Qin and Han · King of Gojoseon during the Han conquest

Ugeo 右渠

Youqu

First attested BC 128; died BC 108

Passages: 16
Chapters: 2
Histories: 2

Overview

Ugeo was a king of Gojoseon during the Han conquest.

Life and dates

Death

BC 108 元封三年夏
Cause Assassination · Authority Shen (參)
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 115, passage 52

Attested activity

BC 109 元封二年
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 115, passages 11, 18, 21, 24-25
BC 108 元封三年夏
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 115, passage 52
BC 128 to BC 108 漢武帝時
Directly stated · Book of Chen 19, passage 191

Family

Immediate relationships attested in the translated histories.

Descendant of Wiman (滿)
grandson 孫 · paternal line · 2 generations
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 115, passage 9
Child of Son of Wiman
grandson 孫
father 父
Strongly inferred · Records of the Grand Historian 115, passage 9
Parent of Changjiang (長降)
son 子
crown prince 太子
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 115, passages 27, 54

Key source chapters

Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 115 Treatise on Korea 15 passages
Book of Chen, Chapter 19 Volume 19: Shen Jiong; Yu Li; Ma Shu 1 passage

Places and affiliations

Joseon 朝鮮
Relation Ruled
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 115, passages 9, 52

Works and attributed material

Speech · Speaker · Direct quotation
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 115, passages 25-26

Events and relationships

Blocked neighbor missions
Diplomatic · Obstructor
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 115, passage 10
Defeated tower ships
Military · Commander · With Yang Pu (楊僕) · At Wanggeom 王險
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 115, passage 21
Held city months
Military · Defender
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 115, passage 33
Held passes
Military · Defender
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 115, passage 18
Offered surrender
Diplomatic · Would be surrenderer · With Wei Shan (衛山)
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 115, passages 25-27
Refused edict
Diplomatic · Refuser · With She He (涉何)
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 115, passage 11

Assessments and attributes

Assessment relied on stubborn resistance and thereby destroyed his state · Mode historian-judgment Speaker Sima Qian (司馬遷)
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 115, passage 59

References in the histories

Search passages

History

16 passages

Book of Chen, Chapter 19Volume 19: Shen Jiong; Yu Li; Ma Shu · 1 passage

右渠，[12]危亡繼及，天命可畏，山川難恃。 Youqu met ruin in turn; Heaven's mandate is to be feared, and mountains and rivers cannot be relied upon.

Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 115Treatise on Korea · 15 passages

傳子至孫右渠，所誘漢亡人滋多，又未嘗入見； The throne passed to his son and then to his grandson, Ugeo. Under Ugeo's rule, ever more Han fugitives were lured into the kingdom, yet he never once traveled to court to pay his respects.

真番旁眾國欲上書見天子，又擁閼不通。 When the neighboring states near Zhendan wished to send memorials requesting an audience with the Son of Heaven, Ugeo blocked their way and refused to let them through.

元封二年，漢使涉何譙諭右渠，終不肯奉詔。 In the second year of the Yuanfeng era, the Han court dispatched the envoy She He to rebuke Ugeo, but the king stubbornly refused to obey the imperial edict.

兵五萬人，左將軍荀彘出遼東：討右渠。 With a combined force of fifty thousand men, and the Left General, Xun Zhi, marching overland from Liaodong, they set out to punish Ugeo.

右渠發兵距險。 Ugeo deployed his troops to hold the mountain passes.

右渠城守，窺知樓船軍少，即出城擊樓船，樓船軍敗散走。 Ugeo held fast within the city walls. When he saw that the Tower Ships force was small, he sallied forth to attack them. The Tower Ships army was defeated and scattered in flight.

天子為兩將未有利，乃使衛山因兵威往諭右渠。 Since neither general had gained the upper hand, the Son of Heaven sent Wei Shan to use the might of the army as leverage and persuade Ugeo to submit.

右渠見使者頓首謝：「願降，恐兩將詐殺臣； Ugeo received the envoy and bowed his head in apology. 'I am willing to surrender,' he said, 'but I fear the two generals will use treachery to kill me.

右渠遂堅守城，數月未能下。 Ugeo dug in and stubbornly defended the city. After several months, it still could not be taken.

其先與右渠戰，因辱亡卒，卒皆恐，將心慚，其圍右渠，常持和節。 In their earlier battle against Ugeo, they had shamed and abused their fleeing soldiers, leaving the troops fearful and the general ashamed. During the siege, he frequently displayed credentials of peace.

天子曰將率不能，前（及）［乃］使衛山諭降右渠，右渠遣太子，山使不能剸決，與左將軍計相誤，卒沮約。 The Son of Heaven declared that the commanders could not advance, and then sent Wei Shan to negotiate Ugeo's surrender. Ugeo dispatched his crown prince in response, but Wei Shan failed to handle the matter decisively; his actions clashed with the Left General's plans, and in the end the agreement fell through.

元封三年夏，尼谿相參乃使人殺朝鮮王右渠來降。 In the summer of the third year of the Yuanfeng era, Shen, the Chancellor of Nixi, sent men to assassinate King Ugeo of Joseon and came to surrender.

王險城未下，故右渠之大臣成巳又反，復攻吏。 But the fortress of Wanggeom had not yet fallen. Cheng Ji, one of Ugeo's former ministers, raised another rebellion and turned his forces against the Han officials.

左將軍使右渠子長降、相路人之子最告諭其民，誅成巳，以故遂定朝鮮，為四郡。 The Left General had Ugeo's son, Changjiang, surrender and had Lu Ren's son, Zui, issue a proclamation to the people. He executed Cheng Ji, and with this, Joseon was at last pacified and divided into four commanderies.

太史公曰：右渠負固，國以絕祀。 The Grand Historian remarks: Ugeo relied on stubborn resistance, and his state was destroyed, its sacrifices cut off.