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108 BCEReputable source · 2 sourcesWell documented

Gojoseon Falls to the Han Dynasty

Iron tools, a Chinese refugee king, and four commanderies planted on Korean soil

On the timeline · around 108 BCE · Gojoseon and the Three KingdomsGojoseon and the Three KingdomsUnified Silla and GoryeoGojoseon Falls to the Han Dynasty1,000 BCE750 BCE500 BCE250 BCE1 CE250 CE500 CE

Quick facts

Conquering power
Han dynasty of China, under Emperor Wu
Date of conquest
108 BCE
Han force
50,000 troops, 7,000 naval troops
Aftermath
Four Han commanderies administered northern Korea for c. 400 years

What happened

The historical Gojoseon state grew wealthy in its final centuries on iron tools introduced from China, which lifted agricultural output, and on trade goods including iron-rich grey stoneware. Around 300 BCE the neighboring Yan state attacked and weakened Gojoseon, and by the 2nd century BCE its territory passed to Wiman Joseon, founded when a Chinese refugee named Wiman, who had been given border-defense duties by King Jun, seized power for himself sometime between 194 and 180 BCE. Wiman Joseon lasted only a few generations. In 108 BCE the Han dynasty's Emperor Wu, eager for Korea's iron and salt, sent an army of 50,000 men and a 7,000-strong naval force, captured the capital Wanggeom, and divided northern Korea into four commanderies under direct Han administration, a occupation that lasted roughly four centuries.

Why it matters

The Han conquest ended Korea's first state but did not end Korean political life: refugees from the fallen Wiman Joseon carried its culture south into the peninsula, where it fed directly into the rival statelets that consolidated into the Three Kingdoms of Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla. The name Joseon itself would resurface in 1392 as the name of Korea's last royal dynasty.

How we know

The fall of Gojoseon and the Han commanderies are recorded in Chinese historical annals of the period and corroborated by archaeological evidence from the Lelang commandery near Pyongyang, including Han-style administrative artifacts and burial goods.

Sources

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Gojoseon Falls to the Han Dynasty · History of Korea · SourcedStory