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Kim Iljae
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kim Iljae (BC 134- BC 86)(김일제) was the common ancestor of both the Gimhae and Gyeongju Kim clans, and common ancestor to the royal families of both the Gaya Confederacy and Silla. He became known to historians and scholars through an engraving on the tomb of King Munmu of Silla.
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Kim Iljae was a Xiongnu prince and direct descendant of the Xiongnu royal clan. Besides this, not much else is known about Kim Iljae's date of birth or death. Fragment knowledge on his basic life story have been traced to reveal that Kim Iljae rose through the ranks of the Han Dynasty under Emperor Han Wudi.
Kim Iljae and his younger brother Kim Yoon became victims of Han Wudi's campaign against the Xiongnu that resulted from the conflicts that began in 133 BC. With this, the two brothers were taken captive and sold into slavery.
While in captivity, his talents of leadership and swordsmanship eventually came into the eyes of Emperor Wudi, who was looking for talent throughout his empire at the time. Kim Iljae was given a rank in the military and served China well. After a while, he was introduced to the Han court and served there for the rest of his life, going from a prince to a slave, and eventually back to an upper classman. His descendants continued to pass down Iljae's position in the court and this kept the Kim family highly influential.
After the death of Kim Iljae, his descendants' power in the Han Court became overwhelming. Rival court officials began to target the Kim family by using the family's Xiongnu origins against it. A major power struggle began and lasted until Wang Mang's death. The Kim family married into Wang Mang's family, and a daughter of the Kim family became one of Wang Mang's favorite wives. Through this connection with Wang Mang and his Xin dynasty, the Kim family became ever more powerful. After the overthrow of Wang Mang and the Xin dynasty by Liu Xiu in 25 AD, the Kim family fled China as a result of the change of dynasties. They fled back to the Korean peninsula, where the descendants of Gojoseon lived. Gojoseon and the Xiongnu people were of the same Ural-Altaic language root and people, and therefore, they were able to enter Goguryeo and migrate down to Silla.
The descendants of Kim Iljae later took power away from the Bak and Seok clans, and became the fully designated rulers of the Silla kingdom for most of its existence.