Volta
ConflictNovember 1010 – January 1011(Lunar)

Second Khitan Invasion

Emperor Shengzong of Liao invaded with 400,000 men and took Gaegyeong; King Hyeonjong fled to Naju, and Yang Gyu harried the retreating enemy and freed captives.

Yang Gyu held Heunghwajin, but Gang Jo’s army was routed at Tongju. Captured, Gang Jo refused to become the emperor’s subject and was killed. In the first month of 1011 the Khitans burned Gaegyeong, and Hyeonjong fled south to Naju.

Ha Gong-jin went to the Khitan camp to sue for peace, and the Khitans withdrew on the promise that Hyeonjong would come to pay homage in person. Yang Gyu and Kim Suk-heung struck the retreating columns again and again, freeing some 30,000 captives before both fell. Hyeonjong’s failure to keep his promise led to the third invasion of 1018. During the war Hyeonjong began carving the first Tripitaka.

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The map in 1010

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States and rulers at the time
Goryeo · invaded — Hyeonjong
Liao · invader — Emperor Shengzong
Places
Songak (Kaesong)

People

  • Emperor Shengzong of LiaoAD 971 – 1031

    monarch · Khitan emperor who personally led 400,000 troops into Goryeo in 1010, using Gang Jo’s coup as a pretext

  • King HyeonjongAD 992 – 1031

    monarch · Eighth king of Goryeo, who weathered the second and third Khitan invasions and began the first Tripitaka

  • Yang Gyu1011

    commander · Defender of Heunghwajin who harried the retreating Khitans in 1011, freeing some 30,000 captives before he fell

  • Gang Jo1010

    commander · Northwestern commander who deposed Mokjong in 1009; captured and killed by the Khitans at Tongju in 1010

Before and after

Earlier
1009 Gang Jo’s Coup
Later
1019 Battle of Gwiju

Related works

Dramatized works (films, dramas, novels) may differ from the historical record.