title: Neo soul

text: "The Boston Globe"s Renée Graham wrote of the artists' ambivalence towards the term in a 2003 article on neo soul's standing, "Despite its critical success, if neo-soul had an initial failing, it was the media-created label itself – a term that the artists, whom it was meant to represent, generally rejected". In a 2003 interview, music publicist John Constanza said that "The neo-soul movement is still there, but it's been underground, and it's trying to get the attention of the mainstream again". Mark Edward Nero of About.com stated, "In general, neo-soul has remained almost exclusive to R&B outlets such as urban radio and Black Entertainment Television ... the majority of neo-soul artists have yet to crossover to mainstream American music listeners, partially because the music's sound generally focuses on artist expression, rather than popular appeal".


title: Neo soul

text: After D'Angelo and Hill's withdrawal from the mainstream, Bilal appeared to be another artist from "the soul music vanguard" of the late 1990s and early 2000s to succumb to professional setbacks and fade from the public view, after his heavily bootlegged album "Love for Sale" was shelved in 2006, although it developed an underground following in subsequent years. Smash Gordon, of the Fabric club's blog, later called the leak "one of the biggest mysteries in neo-soul history".


title: Neo soul

text: In the latter part of the decade, emerging artists such as Heather Headley, Anthony David, J Davey, Eric Roberson, and Ledisi signed to independent soul labels and received exposure through independent retailers, neo soul-oriented web sites, college and public radio stations, city club venues, cable networks such as Music Choice and BET J, and publishing deals as writers and producers for major label-recording artists. Erykah Badu and Maxwell returned from their respective hiatuses and released well-received albums, her "New Amerykah" albums and his 2009 album "BLACKsummers'night", and they subsequently toured together. VH1 Soul's series "Soulstage", which began in 2007, showcased new music by artists such as Badu, Jill Scott, India.Arie, Q-Tip, and Saadiq.


title: Neo soul

text: Since its original popularity, neo soul has been expanded and diversified musically through the works of both American and international artists. The more popular neo soul artists of the 2010s included Scott, Maxwell, John Legend, Anthony Hamilton, Amy Winehouse, Chrisette Michele, Leela James, and Raheem DeVaughn. DeVaughn has described himself as an "R&B Hippy Neo-Soul Rock Star", viewing it as a reference to his eclectic musical style. In its 2010 issue on critical moments in popular music, "Spin" cited D'Angelo's "Voodoo" and its success as a turning point for neo soul: "D'Angelo's pastiche of funk, carnal ache, and high-minded, Afrocentric rhetoric stands as neo-soul's crowning achievement. So unsurpassable that it'd be eight years before we'd hear from Erykah Badu and Maxwell again, while Hill and D'Angelo remain missing. But Alicia Keys, John Legend, and Cee-Lo picked up D's mantle and ran with it". Evan Rytlewski of "The A.V. Club" discerns "a line of revelatory, late-period neo-soul albums" with the releases of Maxwell's "BLACKsummers'night" (2009), Badu's "New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh)" (2010), Bilal's "Airtight's Revenge" (2010), and Frank Ocean's "Channel Orange" (2012). In the 2010s, other neo soul acts included Fitz and the Tantrums, Mayer Hawthorne, Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats, and Amos Lee.


title: Neo soul

text: In August 2019, Okayplayer journalist Keith Nelson Jr. published a piece highlighting 11 recording artists who are "on the precipice of pushing neo-soul forward" into its third decade of existence: Steve Lacy ("cut from the abstract neo-soul cloth of Frank Ocean where you’re just as likely to have a jam session as you are to hear philosophical quips"), Mahalia ("singer-songwriter, with honeyed vocals … songs of love and anguish typically exist in narratives, similar to Jill Scott, who paved her path"), Adrian Daniel ("experimentation and vulnerability that is reminiscent of fellow Brooklynite Maxwell"), VanJess ("sister duo float between the soulful chemistry of Floetry and the unapologetically assertive of City Girls … artful sexual empowerment"), Donovan ("avant-garde singer and instrumentalist … bedroom intimate vocals and [emotive] production"), Ari Lennox ("can make Tinder plights sound rich with soul … akin to Erykah Badu"), Marco McKinnis ("Anthony Hamilton meets D'Angelo … hazy ambient sounds"), Baby Rose ("exquisitely guttural voice makes [love] palpable"), Kyle Dion ("a register so high it sounded like tearful begging"), Lucky Daye ("his love odes are imbued with a Raphael Saadiq-esque adventurousness"), and Iman Omari ("a faint Bilal tinge … music that leans heavy on a jazz/hip-hop").


title: Betty Shabazz

text: Betty Shabazz (born Betty Dean Sanders; May 28, 1934/1936 – June 23, 1997), also known as Betty X, was an American educator and civil rights advocate. She was married to Malcolm X.


title: Betty Shabazz

text: Shabazz grew up in Detroit, Michigan, where her foster parents largely sheltered her from racism. She attended the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, where she had her first encounters with racism. Unhappy with the situation in Alabama, she moved to New York City, where she became a nurse. It was there that she met Malcolm X and, in 1956, joined the Nation of Islam. The couple married in 1958.


title: Betty Shabazz

text: Along with her husband, Shabazz left the Nation of Islam in 1964. She witnessed his assassination the following year. Left with the responsibility of raising six daughters as a widow, Shabazz pursued higher education, and went to work at Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn, New York.


title: Betty Shabazz

text: Following the 1995 arrest of her daughter, Qubilah, for allegedly conspiring to murder Louis Farrakhan, Shabazz took in her ten-year-old grandson Malcolm. In 1997, he set fire to her apartment. Shabazz suffered severe burns and died three weeks later as a result of her injuries.


title: Betty Shabazz

text: Betty Dean Sanders was born on May 28, 1934 or 1936, to Ollie Mae Sanders and Shelman Sandlin. Sandlin was 21 years old and Ollie Mae Sanders was a teenager; the couple were unmarried. Throughout her life, Betty Sanders maintained that she had been born in Detroit but early records — such as her high-school and college transcripts — show Pinehurst, Georgia, as her place of birth. Authorities in Georgia and Michigan have been unable to locate her birth certificate.


title: Betty Shabazz

text: By most accounts, Ollie Mae Sanders abused her daughter, whom she was raising in Detroit. When Betty was about 11 years old, she was taken in by Lorenzo and Helen Malloy, a prominent businessman and his wife. Helen Malloy was a founding member of the Housewives League of Detroit, a group of African-American women who organized campaigns to support black-owned businesses and boycott stores that refused to hire black employees. She was also a member of the National Council of Negro Women and the NAACP. The Malloys were both active members of their local Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church.


title: Betty Shabazz

text: Despite their lessons on black self-reliance, the Malloys never spoke with Sanders about racism. Looking back in 1995, Shabazz wrote: "Race relations were not discussed and it was hoped that by denying the existence of race problems, the problems would go away. Anyone who openly discussed race relations was quickly viewed as a 'troublemaker.'" Still, two race riots during her childhood—in 1942 when the Sojourner Truth housing project was desegregated, and one the following year on Belle Isle—made up what Shabazz later called the "psychological background for my formative years".


title: Betty Shabazz

text: After she graduated from high school, Sanders left her foster parents' home in Detroit to study at the Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University), a historically black college in Alabama that was Lorenzo Malloy's "alma mater". She intended to earn a degree in education and become a teacher. When she left Detroit to go to Alabama, her foster mother stood at the train station crying. Shabazz later recalled that Malloy was trying to mumble something, but the words would not come out. By the time she arrived in Alabama, she felt she knew what her foster mother was saying. "The minute I got off that train, I knew what she was trying to say. She was trying to tell me in ten words or less about racism."


title: Betty Shabazz

text: Nothing had prepared Sanders for Southern racism. So long as she stayed on campus, she could avoid interacting with white people, but weekend trips into Montgomery, the nearest city, would try her patience. Black students had to wait until every white person in a store had been helped before the staff would serve them — if they received any service at all. When she complained to the Malloys, they refused to discuss the issue; in a 1989 interview, Shabazz summarized their attitude as "if you're just quiet it will go away."


title: Betty Shabazz

text: Sanders' studies suffered as a result of her growing frustration. She decided to change her field of study from education to nursing. The dean of nursing, Lillian Holland Harvey, encouraged Sanders to consider studying in a Tuskegee-affiliated program at the Brooklyn State College School of Nursing in New York City. Against her foster parents' wishes, Sanders left Alabama for New York in 1953.


title: Betty Shabazz

text: In New York, Sanders encountered a different form of racism. At Montefiore Hospital, where she performed her clinical training, black nurses were given worse assignments than white nurses. White patients sometimes were abusive toward black nurses. While the racial climate in New York was better than the situation in Alabama, Sanders frequently wondered whether she had merely exchanged Jim Crow racism for a more genteel prejudice.


title: Betty Shabazz

text: During her second year of nursing school, Sanders was invited by an older nurse's aide to a Friday-night dinner party at the Nation of Islam temple in Harlem. "The food was delicious", Shabazz recalled in 1992, "I'd never tasted food like that." After dinner, the woman asked Sanders to come to the Muslims' lecture. Sanders agreed. After the speech, the nurse's aide invited Sanders to join the Nation of Islam; Sanders politely declined. When the woman asked her why she chose not to join the Nation of Islam after visiting, Sanders replied that she did not know she had been brought there to join. "Besides, my mother would kill me, and additionally I don't even understand the philosophy." The Malloys were Methodists, and when she was 13, Sanders had decided she would remain a Methodist for the rest of her life.


title: Betty Shabazz

text: The nurse's aide told Sanders about her minister, who was not at the temple that night: "Just wait until you hear my minister talk. He's very disciplined, he's good-looking, and all the sisters want him." Sanders enjoyed the food so much, she agreed to come back and meet the woman's minister. At the second dinner, the nurse's aide told her the minister was present and Sanders thought to herself, "Big deal."


title: Betty Shabazz

text: Then, I looked over and saw this man on the extreme right aisle sort of galloping to the podium. He was tall, he was thin, and the way he was galloping it looked as though he was going someplace much more important than the podium. ... He got to the podium—and I sat up straight. I was impressed with him.


title: Betty Shabazz

text: Sanders met Malcolm X again at a dinner party. The two had a long conversation about Sanders's life: her childhood in Detroit, the racial hostility she had encountered in Alabama, and her studies in New York. He spoke to her about the condition of African Americans and the causes of racism. Sanders began to see things from a different perspective. "I really had a lot of pent-up anxiety about my experience in the South," Shabazz recalled in a 1990 interview, "and Malcolm reassured me that it was understandable how I felt."


title: Betty Shabazz

text: Soon Sanders was attending all of Malcolm X's lectures at Temple Number Seven in Harlem. He always sought her out afterwards, and he would ask her a lot of questions. Sanders was impressed with Malcolm X's leadership and work ethic. She felt he was selfless when it came to helping others, but he had no one to lean on when he needed help. She thought maybe she could be that person. He also began to pressure her to join the Nation of Islam. In mid-1956, Sanders converted. Like many members of the Nation of Islam, she changed her surname to "X", which represented the family name of her African ancestors whom she could never have known.


