| Princess Pyeonggang | |||||||||
| Princess of Goguryeo | |||||||||
| Death Date: | 595 | ||||||||
| Death Place: | Kingdom of Goguryeo | ||||||||
| Spouse: | On Dal | ||||||||
| House: | House of Go (also known as Hoengseong Go clan; by birth) Geumgu On (by marriage) | ||||||||
| Father: | Pyeongwon of Goguryeo | ||||||||
| Module: |
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Princess Pyeonggang (died 595) was a Goguryeo Princess as the daughter of King Pyeongwon and sister to King Yeongyang.[1] As told in popular folktales (versions of which exist in many different regions) she married a commoner, On Dal.[2]
According to legend, when Pyeonggang was a little girl and wouldn't stop crying, her father, King Pyeongwan, would jokingly threaten to marry her to Ondal, a beggar boy of low class known as a fool.[3] When Pyeonggang was 16, her father wanted her to marry a son of the noble Go family.[4] Pyeonggang refused, and insisted that she should be married to Ondal - because, she said, her father must keep his word, even to someone with extremely low status like Ondal.
Thereupon, she left the palace and went to the house where Ondal lived with his mother, and insisted upon marrying him. He and his mother were quite confused and frightened, but Pyeonggang prevailed, and she and Ondal were married.[5] They were extremely happy together, and Pyeonggang used her gold to help the family, and taught her husband many useful skills, such as how to select a horse. Eventually, with Pyeonggang's help, Ondal became a renowned general.