*Ondal and Princess

Pyeonggang*

-King Pyeongwon and Princess Pyeonggang

The 25th king of Goguryeo is not widely known. During

his reign from 559 to 589, he corrected the discipline of
the country that had been shaken and achieved the
prosperity of the Goguryeo civilization.

His name is Yang Yang, and he is the first son of King

Yangwon. King Plains had great courage, was good on
horses, and was good at archery. His official name is King
Pyeonggang Sangho. Call (meaning that favorite great
not the word) into the king's name tells you that the
Goguryeo people respect him as a great king.

King Plains had many children. Their first son, Won, who
becomes King Yeongyang the next day, Geonmu, who
becomes King Yeongryu, Taeyang, the father of King
Seong-gu, and the famous Princess Pyeonggang.
However, Princess Pyeonggang has been good at crying
since childhood, and King Pyeongwon often made fun of
her daughter.

“You are always crying and making my ears noisy, so I am

good at growing up, but I can’t get married. I keep
crying, so I have to marry the fool, Ondal.”

Stupid ondal. Who was he who was mentioned in the

conversation of the king of Goguryeo?

Ondal lived near Pyongyang Castle, the capital of

Goguryeo, or Anhak Palace. His face flies like a donkey
and looks funny. He was very poor at home, so he
prayed for food and served his mother who could not
see. Ondal always went around downtown Pyongyang
wearing fallen clothes and hejin shoes, and people
called him Ondal, a fool because he always smiled
cheerfully and took over whatever others said.

However, he must not have been a fool by nature.

Maybe he was a person who took control of the world
while hiding his abilities. Seeing that rumors outside the
palace went into the king's ears, his behavior or tone
would not normally be unusual.

When Princess Pyeong-gang turned 16, King Pyeong-

won tried to marry the son of the high-ranking Go family
at the time. However, Princess Pyeonggang had no
intention of marrying into the Go family.

Princess Pyeonggang made clear his thoughts to King

Pyeongwon.

“The great king always said that he was marrying me to

Ondal, and now, how does he say that he is giving
marriage to someone else? Even ordinary people don't
want to lie, but if the great king lied, who would follow
the king's name? Now the Great King's order is wrong. I
will marry Ondal.”

King Plains made a big stride.

“How can a princess from Goguryeo marry to a lowly
Ondal? Even if you said that what you said when you
were a kid was a joke, can you be stubborn without
listening to me? Surely you cannot be called my
daughter unless you listen to me. Go where you want to
go as you please.”

Princess Pyeonggang finally decided to leave the palace

without bending her will. Princess Pyeonggang left the
palace with gold arms and went on the road alone. I
asked people and came to Ondal's house.

-Marriage of Ondal and Princess Pyeonggang

When Princess Pyeonggang saw that there was an old

mother who was blind, she approached the front and
bowed and asked where the Ondal was.

Ondal's mother replied.

“Our son is poor and ugly, so he cannot mate with a dear

one. Now that I smell you, the scent is strange, and
when I touch my hand, the softness is like cotton wool,
so it must be a precious person. My child couldn't stand
his hunger, so he went to the mountains to peel the elm
trees and he hasn't come back yet.”

Princess Pyeonggang came out of Ondal's house and

came to the bottom of the mountain to meet Ondal,
who came carrying an elm bark. Princess Pyeonggang
told Ondal the reason for her visit.

However, Ondal thought the words of Princess

Pyeonggang were too strange, so he said with anger.

“This is not a young woman's behavior. It is not a person,

but a fox or a ghost. Don't come by my side.”

Ondal went home in a hurry without looking back at

Princess Pyeonggang.

Princess Pyeonggang returned to Ondal's house by

herself, slept under the private gate, and went back the
next day to talk to Ondal's mother again in detail. Ondal
couldn't make a decision and hesitated. Ondal's mother
repeatedly refused because of poverty.

However, Princess Pyeonggang did not bend his will.

“If we have the same heart, how can we be together

only after we are rich? I have a gold bracelet that I
brought, so if you sell it, you will be able to live without
difficulty.”

Eventually, Princess Pyeonggang began to live with

Ondal. Princess Pyeonggang sold the gold bracelet he
had brought and bought a house, farmland, old lady,
cows and horses, and all sorts of goods.

Princess Pyeonggang had lived in the palace, but she

knew the world well. In particular, the eyes to see horses
were outstanding. Princess Pyeonggang told Ondal to
buy usable horses.

“Don't buy horses sold by market merchants, be sure to

buy horses sold in the country, but make sure you get
sick and flies and sell horses.”

