View source for Wiman of Gojoseon

{{Short description|First King of Wiman Joseon (r. 194–? BC)}}
{{redirect|Wiman|people with the surname|Wiman (surname)|the Antarctican cape|Cape Wiman}}
{{redirect|Wei Man|the Taiwanese actress|Mandy Wei}}
{{distinguish|Wee Man}}
{{Infobox royalty
|name=Wi Man<br/>衛滿<br/>위만
|succession=King of [[Wiman Joseon]]
|image=
|spouse=
|reign = 194 BCE – Unknown
|successor=Unknown
|death_date= 
|death_place =
|house = Wi
}}
{{Infobox Chinese
| title = Wiman of Gojoseon
| t = {{linktext|衛|滿}}
| s = {{linktext|卫|满}}
| p = Wèi Mǎn
| w = Wei<sup>4</sup> Man<sup>3</sup>
| hangul = 위만 
| hanja = 衛滿 
| rr = Wi Man 
| mr = Wi Man 
| ibox-order = zh, ja, ko1, ko4, ko3}}
{{Wiman Joseon monarchs}}

'''Wi Man''' (in Korean) or '''Wei Man''' (in Chinese)  was the founder and first monarch of the [[Wiman Chosŏn]] dynasty of [[Korea]]. He was originally a military leader of the Chinese [[Yan (Han dynasty kingdom)|Kingdom of Yan]].<ref group="note">
*{{cite book|last=Peterson|first=Mark|title=Brief History of Korea|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ByIo1D9RY40C&pg=PA6|year=2009|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=978-1-4381-2738-5|page=6}}
:"The term was used again by a refugee from the Han dynasty named Wiman, who about 200 B.C.E. set up a kingdom in Korea called Wiman Choson."
*{{cite book|last=Cotterell|first=Arthur|title=Asia: A Concise History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9_vVTWXK5kQC&pg=PT80|year=2011 |publisher=Wiley|isbn=978-0470825044}}
:"The earliest documented event in Korean history involves China. After an unsuccessful rising against the first Han emperor Gaozu, the defeated rebels sought refuge beyond the imperial frontier and one of them Wiman, took control of Choson, a Korean state in the north of the peninsula."
*{{cite book|last=Kim|first=Jinwung|title=A History of Korea: From "Land of the Morning Calm" to States in Conflict|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QFPsi3IK8gcC&pg=PA10|year=2012 |publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=978-0253000248|page=10}}
:"For instance, Wiman, a refugee from the Yan dynasty, which then existed around present-day Beijing, led his band of more than 1,000 followers into exile in Old Chosŏn in the early second century bc."
*{{cite book|last=Tennant|first=Roger|title=History Of Korea|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SlGnq9flYdMC&pg=PA18|year=1996|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0710305329|page=18}}
:"Retaliation by the Han then brought in refugees from Yan, the most notable of whom was a war lord, Weiman ('Wiman'in Korean), who somewhere about 200 BC led his followers into the territory held by Choson."
*{{cite book|last=Xu|first= Stella Yingzi|title=That glorious ancient history of our nation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YFYVwaS8N58C&pg=PA220|year=2007 |publisher=University of California, Los Angeles|isbn=9780549440369|page=220}}
:"Here, Wiman was described as a "Gu Yanren 故燕人"or a person from former Yan. It is confusing because there were two Yans around this period. The first was the Yan state, which was one of the seven states during the Warring States period, and the second was the vassal state of Yan of the Han dynasty."</ref> When king [[Lu Wan]] of Yan was defeated by the Han in 195 BCE, Wi Man fled to [[Old Chosŏn|Gojoseon]] in north-western [[Korea]] and later usurped power from its king in 194 BCE, establishing [[Wiman Chosŏn]]. Recorded in the ''[[Records of the Grand Historian]]'' and the ''[[Book of Han]]'', Wiman was the first ruler in the history of Korea to have been recorded in documents from the same time period.

