Geumwa of Dongbuyeo

	Geumwa of Dongbuyeo
Hangul	금와왕
Hanja	金蛙王
Revised Romanization	Geumwa Wang
McCune–Reischauer	Kŭmwa Wang

Geumwa of Dongbuyeo
Geumwa of Dongbuyeo
Reign	48 BC – 8 BC
Successor	Daeso
Spouse	Lady Yuhwa
Father	Hae Buru of Dongbuyeo
Mother	Unknown

Geumwa was the second ruler (48 BC – 7 BC) of Dongbuyeo (East Buyeo), an ancient kingdom of Korea. His story is recorded in Samguk Sagi, Samguk Yusa and Book of King Dongmyeong.

Birth and background

Geumwa (金蛙 or 金蝸) was the son of Hae Buru, who was the king of Dongbuyeo. According to the Samgukyusa, Hae Buru was old and without an heir, when he found a gold-colored frog-like (or a gold-colored snail-like) child under a large rock near Lake Gonyeon. Hae Buru named the child Geumwa, meaning golden frog (or golden snail), and later made him crown prince.

Hae Buru established Dongbuyeo when he moved the capital east to Gaseopwon (Korean: 가섭원; Hanja: 迦葉原) by the Sea of Japan (East Sea).

Reign

Jumong's departure

Geumwa became king after Hae Buru's death. At Ubal river (Korean: 우발수; Hanja: 優渤水), south of Mount Taebaek, Geumwa met Lady Yuhwa (Korean: 유화부인; Hanja: 柳花夫人), the disowned daughter of Habaek (Korean: 하백; Hanja: 河伯), the god of the Amnok River or, according to an alternative interpretation, the sun god Haebak (Korean: 해밝),[1][2][3][4] and brought her back to his palace. She was impregnated by sunlight and conceived Jumong.

Geumwa's seven sons resented Jumong, and so did he. He attempted numerous times to destroy Jumong when he was an egg, but later gave up, as the egg was indestructible. Jumong later ran away to Jolbon, or former Bukbuyeo, where he later established Goguryeo.

Mother of Goguryeo

Lady Yuhwa, Jumong's mother, died. Geumwa gave her the burial of a Queen Mother[5] (Queen Mother of Goguryeo), despite the fact that she had never been a queen. Jumong sent numerous gifts to Geumwa in gratitude of caring for his mother, and peace was seemingly restored between the two kingdoms.

Death

Geumwa died, and the throne was passed to his eldest son Daeso. King Daeso attacked Goguryeo during the reign of its second ruler, King Yuri. Goguryeo's third ruler King Daemusin attacked Dongbuyeo and killed Daeso. After internal strife, Dongbuyeo fell, and its territory was absorbed into Goguryeo.

Popular culture

Portrayed by Jun Kwang-ryul in the 2006-2007 MBC TV series Jumong.

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References

Doosan Encyclopedia 유화부인 柳花夫人. Doosan Encyclopedia.
Doosan Encyclopedia 하백 河伯. Doosan Encyclopedia.
Encyclopedia of Korean Culture 하백 河伯. Encyclopedia of Korean Culture.
조현설. "유화부인". Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Culture. National Folk Museum of Korea. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
Samguk Sagi (in Chinese). 王母柳花薨於東扶餘　其王金蛙以太后禮葬之