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PersonAD 942 – AD 998

Seo Hui

Statesman who negotiated with Xiao Sunning in 993 and won the six garrisons east of the Yalu

In the first Khitan invasion of 993, when Xiao Sunning accused Goryeo of occupying Goguryeo land and befriending Song, Seo Hui replied that Goryeo, as its name showed, was the successor of Goguryeo, and that the Jurchen blocked relations with the Khitan. In return for agreeing to open relations with the Khitan, he won the right to drive out the Jurchen east of the Yalu and gained the Six Garrisons East of the River, building fortresses there himself the next year.

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2 related events

  1. AD 993 – 1019Khitan Invasions of Goryeodiplomat

    The Khitan Liao invaded Goryeo three times between 993 and 1019. Goryeo repelled them through Seo Hui’s diplomacy and Gang Gam-chan’s victory at Gwiju.

  2. 1
    AD 993Seo Hui’s Negotiationdiplomat

    During the first Khitan invasion Seo Hui negotiated with the enemy commander Xiao Sunning, securing the Khitan withdrawal and the six garrisons east of the Yalu.

Related works

  • TV episode: History Journal: The Day Episode 439: The Goryeo–Khitan War, Part 2 — Repelling the Khitan through DiplomacyTV episode · 2023 · Jeong Dong-hun · KBS1

People who appear alongside

  • King SeongjongAD 960 – AD 997

    Sixth king of Goryeo, who adopted Choe Seung-ro’s 28-article memorial and built a Confucian central and local administration

  • King HyeonjongAD 992 – 1031

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

  • Yang Gyu1011

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

  • Gang Gam-chanAD 948 – 1031

    Commander-in-chief who won the Battle of Gwiju in 1019 and proposed the outer wall of Gaegyeong

  • Emperor Shengzong of LiaoAD 971 – 1031

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

  • Xiao Sunning

    Khitan (Liao) general who invaded Goryeo in 993 and withdrew after negotiating with Seo Hui

Themes this person appears in

  • Song, Ming and Samurai JapanAD 960 – 1500

    The age when the civil-minded Song bought peace from Liao, Western Xia and Jin while the lower Yangtze boomed and Neo-Confucianism took shape, and the Ming, having driven out the Yuan, rebuilt the East Asian order through imperial autocracy, the sea ban and tribute — as Japan passed through the Kamakura and Muromachi warrior governments into the Warring States era, and Korea from Goryeo to Joseon