In the northwest of Ji'an City, Jilin Province, about 2.5 kilometers away from the city, a small mountain peak with an altitude of 676 meters is towering, named Maruno Mountain. A stone tablet is erected on the mountain, with the words "National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit, Maruno Mountain City, State Council of the People's Republic of China, announced on February 23, 1982, established by Ji'an County People's Government."

So, what kind of ancient city is the so-called "Marato Mountain Castle"? In which era was established? Today, there are still three remaining ground relics on Marato Mountain: one is under the hillside on the east side, 96.5 meters long from north to south, 80 meters wide from east to west, and three layers deep. According to expert research, it is a palace; the second is on the high hill in the south of the palace, built with stones, and it is a lookout platform; the third is 15 meters from Taipei, where the remaining garrisons are located.

According to historical records, we can imagine that in the fifth year of Zhengshi (244), a large army drove to the foot of Maruntu Mountain 1,800 years ago. The garrisons of the ancient city hurriedly ran out of their residences and climbed to the watchtower. The enemy's flags that covered the sky and the sun made them tremble. However, at this moment, there were only thousands of defeated soldiers in the ancient city and they were completely unable to leave the city to fight.

It seems that Marutou Mountain Castle will be captured soon - the palace is in chaos, and both men and women are busy sorting out their property, packing their parcels, and preparing to escape. One of the men, named Yigong, couldn't help but sigh to the sky: "Is it God who wants to destroy our Goguryeo?!"

A few days later, the owner of the ancient city, and the throne palace of Goguryeo, finally sneaked down to Marutou Mountain and fled east in a panic. Marutou Mountain Castle fell for the first time but not the last time...

1. Goguryeo is not a peninsula kingdom

Goguryeo is also written as Goguryeo and Juli. The word "ju" is read as "gou" here, just like Goujian, the King of Yue, one of the Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period, can also be written as "jujian". It is an ancient kingdom in the northeastern region of my country. It was established around the time of death and perished in 668 AD and existed for about seven hundred years.

Now, both Korea and South Korea claim that Goguryeo is an ancient peninsula country and their ancestors, which is an irresponsible and absurd statement. For example, in 230 AD, Sun Quan, the Emperor of the Eastern Wu, sent general Wei Wen and Zhuge Zhi to take a boat to find Xianshan and found "Yizhou", which was later Taiwan Island. Since then, the people in Fujian and Guangdong have successively gone there, and they began to station troops in Taiwan in the Ming Dynasty. So we can say: "Taiwan has been a part of China since ancient times." But we can't say: "China has been a part of Taiwan since ancient times." Similarly, we can say: "The northern part of the Korean Peninsula was once under the jurisdiction of the ancient Goguryeo Kingdom." But we can't say: "Goguryeo was an ancient kingdom on the Korean Peninsula."

Whether in terms of national components, territorial territory, or historical evolution, Goguryeo is a truly ancient kingdom in China.

First of all, let’s talk about the ethnic components. The Three Kingdoms says that the country is “Fuyu’s different species”. Regardless of language and customs, they are similar to Fuyu. It also mentions that the “Fuyu” in Goguryeo established a “Little Water-Water” country, which seems to be related to the people of the Ching. Fuyu and Fuyu are the general names of many ethnic groups with similar customs in the Northeast region in ancient my country. Fuyu is in the north, the activity area is from Jilin to Heilongjiang, the activity area is in the south, and the activity area is on both sides of the Yalu River. Judging from this, Goguryeo should be dominated by the Fuyu ethnic group and is compatible with some ethnic groups.

At that time, the ethnic groups that could be verified in the northern part of the peninsula were Korea, Zhenfan, and the so-called Three Koreans (Mahan, Benhan, Chenhan) in the south - this was completely unrelated to the main ethnic group of Goguryeo.

Let’s talk about territory. Indeed, during the heyday of Goguryeo, the southern end of the territory reached the Han River Basin, but the ruling centers in the early and early days of the founding of the People’s Republic of China were always in the northeast of our country. The first capital of Goguryeo was the “domestic city”, which is today’s Ji’an City, Jilin Province. The second capital was the Marunto City on the Marunto Mountain near Ji’an, and its original name was Wei Nayan City.