Princess Pyeonggang eagerly fed and cared for the

horses that Ondal had bought to make them fat and
healthy every day. Princess Pyeonggang hoped that
Ondal would ride this horse and become a great general.

-From Fool Ondal to General Ondal

Princess Pyeonggang worked hard to help Ondal become

a great warrior in Goguryeo. Ondal, who didn't have to
beg, learned hard to study writing and shoot horseback
in order to repay the princess's expectations.

In Goguryeo, on March 3 in the spring, people gathered

and hunted on the hills of Nakrang. Including King Plains,
who loves to hunt, several servants and soldiers went
hunting together.

Ondal also participated in riding horses raised. Ondal

hunted more animals than others with his superior skills.
Ondal's amazing skills became the topic of hunting
competitions. Then King Plains called him.

“What is your name?”

“The Great Mama, I am said to be Ondal.”

“What, Ondal?”

King Plains was startled. Everyone wondered how the

fool Ondal became such a dignified warrior. Ondal, a
commoner, gained the privilege of being appointed as a
general with his excellent martial arts skills. At the time,
the hunting competition was a place for talent selection.
Regardless of status, Goguryeo was a society in which
people could achieve success with a certain skill.
However, Ondal, a commoner, could not be recognized
as the king's son-in-law with a single hunting skill.

Around 578, the Emperor of Northern Province sent

troops to attack Goguryeo. Bukju was a country in the
western region of North China, which destroyed the
northern kingdom in the east and drove its momentum
to attack Goguryeo.

King Plains immediately went out with his soldiers and

fought in the field under Baesan Mountain. At this time,
Ondal became a vanguard and swiftly stirred the enemy
camp and cut dozens of enemies with swords. Then, the
morale of the Goguryeo army rose, and the army of Huju
was greatly beaten.

When the fight was over and when we talked about the
victory, everyone praised Ondal as having the best ball.
King Plains said to the people around him, overflowing
with joy.

“Look at the various generals. This is my son-in-law.”

King Pyeongwon called Ondal and Princess Pyeonggang

as palaces. I forgave Princess Pyeonggang and gave
Ondal the high position of being large. King Pyeongwon
continued to favor Ondal, and Ondal was raised day by
day as the king's son-in-law.
-Ondal's background of success

The difference between the rich and the poor in

Goguryeo during the period of King Pyeongwon, when
Princess Pyeonggang and Ondal met. Although Princess
Pyeong-gang came out alone from the palace, she was
wearing cosmetics with a good scent, her hands were
soft, like cotton wool, and her face was also pretty. He
wore a gold bracelet on his wrist. The gold bracelet was
a very expensive item. On the other hand, Ondal had a
poor home and had no land for farming, so he had to
peel off the bark of an elm tree to eat, begging, or live as
a laborer. Even at the time, it was a society where
everything was solved with money. Princess Pyeonggang
was able to sell her own gold sale and buy it in the
market, including houses, fields, slaves, cows and horses,
and other household goods.

In addition, there was a definite class order among kings,

nobles, commoners, and slaves.

But how was it possible for the royal family to marry the
commoners? In 『 Three Kingdoms Sagi 』 and
「Ondalyeoljeon」, it is said that Princess Pyeonggang
was stubbornly married, and Ondal was recognized as
the son-in-law of King Pyeongwon for his excellent
martial arts skills, but there are still questions.

After Princess Pyeonggang left the palace, wouldn't King

Pyeongwon make any effort to find the princess? If King
Pyeongwon had only made up his mind, it would have
been easy to find Ondal and Princess Pyeonggang living
near Pyongyang, and if so, the marriage of the two
would have ended early.

Also, what does it mean that Ondal was not officially

recognized as son-in-law immediately after being
selected in the hunting competition, and was finally
recognized as son-in-law when he established the ball in
the battle with Bukju?

To solve this question, let's look at the political situation

in the era of King Plains.
In the winter of 544, 16 years before King Plains
ascended to the throne, King Ahn Won, the grandfather
of King Pyeongwon, fell ill and did not know when to die.
However, King Ahn Won had no children from his first
wife, and each had a son between his second and third
wife. When King Ahn Won was critically ill, the mother-
in-law of the second and third wife became eager to let
their only grandchildren take over the next throne.

The quarrel between the two families eventually

expanded into a war in which thousands of people died.
Eventually, the second wife's mother-in-law won, and
Yangwon became king in 545, but the infight of the
aristocratic society did not easily subside and spread to
the provinces. In 558, the 13th year of King Yangwon, a
person named Gwangju-ri in Hwandoseong revolted.

