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ancient kingdom in the Korean peninsula and Manchuria (194–108 BCE)
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Wiman Chosŏn (194–108 BC) was a dynasty of Old Chosŏn (Go-Joseon). It began with Wiman's (Wei Man) seizure of the throne from King Jun of Joseon and ended with the death of King Ugeo, who was Wiman's grandson. Apart from archaeological data, the main source on this historical period comes from chapter 115 of Sima Qian's Shiji. Wiman was originally a Chinese military leader from the Kingdom of Yan under the Han dynasty.
According to Sima Qian, Wiman was a general from the Kingdom of Yan of northeastern China after the collapse of China's Qin dynasty, who submitted to Gojoseon's King Jun. Jun accepted and appointed Wiman commander of the western border region of Gojoseon, which probably corresponds to the west of the present-day Liaoning. Despite the generosity that King Jun had demonstrated, Wiman revolted and destroyed Gojoseon. In 194 BC, he established Wiman Chosŏn and decided to locate his capital in Wanggeom-seong. Many Korean historians believe that the exact location of Wanggeom-seong was Yodong (요동) in Liaodong, China.
In this period, Wiman Chosŏn expanded to control a vast territory and became strong economically by controlling trade between the Han dynasty and the peoples of Manchuria. The Emperor Wu of Han thought that Wiman Chosŏn increasingly threatened the Han dynasty, and Wiman Chosŏn would ally with the Xiongnu.
Around 128-126 BCE, the Canghai Commandery covered an area in the northern Korean Peninsula and southern Manchuria; it was centered in what is now South Hamgyong Province. Namnyŏ (남려; 南閭)), who was a monarch of the Eastern Ye and a subject of Wiman Chosŏn, revolted against King Ugeo, later surrendering to the Han dynasty with 280,000 people. The Canghai Commandery was established following this revolution, however, in two years, it was abolished by Gongsun Hong.
Wiman's grandson, King Ugeo, allowed many exiles from Han China to live in Joseon. However, the Han Chinese population grew, and King Ugeo prevented the Jin state from communicating with the Han dynasty. As a result, in 109 BC, Emperor Wu of Han invaded Wiman Chosŏn near the Luan River. After failing several times to defeat Wiman Chosŏn's armies, Han Wudi tried to convince the princes of Wiman Chosŏn to kill King Ugeo. The conspiracy failed, leading to the destruction of the Go-Joseon kingdom. After the war, the Han Emperor Wudi sentenced two generals to death for failing to defeat Joseon.
After a year of battle, Wanggeom-seong was captured and Wiman Chosŏn was destroyed. The Han dynasty established the Four Commanderies of Han in the areas it captured, corresponding to the current area of the Liaodong Peninsula and the northwestern Korean Peninsula. The Commanderies eventually fell to the rising Goguryeo in the 4th century.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Wiman Chosŏn”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.