As for historical evolution - let's first roughly sort out the national and national conditions of the Northeast region and the Korean Peninsula before the third century AD, that is, before the capture of Marutou City.

2. From construction to the initial crisis

The brilliant Hongshan culture in western Liaoning was produced, and it was one of the main sources of Chinese civilization. A thousand years after the Hongshan culture, the famous Longshan culture was produced in Shandong. We can imagine that the ancient residents of these two regions crossed the narrow Bohai Bay by boat, interacted with each other, influenced and penetrated each other, and radiated their culture to all directions in the east, west, south, and north - of course, also included the Korean Peninsula.

The oldest country on the peninsula is Jizi Korea. Legend has it that when the Shang Dynasty was destroyed, Prince Jizi fled to the Korean Peninsula. There are still different opinions in the academic circle. It is generally believed that Jizi first fled to western Liaoning to establish a country, and then was constantly attacked and suppressed by Yan State enfeoffed by the Zhou Dynasty. He migrated all the way and finally went to the Datong River Basin in the northern part of the peninsula. In the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, Emperor Gaozu of Han Liu Bang enfeoffed his fellow villager Lu Wan in Yan territory. Later, Lu Wan was captured by the Han army because of collusion with the Xiongnu. His general Wei Man led his troops to flee to Korea. Soon after, he destroyed Jizi Korea, established Wei Dynasty, and revered to the Han Dynasty.

The northeastern borders of the Qin Dynasty and the early Western Han Dynasty were only on the Liaodong Peninsula. The vast northeastern region was distributed with many ethnic groups collectively known as Fuyu (in the west) and Sushen (in the east). In addition, there were also Woju people in the northeast of the Korean Peninsula. The Book of Han records that there were two small countries named Zhenfan and Chen in the northeast of the peninsula, and they all surrendered to the Han and sent people to seek help because they were invaded by the Wei Korean Korean. Therefore, in the era of Emperor Wu of Han, they sent troops to attack Korea many times, and conquered the Korean capital dangerous city (near Pyongyang today) in the third year of Yuanfeng (108 BC), and set up four counties, namely Zhenfan, Lintun, Lelang and Xuantu (later merged into Lelang and Xuantu counties), basically including the southern part of Jilin Province today and the northern part of the Korean Peninsula.

A hundred years later, Goguryeo was founded. Wang Mang once ordered Goguryeo to assist in the attack on the Huns. After being rejected, he sent troops to attack and won a great victory. So he demoted Goguryeo to Xia Juli (Wang Mang likes to change his name to others the most). It is said that in the Xin Dynasty's title system, Goguryeo belonged to the marquis state. It was not until the Eastern Han Dynasty was established that they submitted a letter to the surrender again. Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu was happy and promoted to him as a kingdom.

As the Han Dynasty gradually weakened, Goguryeo began to expand to the outside world. When Emperor Shang and Emperor An were in power, a king named Gong of Goguryeo annexed 70% of the land of Lelang and Xuantu, and even invaded Liaodong County to the west. After Dong Zhuo appointed Gongsun Du as the prefect of Liaodong, local warlords such as Gongsun Du had the ability and ambitions that were comparable to those of the regular chief executives of the Han Dynasty in non-remote areas, and soon gained the upper hand in the battle with Goguryeo.

In the second year of Jian'an (197), the palace's two grandsons Baqi and Yiyimo fought for the throne. After Baqi failed, they fled to Liaodong and relied on Gongsun Du's son Gongsun Kang. So Gongsun Kang sent troops eastward, captured the domestic city, and burned and plundered - Goguryeo finally ushered in the first major crisis two hundred years after the founding of the country...

3. Wuqiu Jian’s great achievements

The domestic city was built on flat ground, and the Marutou city was built on mountains. The two cities were less than 3 kilometers apart, relying on each other and like horns. This kind of composite king city was a very special existence in the history of world city construction. We don’t know what fate did Marutou city suffer when Gongsun Kang’s army captured the domestic city? But judging from the subsequent situation of Goguryeo, the Marutou city was the capital, it is very likely that Marutou city had not fallen due to its dangerous terrain, or although it fell for a while, it did not suffer as serious damage as the domestic city.

