Maesoseong

Maesoseong (買肖城), also written Maechoseong, is a fortress where a fierce battle took place between Silla and the Tang dynasty in 675 (15th year of King Munmu of Silla). It is located in Daejeon-ri, Cheongsan-myeon, Yeoncheon County, Gyeonggi Province. It is also called Daejeon-ri Fortress.

During the Silla–Tang War, the Battle of Maesoseong was fought between the 200,000-strong army of Tang general Yi Geunhaeng (李謹行) and the elite forces of Silla. The Silla army decisively defeated the Tang forces at Maesoseong and captured 30,380 horses and many weapons. Having reversed the course of the Silla–Tang War through the Battle of Maesoseong, Silla defeated the Tang navy at Gibeopo in the following year, 676, and thereby finally achieved the unification of the Three Kingdoms.

Location dispute

In 1984, the Historical Compilation Committee confirmed, based on field survey results, that Daejeon-ri Fortress in Daejeon-ri, Cheongsan-myeon, Yeoncheon County, Gyeonggi Province was the site of Silla's Maesoseong. Previously, the Yangju Fortress theory in Eodun-dong, Yangju, Gyeonggi Province, and the Nambang-ri Fortress theory in Nambang-dong were in conflict.¹

Footnotes

Footnotes

1. Doosan Encyclopedia. “Maesoseong”. Accessed October 18, 2015. ↩