Overview
In 660 (the 20th year of King Uija, the 7th year of King Muyeol of Silla), Su Dingfang of Tang led 130,000 troops, and 50,000 Silla troops joined him in a pincer attack on Baekje. The Silla army crossed Tanhyeon and defeated Gyebaek's Death Squad of 5,000 men at Hwangsanbeol. The Tang army landed at Gibeolpo at the mouth of the Geum River and defeated the Baekje forces there. The two armies surrounded Sabi Fortress. King Uija fled to Ungjin Fortress and surrendered on the 18th day of the 7th lunar month. With this, Baekje, which was said to have lasted 678 years, was destroyed.
Date notation: The dates and timeline in this article are given in the Gregorian calendar, based on the lunar–solar correspondences presented in the Korean Wikipedia article "Fall of Baekje" (5th lunar month, 26th day = July 9; 6th lunar month, 18th day = July 30; 6th lunar month, 21st day = August 2; 7th lunar month, 10th day = August 21). Dates within the same month were converted by adding days from these correspondences. The lunar dates from the Samguk sagi are also given in the main text.
Background
- Baekje's offensive and isolation: Immediately after taking the throne, King Uija pressed Silla hard. In 642 he seized more than 40 fortresses, including Daeya. In 655 he attacked 33 fortresses in northern Silla together with Goguryeo and the Malgal. In 651 Tang warned him to make peace with Silla, but he did not comply.
- Silla–Tang alliance: After the Silla–Tang alliance was formed in 648, Silla strengthened its pro-Tang policy. Rather than attacking Goguryeo directly, Tang sought to destroy Baekje first in order to open a second front to the south of Goguryeo. In 659 Tang was already preparing for war, including detaining Japanese envoys.
- Unrest within Baekje: From around 655, members of the royal family, including the queen (Lady Gun), came to the forefront of politics. In 656 the Jwapyeong Seong Chung predicted that war would break out and advised that Tanhyeon (Chimhyeon) on land and Gibeolpo by water be blocked, but he was imprisoned and died. Some scholars consider the division among the ruling class to be a cause of the fall.
Course of events
Mobilization
In the third month of 660, Emperor Gaozong of Tang appointed Su Dingfang as Grand Commander of the Xinjiu Expeditionary Force and sent him to attack Baekje with 130,000 troops by land and sea. He appointed the king of Silla as Commander of the Uiyi Expeditionary Force to act in coordination. The Tang army crossed the sea from Seongsan, at the eastern tip of the Shandong Peninsula. In Silla, on the 26th day of the 5th lunar month (July 9), King Muyeol left the royal capital together with Kim Yu-sin, Jinju, and Cheonjon. On the 18th day of the 6th lunar month (July 30), he reached Namcheonjeong (present-day Icheon).
Meeting at Deokmuldo
On the 21st day of the 6th lunar month (August 2), Crown Prince Beopmin led 100 warships to Deokmuldo (present-day Deokjeok-do, Ongjin County, Incheon) and met Su Dingfang. The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture identifies this place as Soya-do in Deokjeok-myeon. The two men agreed to meet on the 10th day of the 7th lunar month (August 21), south of the Baekje capital, and to attack Sabi Fortress together. King Muyeol stayed at Geumdol Fortress (present-day Mt. Baekhwa area, Sangju), and Kim Yu-sin led 50,000 elite troops southward.
Confusion in the Baekje court
When King Uija received the urgent report and asked his ministers for countermeasures, opinions were divided. Jwapyeong Ui-jik said that they should attack the Tang army once it was exhausted from crossing the sea. Dalsol Sang-yeong said that the Tang army would want to fight quickly, so they should block it to wear it down and first defeat the Silla army. Jwapyeong Heungsu, who was in exile, said, "Baekgang and Tanhyeon are the key strongholds of the nation. Even if one man blocks them with a single spear, ten thousand men cannot pass." He urged that both places be defended. However, the court officials said that Heungsu harbored resentment, and argued that it would be better to let the Tang army enter Baekgang, where ships could not sail side by side, and let the Silla army cross Tanhyeon, where horses could not ride abreast on the narrow road, and only then attack. In the meantime, the Tang and Silla armies had already passed Baekgang and Tanhyeon.
Hwangsanbeol and Gibeolpo (July 9, August 20 in the Gregorian calendar)
King Uija sent Dalsol Gyebaek to Hwangsanbeol with a Death Squad of 5,000 men. Gyebaek set up camps at three places and won four battles against the Silla army, but he was overwhelmed by the full Silla assault, which had been reinvigorated by the sacrifices of Ban-gul and Gwanchang, and he was killed in battle (Battle of Hwangsanbeol). On the same day, the Tang army under Su Dingfang and Kim Inmun reached Gibeolpo and decisively defeated the Baekje forces that opposed them. Chinese records state that the Tang army landed on mudflats at the river mouth by laying down willow branches, and that several thousand Baekje soldiers who resisted were killed.