Yes, Gongsun Kang's army invaded Goguryeo and captured the domestic city, but did not take the opportunity to completely annex the ancient kingdom, because shortly afterwards, the Yuan family, which dominated Hebei, was destroyed. Yuan Xi and Yuan Shang brothers fled to Liaodong and asked Gongsun Kang for help. Then Cao Cao's army followed... Perhaps it was precisely in order to fight against the strong pressure from the southwest that Gongsun Kang was forced to withdraw troops from Goguryeo. As for the down-and-out prince Baqi, he moved to Liaodong with 30,000 Goguryeo people.

The two sides confronted each other, and the situation of fighting seemed to have returned to the origin. The Gongsun family still dominated Liaodong, and Goguryeo dominated both sides of the Yalu River. Both sides were obeyed the Han Dynasty and the subsequent Cao Wei. After Gongsun Kang's death, he passed the throne to his younger brother Gongsun Gong, and later his son Gongsun Yuan usurped the throne and seized power. After Goguryeo Yiyimo died, he passed the throne to his son Gongsun Palace.

We still remember that there was a king named Gong at Goguryeo. He said that he opened his eyes immediately after he was born, which was considered an unlucky conspiracy. And this new king, like his ancestors, was born with his eyes open. The similar meaning in Goguryeo is "天", so he was called Gong, which is the person of Xianggong. This Gonggong is skillful in bows and horses, has outstanding force, and has great ambitions.

In the second year of Jingchu, Emperor Ming of Wei (238), Sima Yi was ordered to conquer Liaodong and destroyed the Gongsun family. It is said that the palace also sent a force of thousands of people to assist in attacking his old enemy. After the war, Goguryeo's forces continued to infiltrate westward and began to invade the territory of Cao Wei. So the governor of Youzhou of Wei and the general of Liao Wuqiu Jian personally led 10,000 infantry and cavalry through Xuantu County to conquer.

The palace personally fought and led 20,000 troops to welcome each other. The two sides fought fiercely on the banks of the boiling water. This so-called boiling water is generally believed to be the largest tributary of the Hun River. The main body is in the Xinbin Manchu Autonomous County of Liaoning Province today. It is said that Zhu Meng, the first king of Goguryeo, started his business here. As a result of the battle, the Goguryeo army was defeated, and Wu Qiu Jian took advantage of the victory to pursue the capital of Wan - this is the scene imagined by history at the beginning of this article.

The Three Kingdoms records that a wise minister named Peizhe from Goguryeo once advised the palace of Tailai many times, asking him not to be strong and do not fight against the Central Plains dynasty. Unfortunately, the palace was not listened to it at all. The extremely disappointed Delai finally went on a hunger strike and sighed and said, "The magnificent capital is about to be full of weeds." When the Wei army captured the city of Maru Capital, the palace fled east with his wife and children. Wu Qiujian entered the city. After hearing about this, he ordered the soldiers not to destroy the tombs, nor to cut down the trees on the tombs, and all the wives and children caught were released.

Perhaps because the advance was too hasty, Wu Qiu Jian did not pursue the palace and quickly retreated. The palace might have returned to the capital of Maru Capital for a time, but at the end of the second year, the Wei army attacked again, and he fled again. This time, Wu Qiu Jian completely destroyed the capital of Maru Capital and carved stone monuments to record his achievements. At the same time, he also sent Xuantu prefect Wang Qi to pursue the palace of Maru. It is said that Wang Qi chased for more than a thousand miles, crossed Woju, and reached the southern border of Sushen (it should refer to the northeastern border of North Korea today, close to the sea).

The palace was not captured by the Wei army. It is said that he fled to Maigou, which is near Huining City, Hamkyung, North Korea today. He lived for more than two years before he finally died. This time, the Central Plains dynasty completely annexed the southern territory of Goguryeo and subdued the various Woju tribes. The territory was pushed across the Yalu River and went straight to the Han River Basin, expanding the jurisdiction of Lelang County, and adding the Daofang County.

