During the Wei and Jin dynasties, Goguryeo experienced more than 200 years of development, established a powerful army, and used this army to carry out purposeful and planned military expansion activities, and achieved brilliant military achievements.
During the reign of King Haotae, the expansion of Goguryeo's territory was the most brilliant. So, how big was Goguryeo's territory? Let's work together.
The territory of Goguryeo expanded rapidly, with the western boundary penetrating into the Liao River Valley, the southern boundary advancing to the Han River basin, the northern boundary reaching the Songhua River basin, and the eastern boundary remaining in the area along the present-day Benhai.
The Goguryeo regime was able to secure its territory by defeating the Wakos, Baekje, and Silla through its powerful military might. The army's bravery and good fighting won the victory of the Goguryeo regime in the war of foreign expansion.
During the Wei and Jin dynasties, Goguryeo continued to expand with its powerful military strength and achieved brilliant results, which made Goguryeo's ruling area continue to expand and its strength to increase, becoming an unprecedentedly powerful local minority regime.
Its army is sufficient in number, complete in arms, advanced in equipment, and strong in combat effectiveness, and can undertake the task of defending political power and expanding abroad. At the same time, the rule of the Goguryeo king over the whole country was consolidated, and a good momentum of stable development appeared in all aspects of society.
All this was due to the wealth accumulated and the consolidated national power of Goguryeo in the process of foreign expansion.
At the end of the 4th century and the beginning of the 5th century, after King Haotai occupied Liaodong and expanded his territory to the central part of the Korean Peninsula, a large number of Han Chinese working people moved into Goguryeo, which expanded the land cultivation area and agricultural business scope of Goguryeo.
The developed economy of Liaodong became an important part of Goguryeo's economy, and its agricultural production level was close to that of the Central Plains. Iron farming tools were widely used here, some of which were introduced from the Central Plains and some of which were produced by Goguryeo itself.
In addition, the extensive application of cattle tillage technology, fertilization and the promotion of farming experience have improved field management techniques and greatly increased grain production. In addition, Goguryeo also introduced a large number of high-yield crops, such as millet, corn, sorghum, rice, wheat, soybeans, soybeans, etc., and almost every household had surplus grain storage, and even barn buildings for storing grain appeared.
The development of agriculture promoted the development of Goguryeo's handicraft industry, which had a complete range of handicrafts, a wide variety of products, and superb technology, such as making agricultural tools, household tools, woodworking tools, fishing and hunting tools, and combat tools.
Fine gold, silver, bronze utensils and ornaments are common in the ruins, and the textile and tanning industries are also very developed, making not only coarse cloth, but also silk satin and colored leather.
The firing technology of ceramics and bricks has been significantly improved. In addition, the grain brewing industry is also very developed. The Goguryeo people lived a sedentary agricultural life, and agriculture developed rapidly, they used the surplus grain to raise livestock, horses and pigs were very common, and animal husbandry was greatly developed.
The use and increase of iron tools also brought significant development to Goguryeo's fishing and hunting economy. In the economic composition of Goguryeo, the fishing and hunting economy has always occupied an important position.
Under the influence of the specific geographical location and environment, Goguryeo's fishing and hunting economy has always been an important production sector. Many iron hunting ** have been unearthed in the Ji'an area of Jilin Province, such as spears, three-toothed tools, ring-headed knives, iron knives, daggers and various arrowheads.
Judging from the hunting scenes described in the murals of the ancient tombs of Goguryeo, large-scale hunting and hunting in the mountains and forests.
Small hunting activities in groups of three or five people exist at the same time. The animals hunted by the Goguryeo people mainly include tigers, deer, pigs, roe deer, pheasants, rabbits, etc.
The Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms: Goguryeo Honki records many scenes of hunting by princes and nobles. Fishery production in Goguryeo was also expanding. Judging from the cultural relics unearthed from the tombs of Goguryeo in Ji'an, the number of iron fish hooks and pottery net pendants is very large, indicating that the fishery production of Goguryeo was very developed during this period.
Goguryeo, with its strong military strength, expanded the southern part of the Korean Peninsula, expanding its territory to a certain extent. At the same time, backed by military strength, it has maintained a very good relationship with various political regimes in the Central Plains, making Goguryeo a powerful local political power in China's northeast and even in Northeast Asia, and creating conditions for economic development and the enhancement of comprehensive national strength.
The western boundary of Goguryeo, through the occupation of the two counties of Liaodong and Xuansu, the territory of Goguryeo reached the Liao River Valley. During the reign of King Changshou, Goguryeo helped Wei destroy the Northern Yan regime, and obtained some military equipment and a small population from the arsenal of the Northern Yan regime, and the territory area was also expanded, and its border was pushed westward to the Daling River Valley, where it was adjacent to the Northern Wei.
The northern border of Goguryeo, through military strikes, gradually reached the Songhwa River valley. During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the Buyeo regime, which was adjacent to Goguryeo, declined under the constant blows of Goguryeo and its surrounding regimes.
The southern territory of Goguryeo changed the most, and the Goguryeo army fought all the way to the junction of Silla and Baekje, and the army approached Seoul, capturing 64 cities and 1,400 villages from Baekje alone.
During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Goguryeo adhered to the strategic policy of the Jangshou Dynasty, and gradually expanded its southern territory with Silla and Baekje as the offensive direction, and finally reached the area of Asan Bay, Chungju, and Gangneung in present-day Korea.
Although Silla and Baekje regained some territory in the later period, Goguryeo's southern territory was still expanded compared to the time of King Ryonae. At the same time, Goguryeo's strong military strength enabled it to establish its status as a political and military power in Northeast Asia, and through its flexible and pragmatic foreign policy, it won the trust and canonization of the various regimes of the North and South Koreas.
The eastern territory of Goguryeo remains the same, and the easternmost boundary is Zhaseong, that is, Hunchun in the Yanbian region of China to the south of Hamgyong Province and North Province in North Korea, and the sea in the east. During the reigns of King Jangshou and King Munjimyeong, Goguryeo's territory was expanded and consolidated, and its military strength and diplomatic influence were enhanced.
Goguryeo was a powerful ancient regime in Northeast China, and from the 4th century to the 7th century AD, it played a pivotal role in Northeast Asia. During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Goguryeo maintained close ties with various regimes in the Central Plains, and was canonized as "Envoy Jie, Scattered Cavalry Changshi, Governor of Yingping Erzhou, General of Zhengdong, Duke of Lelang" and "General of Che Cavalry".
Goguryeo was able to maintain such a position mainly due to its strong military power. In the war with the Central Plains regime, Goguryeo won the Liaodong region by virtue of its strength, establishing its status as a military and political power in the northeast region.
In peacetime, exchanges between Goguryeo and the Central Plains continued to deepen, and the economy developed rapidly and the population exploded. According to historical records, the population of Goguryeo increased from about 150,000 during the Wei and Jin dynasties to about 450,000 in the middle of the reign of King Changshou.
This includes the integration of Han Chinese and other ethnic groups.
In short, Goguryeo's strong military strength during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties laid a solid foundation for the expansion of Goguryeo's territory, the improvement of the political status of various local governments in the northeast, the development of the economy and the enhancement of comprehensive national strength, and the subsequent long-term confrontation with the Sui and Tang dynasties.