| • Science | • People | • Locations | • Timeline |
| Wei Man | |
|---|---|
| Korean Name | |
| Revised Romanization | Wiman |
| McCune-Reischauer | |
| Hangul | 위만 |
| Hanja | 衛滿 |
Wei Man (衛滿 Pinyin: Wei4 man3) was a Chinese general who established the Wiman Joseon kingdom in northwestern Korea in the 2nd century BC. He was the first figure in the history of Korea who was recorded in documents of the same age. The Records of the Grand Historian simply calls him Man, so the surname Wei was probably added later.
Man was a general of the Yan Principality, which King Lu Wan (盧綰), Emperor Gao's old ally, ruled. However, Lu Wan fled to the Xiongnu in 195 B.C. because he was suspected of rebellion and was attacked by the Emperor. According to the Records of the Grand Historian, Man led 1,000 people, dressed in barbarian costume, crossed the Pei River(浿水; Chongchon River ?) into Korea. He organized natives in Zhenfan and Chaoxian and Chinese refugees from Yan and Qi and came to the crown. He put the capital in Wangxian ( P'yongyang), and his kingdom came to be known as Wiman Joseon today.
Since the Han Empire was not completely stabilized yet, the Governor of Liaodong appointed Man as an outer subject, provided that he did not prevent natives to go up to the empire. With the support of the Han Empire, he expanded the territory by conquering a lot of small towns. His kingdom was eventually conquered by Emperor WuEmperor Wu of Han China (, pinyin: Han Wudi, Wade-Giles. Han Wu-ti;) ( 156 BC March 29, 87 BC) was the sixth emperor of the Chinese Han Dynasty, ruling from 141 BC to 87 BC. A military compaigner, Han China reached its greatest expansion under his reign, in 108 B.C during the reign of his grandson Youqu.
Weilue , which was written about 4,00 years later, says that Man took power in a coup from King Zhun, a descendant of the Chinese sage JiziJizi ( ji1 zi3; Gija in Korean) or Viscount of Ji was a semi-legendary Chinese sage who is said to have ruled Korea in the 12th century BC. His family name was Zi and given name was Xuyu ( xu1 yu2 or xu1 yu2). Since the title of Viscount of Ji was bestowe. Zhun fled to the south and proclaimed himself the King of Han. Some scholars believe that this story came from the Han clan, who claimed themselves as descendants of Jizi, and have spread to China because of Chinese direct rule of the northern Korean peninsula.