Person

Wiman

Refugee leader from Yan who ousted King Jun and took the throne of Gojoseon

Amid the chaos between the Qin and Han dynasties he arrived in Gojoseon with about a thousand followers, wearing a topknot and "barbarian" dress. King Jun trusted him to guard the western frontier, but Wiman gathered the migrants and around 194 BCE attacked Wanggeom Fortress and seized the throne. He kept the name Joseon and gave high posts to local people, so his state is seen as a continuation of Gojoseon. Iron culture spread widely under Wiman Joseon, which grew rich as a middleman in trade between Han and the Jin states to the south. Accepting the status of an outer vassal of Han, he subjugated the neighbouring Jinbeon and Imdun.

Where they went

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1 related event

  1. 1

    Wiman, who had come from Yan with about a thousand followers, ousted King Jun and took the throne; Jun fled south and called himself King of Han.

People who appear alongside

  • King Jun

    King of Gojoseon who lost the throne to Wiman and fled south

Themes this person appears in

  • 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

  • Pyongyang194 BC – 2007

    From Wanggeom-seong of Gojoseon to the inter-Korean summits — capital of Goguryeo, Western Capital of Goryeo, the great city on the Taedong