A Reexamination of Yeon Gaesomun's Rise to Power: Focusing on His Regional Originand Early Official Positions

Yeon Gaesomun is regarded as a representative figure who led the structural transformation of the political system in the late Goguryeo period, and his rise to power is understood as a major turning point in terms of the dissolution of the existing aristocratic coalition system and the establishment of a dictatorial regime. However, due to the lack of relevant historical records and conflicting contents in the existing records, there are still many controversial issues. For example, issues such as Yeon Gaesomun's place of origin or the position he assumed after the coup d'état are representative examples. This paper points out the limitations of existing interpretations of historical records related to Yeon Gaesomun's rise to power and attempts a more comprehensive analysis by reexamining relevant historical records, focusing on his origins and career changes. First, it analyzes the conflicting historical records surrounding Yeon Gaesomun's clan and reconstructs the political status of the Yeon clan through the hierarchical structure of the region-named cardinal directions and the region-named every direction. Additionally, it examines the relationship between Yeon Gaesomun and his father Yeon Taejo's official positions－Dae-in, Makriji, and Daedaero－to analyze the characteristics of the Yeon clan. Through this, it seeks to clarify the significance of the Yeon clan's emergence in Goguryeo's political history and how the collapse of Goguryeo's national governance system occurred.