Emperor Gwanggaeto (meaning "broad expander of territory") was born in 374 and ascended to the throne in 391, at the age of just seventeen, to become the 19th emperor of the Goguryeo Dynasty. His era name was Yeongnak. He ruled over Goguryeo at the time in Korea's history known as the Three Kingdoms, so called because during this time the Korean peninsula was constantly being fought over by the three Goguryeo, Silla and Baekje dynasties. He is sometimes referred to as Great Emperor Yeongnak, after the era name selected by him.
He expanded Goguryeo’s territories far into the Korean peninsula by advancing southward at the expense of the Baekje dynasty to occupy the north of the Han River, and occupied Manchurian territory to the east of the Liao River. On his death in 413, at just 39 years of age, Goguryeo ruled everything between the Amur and Han Rivers. This gave it control over two thirds of what is now modern Korea as well as most of Manchuria and Inner Mongolia. In addition, the kings of Silla submitted to the northern dynasty's authority in 399 to receive protection from Japanese raids. Baekje challenged Goguryeo, and Emperor Gwanggaeto defeated the challenge, captured its capital in modern day Seoul, and made the kingdom Goguryeo's vassal, thereby bringing about the loose unification of the Korean peninsula.
In his conquest of Dongpuyo (East Puyo) alone, Emperor Gwanggaeto conquered 64 walled cities and some 1,400 villages. In his time, Goguryeo once again became a great power of East Asia. He aided Silla when it was attacked by the Japanese. In 392 he built nine Buddhist temples in Pyongyang. His accomplishments are recorded on a monument which was erected in 414 in southern Manchuria, the largest of its kind in the world.
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