ConflictLate 4th – early 3rd century BCE

Gojoseon versus Yan

Gojoseon’s rulers took the title of king and rivalled Yan, but early in the 3rd century BCE the Yan general Qin Kai seized some 2,000 li of its western lands.

Knife-shaped coins (mingdao) of the Yan state, also found widely in former Gojoseon lands — Capital Museum, Beijing
Knife-shaped coins (mingdao) of the Yan state, also found widely in former Gojoseon lands — Capital Museum, Beijing

Baomi · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

By the late 4th century BCE the ruler of Gojoseon called himself king and could challenge Yan. Under Kings Bu and Jun the throne passed from father to son, and offices such as minister and general appeared.

Qin Kai's invasion in the early 3rd century BCE cost Gojoseon its western territory, and its centre is thought to have shifted to the Taedong River.

The map in 300 BC

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States at the time
Gojoseon · belligerent
Yan · belligerent

Before and after

Themes that include this event

  • Ancient China and India770 BC – AD 220

    From the Hundred Schools of the Warring States to the unified empires of Qin and Han, and from the Buddha to the Maurya and Kushan empires — the millennium that shaped East and South Asian civilisation