King Uija

Biography

Family Background and Early Life

King Uija was born into the Baekje royal family. He belonged to the Buyeo royal clan and was the eldest son of King Mu, the thirtieth king of Baekje. His birth is given as approximately 599, the nineteenth year of the Kaihuang era of Sui. From childhood King Uija was known for filial conduct and affection toward his brothers. Contemporaries compared him to the Chinese Confucian model Zengzi and called him the “Zengzi of the Eastern Sea.” The Song writer Lin Tong also celebrated this tradition in his poem on King Uija among the Ten Poems on Filial Conduct among Non-Chinese Peoples, writing that although lands and peoples differ, natural human feeling is fundamentally the same and that the Zengzi once known in antiquity could now be found in the Eastern Sea. This assessment indicates that King Uija was known within the Baekje royal house for Confucian moral cultivation and that his filial conduct and fraternal harmony had a broad contemporary reputation.

Accession and Strengthening of Royal Power

In 641, the fifteenth year of Zhenguan under Emperor Taizong of Tang, King Mu of Baekje died. Emperor Taizong mourned him at Xuanwu Gate, posthumously granted him the rank Grand Master of Splendid Happiness, bestowed generous funeral gifts, and ordered Zheng Wenbiao, Director in the Ministry of Sacrifices, to invest King Uija as Pillar of State and successor to the throne. The Old Book of Tang, Basic Annals, vol. 3, likewise records that after the death of King Mu of Baekje, the Tang court ordered his heir King Uija to succeed his father and continued to enfeoff him as Prince of Daifang Commandery.

After taking the throne, King Uija began reforming Baekje's aristocrat-centered political system and sought to strengthen royal authority. These reforms reflected the tension between kingship and aristocratic power in late Baekje. They did not, however, fundamentally resolve internal struggles over power. Divisions among the aristocracy and increasingly extravagant conduct within the royal house contributed to growing disorder in state affairs.

Expansion and Conflict with Silla

During King Uija's reign, Baekje allied with Goguryeo and jointly attacked Silla. King Uija personally led forces against Silla, captured more than forty cities, and stationed troops in them. He later sought to seize Danghang Fortress in order to block Silla's route for sending tribute to Tang. Silla appealed urgently to Tang, and Emperor Taizong sent an official with an imperial edict to Baekje in an attempt to mediate.

When King Uija learned that Emperor Taizong was occupied with a campaign against Goguryeo and therefore unable to focus on the east, he took the opportunity to capture seven Silla cities and soon afterward more than ten additional cities. He then ceased sending tribute to the Tang empire. These campaigns temporarily expanded Baekje's influence on the Korean peninsula, but they also helped create the conditions that eventually led to the kingdom's destruction.

Confrontation with Tang and the Fall of Baekje

After Emperor Gaozong took the Tang throne, King Uija sent an envoy to offer greetings. Gaozong issued an edict ordering him to return the Silla lands he had occupied. The edict sharply criticized continued warfare among the three eastern kingdoms, noted that Silla's fortified cities had been annexed by Baekje, and demanded the restoration of the conquered territory. It further warned that if Uija refused, the Tang emperor would allow the conflict to be decided by war and would send forces, including Khitan contingents, across the Liao region in a deep invasion.

King Uija resisted the order, refused to return the territory, and continued attacking Silla. In 655, the sixth year of Yonghui, Silla complained to Emperor Gaozong that Baekje, Goguryeo, and the Mohe had taken thirty cities along its northern frontier.

In 660, the fifth year of Xianqing, Emperor Gaozong appointed Su Dingfang, Great General of the Left Guard, as Grand Chief Military Commissioner of the Shenqiu Route and ordered him to attack Baekje together with Left Guard General Liu Boying, Right Martial Guard General Feng Shigui, Left Valiant Guard General Pang Xiaotai, and Silla forces. The Tang army crossed the sea from Chengshan. Baekje guarded the mouth of the Ungjin River, but Su Dingfang ordered an attack and inflicted a major defeat. Riding the tide, Tang forces advanced directly toward the Baekje capital. Baekje committed its full strength in resistance but was defeated by Su Dingfang, with more than ten thousand men reportedly killed.

King Uija held Ungjin Fortress, present-day Gongju, but was ultimately defeated. Tang divided former Baekje territory into the five area commands of Ungjin, Mahan, Dongmyeong, Geumryeon, and Deogan and appointed Right Guard Officer Wang Wendu as commander at Ungjin with troops to hold the region. Su Dingfang carried King Uija, Crown Prince Long, the younger prince Xiaoyan, and fifty-eight senior officials and generals into Tang captivity. In the eleventh lunar month they were presented at Zetian Gate, later renamed Yingtian Gate, in Luoyang, the eastern capital. Emperor Gaozong rebuked them and then ordered their release.