title: Betty Shabazz

text: Betty X and Malcolm X did not have a conventional courtship. One-on-one dates were contrary to the teachings of the Nation of Islam. Instead, the couple shared their "dates" with dozens of other members. Malcolm X frequently took groups to visit New York's museums and libraries, and he always invited Betty X.


title: Betty Shabazz

text: Although they had never discussed the subject, Betty X suspected that Malcolm X was interested in marriage. One day he called and asked her to marry him, and they were married on January 14, 1958, in Lansing, Michigan. By coincidence, Betty X became a licensed practical nurse (LPN) on the same day.


title: Betty Shabazz

text: At first, their relationship followed the Nation of Islam's strictures concerning marriage; Malcolm X set the rules and Betty X obediently followed them. In 1969, Shabazz wrote that "his indoctrination was so thorough, even to me, that it has become a pattern for our [family's] lives." Over time, the family dynamic changed, as Malcolm X made small concessions to Betty X's demands for more independence. In 1969, Shabazz recalled:We would have little family talks. They began at first with Malcolm telling me what he expected of a wife. But the first time I told him what I expected of him as a husband it came as a shock. After dinner one night he said, "Boy, Betty, something you said hit me like a ton of bricks. Here I've been going along having our little workshops with me doing all the talking and you doing all the listening." He concluded our marriage should be a mutual exchange.


title: Betty Shabazz

text: The couple had six daughters. Their names were Attallah, born in 1958 and named after Attila the Hun; Qubilah, born in 1960 and named after Kublai Khan; Ilyasah, born in 1962 and named after Elijah Muhammad; Gamilah Lumumba, born in 1964 and named after Patrice Lumumba; and twins, Malikah and Malaak, born in 1965 after their father's assassination and named for him.


title: Betty Shabazz

text: On March 8, 1964, Malcolm X announced that he was leaving the Nation of Islam. He and Betty X, now known as Betty Shabazz, became Sunni Muslims.


title: Betty Shabazz

text: On February 21, 1965, in Manhattan's Audubon Ballroom, Malcolm X began to speak to a meeting of the Organization of Afro-American Unity when a disturbance broke out in the crowd of 400. As Malcolm X and his bodyguards moved to quiet the disturbance, a man rushed forward and shot Malcolm in the chest with a sawed-off shotgun. Two other men charged the stage and fired handguns, hitting Malcolm X 16 times.


title: Betty Shabazz

text: Shabazz was in the audience near the stage with her daughters. When she heard the gunfire, she grabbed the children and pushed them to the floor beneath the bench, where she shielded them with her body. When the shooting stopped, Shabazz ran toward her husband and tried to perform CPR. Police officers and Malcolm X's associates used a stretcher to carry him up the block to Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.


title: Betty Shabazz

text: Angry onlookers caught and beat one of the assassins, who was arrested on the scene. Eyewitnesses identified two more suspects. All three men, who were members of the Nation of Islam, were convicted and sentenced to life in prison.


title: Betty Shabazz

text: Shabazz had difficulty sleeping for weeks after Malcolm X's assassination. She suffered from nightmares in which she relived the death of her husband. She also worried about how she would support herself and her family. The publication of "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" helped, because Shabazz received half of the royalties. (Alex Haley, who assisted Malcolm X in writing the book, got the other half. After the publication of his best-seller "", Haley signed over his portion of the royalties to Shabazz.)


title: Betty Shabazz

text: Actor and activist Ruby Dee and Juanita Poitier (who was married to Sidney Poitier) established the Committee of Concerned Mothers, to raise funds to buy a house, and pay educational expenses for the Shabazz family. The Committee held a series of benefit concerts at which they raised $17,000. They bought a large two-family home in Mount Vernon, New York, from Congressmember Bella Abzug.


title: Betty Shabazz

text: Looking back, Shabazz said she initially made an "unrealistic decision" to isolate herself because of the injustice of her husband's assassination. She realized, however, that giving up because of her husband's death would not help the world. "It is impossible to create an environment for children to grow in and develop in isolation. It is imperative that one mix in society on some level and at some time."


title: Betty Shabazz

text: In late March 1965, Shabazz made the pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj), as her husband had the year before. Recalling the experience in 1992, Shabazz wrote:


title: Betty Shabazz

text: I really don't know where I'd be today if I had not gone to Mecca to make Hajj shortly after Malcolm was assassinated. ... That is what helped put me back on track. ... Going to Mecca, making Hajj, was very good for me because it made me think of all the people in the world who loved me and were for me, who prayed that I would get my life back together. I stopped focusing on the people who were trying to tear me and my family apart.


title: Betty Shabazz

text: Shabazz returned from Mecca with a new name that a fellow pilgrim had bestowed upon her, Bahiyah (meaning "beautiful and radiant").


title: Betty Shabazz

text: Raising six children by herself exhausted Shabazz. Providing for them was difficult as well. Shabazz's share of the royalties from "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" was equivalent to an annual salary. In 1966, she sold the movie rights to the "Autobiography" to film-maker Marvin Worth. She began to authorize the publication of Malcolm X's speeches, which provided another source of income.


title: Betty Shabazz

text: When her daughters were enrolled in day care, Shabazz became an active member of the day care center's parents organization, where she became very fond of the organization and where she would later start a campaign to run the organization. In time, she became the parents' representative on the school board. Several years later, she became president of the Westchester Day Care Council.


title: Betty Shabazz

text: Shabazz began to accept speaking engagements at colleges and universities. She often spoke about the black nationalist philosophy of Malcolm X, but she also spoke about her role as a wife and mother. Shabazz felt that some of the images of her husband projected by the media were misrepresentations. "They attempted to promote him as a violent person, a hater of whites," she explained. "He was a sensitive man, a very understanding person and yes, he disliked the behavior of some whites ... He had a reality-based agenda."


title: Betty Shabazz

text: As her daughters grew older, Shabazz sent them to private schools and summer camps. They joined Jack and Jill, a social club for the children of well-off African Americans.


title: Betty Shabazz

text: In late 1969, Shabazz enrolled at Jersey City State College (now New Jersey City University) to complete the degree in education she left behind when she became a nurse. She completed her undergraduate studies in one year, and decided to earn a master's degree in health administration. In 1972, Shabazz enrolled at the University of Massachusetts Amherst to pursue an Ed.D. in higher education administration and curriculum development. For the next three years, she drove from Mount Vernon to Amherst, Massachusetts, every Monday morning, and returned home Wednesday night. In July 1975, she defended her dissertation and earned her doctorate.


title: Betty Shabazz

text: In January 1976, Shabazz became associate professor of health sciences with a concentration in nursing at New York's Medgar Evers College. The student body at Medgar Evers was 90 percent black and predominantly working-class, with an average age of 26. Black women made up most of the faculty, and 75 percent of the students were female, two-thirds of them mothers. These were all qualities that made Medgar Evers College attractive to Shabazz.


title: Betty Shabazz

text: By 1980, Shabazz was overseeing the health sciences department, and the college president decided she could be more effective in a purely administrative position than she was in the classroom. She was promoted to Director of Institutional Advancement. In her new position, she became a booster and fund-raiser for the college. A year later, she was given tenure. In 1984, Shabazz was given a new title, Director of Institutional Advancement and Public Affairs; she held that position at the college until her death.


title: Betty Shabazz

text: During the 1970s and 1980s, Shabazz continued her volunteer activities. In 1975, President Ford invited her to serve on the American Revolution Bicentennial Council. Shabazz served on an advisory committee on family planning for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In 1984, she hosted the New York convention of the National Council of Negro Women. Shabazz became active in the NAACP and the National Urban League and was a member of The Links. When Nelson and Winnie Mandela visited Harlem during 1990, Shabazz was asked to introduce Winnie Mandela.


title: Betty Shabazz

text: Shabazz befriended Myrlie Evers-Williams, the widow of Medgar Evers, and Coretta Scott King, the widow of Martin Luther King Jr. They had the common experience of losing their activist husbands at a young age and raising their children as single mothers. The press came to refer to the three, who made numerous joint public appearances, as the "Movement widows". Evers-Williams and King were frequent guests at Medgar Evers College, and Shabazz occasionally visited the King Center in Atlanta. Writing about Shabazz, Evers-Williams described her as a "free spirit, in the best sense of the word. When she laughed, she had this beauty; when she smiled, it lit up the whole room."


title: Betty Shabazz

text: For many years, Shabazz harbored resentment toward the Nation of Islam—and Louis Farrakhan in particular—for what she felt was their role in the assassination of her husband. Farrakhan seemed to boast of the assassination in a 1993 speech:


title: Betty Shabazz

text: Was Malcolm your traitor or ours? And if we dealt with him like a nation deals with a traitor, what the "hell" business is it of yours? A nation has to be able to deal with traitors and cutthroats and turncoats.


title: Betty Shabazz

text: In a 1994 interview, Gabe Pressman asked Shabazz whether Farrakhan "had anything to do" with Malcolm X's death. She replied: "Of course, yes. Nobody kept it a secret. It was a badge of honor. Everybody talked about it, yes." Farrakhan denied the allegations, stating "I never had anything to do with Malcolm's death", although he said he had "created an atmosphere that allowed Malcolm to be assassinated."


title: Betty Shabazz

text: In January 1995, Qubilah Shabazz was charged with trying to hire an assassin to kill Farrakhan in retaliation for the murder of her father. Farrakhan surprised the Shabazz family when he defended Qubilah, saying he did not think she was guilty and that he hoped she would not be convicted. That May, Betty Shabazz and Farrakhan shook hands on the stage of the Apollo Theater during a public event intended to raise money for Qubilah's legal defense. Some heralded the evening as a reconciliation between the two, but others thought Shabazz was doing whatever she had to in order to protect her daughter. Regardless, nearly $250,000 was raised that evening. In the aftermath, Shabazz maintained a cool relationship with Farrakhan, although she agreed to speak at his Million Man March that October.


title: Betty Shabazz

text: Qubilah accepted a plea agreement with respect to the charges, in which she maintained her innocence but accepted responsibility for her actions. Under the terms of the agreement, she was required to undergo psychological counseling and treatment for drug and alcohol abuse for a two-year period in order to avoid a prison sentence. For the duration of her treatment, Qubilah's ten-year-old son, Malcolm, was sent to live with Shabazz at her apartment in Yonkers, New York.


title: Betty Shabazz

text: On June 1, 1997, her 12-year-old grandson Malcolm set a fire in Shabazz's apartment. Shabazz suffered burns over 80 percent of her body, and remained in intensive care for three weeks, at Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx, New York. She underwent five skin-replacement operations as doctors struggled to replace damaged skin and save her life. Shabazz died of her injuries on June 23, 1997. Malcolm Shabazz was sentenced to 18 months in juvenile detention for manslaughter and arson.


