Everything about The Mongol Invasions Of Korea totally explained
The
Mongol invasions of Korea (1231 - 1273) consisted of a series of campaigns by the
Mongol Empire against
Korea, then known as
Goryeo, from 1231 to 1259. There were six major campaigns at tremendous cost to civilian lives throughout the
Korean peninsula, ultimately resulting in Korea becoming a
tributary state of the Mongol
Yuan Dynasty for approximately 80 years.
The initial campaigns
Gojong of Goryeo (reigned 1213-1259) was the twenty-third king of the
Goryeo dynasty. In 1225, the
Mongol Empire demanded tribute from
Goryeo, but Goryeo refused, and the Mongol envoy Chu-ku-yu was killed.
In 1231,
Ögedei Khan ordered the invasion of
Korea. The Mongols reached
Chungju in central
Korean peninsula, but after costly concessions, Korea convinced the Mongols to withdraw.
In 1232, the Imperial Court of Goryeo moved from
Songdo to
Ganghwa Island in the Bay of
Gyeonggi, and started the construction of significant defenses to prepare for the Mongol threat.
The Mongols protested the move, and immediately launched a second attack. Although they reached parts of the southern peninsula, the Mongols failed to capture Ganghwa Island, and were repelled in
Gwangju. The Mongol leader
Sartai (撒禮塔) was killed by a monk
Kim Yun-hu (김윤후) in strong civilian resistance at
Yongin, forcing the Mongols to withdraw again. This is one of the only two known incidents when the commander of a Mongol Army was killed in battle. (The other was in the
Battle of Ain Jalut when the Mongolian grand general
Kitbuqa Noyan was captured and executed by
Mamluks.)
Third campaign and treaty
In 1235, the Mongols began a campaign that ravaged parts of
Gyeongsang and
Jeolla Provinces. Civilian resistance was strong, and the Imperial Court at Ganghwa attempted to strengthen its fortress. Korea won several victories but the Korean military couldn't withstand the waves of invasions. In 1236, Gojong ordered the re-creation of the
Tripitaka Koreana, destroyed during the 1232 invasion. This collection of
Buddhist scriptures took 15 years to carve on some 81,000 wooden blocks, and is preserved to this day.
In 1238, Goryeo relented, and sued for peace. The Mongols withdrew, in exchange for Goryeo's agreement to send the Imperial Family as hostages. However, Goryeo sent an unrelated member of the imperial line. Incensed, the Mongols demanded clearing the seas of Korean ships, relocation of the court to the mainland, the hand-over of anti-Mongol bureaucrats, and, again, the Imperial family as hostages. In response, Korea sent a distant princess and ten children of nobles, rejecting the other demands.
Fourth and fifth campaigns
In 1247, the Mongols began the fourth campaign against Goryeo, again demanding the return of the capital to Songdo and the Imperial Family as hostages. With the death of
Guyuk Khan in 1248, however, the Mongols withdrew again.
Upon the 1251 ascension of
Mongke Khan, the Mongols again repeated their demands. When Goryeo refused, the Mongols began a large campaign in 1253. Gojong finally agreed to move the capital back to the mainland, and sent one of his sons, Prince Angyeonggong (안경공, 安慶公) as a hostage. The Mongols withdrew thereafter.
Sixth campaign and peace
The Mongols later learned that top Goryeo officials remained on Ganghwa Island, and had punished those who negotiated with the Mongols. Between 1253 and 1258, the Mongols under
Jalairtai launched four devastating invasions in the final successful campaign against Korea.
There were two parties within Goryeo: the literati party opposed the war with Mongol, but the military junta led by the Choe clan pressed for continuing the war. When the dictator Choe was murdered by the literati party, the peace treaty was concluded. The treaty permitted the maintenance of the sovereign power and traditional culture of Goryeo, implying that the Mongols gave up conquering Goryeo to put it under direct Mongolian control.
Aftermath
Internal struggles within the royal court continued regarding the peace with the Mongols until 1270.
Since
Choe Chung-heon, Goryeo had been a
military dictatorship, actually ruled by the private army of the powerful Choe family. Some of these military officials formed the
Sambyeolcho Rebellion (1270-1273) and resisted in the islands off the southern shore of the
Korean peninsula.
Beginning with
Wonjong, for approximately 80 years, Korea was a tributary ally of the Mongol
Yuan Dynasty. As a pledge of fealty to the Great Khan (and to boost the king's prestige before Mongol generals and officials who occupied the country), rulers of Korea, starting with
King Chungnyeol, the son and successor of Emperor Wonjong, had married Mongolian royalty. All subsequent Korean rulers until
King Gongmin--who were, after all, Mongolian nobles of Genghis Khan's line through their mothers--were raised as Mongols in Karakorum until they reached adulthood. The Goryeo dynasty survived under Mongolian influence until King Gongmin began to push Mongolian forces back starting in the 1350s.
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