Infighting between the aristocrats arose because certain

groups tried to monopolize power. It can be said that
Yangwon's mother-in-law had power that surpassed the
king during the reign of King Yangwon. It is as if
Yeonnabu had surpassed the royal family at one time
after the Myeongnim Dapbu Revolution.

In this situation, the kings are bound to make an effort

to check the nobles with great power and to solidify the
foundation of support for the royal family. An example of
this is that the King of the home country suppressed the
rebellion of Yeonnabu and appointed Eulpaso to
establish the authority of the royal family.

Likewise, King Pyeongwon, who was enthroned in 559,

undertook three tasks to strengthen his base: check the
nobles, gain support from the people, and establish the
strength of the guard.

In order to strengthen the kingship and prevent certain

powers from seizing power, they disperse the power
among several nobles, emphasize the consensus at the
nobles' meeting and induce checks between each other.
From generation to generation, only aristocrats with
ranks from 1st to 5th place, such as Makridge, Uljeol,
Taedaesaja, and Widudaehyung, attended and took
control of all the information of the country, discussed
politics and military affairs, and influenced the
management's personnel rights. The conference is
understood as a feature of late Goguryeo politics.

However, it can be seen that the politics of aristocratic

consensus continued as an arrangement for the royal
family to prevent the monopoly of a certain nobility
from seizing power, rather than a weakening of the royal
power. In other words, during the period of King
Yangwon and King Guo, when the royal power was weak,
the dictatorship of a specific group appeared, not the
politics of aristocratic consensus. On the other hand, the
kingship during the period of King Pyeongwon, King
Yeongyang, and King Yeongyu, when the aristocracy
functioned normally, was never weak. King Pyeongwon
and King Yeongyang both led the war with their own
troops, and all three kings held stable politics during
their reigns for more than 25 years. Even in the alliance
event, the king held the event as the highest authority.
The reason why King Pyeongwon was not able to enter
into a relationship with the influential nobleman, Go
Sang Sang, was because of the strengthening of the
kingship.

Of course, from the early days of King Plains, it would

have been difficult for the king to easily surpass the
nobility.

Therefore, King Pyeongwon gained support from the

people through active consideration for the people
suffering from natural disasters in order to expand his
support base.

In the summer of 563, the 5th year of King Plains, there

was a great drought.

“When the people are hungry, how can a man who is the
father of the people eat full by himself? Try to drastically
reduce the meals you bring to me in the future. I too will
share my suffering with the people. Since it doesn't rain
like this, I must go to the mountain stream and pray to
the heavenly spirits and pray that the drought will stop.”

King Pyeongwon said this and went to the mountain

stream and prayed that it would rain all day long. In
addition, King Pyeongwon is the only king among the
kings of the Three Kingdoms era to save food by taking
the initiative.

In August of the 13th year of King Pyeongwon, the

construction of Janganseong, the new capital of
Goguryeo, was underway. However, when there was a
catastrophe of locusts and drought, King Plains
immediately stopped the construction. It was also
important to make a castle, but rather, the people
should not be hungry and the farming work was more
important.

(Winter in Eulmildae in Jang-an-seong)

In October 23rd year of King Plains, when the people

were hungry, King Plains looked directly at the lives of
the people and comforted them. In the 25th year of King
Plains, an order was issued to reduce non-urgent work,
and government officials were sent to various villages to
encourage farming and weaving.
In this way, King Plains expanded his support base
through politics for the people.

However, this alone could not stabilize the kingship. King

Plains needed his own guard. During the period of King
Pyeongwon, there were wars against Dolgwol, Baekje,
Silla and Bukju. The young men who appeared at this
time could become his guards.

Ondal, who was a commoner, was able to become a

general and the king's son-in-law only with skill alone
because it fits with the political interests of King
Pyeongwon. It is very likely that the Yeongye family of
Yeongaesomun was also a newly emerging force at this
time.

It can be said that the appointment of Eulpaso and

Ondal were all made to strengthen the kingship.

In other words, the story of the combination of Princess

Pyeonggang and Ondal seems to be the opposite in
reality. If you can reasonably understand the story that
has been passed down, then Ondal met Princess
Pyeonggang after becoming a general as a commoner,
and the process of being recognized as the king's son-in-
law was so unprecedented that this story was created,
and the combination of the two was possible. It can be
said that it was due to the political and social situation at
the time.

-Goguryeo's Overcoming Crisis and Ondal's Success

(Civil War 1 Palace, a restored model of Anhak Palace,

which was a palace in Goguryeo in the 5th and 6th
centuries)

In 551, when Goguryeo was confused by infighting

between the nobles, a newly emerged stone wall
attacked Goguryeo's divinity and Baekamseong Fortress
after defeating the old ally of Goguryeo and the loser of
the northern nomadic world. For Goguryeo, it was a rare
invasion of external enemies in recent years. Although
General Goheul participated in the battle and defeated
the Turks, the threat of the powerful Turks continued for
a long period of time, and Goguryeo had to contend
with his national power.

