Silla loyalist revered as founder of the Yeonghae Park clan; died in Japan after rescuing the king's brothers
| Life | 363(위키백과) ~ 419(위키백과) |
| Era | 신라 눌지 마립간 때 |
| Clan | 영해 박씨 |
Bak Je-sang (朴堤上) served as governor (ganju) of Samnyang-ju under Silla's King Nulji (r. 417-458) and, on royal orders, rescued the king's younger brothers held hostage in Goguryeo and in Wa (Japan). The Yeonghae Park clan reveres him as founder, and Korean Wikipedia lists his seat as Yeonghae with dates of 363 and 419, though such dates differ by source and cannot be treated as settled.
Wikipedia's summary of the Samguk Sagi runs as follows. In 418, the second year of Nulji, the king sought someone to bring back Bokho from Goguryeo and Misaheun from Wa, and three village heads all recommended Je-sang. He first went to Goguryeo and won Bokho's release by quoting a Classic of Poetry verse on brotherly love. The Samguk Yusa tells it differently, as a secret meeting by boat, so the two records do not agree.
Je-sang then went to Wa pretending to be a fugitive from Silla, won the king's trust, and, while appearing to fish with Misaheun, let Misaheun slip away to Silla. He stayed behind, was seized, exiled to Mokdo and soon burned to death. King Nulji posthumously gave him the rank of Daeachan and comforted his family, and Misaheun is said to have married Je-sang's second daughter.
Wikipedia notes that the story appears in the Samguk Sagi, the Samguk Yusa and the Nihon Shoki, each with differences. The Samguk Sagi gives another name, Momal, and some scholars link him with the Nihon Shoki figure Momarichichi. In the Samguk Yusa the Wa king flays his feet and stands him on hot iron, asking whose subject he is; he answers only that he is a subject of Gyerim, a passage long read as a symbol of loyalty.
The Yeonghae Park clan reveres Bak Hyeokgeose as remote ancestor, Bak Je-sang as founder and Bak Myeong-cheon, a Goryeo Jeonbeop panseo, as revered ancestor. Clan-association material calls him a sixth-generation descendant of King Pasa. Other seats such as the Gangneung Park also cite him as a forebear, so who descends directly differs by genealogy and lineage.
Sites introduced as Yeonghae Park heritage include Chungnyeolmyo, Sinmosa, Ssangjeongnyeo and Chisan Seowon, with Beoljiji, Jangsa and Chisullyeong as memorial places. The photo on this site shows the Bak Je-sang memorial site and is not a portrait.
He is said to have died on Mokdo in Wa; no tomb is known. Shrines and memorial sites to him exist in several places.
Wikipedia notes that the Yeonghae Park genealogy lists Park Mun-ryang (Baekgyeol) as his son.