== Biography ==
[[File:History of Korea-108 BC.png|right|thumb|200px|Gojoseon at its decline in 108 BCE]]

After [[Emperor Gaozu of Han]] suppressed the rebellion of [[Zang Tu]], king of [[Principality of Yan|Yan]], he appointed general [[Lu Wan]] as Yan's new king. In 196 BC, Emperor Gaozu suspected Lu Wan of plotting rebellion and ordered an attack against Yan. Lu Wan fled to the [[Xiongnu]] while his general Wiman (Wei Man) led a thousand followers east to [[Old Chosŏn|Gojoseon]].<ref>Lee, Ki-baik: ''Walled-Town States and Confederated Kingdoms.'' The New History of Korea, page 16-17. Harvard University Press, 1984</ref> He was initially ordered to fortify Gojoseon's northwestern border by [[King Jun of Gojoseon]], however with the help of Yan refugees, Wiman usurped the throne (194~180 BCE). King Jun fled to [[Jin (Korean state)|Jin]] and called himself the "King of [[Samhan|Han]] (韓王)".

Wiman's capital of Gojoseon was [[Wanggeom-seong]], generally identified as [[Pyongyang]].<ref>Concerning controversy over the location of [[Lelang Commandery]], there is a minority view that Wiman's domain was located in Liaoning instead of north-western Korea. However, it is generally accepted that the river referred to as "Majasu" ({{Korean|hangul=마자수|hanja=馬訾水|labels=no}}) refers to the [[Yalu River]] and "Paesu" ({{Korean|hangul=패수|hanja=浿水|labels=no}}) refers to the [[Yalu River]] or [[Ch'ongch'on River]] or [[Daling River]], and that Wiman's territory was bordered on the north by the Han dynasty. P'yŏngyang is the most likely site for the capital Wanggeom-seong but lacks archaeological evidence. For more information, see (Tani:1987).</ref> Since the [[Han dynasty]] was not completely stabilized yet, the governor of [[Liaodong Peninsula|Liaodong]] appointed Wiman as an outer subject, provided that he did not prevent natives going up to the empire. The appointment is dated at 191 or 192 BCE.<ref>(Ibaragi:1984)</ref> Having superior military strength, [[Wiman Joseon]] was able to subjugate the state of [[Jinbeon]] ({{Korean|hangul=진번|hanja=眞番|labels=no}}) and [[Imdun]] ({{Korean|hangul=임둔|hanja=臨屯|labels=no}}), vastly extending its borders. His kingdom was eventually conquered by [[Emperor Wu of Han]] in 108 BCE during the reign of [[Ugeo of Gojoseon]].

== Family ==
*Son and successor: name not recorded, second king of Wiman Joseon
**Grandson: [[Ugeo of Gojoseon|Ugeo]] (右渠), last king of Wiman Joseon
***Great-grandson: [[Wi Jang]] (衛長),

== References ==
<references/>

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|group=note}}

== Sources ==
* Mikami Tsugio 三上次男: ''Kodai no seihoku Chōsen to Ei-shi Chōsen koku no seiji, shakaiteki seikaku'' 古代の西北朝鮮と衛氏朝鮮国の政治・社会的性格, Kodai Tōhoku Ajiashi Kenkyū 古代東北アジア史研究, pp.&nbsp;3–22, 1966.
* Ibaragi Kazuo 荊木計男: ''Ei Man Chōsen ō Sakuhō ni tsuite'' 衛満朝鮮冊封について, Chōsen Gakuhō 朝鮮学報 (Journal of the Academic Association of Koreanology in Japan) Vol. 113, pp.&nbsp;1–25, 1984.
* Tani Toyonobu 谷豊信: ''Rakurō-gun no ichi'' 楽浪郡の位置, Chōsen shi kenkyūkai ronbunshū 朝鮮史研究会論文集 (Bulletin of Society for Study in Korean History), No 24, pp.&nbsp;23–45, 1987.

{{s-start}}
{{s-hou|House of Wi||||}}
{{s-reg}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Jun of Gojoseon]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of monarchs of Korea|King of Gojseon]]|dynasty=
|years=194 BC – {{circa|161 BC}}}}
{{s-vac|unknown|unknnext=[[Ugeo]]}}
{{s-end}}

[[Category:2nd-century BC Chinese military personnel]]
[[Category:2nd-century BC Korean people]]
[[Category:2nd-century BC monarchs in Asia]]
[[Category:Chinese emigrants to Korea]]
[[Category:Early Korean history]]
[[Category:Han dynasty generals]]
[[Category:Korean generals]]
[[Category:Wiman Joseon rulers]]