title: Betty Shabazz

text: More than 2,000 mourners attended a memorial service for Shabazz, at New York's Riverside Church. Many prominent leaders were present, including Coretta Scott King and Myrlie Evers-Williams, poet Maya Angelou, actor-activists Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, New York Governor George Pataki, and four New York City mayors—Abraham Beame, Ed Koch, David Dinkins, and Rudy Giuliani. U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexis Herman delivered a tribute from President Bill Clinton. In a statement released after Shabazz's death, civil rights leader Jesse Jackson said, "She never stopped giving and she never became cynical. She leaves today the legacy of one who epitomized hope and healing."


title: Betty Shabazz

text: Shabazz's funeral service was held at the Islamic Cultural Center in New York City. Her public viewing was at the Unity Funeral Home in Harlem, the same place where Malcolm X's viewing had taken place 32 years earlier. Shabazz was buried next to her husband, El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (Malcolm X), at Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York.


title: Betty Shabazz

text: In late 1997, the Community Healthcare Network renamed one of its Brooklyn, New York, clinics the Dr. Betty Shabazz Health Center, in honor of Shabazz. The Betty Shabazz International Charter School was founded in Chicago, Illinois, in 1998 and named in her honor. In 2005, Columbia University announced the opening of the Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center. The memorial is located in the Audubon Ballroom, where Malcolm X was assassinated. In March 2012, New York City co-named Broadway at the corner of West 165th Street, the corner in front of the Audubon Ballroom, Betty Shabazz Way.


title: Betty Shabazz

text: Shabazz was the subject of the 2013 television movie "Betty & Coretta", in which she was played by Mary J. Blige. Angela Bassett portrayed her in the 1992 film "Malcolm X" and in a less prominent role in the 1995 film "Panther". Yolanda King, the daughter of Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, played Shabazz in the 1981 television movie "Death of a Prophet", and Shabazz was portrayed by Victoria Dillard in the 2001 film "Ali". Joaquina Kalukango portrays her in the 2020 film "One Night in Miami...", alongside Kingsley Ben-Adir as Malcolm X. Shabazz was portrayed by Grace Porter in the second season of the 2019 TV series "Godfather of Harlem".


title: My Immortal (fan fiction)

text: My Immortal is a "Harry Potter"-based fan fiction serially published on FanFiction.net between 2006 and 2007. Though notable for its convoluted narrative and constant digressions, the story largely centers on a non-canonical female vampire character named "Ebony Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way" and her relationships with the characters of the "Harry Potter" series, particularly her romantic relationship with Draco Malfoy, culminating in her travelling back in time to defeat the main antagonist of the series, Lord Voldemort (or 'Vlodemort').


title: My Immortal (fan fiction)

text: "My Immortal" is popularly regarded as one of the worst works of fan fiction ever written. Since the work's publication, it has gained infamy for its constant grammar and spelling errors, plot inconsistencies and complete disregard for the original "Harry Potter" source material. Despite this, the series has also inspired multiple derivative works, including a YouTube web series, and is viewed with nostalgia for adolescent fan life.


title: My Immortal (fan fiction)

text: The author's identity has never been confirmed and has been deemed as "unsolvable". The author published the story under the username "XXXbloodyrists666XXX" and self-identified as Tara Gilesbie. In September 2017, someone claiming to be the author updated a FictionPress account stating that she had created an active Tumblr account under her real name; an effort to locate this Tumblr account resulted in the account of young adult novelist Rose Christo. She has since stated that she was one of two co-authors of "My Immortal" and had provided evidence of her authorship to Macmillan Publishers, but controversy that same month over factual errors in her then-forthcoming memoirs has led to doubt as to her authorship.


title: My Immortal (fan fiction)

text: The story has been speculated to be a hoax designed to fool and troll readers or to satirize fan fiction, but others consider the work and the alleged online presence of the author too elaborate to fake effectively. In September 2017, Christo stated that "My Immortal" is a work of satire, though her authorship is disputed.


title: My Immortal (fan fiction)

text: The protagonist of the story is Ebony Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way, a seventeen-year-old vampire who attends Hogwarts (located in England instead of the original books' Scotland) as a member of Slytherin House. Hogwarts is depicted as being divided between two cliques, the "goffs" and the preps. Ebony and all the sympathetic characters are part of the goth clique while the members of the prep clique are portrayed unsympathetically. Many of the main characters of "Harry Potter" are given makeovers which are so extensive that they bear little similarity to their original characterization. Harry, for example, has transfigured his iconic lightning bolt scar into a pentagram, moved to the Slytherin House, and now goes by the name "Vampire" because he "love[s] the taste of human blood". Similarly, Hermione Granger has changed her name to "B'loody Mary Smith" and lives as a goth vampire Satanist in Slytherin as well. It appears that Ebony and her classmates are depicted as attending Hogwarts in the mid-2000s, instead of the 1990s when the "Harry Potter" series is canonically set. This can be judged by the repeated references to scene and emo culture, which were experiencing a sharp rise in popularity at the time.


title: My Immortal (fan fiction)

text: The story begins by focusing on Ebony entering a relationship with Draco Malfoy, who is depicted as shy, sensitive and bisexual. Draco invites Ebony to a Good Charlotte concert in Hogsmeade. She agrees, and the two fly to Hogsmeade together in Draco's black flying Mercedes-Benz. After the concert, they do not return to the castle. The two instead have intercourse in the Forbidden Forest. They are discovered by Hogwarts' headmaster Albus Dumbledore (referred to in places as "Albert Dumblydore" and a variety of other names), who yells at them and derides them as . In a subsequent author's note, it is explained this outburst occurred because Dumbledore was suffering from a headache.


title: My Immortal (fan fiction)

text: Later, Ebony confronts Harry "Vampire" Potter in front of Severus Snape's class (variously called "Snap", "Snope", "Snoop", or "Snipe") as well as an entirely-naked Draco. She learns that Draco used to date Vampire. Ebony becomes so angry at this perceived betrayal, despite identifying as bisexual herself and professing a sexual attraction to 'sensitive bi guyz', that she runs crying into the Forbidden Forest, where she is approached by Lord Voldemort. Voldemort, speaking in faux-archaic English, gives her a gun and demands that she kill Vampire. Voldemort threatens her, saying that he will kill Draco unless she kills Vampire, but she refuses. When Draco later learns of this encounter, he is so angry that Ebony kept it from him that he kills himself by slitting his wrists.


title: My Immortal (fan fiction)

text: In a subsequent scene, however, Vampire has a vision of Draco being held prisoner by Voldemort. After rescuing Draco from Voldemort, Ebony and her friends attend a My Chemical Romance concert in Hogsmeade. After some songs have been played, the concert ends abruptly when the members of My Chemical Romance reveal themselves to be Voldemort and his Death Dealers. Voldemort, who had been disguised as lead vocalist Gerard Way, proclaims his intent to kill Ebony and Draco for the former's failure to kill Vampire, but they are saved by Dumbledore, who had just given himself a gothic makeover. The next day, Dumbledore gives a gothic makeover to the Hogwarts Great Hall as well, but Ebony feels that he is a poser and dislikes him greatly, a sentiment shared by her friends.


title: My Immortal (fan fiction)

text: During this time, Lucian Malfoy and Serious Blak are inexplicably shot by a gun-toting "black guy" (likely meant to be Blade given the vampire themes). There is also a secondary plot point in which Professor Trelawney ("Trevolry") / Professor Sinistra ("Sinister", "Sinatra"), combined into one character, has an addiction to what is presumably the truth serum Veritaserum – named Voldemortserum in the story. A third plot point sees Professor McGonagall (often referred to as "McGoogle" or "McGoggles") and Snape attempting to rape or harm the protagonists. Yet another plot point follows Remus Lupin and Snape being bisexuals who spy on Ebony, at one point resulting in a moment shortly after Draco's "death" where they are sitting on their broomsticks with "Loopin " to Ebony bathing, to which she responds with shooting them "a gazillion times" with a gun Draco had gifted to her off-page. In another instance, they have sex in the Great Hall with Dobby watching. In addition, Hagrid is inexplicably a teenage Hogwarts student who has a crush on Ebony, his bandmate in their gothic metal band Bloody Gothic Rose 666, and who is also a Satanist.


title: My Immortal (fan fiction)

text: Ebony begins having mysterious visions, about which she confronts Professor Sinister. After gazing into a black crystal ball, she is told she must travel back in "tim" (using a pensieve) to stop Tom Riddle from becoming Voldemort by seducing him, and to retrieve a cure for Sinister/Trevolry's addiction. Arriving in the past, she meets the young Riddle, who calls himself "Satan", and who has been mistakenly referred to as "Tom Bombodil", "Tom Anderson", and "Stan". Satan is in a band with James Potter, Severus Snape, Sirius Black, and Lucius Malfoy. He is uncanonically depicted attending Hogwarts at the same time as the Marauders in what is further uncanonically portrayed as the 1980s. The author points out a few anachronisms in these scenes, telling readers to ignore them. There is also an unexplained cameo by a gothic Marty McFly, who gives Ebony a black DeLorean time machine able to transform into an iPod, allowing her to travel forward in time.


title: My Immortal (fan fiction)

text: Eventually, Ebony brings Satan forward in time, where he morphs into the present-day Voldemort. This leads to a confrontation between the forces of good and evil in the Great Hall, in which professor Snape threatens to rape Draco if Ebony does not stab Vampire. The story ends ambiguously with a shootout between Snape and Draco, Snape summoning Voldemort, and Ebony firing off an Avada Kedavra curse, which is misrepresented as "abra kedabra".


title: My Immortal (fan fiction)

text: "My Immortal" is split into 44 chapters with author's notes, indicated by "AN", preceding and throughout the narrative prose. These notes are written in a largely phonetic spelling and text speak, characterizing the author as "standoffish" (for example, one author's note says "dey nu eechodder b4" rather than "they knew each other before"). As the work progresses, these author's notes become increasingly "defensive, impenetrable, and prone to mentioning suicide attempts" and defend the work's poor spelling and deviation from canon.


title: My Immortal (fan fiction)

text: Abraham Riesman of Vulture.com described the prose as having "awkward rhythm, strange digressions, and stultifyingly purple prose" and noted that the work is "agonizing" to a regular fan fiction reader because of "all the hated tropes" it employs in the opening passage alone. Adi Robertson of "The Verge" observed that the quality of the prose declined after the twelfth chapter, when the work's editor had a falling out with the author and became temporarily uninvolved with the work; even after the editor and author reconciled, Robertson felt that the prose "never recovered". Gavia Baker-Whitelaw of "The Daily Dot" noted the work "featured all the hallmarks of terrible fanfic: hundreds of grammar and spelling mistakes, a nonsensical storyline, and a Mary Sue protagonist who was clearly a glorified version of the author" and pointed out the numerous descriptions of the protagonist's Hot Topic outfits.


