Richard D. McBride II

The unification of the Three Han (Kor. Samhan; Ch. San-han) Korean Kingdoms, Koguryo, Paekche, and Silla, by the kingdom of Silla is the pivotal and by far the most controversial event in the ancient history of the Korean penins띠a and Manchuria. Beginning in the late Choson period, nationalistic Koreans have lamented the loss of the Manchurian plains which had once been the undisputed territory of the ancient kingdom of Koguryo (traditional dates, 37 B.C.-A.D. 668), later known as Koryo (918-1392), the Anglicized version of which is “Korea ” I In the pivotal mid-seventh century, a horizontal T'ang-Silla alliance broke the power of both Paekche (ca. 661) and Koguryo (ca. 668) and the Manchurian territory once held by Koguryo fell into the hands of barbarian nomads, the Mo-ho (Malgal) of Po-hai (Parhae, 698-926), the Khitan Liao (907-1125), the Jurchen Chin (1115-1234), the Mongol Yilan (1264-1368) and finally the Manchus of the Ch'ing dynasty (1644-1908) before being incorporated into the People’s Republic of China. According to Korean historiography, the men responsible for uniting the Three Han Kingdoms were Kim Ch’unch’u (King T’aejong MuyolI; r. 654-661) and his brother in -law Kim Yusin (ca. 595-673). Because of the grand events of their era, Kirn Yusin has become a mythic hero to all Koreans, especially those living in Kyongsang Province in southeastern Korea. However, some Koreans regard him as an anti-hero who accepted Chinese culture and under whose leadership the ancient land of the Koguryo was lost. The purpose of this article is to compare and contrast of some of the biographical accounts, personality sketches, amazing stories, and other materials found in the two main repositories for information, both factual and fanciful, on Kim Yusin: the official history called the Samguk sagi [History of the Three Kingdoms] and the compendium of native and Buddhistic tales known as the Samguk yusa [Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms]. This research will shed some light on the some of the secret or hidden agendas of the authors of these texts that have contributed to the strong impressions Koreans have about Yusin. Since the Japanese occupation of Korea in the beginning of the twentieth century of our era, nationalistic Korean scholars have viewed the Samguk sagi with some distrust. This study of the account of Kim Yusin will address some of their views, as well as, I hope, restore due appreciation for the important work that it is. For background I will place the writing of both the Samguk sagi and the Samguk yusa in historical perspective and suggest some of the authors' motivations and mention some of the criticisms of both of these books‘ I will then analyze the life of Kim Yusin, comparing and contrasting parallel accounts in these two texts where possible, to show the transformation of Kim Yusin the individual into Yusin the hero and Yusin the antihero .