Strengthening the royal authority of King Uiduk of Baekje and Iksan​​

Author : Oh, Taek-hyun​​

Page : 5-42

Abstract   

  King Uideok has been recognized as a weak king. Recently, there has been a research for his achievement through international relations, but the research has not being able to be expanded because of the lack of the historical records. This is an inevitable result since the remained historical records are almost about his international achievement. However, we can find out a special thing by examining the aspect of the international relations. It is the fact that he wanted to gather descendants of King Seong through the construction of the temples in the diversified diplomacy. In addition, it is the wrong judgement to regard him as the weak and passive king for he had an attempt to strengthen his royal authority by accepting advanced Chinese culture.

  At the same time, it was found out that Iksan was related with King Uideok's reinforcement of royal authority. Iksan has been discovered, through archaeological discovery, as the place being related with Baekje royal family even when their capital city was Hansung, not Iksan. Also, 녹유편(Nogyupyeon) which was found in the first-built palace site (Wanggung-li) is being recorded chronically as the one in the period of King Uideok, comparing with Nogyupyeon in China. In other words, King Uideok had focused on Iksan where he had had interest from the period of capital, Hansung. Although he failed in developing Iksan, he had started to construct the facilities for royal family, and the following King Mu had continued to build large temples and a palace in Iksan. In brief, King Uideok had tried to strengthen his regal power consistently through the diversified diplomacy, construction of temples, and development of Iksan.​

<Key Words>

King Uideok, Foreign Relations, Establishment of the Temple, Iksan​