title: My Immortal (fan fiction)

text: The work is characterized by misspellings permeating both the work itself and the author's notes, to the point that the names of the protagonist and canonical "Harry Potter" characters are frequently and variously misspelled. A 2011 analysis of the text found that it contains far more spelling mistakes (approximately 5,200) than grammar errors (nearly 700). Although the work does contain many grammar errors, the majority of the sentences are technically well-formed and fairly complex in structure; "This contrast between [the author]'s grammatical talent and lexical disability makes the reader aware that the author is capable of writing well, but unwilling to do so." The spelling mistakes also include "provocative" malapropisms, replacing common words with unrelated and improbably rare vocabulary. For example:


title: My Immortal (fan fiction)

text: "Perdition", here replacing the word "prediction", refers to eternal damnation of the soul in Christian theology. This fits in with the story's gothic and sadist themes.


title: My Immortal (fan fiction)

text: The work notably fails to adhere to "Harry Potter" canon. It features "an incredibly out-of-character "Harry Potter" universe" where "at no point do any of the "Harry Potter" characters act even slightly like themselves". References to "decidedly un-Harry Potterish bands" such as My Chemical Romance have also been noted.


title: My Immortal (fan fiction)

text: "My Immortal" was published on FanFiction.net under the username "XXXbloodyrists666XXX", with the author using the name "Tara Gilesbie" throughout the work. Author's notes in the story identified a friend nicknamed Raven, operating under username "bloodytearz666", as the work's editor and beta reader. The work was published between early 2006 and 2007, ultimately totaling 44 chapters and nearly 22,700 words. The forty-fourth chapter was accompanied by an author's note explaining that the author was leaving "", commonly believed to be Dubai (although readers have pointed out that "dubya" could refer to anywhere beginning with the letter W, e.g. "Washington"), and the chapter would be the last until the author's return. However, no further chapters were published. It was removed by site administrators in 2008, a few months after its last chapter was published. The complete text survives in copied-and-pasted versions across the Internet. The work apparently takes its name from the song "My Immortal" by Evanescence.


title: My Immortal (fan fiction)

text: Chapters 39 and 40, according to the author's notes, were written by a hacker, and the writing in both chapters was a "much more controlled prose that read like a lampoon of the previous 38".


title: My Immortal (fan fiction)

text: The true identity of the author has become subject to wide speculation, and since the publication of the final chapter, various individuals have claimed to have written the work in jest or as a hoax. Due to its "systematically terrible" quality, the work is often believed to be a satire or parody of fan fiction. At the same time, the "exceedingly complicated" details of the work, including a series of related online accounts outside of FanFiction.net and the effort of writing a work of such length, led to a "consensus" among users of Encyclopedia Dramatica — a website dedicated to cataloging "internet culture" — that it would be too difficult to fake and that Gilesbie was writing sincerely, a sentiment apparently shared by other online communities who mocked the author. Brad Kim, editor of Know Your Meme, supported the work as genuine, citing his experiences with writing workshops on LiveJournal and Xanga where he encountered similar works, as "these were the kinds of things that would be formulated by a high school teenager in the early 2000s". Writing for Vulture.com, Abraham Riesman wrote that "[t]he mystery of the authorship of 'My Immortal' — even in this privacy-averse age — appears unsolvable."


title: My Immortal (fan fiction)

text: A series of videos were uploaded to a YouTube account named "xXblo0dyxkissxX" in 2008 and 2009 in which two teenagers calling themselves Tara and Raven made fun of goth subculture. The overlap with the culture and style of "My Immortal" have led to speculation that they were the fan fiction's Tara and Raven. They were found and interviewed for the "On the Media" blog in 2014, but they stated they were not the authors and one stated she did not know about "My Immortal" until after uploading the videos.


title: My Immortal (fan fiction)

text: Rose Christo, an author of young adult novels, began writing a memoir about her alleged experiences as a Native American child separated from her brother in the New York foster care system. The memoir, entitled "Under the Same Stars: The Search for My Brother and the True Story of My Immortal", details the period of time during which she allegedly co-wrote "My Immortal". Macmillan Publishers allegedly hired a lawyer to verify Christo's claims over the course of three days; she claimed to have provided proof through the email address with which she created the FanFiction.net account and with a flash drive containing the first eleven unedited chapters of "My Immortal".


title: My Immortal (fan fiction)

text: In March 2017, Christo quietly stated on her Tumblr account that she co-wrote "My Immortal"; however, the post gained little notice. In early August 2017, Christo posted an update to a previously unknown FictionPress account, seemingly related to Tara Gilesbie, that similarly received little attention.


title: My Immortal (fan fiction)

text: Later in August, an independently published "Handbook for Mortals" came to public attention after it was discovered that its sales were artificially inflated to push it to the top of the young adult "New York Times" Best Seller list, from which it was subsequently removed. Writing similarities between the novel and "My Immortal" led to speculation that "Handbook for Mortals" author Lani Sarem was the author of "My Immortal". Christo again updated the FictionPress account to say she was not Sarem. She also posted on FictionPress to state that her only social media account was on Tumblr, which operated under her real name. An editorial assistant at Macmillan Publishers also stated that Sarem was not the author of "My Immortal" and stated that Macmillan was to publish the author's memoir.


title: My Immortal (fan fiction)

text: These statements sparked a search for the claimed Tumblr account, which was found as Christo's in early September. By September 5, Christo stated on her Tumblr account that she co-wrote "My Immortal" and that she had provided proof to her publisher Macmillan Publishers, later reported by BuzzFeed, and on September 7, BuzzFeed published her first official statement as the alleged author of "My Immortal". She said of her decision to publicly identify herself as a co-author: "I would never have come forward about "My Immortal" if not for the fact that it coincided with the things that happened to me as a teen."


title: My Immortal (fan fiction)

text: Later that month, a forum post on Kiwi Farms by Christo's brother (the subject of her memoir), verified as such by the forum operators, refuted many of Christo's claims in the upcoming memoir, including those of their Native American ancestry, shared childhood history, and ever having been in foster care. The memoir was subsequently canceled by Macmillan after an investigation found factual errors in her narrative; Christo claimed that she had made these errors intentionally in an attempt to protect her family's identity, but had done so without the publisher's knowledge. Christo's brother has additionally said that he does not know if Christo wrote "My Immortal" and that she enjoyed ridiculing badly written fan fiction. Christo confirmed via Tumblr in October that her original name was Theresa Rose Christodoulopoulos, confirmed her brother's identity, and conceded that many of his revelations about her were true, but also disagreed with a few of his claims and reiterated her claim that she was one of the authors of "My Immortal". She closed the Tumblr account a few days later. "Vox" described Christo's authorship claim as one of the more likely claims she has made, though still in some doubt.


title: My Immortal (fan fiction)

text: Before its removal from FanFiction.Net, "My Immortal" allegedly gained between 8,000 and 10,000 reviews per posted chapter, most of which were negative and contained flaming. The quality of the writing and the author's apparent goth lifestyle also drew attacks and mockery from users on Encyclopedia Dramatica, TV Tropes, LiveJournal, Something Awful, YTMND and YouTube.


title: My Immortal (fan fiction)

text: Rob Bricken of "io9" described the work as a "masterpiece of weirdness" and a "masterpiece of literary disaster". BuzzFeed called "My Immortal" a "work of comic genius" that is "oddly touching." The work is often cited as the worst fan fiction ever written or at least a "strong contender" for the title. The work is considered "iconic" not only within the "Harry Potter" fandom but also within the larger fan fiction community. Evanescence singer Amy Lee, one of the writers of the eponymous song "My Immortal", was initially introduced to it through her sister, but avoided reading it until an interview request with The Verge. In the interview, she expressed confusion about the work's veracity, but noted that she was "laughing really, really hard at one point, just because of the nonsense". Michael J. Nelson and Conor Lastowka read the story on their podcast "372 Pages We'll Never Get Back" on episodes 78–80, criticizing its bad writing and messy plot.


title: My Immortal (fan fiction)

text: Scott Alexander argued that the work can serve as a projective test. He provided an example with a tongue-in-cheek argument that it mirrors the typical structures and tropes that medieval alchemists used to encipher their results.


title: My Immortal (fan fiction)

text: The infamy of the work is considered a "constant millstone around the necks of fanfiction enthusiasts who struggle to bring legitimacy to the genre". Christo claimed in September 2017 that "My Immortal" is a work of satire, though any evidence of this is tied to her own claims of authorship.


title: My Immortal (fan fiction)

text: "My Immortal" inspired further fan works, including fan art and further fan fiction. It was the subject of numerous YouTube dramatic readings intending to mock the work and it later inspired a fifteen-episode web series satirizing the work.


title: Bar (unit)

text: The bar is a metric unit of pressure, but not part of the International System of Units (SI). It is defined as exactly equal to 100,000 Pa (100 kPa), or slightly less than the current average atmospheric pressure on Earth at sea level (approximately 1.013 bar). By the barometric formula, 1 bar is roughly the atmospheric pressure on Earth at an altitude of 111 metres at 15 °C.


title: Bar (unit)

text: The bar and the millibar were introduced by the Norwegian meteorologist Vilhelm Bjerknes, who was a founder of the modern practice of weather forecasting.


title: Bar (unit)

text: The International System of Units, despite previously mentioning the bar, now omits any mention of it. The bar has been legally recognised in countries of the European Union since 2004. The US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) deprecates its use except for "limited use in meteorology" and lists it as one of several units that "must not be introduced in fields where they are not presently used". The International Astronomical Union (IAU) also lists it under "Non-SI units and symbols whose continued use is deprecated".


title: Bar (unit)

text: Units derived from the bar include the megabar (symbol: Mbar), kilobar (symbol: kbar), decibar (symbol: dbar), centibar (symbol: cbar), and millibar (symbol: mbar).


title: Bar (unit)

text: The word "bar" has its origin in the Ancient Greek word (), meaning weight. The unit's official symbol is bar; the earlier symbol b is now deprecated and conflicts with the use of b denoting the unit barn, but it is still encountered, especially as mb (rather than the proper mbar) to denote the millibar. Between 1793 and 1795, the word "bar" was used for a unit of weight in an early version of the metric system.


title: Bar (unit)

text: Atmospheric air pressure where standard atmospheric pressure is defined as 1013.25 mbar, 101.325 kPa, 1.01325 bar, which is about . Despite the millibar not being an SI unit, meteorologists and weather reporters worldwide have long measured air pressure in millibars as the values are convenient. After the advent of SI units, some meteorologists began using hectopascals (symbol hPa) which are numerically equivalent to millibars; for the same reason, the hectopascal is now the standard unit used to express barometric pressures in aviation in most countries. For example, the weather office of Environment Canada uses kilopascals and hectopascals on their weather maps. In contrast, Americans are familiar with the use of the millibar in US reports of hurricanes and other cyclonic storms.