Dispute over the deadline
The Silla army, delayed at Hwangsanbeol, reached the Tang camp later than the agreed date. Su Dingfang tried to behead Kim Mun-yeong, the Silla Dokgun, for missing the deadline. Kim Yu-sin retorted, "If the grand commander intends to punish us merely for missing the deadline without even seeing the battle at Hwangsan, then we will certainly fight the Tang army first before attacking Baekje." Su Dingfang's deputy commander intervened, and Kim Mun-yeong was released.
Siege and fall of Sabi Fortress
On the 12th day of the 7th lunar month (August 23), the allied Tang and Silla forces surrounded the Sabi capital and advanced into the Sobu plain. On the night of the 13th (August 24), King Uija fled with Crown Prince Hyo and his close followers to Ungjin Fortress (present-day Gongsan Fortress, Gongju) to the north. Taek, the second son who had remained in Sabi Fortress, proclaimed himself king and defended the fortress. However, Munsa, a son of the crown prince, said, "Since my uncle made himself king on his own, even if the Tang army withdraws, will we be safe?" He escaped from the fortress along a rope with his followers, and many people followed him. When the Tang army raised its banners on the walls, Taek opened the gates and surrendered. The Silla Annals record that at this time Prince Yung and Grand Chwajwa Sataek Cheon, among others, came out and surrendered.
Surrender of King Uija (July 18, August 29 in the Gregorian calendar)
On the 18th day of the 7th lunar month, King Uija led his crown prince and the troops of the Ungjin Regional Governor out of Ungjin Fortress and surrendered. Based on the recently discovered epitaph of Ye Sik-jin (禰寔進), among other sources, some have proposed that Ungjin Regional Governor Ye Sik (Ye Sik-jin) captured King Uija and handed him over to Tang. On the 2nd day of the 8th lunar month (around September, Gregorian), at a feast celebrating the victory, King Muyeol and Su Dingfang sat on the upper hall, while King Uija and his son Yung poured wine below the hall of Tang. It is said that the Baekje officials who witnessed this wept with choked voices.
Results
- On the 3rd day of the 9th lunar month (around October, Gregorian), Su Dingfang took King Uija, Crown Prince Hyo, Princes Taek, Yung, and Yeon, 88 ministers and officers, and 12,807 commoners back to Tang. King Uija was pardoned when he met Emperor Gaozong at Luoyang on the 1st day of the 11th month, but he died of illness a few days later.
- Tang intended to rename Baekje's 5 Bang, 37 gun, and 250 seong and establish the 5 Protectorates (Ungjin, Mahan, Dongmyeong, Geumnyeon, and Deogan), with 37 prefectures and 250 counties. It left 10,000 troops under Nangjang Yu In-won and 7,000 Silla troops under Kim Intae to guard Sabi Fortress. However, Tang's actual control extended only over the Sabi and Ungjin areas (see "Ungjin Protectorate").
- The first-story body of the Five-Story Stone Pagoda at Jeongnimsaji Temple Site bears the "Inscription Commemorating the Pacification of the Kingdom of Baekje by the Great Tang," which records Su Dingfang's achievements.
- Because the war ended briefly around the capital region, local power groups remained intact, and a fierce Baekje restoration movement soon broke out.
Interpretations and debates
- Causes of the fall: Some critics argue that the Samguk sagi's account, which emphasizes the extravagance and dissipation of King Uija's late reign, reflects the perspective of the victors. Many studies stress structural causes, such as division within the ruling class, failure to correctly judge the international situation, and defense confined to the capital region.
- Circumstances of surrender: There is the Samguk sagi record that King Uija surrendered on his own, and an interpretation that he was captured by Ye Sik-jin and handed over.
- Number of captives: Sources give different figures. Besides the 88 people and 12,807 commoners in the Samguk sagi, there are figures such as 93 people and 12,000 commoners.
- Location of Tanhyeon: Several theories exist, including the area around Sikjang Mountain east of Daejeon, Ssukgo-pass in Unju, Wanju, and Sukgo-pass in Jinsan, Geumsan.
- Departure point of Su Dingfang: The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture entry "Battle of Hwangsanbeol" states that he set out from Laizhou on the Shandong Peninsula, while the Samguk sagi records that he crossed the sea from Seongsan.
References