General Kim Yushin
Kim Yushin (595-673) was a general in 7th-century Silla. He led the unification
of the Korean peninsula by Silla under the reign of King Muyeol of Silla and
King Munmu of Silla. He is said to have been the great-grandchild of King Guhae
of Geumgwan Gaya, the last ruler of the Geumgwan Gaya state. This would have
given him a very high position in the Silla bone rank system, which governed the
political and military status that a person could attain. Much of what we know
about Kim's life comes from the detailed account in the Samguk Sagi, Yeoljeon
1-3, and the much briefer record in the Samguk Yusa, vol. 1. Kim Yushin was the
son of General Kim Seohyeon and Lady Manmyeong, who was a daughter of King
Jinheung of Silla. He was born in Gyeyang, Jincheon County in 595, became a
Hwarang warrior at just 15 and was an accomplished swordsman and a Gukseon (, ;
Hwarang leader) by the time he was 18 years old. By the age of 34 he had been
given total command of the Silla armed forces. Kim's first military engagement
in command is believed to have occurred around 629 AD, and through it he quickly
proved his capabilities as a warrior.
Throughout his life Kim Yusin had felt that Baekje, Goguryeo, and Silla
should not be separate countries but united. He is regarded as the driving force
in the unification of the Korean Peninsula, and is the most famous of all the
generals in the unification wars of the Three Kingdoms.
Kim Yusin was rewarded handsomely for his efforts in the campaigns. In 668,
King Munmu bestowed upon him the honorary title of Taedaegakgan (태대각간,
太大角干), something like "Grand Sub-Chief." He reportedly received a village of
over 500 households, and in 669 was given some 142 separate horse farms, spread
throughout the kingdom. He died four years later, leaving behind ten children.
Kim Yusin lived to the age of 79 and is considered to be one of the most
famous generals and masters of Korean swords in Korean history. He is the focus
of numerous stories and legends, and is familiar to most Koreans from a very
early age. Following his death in 673, General Kim was awarded the honorary
title of King Heungmu.
Samguk Sagi contains a full three volumes
of biografical stories of the distuinguished Silla General, much more than on
anyone else.
See Vos, Frits: Kim Yusin, Persönlichkeit und Mythos: Ein Beitrag zur Kenntnis
der Altkoreanischen Geschichte, Oriens Extremus 1 (1954) p.29-70 and 2 (1955)
p.210-236 for a full translation of all material of Kim Yushin from both the
Sagi and Yusa (in German).
Kim Yusin was 15 when he became a Hwarang and 18
when he became Master of the sword and a Kuksón. By the time of his death he was
one of the most powerful men in Korea and was buried like a king.
He was born in 595, and became the leader of a Hwarang group called
Yonghwa-Hyangdo "Band of the Dragon Flower Tree" (= the Nagavrksa tree; the
Bodhi tree under which Maitreya Buddha would rise and teach his learning).
From King Húngdók (826-836) Kim Yusin was later
awarded the posthumous title of "Great King Húngmu" (Húngmu Taewang - great king
promoting the martial arts).