title: Bar (unit)

text: In fresh water, there is an approximate numerical equivalence between the change in pressure in decibars and the change in depth from the water surface in metres. Specifically, an increase of 1 decibar occurs for every 1.019716 m increase in depth. In sea water with respect to the gravity variation, the latitude and the geopotential anomaly the pressure can be converted into metres' depth according to an empirical formula (UNESCO Tech. Paper 44, p. 25). As a result, decibars are commonly used in oceanography.


title: Bar (unit)

text: In scuba diving, bar is also the most widely used unit to express pressure, e.g. 200 bar being a full standard scuba tank, and depth increments of 10 metre of seawater being equivalent to 1 bar of pressure.


title: Bar (unit)

text: Many engineers worldwide use the bar as a unit of pressure because, in much of their work, using pascals would involve using very large numbers. In measurement of vacuum and in vacuum engineering, residual pressures are typically given in millibar, although torr or millimeter of mercury (mmHg) were historically common.


title: Bar (unit)

text: Engineers that specialize in technical safety for offshore petrochemical facilities would be expected to exclusively refer to explosion loads in units of bars. A bar is a convenient unit of measure for pressures generated by low frequency vapor cloud explosions that are commonly considered as part of accidental loading risk studies.


title: Bar (unit)

text: In the automotive field, turbocharger boost is often described in bars outside the United States. Tire pressure is often specified in bars. In hydraulic machinery components are rated to the maximum system oil pressure, which is typically in hundreds of bars, for example 300 bars is common for industrial fixed machinery.


title: Bar (unit)

text: Unicode has characters for "mb" () and "bar" (), but they exist only for compatibility with legacy Asian encodings and are not intended to be used in new documents.


title: Bar (unit)

text: The kilobar, equivalent to 100 MPa, is commonly used in geological systems, particularly in experimental petrology.


title: Bar (unit)

text: "Bar(a)" and "bara" are sometimes used to indicate absolute pressures, and "bar(g)" and "barg" for gauge pressures. This usage is deprecated and fuller descriptions such as "gauge pressure of 2 bars" or "2-bar gauge" are recommended.


title: Goguryeo

text: Goguryeo (37 BC–668 AD) ( ) also called Goryeo (), was a Korean kingdom located in the northern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula and the southern and central parts of Northeast China. At its peak of power, Goguryeo controlled most of the Korean peninsula, large parts of Manchuria and parts of eastern Mongolia and Inner Mongolia.


title: Goguryeo

text: Along with Baekje and Silla, Goguryeo was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. It was an active participant in the power struggle for control of the Korean peninsula and was also associated with the foreign affairs of neighboring polities in China and Japan.


title: Goguryeo

text: The "Samguk sagi", a 12th-century text from Goryeo, indicates that Goguryeo was founded in 37 BC by Jumong (), a prince from Buyeo, who was enthroned as Dongmyeong.


title: Goguryeo

text: Goguryeo was one of the great powers in East Asia, until its defeat by a Silla–Tang alliance in 668 after prolonged exhaustion and internal strife caused by the death of Yeon Gaesomun (). After its fall, its territory was divided between the Tang dynasty, Later Silla and Balhae.


title: Goguryeo

text: The name Goryeo (alternatively spelled Koryŏ), a shortened form of Goguryeo (Koguryŏ), was adopted as the official name in the 5th century, and is the origin of the English name "Korea".


title: Goguryeo

text: The earliest record of Goguryeo can be traced from the geographic monographs of the "Book of Han", the name Goguryeo () is attested in the name of Gaogouli County (Goguryeo County), Xuantu Commandery since 113 BC, the year when Emperor Wu of Han China conquered Gojoseon and established the Four Commanderies. Beckwith, however, argued that the record was incorrect. Instead, he suggested that the Guguryeo people were first located in or around Liaoxi (western Liaoning and parts of Inner Mongolia) and later migrated eastward, pointing to another account in the "Book of Han". The early Goguryeo tribes were under the administration of Xuantu Commandery, and were perceived as dependable clients or allies by the Han. Goguryeo leaders were conferred Han rank and status, the most prominent being the Marquis of Goguryeo, which carried a relatively independent authority within Xuantu. Some historians attribute more power to the Goguryeo during this period, linking their insurgency to the collapse of the first Xuantu Commandery in 75 BC. In the "Old Book of Tang" (945), it is recorded that Emperor Taizong refers to Goguryeo's history as being some 900 years old. According to the 12th-century "Samguk sagi" and the 13th-century "Samgungnyusa", a prince from the Buyeo kingdom named Jumong fled after a power struggle with other princes of the court and founded Goguryeo in 37 BC in a region called Jolbon Buyeo, usually thought to be located in the middle Yalu and Tongjia River basin, overlapping the current China-North Korea border.


title: Goguryeo

text: In 75 BC, a group of Yemaek who may have originated from Goguryeo made an incursion into China's Xuantu Commandery west of the Yalu. Archaeological evidence would support centralized groups of Yemaek tribes in the 2nd century BC, but there is no direct evidence that would suggest these Yemaek groups were known as or would identify themselves as Goguryeo. The first mention of Goguryeo as a group label associated with Yemaek tribes is a reference in the "Han Shu" that discusses a Goguryeo revolt in 12 AD, during which they broke away from the influence of the Chinese at Xuantu.


title: Goguryeo

text: According to the Book 37 of Samguk sagi Monographs, Goguryeo originated north of ancient China, then gradually moved east to the side of Taedong River. At its founding, the Goguryeo people are believed to be a blend of people from Buyeo and Yemaek, as leadership from Buyeo may have fled their kingdom and integrated with existing Yemaek chiefdoms. The "Records of the Three Kingdoms", in the section titled "Accounts of the Eastern Barbarians", implied that Buyeo and the Yemaek people were ethnically related and spoke a similar language.


title: Goguryeo

text: Chinese people were also in Gorguyeo. Book 28 of Samguk Sagi stated that a lot of Chinese migrated to Haedong since the chaos of Qin and Han. Later Han dynasty established the Four Commanderies, and in 12 AD Goguryeo made its first attempt to annex Xuantu Commandery. The population of Xuantu Commandery was about 221,845 and they lived in three counties (Goguryeo, Shangyintai and Xigaima) of Xuantu Commandery in 2 AD. Later on, Goguryeo gradually annexed all the Four Commanderies of Han during its expansion.


title: Goguryeo

text: The earliest mention of Jumong is in the 4th-century Gwanggaeto Stele. Jumong is the modern Korean transcription of the hanja "Jumong", "Chumo", or "Jungmo".


title: Goguryeo

text: The Stele states that Jumong was the first king and ancestor of Goguryeo and that he was the son of the prince of Buyeo and daughter of Habaek (), the god of the Amnok River or, according to an alternative interpretation, the sun god Haebak (). The "Samguk sagi" and "Samgungnyusa" paint additional detail and names Jumong's mother as Yuhwa (). Jumong's biological father was said to be a man named Haemosu () who is described as a "strong man" and "a heavenly prince." The river god chased Yuhwa away to the Ubal River () due to her pregnancy, where she met and became the concubine of Geumwa.


title: Goguryeo

text: Jumong was well known for his exceptional archery skills. Eventually, Geumwa's sons became jealous of him, and Jumong was forced to leave Eastern Buyeo. The Stele and later Korean sources disagree as to which Buyeo Jumong came from. The Stele says he came from Buyeo and the "Samgungnyusa" and "Samguk sagi" say he came from Eastern Buyeo. Jumong eventually made it to Jolbon, where he married Soseono, daughter of its ruler. He subsequently became king himself, founding Goguryeo with a small group of his followers from his native country.


title: Goguryeo

text: A traditional account from the "Annals of Baekje" section in the "Samguk sagi" says that Soseono was the daughter of Yeon Tabal, a wealthy influential figure in Jolbon and married to Jumong. However, the same source officially states that the king of Jolbon gave his daughter to Jumong, who had escaped with his followers from Eastern Buyeo, in marriage. She gave her husband, Jumong, financial support in founding the new statelet, Goguryeo. After Yuri, son of Jumong and his first wife, Lady Ye, came from Dongbuyeo and succeeded Jumong, she left Goguryeo, taking her two sons Biryu and Onjo south to found their own kingdoms, one of which was Baekje.


title: Goguryeo

text: Jumong's given surname was "Hae" (), the name of the Buyeo rulers. According to the "Samgungnyusa", Jumong changed his surname to "Go" () in conscious reflection of his divine parentage. Jumong is recorded to have conquered the tribal states of Biryu () in 36 BC, Haeng-in () in 33 BC, and Northern Okjeo in 28 BC.


title: Goguryeo

text: Goguryeo developed from a league of various Yemaek tribes to an early state and rapidly expanded its power from their original basin of control in the Hun River drainage. In the time of Taejodae in 53 AD, five local tribes were reorganized into five centrally ruled districts. Foreign relations and the military were controlled by the king. Early expansion might be best explained by ecology; Goguryeo controlled territory in what is currently central and southern Manchuria and northern Korea, which are both very mountainous and lacking in arable land. Upon centralizing, Goguryeo might have been unable to harness enough resources from the region to feed its population and thus, following historical pastoralist tendencies, would have sought to raid and exploit neighboring societies for their land and resources. Aggressive military activities may have also aided expansion, allowing Goguryeo to exact tribute from their tribal neighbors and dominate them politically and economically.


title: Goguryeo

text: Taejo conquered the Okjeo tribes of what is now northeastern Korea as well as the Dongye and other tribes in Southeastern Manchuria and Northern Korea. From the increase of resources and manpower that these subjugated tribes gave him, Taejodae led Goguryeo in attacking the Han Commanderies of Lelang and Xuantu in the Korean and Liaodong Peninsulas, becoming fully independent from them.


title: Goguryeo

text: Generally, Taejodae allowed the conquered tribes to retain their chieftains, but required them to report to governors who were related to Goguryeo's royal line; tribes under Goguryeo's jurisdiction were expected to provide heavy tribute. Taejodae and his successors channeled these increased resources to continuing Goguryeo's expansion to the north and west. New laws regulated peasants and the aristocracy, as tribal leaders continued to be absorbed into the central aristocracy. Royal succession changed from fraternal to patrilineal, stabilizing the royal court.


title: Goguryeo

text: The expanding Goguryeo kingdom soon entered into direct military contact with the Liaodong Commandery to its west. Pressure from Liaodong forced Goguryeo to move their capital in the Hun River valley to the Yalu River valley near Hwando.


title: Goguryeo

text: In the chaos following the fall of the Han Dynasty, the former Han commanderies had broken free of control and were ruled by various independent warlords. Surrounded by these commanderies, who were governed by aggressive warlords, Goguryeo moved to improve relations with the newly created dynasty of Cao Wei in China and sent tribute in 220. In 238, Goguryeo entered into a formal alliance with Wei to destroy the Liaodong commandery.