Final Days in Luoyang and Death

A few days after arriving in Luoyang, King Uija died at about the age of sixty-two. Emperor Gaozong posthumously granted him the ranks Grand Master of Gold Seal and Purple Ribbon and Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, specially allowed his former subjects to attend and mourn, and buried him beside the tombs of Sun Hao and Chen Shubao with a commemorative stele. King Uija received the posthumous title Shao and was buried at Mount Mang north of Luoyang, in present-day Fenghuangtai Village.

Major Activities

Political Reform

After taking the throne, King Uija reformed Baekje's aristocrat-centered political system and worked to strengthen royal authority. The reforms reflected the political struggle between the monarchy and aristocratic groups in late Baekje, but ultimately failed to save the kingdom from decline.

Military Expansion

King Uija personally led attacks on Silla and captured more than forty cities. Later, taking advantage of Emperor Taizong's war against Goguryeo, he seized seven additional Silla cities and then more than ten more. He also sought to capture Danghang Fortress and cut Silla's route for sending tribute to Tang. These military actions temporarily gave Baekje an advantage on the Korean peninsula but also directly contributed to Tang military intervention.

Confrontation with Tang

King Uija stopped paying tribute to the Tang empire, resisted Emperor Gaozong's orders, and refused to return Silla territory. Gaozong's edict explicitly warned that if he would not obey, he could choose war and Tang would mobilize Khitan and other forces for a deep advance across the Liao region. King Uija nevertheless maintained his policy, and Tang and Silla ultimately launched a joint campaign against Baekje.

Fall of Baekje

In 660, the fifth year of Xianqing, Tang and Silla forces broke Baekje's resistance and King Uija was captured and taken to Luoyang. Tang divided former Baekje territory among the five area commands of Ungjin, Mahan, Dongmyeong, Geumryeon, and Deogan. Baekje thereby came to an end.

Personal Relations

• Father: King Mu of Baekje
• Brother: Buyeo Gyogi
• Queen: Eungo
• Sons: Buyeo Hyo, Buyeo Tae, Buyeo Yung, Buyeo Yeon, Buyeo Pung (Pungjang), and Buyeo Yong (Buyeo Seon'gwang)
• Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin: invested King Uija as successor to the Baekje throne
• Emperor Gaozong of Tang, Li Zhi: ordered King Uija to return Silla territory and later sent Su Dingfang to attack Baekje
• Su Dingfang: Tang Grand Chief Military Commissioner of the Shenqiu Route who led the conquest of Baekje and captured King Uija
• Silla: Baekje's principal opponent; King Uija repeatedly led attacks against it
• Goguryeo: allied with Baekje in attacks on Silla

Historical Assessment

Tang / Contemporary

• The New Book of Tang records that he was filial toward his parents and friendly with his brothers and that contemporaries called him the “Zengzi of the Eastern Sea.” It praises his filial conduct but criticizes his repeated warfare and resistance to Tang authority.
• The Old Book of Tang similarly records that he was known for filial conduct and fraternal affection and was called the “Zengzi and Minzi of the Eastern Sea.” It also records that Emperor Gaozong rebuked and then pardoned him, reflecting a Tang stance of both condemnation and clemency.
• Emperor Gaozong's edict criticized the eastern kingdoms for ceaseless territorial conflict and treated King Uija's expansion as disruptive of the established order among Baekje, Goguryeo, and Silla.

Song and Yuan Periods

• The Song writer Lin Tong praised Uija's filial conduct in Ten Poems on Filial Conduct among Non-Chinese Peoples: King Uija of Baekje, comparing his behavior to Confucian exemplars of the Central Plains and declaring that common human nature transcended regional difference.
• Song historians compiling the New Book of Tang attributed the fall of Baekje partly to King Uija's cessation of tribute and seizure of Silla territory, treating his conduct as a violation of the obligations expected of a tributary state.

Ming and Qing Periods

• Ming and Qing historians generally followed Tang and Song accounts, presenting Baekje's destruction as the natural result of King Uija's resistance to Tang and repeated military expansion.
• Some scholars also noted that divisions within the Baekje aristocracy and extravagance within the royal house damaged government and argued that Uija's reforms failed to resolve these deeper problems.

Modern Period

• Korean scholarship treats King Uija as the last ruler of Baekje and offers a mixed assessment: his early attempts to strengthen royal authority are recognized, while his diplomatic failures are criticized as contributing to the kingdom's collapse.
• Buyeo County in South Chungcheong Province, South Korea, holds annual memorial and spirit-consoling ceremonies for King Uija, reflecting his continuing role in Korean historical memory and cultural identity.
• In September 2000, Yu Byeong-don, governor of Buyeo County in South Chungcheong Province, officially brought twenty kilograms of “sacred soil” from Mount Mang north of Luoyang back to Buyeo and held a large soul-summoning memorial ceremony for King Uija more than thirteen centuries after his death.
• The 2011 Korean television drama Gyebaek reinterpreted King Uija's image and gave him a broad presence in contemporary Korean popular culture.