4. From prosperity to destruction

Half of the land was lost, the capital was destroyed, and the king died in a foreign land, which did not cause the ancient kingdom of Goguryeo to fall into a slump. Soon, Wuqiu Jian was transferred to the southern line to serve as the governor of Yuzhou, and was cut off by Sima Shi during the 255 Huainan rebellion. So Goguryeo made a comeback and the northeast counties that had lost their mighty generals were attacked again. After Cao Wei, the Western Jin Dynasty was briefly unified. The Goguryeo people took advantage of the Five Barbarians to invade China again - this was probably the beginning of the fourth century, less than 70 years after the destruction of Marucho was made by Wuqiu Jian.

In 313 AD, the same year when the Xiongnu King Liu Cong killed Emperor Huai of Jin, Sima Chi, and the last emperor of the Western Jin Dynasty, Sima Ye, ascended the throne in Chang'an, King Meichuan of Goguryeo (also known as King Haoran and King Haoqian) annexed the last county of the Central Plains regime on the Korean Peninsula - Lelang County. The Central Plains regime's power in the northeast was forced to shrink back to the Liaodong region.

The name of King Mikawa is Yifu or Yifuli, and he died in 331 AD. Unexpectedly, just eleven years later, the former Yan army, led by King Murong Yong, attacked the city of Marudu, excavated the tomb of the king, and took away his body. In 367, just three years before the Former Yan was destroyed by the Former Qin, the Yan army invaded Goguryeo again and captured Marudu.

After the demise of the Former Yan, the more fierce and fierce Northern Wei army arrived soon. In 427 AD, in order to avoid the threat of the Northern Wei Dynasty and consolidate its power on the peninsula, Gao Lian, the longevity king of Goguryeo, was forced to leave the city of Marudu, which had been thriving for more than two hundred years, and moved south to the vicinity of Pyongyang, North Korea. From then on, the ruling center of Goguryeo gradually moved south, and then it moved from northeast my country to the northern part of the Korean Peninsula.

Because not long ago, the tribes of the South Korean tribes in the southern part of the peninsula began to enter the national stage, establishing kingdoms or city-constitutional alliances such as Baekje, Silla, Gaya, etc. Goguryeo was oppressed by the tribes of the Maihe, Khitan and the Northern Wei in the north, so she devoted herself to expanding to the south, and soon divided the peninsula with Baekje and Silla, forming the "First Three Kingdoms Era" in Korean history.

Unfortunately, if Goguryeo had been respectful to the Central Plains dynasty and had fully managed the South, with its strength at that time, it would have been likely to unify the Korean Peninsula. However, the political misconduct of several generations of kings led to multiple attacks by Emperor Yang of Sui and Emperor Taizong of Tang. The Goguryeo people resisted tenaciously and struggled to support them, and finally won these battles, but the victory made the rulers even more arrogant. Finally, in the mid-7th century, the Tang Dynasty joined forces with Silla to attack Goguryeo, Baekje, and the fifth year of Xianqing in Emperor Gaozong of Tang (660), Baekje was destroyed, and in the third year of Qianfeng (667), Goguryeo was destroyed.

However, the Tang Dynasty failed to firmly control the Korean Peninsula, and Silla quickly unified the area south of the Datong River. In the tenth century, Silla split and entered the "Post Three Kingdoms Period", and was eventually unified by Wang Jian, the general of the Thai country. Wang Jian claimed to have inherited the orthodox Goguryeo, so he named it Goryeo. In fact, it has no direct connection with the long-destructed Goguryeo.

However, the Chinese were deceived. Many ancient historians thought that Goguryeo and Goryeo were indeed in line with each other, so when they were chasing Goguryeo, they were often replaced by the name of "Goryeo", which caused confusion in understanding and became a major evidence for the peninsula countries to respect Goguryeo as their ancestors, saying that Goguryeo was an ancient kingdom of Korea. At the beginning of the founding of New China, the academic community was also confused, and it was not until the 1980s that the chaos gradually rectified.

On February 23, 1982, the State Council approved the Marundu Mountain City Ruins in Ji'an City as an ancient building in Han and Wei Dynasties to be listed as the second batch of national key cultural relics protection units; on June 25, 2002, the domestic city ruins and the Marundu Mountain City Ruins were merged to be listed as the fifth batch of national key cultural relics protection units; in July 2004, the two cities were included in the World Heritage List.
Chapter completed!