title: Goguryeo

text: When Liaodong was finally conquered by Wei, cooperation between Wei and Goguryeo fell apart and Goguryeo attacked the western edges of Liaodong, which incited a Wei counterattack in 244. Thus, Goguryeo initiated the Goguryeo–Wei War in 242, trying to cut off Chinese access to its territories in Korea by attempting to take a Chinese fort. However, the Wei state responded by invading and defeated Goguryeo. The capital at Hwando was destroyed by Wei forces in 244. It is said that Dongcheon, with his army destroyed, fled for a while to the Okjeo state in the east. Wei invaded again in 259 but was defeated at Yangmaenggok; according to the "Samguk sagi", Jungcheon assembled 5,000 elite cavalry and defeated the invading Wei troops, beheading 8,000 enemies.


title: Goguryeo

text: In only 70 years, Goguryeo rebuilt its capital Hwando and again began to raid the Liaodong, Lelang and Xuantu commandaries. As Goguryeo extended its reach into the Liaodong Peninsula, the last Chinese commandery at Lelang was conquered and absorbed by Micheon in 313, bringing the remaining northern part of the Korean peninsula into the fold. This conquest resulted in the end of Chinese rule over territory in the northern Korean peninsula, which had spanned 400 years. From that point on, until the 7th century, territorial control of the peninsula would be contested primarily by the Three Kingdoms of Korea.


title: Goguryeo

text: Goguryeo met major setbacks and defeats during the reign of Gogukwon in the 4th century. In the early 4th century, the nomadic proto-Mongol Xianbei people occupied northern China; during the winter of 342, the Xianbei of Former Yan, ruled by the Murong clan, attacked and destroyed Goguryeo's capital, Hwando, capturing 50,000 Goguryeo men and women to use as slave labor in addition to taking the Queen Dowager and Queen prisoner, and forced Gogukwon to flee for a while. The Xianbei also devastated Buyeo in 346, accelerating Buyeo migration to the Korean peninsula. In 371, Geunchogo of Baekje killed Gogukwon in the Battle of Chiyang and sacked Pyongyang, one of Goguryeo's largest cities.


title: Goguryeo

text: Sosurim, who succeeded the slain Gogukwon, reshaped the nation's institutions to save it from a great crisis. Turning to domestic stability and the unification of various conquered tribes, Sosurim proclaimed new laws, embraced Buddhism as the state religion in 372, and established a national educational institute called the "Taehak" (). Due to the defeats that Goguryeo had suffered at the hands of the Xianbei and Baekje, Sosurim instituted military reforms aimed at preventing such defeats in the future. Sosurim's internal arrangements laid the groundwork for Gwanggaeto's expansion. His successor and the father of Gwanggaeto the Great, Gogukyang, invaded Later Yan, the successor state of Former Yan, in 385 and Baekje in 386.


title: Goguryeo

text: Goguryeo used its military to protect and exploit semi-nomadic peoples, who served as vassals, foot soldiers, or slaves, such as the Okjeo people in the northeast end of the Korean peninsula, and the Mohe people in Manchuria, who would later become the Jurchens.


title: Goguryeo

text: Goguryeo experienced a golden age under Gwanggaeto the Great and his son Jangsu. During this period, Goguryeo territories included three fourths of the Korean Peninsula, including what is now Seoul, almost all of Manchuria, and parts of Inner Mongolia. There is archaeological evidence that Goguryeo's maximum extent lay even further west in present-day Mongolia, based on discoveries of Goguryeo fortress ruins in Mongolia.


title: Goguryeo

text: Gwanggaeto the Great (r. 391–412) was a highly energetic emperor who is remembered for his rapid military expansion of the realm. He instituted the era name of "Yeongnak" or "Eternal Rejoicing", affirming that Goguryeo was on equal standing with the dynasties in the Chinese mainland. Gwanggaeto conquered 64 walled cities and 1,400 villages during his campaigns. To the west, he destroyed neighboring Khitan tribes and invaded Later Yan, conquering the entire Liaodong Peninsula; to the north and east, he annexed much of Buyeo and conquered the Sushen, who were Tungusic ancestors of the Jurchens and Manchus; and to the south, he defeated and subjugated Baekje, contributed to the dissolution of Gaya, and vassalized Silla after defending it from a coalition of Baekje, Gaya, and Wa. Gwanggaeto brought about a loose unification of the Korean Peninsula, and achieved undisputed control of most of Manchuria and over two thirds of the Korean Peninsula.


title: Goguryeo

text: Gwanggaeto's exploits were recorded on a huge memorial stele erected by his son Jangsu, located in present-day Ji'an on the border between China and North Korea.


title: Goguryeo

text: Jangsu (r. 413–491) ascended to the throne in 413 and moved the capital in 427 to Pyongyang, a more suitable region to grow into a burgeoning metropolitan capital, which led Goguryeo to achieve a high level of cultural and economic prosperity. Jangsu, like his father, continued Goguryeo's territorial expansion into Manchuria and reached the Songhua River to the north. He invaded the Khitans, and then attacked the Didouyu, located in eastern Mongolia, with his Rouran allies. Like his father, Jangsu also achieved a loose unification of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. He defeated Baekje and Silla and gained large amounts of territory from both. In addition, Jangsu's long reign saw the perfecting of Goguryeo's political, economic and other institutional arrangements. Jangsu ruled Goguryeo for 79 years until the age of 98, the longest reign in East Asian history.


title: Goguryeo

text: During the reign of Munja, Goguryeo completely annexed Buyeo, signifying Goguryeo's furthest-ever expansion north, while continuing its strong influence over the kingdoms of Silla and Baekje, and the tribes of Wuji and Khitan.


title: Goguryeo

text: Goguryeo reached its zenith in the 6th century. After this, however, it began a steady decline. Anjang was assassinated, and succeeded by his brother Anwon, during whose reign aristocratic factionalism increased. A political schism deepened as two factions advocated different princes for succession, until the eight-year-old Yang-won was finally crowned. But the power struggle was never resolved definitively, as renegade magistrates with private armies appointed themselves "de facto" rulers of their areas of control.


title: Goguryeo

text: Taking advantage of Goguryeo's internal struggle, a nomadic group called the Tuchueh attacked Goguryeo's northern castles in the 550s and conquered some of Goguryeo's northern lands. Weakening Goguryeo even more, as civil war continued among feudal lords over royal succession, Baekje and Silla allied to attack Goguryeo from the south in 551.


title: Goguryeo

text: In the late 6th and early 7th centuries, Goguryeo was often in military conflict with the Sui and Tang dynasties of China. Its relations with Baekje and Silla were complex and alternated between alliances and enmity. A neighbor in the northwest were the Eastern Türks which was a nominal ally of Goguryeo.


title: Goguryeo

text: In 551 AD, Baekje and Silla entered into an alliance to attack Goguryeo and conquer the Han River valley, an important strategic area close to the center of the peninsula and a very rich agricultural region. After Baekje exhausted themselves with a series of costly assaults on Goguryeo fortifications, Silla troops, arriving on the pretense of offering assistance, attacked and took possession of the entire Han River valley in 553. Incensed by this betrayal, Seong launched a retaliatory strike against Silla's western border in the following year but was captured and killed.


title: Goguryeo

text: The war, along the middle of the Korean peninsula, had very important consequences. It effectively made Baekje the weakest player on the Korean Peninsula and gave Silla an important resource and population rich area as a base for expansion. Conversely, it denied Goguryeo the use of the area, which weakened the kingdom. It also gave Silla direct access to the Yellow Sea, opening up direct trade and diplomatic access to the Chinese dynasties and accelerating Silla's adoption of Chinese culture. Thus, Silla could rely less on Goguryeo for elements of civilization and could get culture and technology directly from China. This increasing tilt of Silla to China would result in an alliance that would prove disastrous for Goguryeo in the late 7th century.


title: Goguryeo

text: Goguryeo's expansion conflicted with Sui China and increased tensions. In 598, Goguryeo made a preemptive attack on Liaoxi, leading Emperor Wen to launch a counterattack by land and sea that ended in disaster for Sui.


title: Goguryeo

text: Sui's most disastrous campaign against Goguryeo was in 612, in which Sui, according to the History of the Sui Dynasty, mobilized 30 division armies, about 1,133,800 combat troops. Pinned along Goguryeo's line of fortifications on the Liao River, a detachment of nine division armies, about 305,000 troops, bypassed the main defensive lines and headed towards the Goguryeo capital of Pyongyang to link up with Sui naval forces, who had reinforcements and supplies.


title: Goguryeo

text: However, Goguryeo was able to defeat the Sui navy, thus when the Sui's nine division armies finally reached Pyongyang, they didn't have the supplies for a lengthy siege. Sui troops retreated, but General Eulji Mundeok led the Goguryeo troops to victory by luring the Sui into an ambush outside of Pyongyang. At the Battle of Salsu, Goguryeo soldiers released water from a dam, which split the Sui army and cut off their escape route. Of the original 305,000 soldiers of Sui's nine division armies, it is said that only 2,700 escaped to Sui China.


title: Goguryeo

text: The 613 and 614 campaigns were aborted after launch—the 613 campaign was terminated when the Sui general Yang Xuangan rebelled against Emperor Yang, while the 614 campaign was terminated after Goguryeo offered a truce and returned Husi Zheng (斛斯政), a defecting Sui general who had fled to Goguryeo, Emperor Yang later had Husi executed. Emperor Yang planned another attack on Goguryeo in 615, but due to Sui's deteroriating internal state he was never able to launch it. Sui was weakened due to rebellions against Emperor Yang's rule and his failed attempts to conquer Goguryeo. They could not attack further because the provinces in the Sui heartland would not send logistical support.


title: Goguryeo

text: In AD 640, the 27th monarch of Goguryeo, Yeongnyu sent the crown prince of the kingdom to Chang’an, the capital city of Tang to pay tribute. In return, Tang envoy Chen Dade (陳大德) visited the Goguryeo in AD 641. During his trip to Goguryeo, he quoted “ethnic Chinese can be seen everywhere in Gorguyeo [...] about half the population of the country”. Dade then reported back to the emperor, Taizong of Tang answered: “Goguryeo used to be the ancient land of Four Commanderies of Han, it is not hard to recapture Liaodong area, but Shangdong is still under recovery, it is not necessary to tire my people.” Later on, Yeon Gaesomun, the military dictator of Goguryeo murdered his king, Yeongnyu. This event changed Taizong of Tang’s view on Goguryeo and planted a seed of the Tang-Silla alliance.


