Goryeo general who repelled the Mongols at Jukju Fortress (his clan is disputed between the Jincheon Song tradition and a Uiseong claim)
| Era | 고려 후기 |
| Clan | 진천 송씨 |
Song Mun-ju (宋文胄, dates unknown) was a late-Goryeo general who fought at Gwiju Fortress and held Jukju Fortress against the Mongols. Sources differ on his clan. The Jincheon Song clan tradition holds that he was Song Eon-sang (宋彦祥), recorded in their genealogy with the courtesy name Mun-ju as a younger brother of Song Eon-gi, and Yongin Sinmun repeats this. But a curator of Anseong City made public in April 2017 an entry in the 1891 Juksan-bu eupji saying "his name was Mun-ju and he was from Uiseong". The Jincheon Song association has issued no official position and attended the 2018 rite at Chungui Shrine. This page gives both views and does not settle the clan.
According to Wikipedia, in 1231, in the first Mongol invasion, he fought at Gwiju Fortress under Park Seo (朴犀) and became a nangjang. In 1236, during the third invasion, he was sent as bangho byeolgam to Jukju (today's Juksan in Anseong). The Mongols first demanded surrender, were driven off by a sortie, and then began a siege.
Having experienced Mongol siege tactics at Gwiju, he directed the defense by predicting which engine the enemy would set up and how to counter it. When the Mongols broke the gate with cannon, the fortress answered with its own; when they set fire with human fat, pine knots and mugwort, the garrison opened the gate and made a sortie, killing many. After about fifteen days the Mongols burned their siege equipment and left. Soldiers called him "divine", and the court made him Jwau-wijanggun.
Inside Jukju Fortress stands Chungui Shrine in his honor; Chae Je-gong's epitaph records that magistrate Yu Eon-ji repaired the decayed shrine, and a legend says he sent a carp to the Mongol camp to show the fort had plenty of water. A rite is held each ninth day of the ninth lunar month, and a statue was unveiled on 8 August 2017, with a plaque of thanks from the Jincheon Song association. Because his lineage is uncertain, this page does not state the brother relation with Song Eon-gi as fact.
The Jincheon Song genealogy says Song Eon-sang, younger brother of Song Eon-gi, had the courtesy name Mun-ju, implying the same man recorded under a different name. The 1891 Juksan-bu eupji, by contrast, calls him a man of Uiseong. Neither could be cross-checked here, so his clan is not stated as fact.