirds of what is now modern Korea as well as a large part of Manchuria and Inner Mongolia. In addition, the kings of Silla submitted to the northern dynasty's authority in 399Events Yazdegerd I becomes king of Persia November 27 St. Anastius I becomes Pope succeeding Pope Siricius. Fa-Hien, a Chinese Buddhist monk, travels to India. Births January 19 Pulcheria, Byzantine empress Deaths Bahram IV of Persia 399. to receive protection from JapanJapan (, Nippon/Nihon literally "the origin of the sun") is a country in East Asia situated on a chain of islands east of the Asian continent on the western edge of the Pacific Ocean. The largest of these islands are, from north to south, Hokkaido , Honshese raids. Baekje challenged Goguryeo, and Emperor Gwanggaeto defeated the challenge, captured its capital in modern day SeoulSeoul Special City Korean Name Revised RomanizationSeoul Teukbyeolsi McCune-ReischauerSoul T'ukpyolshi Hangul Hanja [Note: there are no Hanja for "Seoul" ] Short NameSeoul (Soul; ) Statistics Population10,276,968 (2003) Area614 km²(approximate) Government, and made the kingdom Goguryeo's vassal, thereby bringing about the loose unification of the Korean peninsula.

During his reign, Emperor Gwanggaeto conquered 65 walled cities and some 1,400 villages, in addition to aiding Silla when it was attacked by the Japanese. In 392Events August 22 Arbogast elevates Eugenius as Roman Emperor. Theodosius issues an edict reinforcing the prohibition of prayers or sacrifices at non- Christian temples in the Roman Empire. Births Deaths May Valentinian II, Roman Emperor 392. he built nine Buddhist temples in PyongyangP'yongyang Directly Governed City Korean Name McCune-ReischauerP'yongyang Chik'alshi Revised RomanizationPyeongyang Jikhalsi Hangul Hanja Short NameP'yongyang (Pyeongyang;; ) Statistics Population2,741,260 ( 1993) Area? GovernmentSpecial City;Capital of N. His accomplishments are recorded on a monument which was erected in 414Events Ataulf, king of the Visigoths, marries Galla Placidia, the sister of Roman Emperor Honorius. Pulcheria proclaims herself empress of the Eastern Roman Empire. Priscus Attalus is proclaimed rival Roman Emperor in Bordeaux. Faxian returns from India a in southern Manchuria.