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Taebong
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Taebong was a state established by Gung Ye (궁예; 弓裔) on the Korean peninsula in 901, during the Later Three Kingdoms period.
Gung Ye was known as a bastard son of King Heonan or of King Gyeongmun. A soothsayer prophesied that the new-born baby would bring disaster to Silla, so the King ordered his servants to kill him. However, his nurse hid Gung Ye and raised him secretly.
He joined Yang Gil's rebellion force in 892. Silla, after nearly a millennium as a centralized kingdom, was quickly declining, and Gung Ye instigated his own rebellion in present-day Kaesŏng in 898. He eventually defeated Yang Gil and other local lords in central Korea to proclaim himself king of Hu Goguryeo in 901. He changed the state's name to Majin in 904, and eventually to Taebong in 911 (see #names). Taebong at its peak consisted of territory in the present-day provinces North Hwanghae and South Hwanghae, Gyeonggi-do, Gangwon-do, Pyongyang and Chungcheongbuk-do.
In his later days, Gung Ye proclaimed himself a Buddha and became a tyrant who sentenced death to anyone opposing him, including his own wife Kang. As a result, in 918 four of his own generals – Hong Yu (홍유; 洪儒), Bae Hyeon-gyeong (배현경; 裵玄慶), Sin Sung-gyeom (신숭겸; 申崇謙) and Bok Ji-gyeom (복지겸; 卜智謙) – overthrew Taebong and installed Wang Geon as king. Soon thereafter, the Goryeo dynasty was proclaimed.
Taebong influenced Goryeo culturally. Gung Ye was originally a Buddhist monk. He encouraged Buddhism and changed the manners of national ceremonies Buddhist, including the Palgwanhoe (팔관회; 八關會) and Seokdeungnong (석등롱; 石燈籠). These changes survived the death of Gung Ye and the fall of Taebong.