Muryeong (461/462–523) was the 25th king of Baekje, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, reigning from 501 to 523. During his reign, Baekje remained allied with Silla against Goguryeo, and expanded its relationships with China and Japan. According to Samguk sagi, he was 8 cheok tall, kind and generous, whom people followed naturally.
Background
The Tomb of King Muryeong calls him King Sama (斯麻), and records his birth year as 462.
The Samguk sagi calls him King Muryeong, with the personal name (휘) of Sama (斯摩). He is described as the second son of the 24th king Dongseong, though the Nihonshoki pertains that he was the son of Prince Gonji (곤지), and thus Dongseong's half brother. He became king when Dongseong was assassinated by the court official Baek Ga. The following year, he crushed a planned rebellion by Baek Ga.
Other records
China's Liang shu gives his surname as Yeo and personal name as Yung, and states that he restored Baekje into a strong nation.
In 501, he sent an army to attack Goguryeo's Sugok-seong. In 503, he repelled an attack by the Mohe. In 507, he successfully countered another attack by Goguryeo and Mohe forces. In 512, Goguryeo conquered two castles, but Muryeong personally led 3,000 men to destroy the Goguryeo army. In 523, he ordered the building of a fortified wall to defend the northern border.
According to both historical and archeological sources, contact and trade between China and Baekje increased during Muryeong's reign. In 512, according to the Liang shu, Muryeong sent Baekje's first mission to the newly established court of the ChineseLiang Dynasty. A second mission was sent in 521, announcing various victories over Goguryeo. In reply, the Liang emperor bestowed various titles on him, including "Great General Tranquilizing the East (寧東大將軍)" and "King of Baekje". These titles were also found engraved on a tablet in King Muryeong's tomb.
In 503, he sent a bronze mirror, and in 513 and 516, Confucian scholars to Japan.
In 2001, Japan's then emperor Akihito told reporters "I, on my part, feel a certain kinship with Korea, given the fact that it is recorded in the Chronicles of Japan that the mother of Emperor Kammu was of the line of King Muryong of Paekche." It was the first time that a Japanese emperor publicly referred to Korean blood in the imperial line. According to the Shoku Nihongi, Emperor Kanmu's mother, Takano no Niigasa (720 – 790) is a descendant of Prince Junda, son of Muryeong, who died in Japan in 513 (Nihon Shoki Chapter 17).
↑1 "Cheok" was anywhere between 23 cm and 31 cm but height recordings of kings and heroes were often literary exaggerations for the purpose of idealizing them.Kim
^ Kim, Chang-seok (2023). "The Perception of the Body in Ancient Society and Golpum System" [고대인의 身體에 대한 인식과 骨品制]. Yoksa Hakbo (in Korean) (258): 1–39. doi:10.16912/tkhr.2023.06.258.1. ISSN1225-1615.
Further reading
Kim, Won-Yong. “The Tomb of King Muryong of the Paekche Dynasty.” Asian Pacific Quarterly of Cultural and Social Affairs (Seoul) 3:3 (Winter 1971): 34-46.
Paik, Seung-gil. "Excavation of the Tomb of Paekche King Muryong." Korea Journal 11:8 (August 1971): 48-51.