title: Goguryeo

text: In the winter of 642, King Yeongnyu was apprehensive about Yeon Gaesomun, one of the great nobles of Goguryeo, and plotted with other officials to kill him. However, Yeon Gaesomun caught news of the plot and killed Yeongnyu and 100 officials, initiating a coup d'état. He proceeded to enthrone Yeongnyu's nephew, Go Jang, as King Bojang while wielding de facto control of Goguryeo himself as the generalissimo (), Yeon Gaesomun took an increasingly provocative stance against Silla Korea and Tang China. Soon, Goguryeo formed an alliance with Baekje and invaded Silla, Daeya-song (modern Hapchon) and around 40 border fortresses were conquered by the Goguryeo-Baekje alliance. In 643, under pressure from the Goguryeo–Baekje alliance, Silla requested military aid from Tang. In 644, Tang began preparations for a major campaign against Goguryeo.


title: Goguryeo

text: At the outset of his rule, Yeon Gaesomun took a brief conciliatory stance toward Tang China. For instance, he supported Taoism at the expense of Buddhism, and to this effect in 643, sent emissaries to the Tang court requesting Taoist sages, eight of whom were brought to Goguryeo. This gesture is considered by some historians as an effort to pacify Tang and buy time to prepare for the Tang invasion Yeon thought inevitable given his ambitions to annex Silla Korea.


title: Goguryeo

text: In 645, Emperor Taizong, who had a personal ambition to defeat Goguryeo and was determined to succeed where Emperor Yang had failed, personally led an attack on Goguryeo. The Tang army captured a number of Goguryeo fortresses, including the important Yodong/Liaodong Fortress (遼東城, in modern Liaoyang, Liaoning), and defeated large Goguryeo armies in its path. Ansi City (in modern Haicheng, Liaoning) was the last fortress that would clear the Liaodong Peninsula of significant defensive works and was promptly put under siege. However, the capable defense put up by Ansi's commanding general (whose name is controversial but traditionally is believed to be Yang Manchun) stymied Tang forces and, in late fall, with winter fast approaching and his supplies running low, Emperor Taizong withdrew. The campaign was unsuccessful for the Tang Chinese, failing to capture Ansi Fortress after a protracted siege that lasted more than 60 days. Emperor Taizong invaded Goguryeo again in 647 and 648, but was defeated both times.


title: Goguryeo

text: Emperor Taizong prepared another invasion in 649, but died in the summer, possibly due to an illness he contracted during his Korean campaigns. His son Emperor Gaozong continued his campaigns. Upon the suggestion of Kim Chunchu, the Silla–Tang alliance first conquered Baekje in 660 to break up the Goguryeo–Baekje alliance, and then turned its full attention to Goguryeo. However, Emperor Gaozong, too, was unable to defeat Goguryeo led by Yeon Gaesomun; one of Yeon Gaesomun's most notable victories came in 662 at the "Battle of Sasu" (蛇水), where he annihilated the Tang forces and killed the invading general Pang Xiaotai (龐孝泰) and all 13 of his sons. Therefore, while Yeon Gaesomun was alive, Tang could not defeat Goguryeo.


title: Goguryeo

text: In the summer of 666, Yeon Gaesomun died of a natural cause and Goguryeo was thrown into chaos and weakened by a succession struggle among his sons and younger brother. He was initially succeeded as "Dae Mangniji", the highest position newly made under the ruling period of Yeon Gaesomun, by his oldest son Yeon Namsaeng. As Yeon Namsaeng subsequently carried out a tour of Goguryeo territory, however, rumors began to spread both that Yeon Namsaeng was going to kill his younger brothers Yeon Namgeon and Yeon Namsan, whom he had left in charge at Pyongyang, and that Yeon Namgeon and Yeon Namsan were planning to rebel against Yeon Namsaeng. When Yeon Namsaeng subsequently sent officials close to him back to Pyongyang to try to spy on the situation, Yeon Namgeon arrested them and declared himself "Dae Mangniji", attacking his brother. Yeon Namsaeng sent his son Cheon Heonseong (泉獻誠), as Yeon Namsaeng changed his family name from Yeon (淵) to Cheon (泉) observe naming taboo for Emperor Gaozu, to Tang to seek aid. Emperor Gaozong saw this as an opportunity and sent an army to attack and destroy Goguryeo. In the middle of Goguryeo's power struggles between Yeon Gaesomun's successors, his younger brother, Yeon Jeongto, defected to the Silla side.


title: Goguryeo

text: In 667, the Chinese army crossed the Liao River and captured Shin/Xin Fortress (新城, in modern Fushun, Liaoning). The Tang forces thereafter fought off counterattacks by Yeon Namgeon, and joined forces with and received every possible assistance from the defector Yeon Namsaeng, although they were initially unable to cross the Yalu River due to resistance. In spring of 668, Li Ji turned his attention to Goguryeo's northern cities, capturing the important city of Buyeo (扶餘, in modern Nong'an, Jilin). In fall of 668, he crossed the Yalu River and put Pyongyang under siege in concert with the Silla army.


title: Goguryeo

text: Yeon Namsan and Bojang surrendered, and while Yeon Namgeon continued to resist in the inner city, his general, the Buddhist monk Shin Seong (信誠) turned against him and surrendered the inner city to Tang forces. Yeon Namgeon tried to commit suicide, but was seized and treated. This was the end of Goguryeo, and Tang annexed Goguryeo into its territory, with Xue Rengui being put initially in charge of former Goguryeo territory as protector general. The violent dissension resulting from Yeon Gaesomun's death proved to be the primary reason for the Tang–Silla triumph, thanks to the division, defections, and widespread demoralization it caused. The alliance with Silla had also proved to be invaluable, thanks to the ability to attack Goguryeo from opposite directions, and both military and logistical aid from Silla. The Tang established the Andong Protectorate on former Goguryeo lands after the latter's fall.


title: Goguryeo

text: However, there was much resistance to Tang rule (fanned by Silla, which was displeased that Tang did not give it Goguryeo or Baekje's territory), and in 669, following Emperor Gaozong's order, a part of the Goguryeo people were forced to move to the region between the Yangtze River and the Huai River, as well as the regions south of the Qinling Mountains and west of Chang'an, only leaving old and weak inhabitants in the original land. Some people entered the service of the Tang government, such as Go Sagye and his son Gao Xianzhi (Go Seonji in Korean), the famed general who commanded the Tang forces at the Battle of Talas.


title: Goguryeo

text: Silla thus unified most of the Korean peninsula in 668, but the kingdom's reliance on China's Tang Dynasty had its price. Tang set up the Protectorate General to Pacify the East, governed by Xue Rengui, but faced increasing problems ruling the former inhabitants of Goguryeo, as well as Silla's resistance to Tang's remaining presence on the Korean Peninsula. Silla had to forcibly resist the imposition of Chinese rule over the entire peninsula, which lead to the Silla–Tang Wars, but their own strength did not extend beyond the Taedong River.


title: Goguryeo

text: After the fall of Goguryeo in 668, many Goguryeo people rebelled against the Tang and Silla by starting Goguryeo revival movements. Among these were Geom Mojam, Dae Jung-sang, and several famous generals. The Tang Dynasty tried but failed to establish several commanderies to rule over the area.


title: Goguryeo

text: In 677, Tang crowned Bojang as the "King of Joseon" and put him in charge of the Liaodong commandery of the Protectorate General to Pacify the East. However, Bojang continued to foment rebellions against Tang in an attempt to revive Goguryeo, organizing Goguryeo refugees and allying with the Mohe tribes. He was eventually exiled to Sichuan in 681, and died the following year.


title: Goguryeo

text: The Protectorate General to Pacify the East was installed by the Tang government to rule and keep control over the former territories of the fallen Goguryeo. It was first put under the control of Tang General Xue Rengui, but was later replaced by Bojang due to the negative responses of the Goguryeo people. Bojang was sent into exile for assisting Goguryeo revival movements, but was succeeded by his descendants. Bojang's descendants declared independence from Tang during the same period as the An Lushan Rebellion and Li Zhengji (Yi Jeong-gi in Korean)'s rebellion in Shandong. The Protectorate General to Pacify the East was renamed "Little Goguryeo" until its eventual absorption into Balhae under the reign of Seon.


title: Goguryeo

text: Geom Mojam and Anseung rose briefly at the Han Fortress (한성, 漢城, in modern Chaeryong, South Hwanghae), but failed, when Anseung surrendered to Silla. Go Anseung ordered the assassination of Geom Mojam, and defected to Silla, where he was given a small amount of land to rule over. There, Anseung established the State of Bodeok (보덕, 報德), incited a rebellion, which was promptly crushed by Sinmun. Anseung was then forced to reside in the Silla capital, given a Silla bride and had to adopt the Silla Royal surname of "Kim."


title: Goguryeo

text: Dae Jung-sang and his son Dae Jo-yeong, either a former Goguryeo general or a Mohe chief, regained most of Goguryeo's northern land after its downfall in 668, established the Kingdom of Jin (진, 震), which was renamed to Balhae after 713. To the south of Balhae, Silla controlled the Korean peninsula south of the Taedong River, and Manchuria (present-day northeastern China) was conquered by Balhae. Balhae considered itself (particularly in diplomatic correspondence with Japan) a successor state of Goguryeo.


title: Goguryeo

text: In 901, the general Gung Ye rebelled against Later Silla and founded Later Goguryeo (renamed to Taebong in 911), which considered itself to be a successor of Goguryeo. Later Goguryeo originated in the northern regions, including Songak (modern Kaesong), which were the strongholds of Goguryeo refugees. Later Goguryeo's original capital was established in Songak, the hometown of Wang Geon, a prominent general under Gung Ye. Wang Geon was a descendant of Goguryeo and traced his ancestry to a noble Goguryeo clan. In 918, Wang Geon overthrew Gung Ye and established Goryeo, as the successor of Goguryeo, and laid claim to Manchuria as Goryeo's rightful legacy. Wang Geon unified the Later Three Kingdoms in 936, and Goryeo ruled the Korean Peninsula until 1392.


title: Goguryeo

text: In the 10th century, Balhae collapsed and much of its ruling class and the last crown prince Dae Gwang-hyeon fled to Goryeo. The Balhae refugees were warmly welcomed and included in the ruling family by Wang Geon, who felt a strong familial kinship with Balhae, thus unifying the two successor nations of Goguryeo.


title: Goguryeo

text: Goguryeo was a highly militaristic state. Goguryeo has been described as an empire by Korean scholars. Initially, there were four partially autonomous districts based on the cardinal directions, and a central district led by the monarch; however, in the first century the cardinal districts became centralized and administrated by the central district, and by the end of the 3rd century, they lost all political and military authority to the monarch. In the 4th century, after suffering defeats against the Xianbei and Baekje during the reign of Gogukwon, Sosurim instituted military reforms that paved the way for Gwanggaeto's conquests. During its height, Goguryeo was able to mobilize 300,000 troops. Goguryeo often enlisted semi-nomadic vassals, such as the Mohe people, as foot soldiers. Every man in Goguryeo was required to serve in the military, or could avoid conscription by paying extra grain tax. A Tang treatise of 668 records a total of 675,000 displaced personnel and 176 military garrisons after the surrender of Bojang.