During this time, in 552, the allied forces of Silla and

Baekje attacked the banks of the Han River in southern
Goguryeo. Goguryeo secretly signed an agreement with
Silla because it was more important to prevent the rush.

“I allow Silla to occupy the banks of the Han River and

the East Sea coast south of Maunryeong and
Hwangchoryeong. Under that condition, Silla prevents
the invasion of Baekje and no longer attacks Goguryeo.”

Under these conditions, King Jinheung of Silla, with the

consent of Goguryeo, counterattacked Baekje, killed King
Seong of Baekje and took over the banks of the Han
River. Goguryeo was deprived of the large banks of the
Han River at this time, but it was important to block the
stone wall to the north, so it abandoned the south.

This great event took place during the period of King

Yangwon, the father of King Pyeongwon. For King
Pyeongwon, winning the war with the stone wall was
the first task, and restoring the Han River basin was next.

The war against the Turks was relatively widespread.

This is because the stone walls tried to put Malgal and
Giran under the control of Goguryeo into their own
powers. There are not many records showing the war
between Goguryeo and Torlgwol, but there is a record
that Goguryeo greatly won the battle between Goguryeo
and Malgalguns with the large army led by the Lee Gye-
cheoldae of the Torch over the rule of Georan. At this
time, it is believed that Goguryeo greatly destroyed the
stone wall and invaded the outer Mongolian region.

(In 551, the Dolgwi Army attacked Baekamseong

Fortress here, but was repelled by the Goguryeo Army)

During the period of King Pyeongwon, there was not

only a stone wall, but also a war with Bukju, which we
saw earlier.
If there were no major wars until the 5th and early 6th
centuries, and the success of the armed forces was rare,
at the end of the 6th century, war heroes such as Ondal
could have a strong political voice with such frequent
wars. For Ondal, war was an opportunity for success.

-Ondal's Will for National Territory Restoration

After King Pyeong-won died in 590, his brother-in-law,

King Yeongyang, ascended to the throne. Ondal's
position has also been raised. Now Ondal told the king
what he had thought of.

“Silla took the land along the banks of the Han River and
made it their own. Our people there are hoping to save
them as soon as possible. Hopefully, if the Great King
believes in me and gives me a soldier, I will surely bring
back our land.”

Goguryeo handed over the banks of the Han River to

Silla in order to fight against the storms coming from the
continent. The people of Goguryeo believed that if it had
not been for the invasion of the stone wall, the banks of
the Han River would not have been taken away, so they
had a great desire to recover the land.

Looking at the surrounding situation in Goguryeo, the

turbulences weakened in the north, and the Sui Dynasty
formed a new unified state in Jungwon and was
ambitious toward Goguryeo. Before Suo threatened
Goguryeo, it was necessary to relax behind him. King
Yeongyang gladly accepted Ondal's offer.

Before Ondal went to the battlefield, Ondal made an

oath to Princess Pyeonggang.

“If we do not recover the land north of Joryeong and

Jukryeong, we will not return.”

Ondal went to the battlefield with a strong will. Ondal

attacked Achaseong, occupied by Silla. Achaseong
Fortress is believed to be Achasanseong Fortress located
between Seoul and Guri-si, and there is also a view that
it is Ondalsanseong Fortress in Danyang. Ondal was
killed by an arrow that stopped fighting Silla-gun under
Achaseong. Ondal, who failed to keep his promise with
Princess Pyeonggang, couldn't close his eyes
comfortably.

(The ceiling mural of the 4th tomb of Jinparis, viewed as

the grave of the Ondal couple in North Korean
academia)

I tried to move the coffin containing Ondal's body for the

funeral, but the coffin did not move. People thought that
Ondal was due to failure to keep his promises and
brought Princess Pyeonggang. Princess Pyeonggang said,
touching Ondal's coffin.

“General, it has already been decided to live and die, but

now let's go back.”

Then the coffin moved. Ondal's body was moved to

Pyongyang, and a grand funeral was held. When King
Yeongyang heard this, he was very sad. The people were
also greatly saddened by the death of the hero of
Goguryeo.

Ondal was teased as a fool, but he was loved and

respected by the people as a great general of Goguryeo.
Princess Pyeonggang was a wise wife and a great woman
who transformed Ondal, who had been teased as a fool,
into a hero of Goguryeo by pioneering her life with her
own clear will.