Revolt of Kim Heum-dol

Overview

The Revolt of Kim Heum-dol was an incident in which Kim Heum-dol, Sopan and the king's father-in-law, conspired to rebel together with Heungwon, Pajinchan, Jin Gong, Daeachan, and others on the 8th day of the 8th lunar month of 681 (1st year of King Sinmun; 25 September by the solar calendar). The plot was discovered and its leaders were executed. The rebellion itself was quickly suppressed, but King Sinmun used the affair as an occasion to thoroughly purge the aristocratic faction, making it a starting point for the strengthening of centralized royal authority.

Background

Kim Heum-dol was an official and military commander of the true-bone (jingol) rank. In 661 (1st year of King Munmu), when a Goguryeo campaign army was organized at the request of the Tang, he was appointed commander of the Great Banner (Daedang). In 668, as Daeachan, he served as Commander-in-Chief of the Great Banner and took part in the war against Goguryeo. When Sinmun was crown prince, Kim gave his daughter to be the crown princess, but the crown princess did not bear a son for a long time.

The cause of the rebellion is not clearly stated in the historical sources. The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture cites several circumstances. One is the possibility that Kim feared his position as a maternal relative would become precarious if his daughter failed to bear a prince. Another is the connection with the appointment of Jin Bok as Sangdaedeung shortly before the conspiracy. The situation in which conflict between royal authority and the aristocracy deepened as some senior true-bone officials were purged during the Silla–Tang War is also cited as background.

Course of events

The entry for the first year of King Sinmun's reign in the Samguk sagi briefly records that on the 8th day of the 8th month Kim Heum-dol, Heungwon, Jin Gong, and others were killed for plotting rebellion. At the time of the rebellion, Kim Heum-dol's official rank was 3rd rank Sopan (Japjan).

After the suppression, King Sinmun issued two royal edicts. In the first, he condemned Kim Heum-dol and others for having risen to high positions not because of their abilities but by the king's grace, and yet for having indulged in arrogance and greed. Later in the same year, Yi-chan Kim Gun-gwan, who had been Minister of War, was ordered to take his own life, together with his eldest son, on the grounds that he had known of the conspiracy and had not reported it promptly. Kim Gun-gwan had been the highest-ranking aristocrat, serving as Sangdaedeung under King Munmu, and there is no evidence that he directly took part in the rebellion. The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture explains that the execution of an aristocrat of this rank on the charge of failing to report a crime seems to have a weak basis, and is understood as a political intention to break the aristocratic faction represented by the Sangdaedeung.