title: Goguryeo

text: The main projectile weapon used in Goguryeo was the bow. The bows were modified to be more composite and increase throwing ability on par with crossbows. To a lesser extent, stone-throwing machines and crossbows were also used. Polearms, used against the cavalry and in open order, were mostly spears. Two types of swords were used by Goguryeo warriors. The first was a shorter double-edged variant mostly used for throwing. The other was longer single-edged sword with minimal hilt and ring pommel, of eastern Han influence. The helmets were similar to helmets used by Central Asian peoples, decorated with wings, leathers and horsetails. The shield was the main protection, which covered most of the soldier's body. The cavalry were called "Gaemamusa" (개마무사, 鎧馬武士), and similar in type to the Cataphract.


title: Goguryeo

text: Goguryeo used a sword called Hwandudaedo. It looks like the sword drawing in the following picture which is 2000 years old from an old Goguryeo tomb. As Korean swords changed from Bronze Age to Iron Age, the sword shapes changed. There are many archaeological finds on ancient Korean iron swords particularly the swords with a ring at the end.


title: Goguryeo

text: The most common form of the Goguryeo fortress was one made in the shape of the moon, located between a river and its tributary. Ditches and ground walls between the shores formed an extra defense line. The walls were extensive in their length, and they were constructed from huge stone blocks fixed with clay, and even Chinese artillery had difficulty to break through them. Walls were surrounded by a ditch to prevent an underground attack, and equipped with guard towers. All fortresses had sources of water and enough equipment for a protracted siege. If rivers and mountains were absent, extra defense lines were added.


title: Goguryeo

text: Two hunts per year, led by the king himself, maneuvers exercises, hunt-maneuvers and parades were conducted to give the Goguryeo soldier a high level of individual training.


title: Goguryeo

text: There were five armies in the capital, mostly cavalry that were personally led by the king, numbering approximately 12,500. Military units varied in number from 21,000 to 36,000 soldiers, were located in the provinces, and were led by the governors. Military colonies near the boundaries consisted mostly of soldiers and peasants. There were also private armies held by aristocrats. This system allowed Goguryeo to maintain and utilize an army of 50,000 without added expense, and 300,000 through large mobilization in special cases.


title: Goguryeo

text: Goguryeo units were divided according to major weapons: spearmen, axemen, archers composed of those on foot and horseback, and heavy cavalry that included armored and heavy spear divisions. Other groups like the catapult units, wall-climbers, and storm units were part of the special units and were added to the common. The advantage of this functional division is highly specialized combat units, while the disadvantage is that it was impossible for one unit to make complex, tactical actions.


title: Goguryeo

text: The military formation had the general and his staff with guards in the middle of the army. The archers were defended by axemen. In front of the general were the main infantry forces, and on the flanks were rows of heavy cavalry ready to counterattack in case of a flank attack by the enemy. In the very front and rear was the light cavalry, used for intelligence, pursuit, and for weakening the enemy's strike. Around the main troops were small groups of heavy cavalrymen and infantry. Each unit was prepared to defend the other by providing mutual support.


title: Goguryeo

text: Goguryeo implemented a strategy of active defense based on cities. Besides the walled cities and fortified camps, this "active defense" system used small units of light cavalry to continuously harass the enemy, de-blockade units and strong reserves, consisting of the best soldiers, to strike hard at the end.


title: Goguryeo

text: Goguryeo also employed military intelligence and special tactics as an important part of the strategy. Goguryeo was good at disinformation, such as sending only stone spearheads as tribute to the Chinese court when they were in the Iron Age. Goguryeo had developed its system of espionage. One of the most famous spies, "Baekseok", mentioned in the "Samguk yusa", was able to infiltrate the Hwarangs of Silla.


title: Goguryeo

text: The militaristic nature of Goguryeo frequently drew them into conflicts with the dynasties of China. In the times when they are not in war with China, Goguryeo occasionally sent tributes to some of the Chinese dynasties as a form of trade and nonaggression pact. These activities of exchange promoted cultural and religious flow from China into the Korean peninsula. Goguryeo has also received tribute from other Korean kingdoms and neighboring tribal states, and frequently mobilized Malgal people in their military. Baekje and Goguryeo maintained their regional rivalry throughout their history, although they eventually formed an alliance in their wars against Silla and Tang.


title: Goguryeo

text: The culture of Goguryeo was shaped by its climate, religion, and the tense society that people dealt with due to the numerous wars Goguryeo waged. Not much is known about Goguryeo culture, as many records have been lost.


title: Goguryeo

text: The tombs of Goguryeo display the prosperity and artistry of the kingdom of the period. The murals inside many of the tombs are significant evidence of Goguryeo's lifestyle, ceremonies, warfare and architecture. Mostly tombs were founded in Ji'an in China's Jilin province, Taedong river basin near Pyongyang, North Korea and the Anak area in South Hwanghae province of North Korea. There are over 10,000 Goguryeo tombs overall, but only about 90 of those unearthed in China and North Korea have wall paintings. In 2004, Capital Cities and Tombs of the Ancient Koguryo Kingdom located in Ji'an of Jilin Province of China and Complex of Koguryo Tombs located in North Korea became a UNESCO World Heritage Site.


title: Goguryeo

text: The inhabitants of Goguryeo wore a predecessor of the modern hanbok, just as the other cultures of the three kingdoms. There are murals and artifacts that depict dancers wearing elaborate white dresses.


title: Goguryeo

text: Common pastimes among Goguryeo people were drinking, singing, or dancing. Games such as wrestling attracted curious spectators.


title: Goguryeo

text: Every October, the Dongmaeng Festival was held. The Dongmaeng Festival was practiced to worship the gods. The ceremonies were followed by huge celebratory feasts, games, and other activities. Often, the king performed rites to his ancestors.


title: Goguryeo

text: Hunting was a male activity and also served as an appropriate means to train young men for the military. Hunting parties rode on horses and hunted deer and other game with bows-and-arrows. Archery contests also occurred.


title: Goguryeo

text: Goguryeo people worshipped ancestors and considered them to be supernatural. Jumong, the founder of Goguryeo, was worshipped and respected among the people. There was even a temple in Pyongyang dedicated to Jumong. At the annual Dongmaeng Festival, a religious rite was performed for Jumong, ancestors, and gods.


title: Goguryeo

text: Mythical beasts and animals were also considered to be sacred in Goguryeo. The Fenghuang and Loong were both worshipped, while the Sanzuwu, the three-legged crow that represented the sun, was considered the most powerful of the three. Paintings of mythical beasts exist in Goguryeo king tombs today.


title: Goguryeo

text: They also believed in the 'Sasin', which were 4 mythical animals. Chungryong or Chunryonga (blue dragon) guarded the east, baek-ho (white tiger) guarded the west, jujak (red phoenix (bird)) guarded the south, and hyunmu (black turtle, sometimes with snakes for a tail) guarded the north.


title: Goguryeo

text: Buddhism was first introduced to Goguryeo in 372. The government recognized and encouraged the teachings of Buddhism and many monasteries and shrines were created during Goguryeo's rule, making Goguryeo the first kingdom in the region to adopt Buddhism. However, Buddhism was much more popular in Silla and Baekje, which Goguryeo passed Buddhism to.


title: Goguryeo

text: Buddhism, a religion originating in what is now India, was transmitted to Korea via China in the late 4th century. The Samguk yusa records the following 3 monks among first to bring the Buddhist teaching, or Dharma, to Korea: Malananta (late 4th century) - an Indian Buddhist monk who brought Buddhism to Baekje in the southern Korean peninsula, Sundo - a Chinese monk who brought Buddhism to Goguryeo in northern Korea, and Ado monk who brought Buddhism to Silla in central Korea.


title: Goguryeo

text: As the Three Kingdoms Period emerged, each Korean state sought ideologies that could validate their authority. Many of these states borrowed influences from Chinese culture, sharing a writing system that was originally based on Chinese characters. However the language was different and not mutually intelligible with Chinese. An integral part of Goguryeo's culture, along with other Korean states, was Korean shamanism. In the 4th century, Buddhism gained wide prominence in Baekje and spread rapidly across the peninsula. Buddhism struck a careful balance between shamanism, the Korean people, and the rulers over these states, briefly becoming the official religion of all three kingdoms. Buddhism's foothold in the Korean peninsula would surge up to the Goryeo period and would spread rapidly into Yamato Japan, playing a key role in the neighboring state's development and its relations with the Korean peninsula.


title: Goguryeo

text: In Baekje, King Onjo founded the kingdom and according to legend, he is the third son of Jumong of Goguryeo and the younger brother of King Yuri, Goguryeo's second king. The Korean Kingdoms of Balhae and Goryeo regarded themselves as successors to Goguryeo, recognized by Tang China and Yamato Japan.


title: Goguryeo

text: Goguryeo art, preserved largely in tomb paintings, is noted for the vigour and fine detail of its imagery. Many of the art pieces have an original style of painting, depicting various traditions that have continued throughout Korea's history.


title: Goguryeo

text: Cultural legacies of Goguryeo are found in modern Korean culture, for example: Korean fortress, ssireum, taekkyeon, Korean dance, ondol (Goguryeo's floor heating system) and the hanbok.


title: Goguryeo

text: Remains of walled towns, fortresses, palaces, tombs, and artifacts have been found in North Korea and Manchuria, including ancient paintings in a Goguryeo tomb complex in Pyongyang. Some ruins are also still visible in present-day China, for example at Wunü Mountain, suspected to be the site of Jolbon fortress, near Huanren in Liaoning province on the present border with North Korea. Ji'an is also home to a large collection of Goguryeo era tombs, including what Chinese scholars consider to be the tombs of Gwanggaeto and his son Jangsu, as well as perhaps the best-known Goguryeo artifact, the Gwanggaeto Stele, which is one of the primary sources for pre-5th-century Goguryeo history.


title: Goguryeo

text: UNESCO added Capital Cities and Tombs of the Ancient Koguryo Kingdom in present-day China and Complex of Koguryo Tombs in present-day North Korea to the World Heritage Sites in 2004.


title: Goguryeo

text: The modern English name "Korea" derives from Goryeo (also spelled as Koryŏ) (918–1392), which regarded itself as the legitimate successor of Goguryeo. The name Goryeo was first used during the reign of Jangsu in the 5th century. Goguryeo is also referred to as Goryeo after 520 AD in Chinese and Japanese historical and diplomatic sources.


title: Goguryeo

text: There have been some academic attempts to reconstruct the Goguryeo words based on the fragments of toponyms, recorded in the "Samguk sagi", of the areas once possessed by Goguryeo. However, the reliability of the toponyms as linguistic evidence is still in dispute. The linguistic classification of the language is difficult due to the lack of historical sources. The most cited source, a body of placename glosses in the "Samguk sagi", has been interpreted by different authors as Koreanic, Japonic, or an intermediate between the two. Lee and Ramsey also look broadly to include Altaic and/or Tungusic.