| Hangul: | 근초고왕 |
| Hanja: | 近肖古王 |
| Rr: | Geunchogo-wang |
| Mr: | Kŭnch'ogo-wang |
Geunchogo of Baekje, Chogo II of Baekje (324–375, r. 346–375) was the 13th king of Baekje, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea.[1] He is claimed as the King reigned over the apex of Baekje's powers.
Geunchogo was the fourth son of the 11th king Biryu and became king upon the death of the 12th king Gye. His reign seems to have marked the permanent ascendancy of the descendants of the 5th king Chogo (reflected in Geunchogo's name) over those of the 8th king Goi, and ended the alternating kingship of the two lines.[2]
Upon ascending the throne, he set out to solidify the royal power within the Baekje state. He reduced the power of the aristocracy and set up a system of local government with regional heads appointed by the court. He married a wife from the Jin clan, setting a precedent for his successors, and he moved the capital to Hansan, today's southeast Seoul.[1]
Under Geunchogo, the kingdom reached its greatest geographic extent and political power. The remaining tribes of Mahan were annexed in 369, completing Baekje's control over all of present-day Jeolla Province. Gaya confederacy states west of the Nakdong River were also made Baekje dependencies.
In 369, Baekje was invaded by Goguryeo, but counterattacked in force at the Battle of Chiyang. In 371, the Baekje army of 30,000, led by Crown Prince Geungusu, took the fortress of Pyongyang and killed Gogugwon of Goguryeo.
At the end of these conquests, Baekje ringed the Yellow Sea, and controlled much of the Korean peninsula, including all of Gyeonggi, Chungcheong, and Jeolla and parts of Gangwon and Hwanghae provinces.
In 366, Geunchogo allied with Silla, which bordered Baekje on the east, maintaining a rough balance of power among the Three Kingdoms.
At its greatest extent, Baekje control reached north into what is now China. The kingdom also established diplomatic relations with the early Jin China in 345 and Japan in 367.[3] According to both Korean and Chinese sources, the first diplomatic contact between Baekje and China took place in 372, when Geunchogo sent a mission to the court of Jin. In the same year, the Jin court sent a mission granting him the title of the "General Stabilizing the East and the Administrator-General of Lelang" .
During his reign, Baekje activated and led the commercial trading among China, Korean Peninsula and Japan; known as the triangle trade. Traditionally the commerce was mostly dominated by Chinese emperors; however, after China lost control of Lelang, northern China came under the rule of the "Five Barbarians", all of whom were inexperienced at sea. Baekje established commanderies in the Liaoxi regions of China and advanced into Kyūshū of Japan, and rose as the new trading center of East Asia.[4]
Baekje also exported culture to Baekje's allies in the Wa kingdom of Yamato period Japan. The evidence of friendly relationship of Baekje with Japan is the Seven-Branched Sword which Geunchogo gave to the Yamato ruler. According to Nihon Shoki, Geunchogo also sent scholars Wang In and Ajiki to Japan to spread knowledge of Baekje culture: Confucianism and Chinese characters.[5] Then Wani taught Confucian classics to emperor's heir Ujinowakiiratuko.[6]
During his reign a history of Baekje titled Seogi was compiled by the scholar Go Heung . Its purpose was not only to record history, but also to justify his rule and to display the power of Baekje. No known copy of Seogi has survived to the modern era.
"King Geunchogo was the fourth son of king Biryu. His body and countenance were unusually robust, and he possessed far-reaching knowledge. When King Gye died, he succeeded him."