Patriotism of Goryeo General Ha Gong-jin
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By Choe Chong-dae
During my recent trip to Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province, I visited the Jinju Fortress.
The city has many historic remains such as Seojangdae, Namjangdae, the Pukjangdae Command Post during the Japanese Invasion (1592-1598), the Changyeol Shrine, Nongae Shrine and the National Museum of Jinju in the fortress.
Among the relics, Kyeongjeol Shrine (of royalty and respect), the memorial of General Ha Gong-jin really caught my attention. Ha Gong-jin (?-1011 A.D) is a Jinju-born general of the Goryeo Kingdom who made a great contribution during the war between Goryeo and the Yuan Dynasty of China.
Having established the Goryeo Kingdom (918–1392) of Korea, there were two important tasks still to be accomplished by King Taejo, also called Wang Geon.
The first was the unification of the southern parts of the Korean peninsula that was still divided between the Silla and the Late Baekje kingdoms. The other was to retrieve the old territory of Goguryeo in the north eastern part of China, an area still occupied by Khitan tribes at that time.
Thus, attacking northern Khitan was one of the most important challenges for the Goryeo king. Anthropological studies have established that the Khitan tribes were the nomadic people mixed with Mongolian and Tungus; ever since the Bronze Age they had lived along the Siramuen River that branched off from the upper reaches of the Liao-ho River in Inner Mongolia.
The Liao Dynasty was founded by Yelü Abaoji who was a hero of the steppe regions and became the Khitan chief in 916. The Liao Dynasty emerged to be one of the most dominant powers in Central China in parallel with the Song Dynasty, established in 960. The Khitan sent an envoy with horses and camels to Goryeo as a symbol of friendship between the two countries in 922.
However, King Taejo refused the gifts and sent Liao’s envoy into exile in an island because the Khitan destroyed Balhae, a region that was a friend and ally of the Goryeo Empire.
Taejo instructed officials of Goryeo to be vigilant about the Khitan because of their very extreme barbarism. Finally, in 993 the Khitan invaded Goryeo by crossing the northern border with 80,000 troops led by General Xiao Sunning. It was the first war between the Goryeo and the Liao Dynasty. However, the Khitan withdrew their troops after truce negotiations with Minister Seo Hui of Goryeo, thus establishing friendly relations between the two nations.
When General Gang Jo of Goryeo led a coup against King Mokjong, killing the monarch in 1009, the Khitan attacked Goryeo again with 400,000 troops. At that time, General Ha Gong-jin blocked the Liao invasion. Consequently, the Khitan forces were withdrawn from the invaded areas as they could not get a foothold and feared a counterattack. It was the second war between Goryeo and the Liao Dynasty.
Significantly, General Ha demonstrated great loyalty during this second war that brought about Goryeo’s victory against Emperor Shengzong of the Liao Dynasty by repelling the 400,000 troops of the Khitan.
It is safe to assume that the Goryeo Kingdom would have been destroyed if it were not for General Ha’s outstanding strategies for counterattacking against the Khitan forces. The heroic and patriotic spirit of General Ha’s life story was turned into the ``Play of Ha Kong-jin” which has been performed at national events during the reign of King Yejong (1079-1122) of the Goryeo Kingdom.
Although the significant intangible cultural heritage of the play has disappeared now, it can be favorably compared to the drama of Yue Fei, a loyal military general in the Southern Song Dynasty (1127 - 1279 A.D.) who is generally regarded as a patriot and a national hero in Chinese culture.
It is my fervent wish that the “Play of Ha Gong-jin” is revived and will be acted out at memorials to General Ha in the Jinju Fortress in the future to recall his patriotism.
Choe Chong-dae is a guest columnist of The Korea Times and the president of Dae-kwang International Co., as well as a director of the Korean-Swedish Association. He can be reached at dkic98@chol.com.