百濟 武王의 出系와 王位繼承

Abstract

King Muwang is regarded as a figure who accomplished the political stability and the consolidation of kingship. In this study, I try to shed a new light on his becoming heir and succession to the throne based on newly discovered materials, which issue was heatedly debated in academia. I reexamined the issue of heirship whether he was the son of king Bubwang or whether he was born from Jiryong based on the inscription excavated from the temple site of Wangheung and also scrutinized the context of his succession to the throne and his political supporter groups in details. King Muwang seems to have been the legitimate and firstborn child of a ‘dead prince’, considering the inscription of the sarira reliquary of the Wangheung temple site and the relation of King Muwang to Wangheung temple. This is congruent to the story that the father of King Muwang was Jiryong and he lived with his single mother. Moreover, the reason why King Muwang resided in Iksan area not in the capital of Baekje was that the prince, the father of King Muwang and also the legitimate and firstborn heir of King Wideok died and the political power was took by Hye; therefore, the prospective heir, King Muwang could have been expelled or could have escaped to save his life. While in his exile, King Muwang could build political bases by getting married to a strong family in Iksan area. After the enthronement of King Hyewang, he passed away immediately and his firstborn heir, King Bubwang succeeded to the throne. However, he did not belong to the direct lineage of King Sungwang and he faced much opposition from the direct royal family members of King Wideok and the group strongly opposed to Silla. Thereby, King Muwang was enthroned after the abdication of King Bubwang by the abovementioned group. The political supporting groups of King Muwang comprised of the direct royal family of King Wideok, a strong family in Iksan due to the marriage, Buddhist group in Iksan area, and some prominent aristocrats. Among the royal family members, Ajwa and Boksin, the direct family members of King Wideokwang are conspicuous. Local groups and Buddhist group in Iksan area played important roles in the enthronement of King Muwang. Moreover, among prominent aristocrats, the group who were strongly opposed to Silla since the reign of King Sungwang would have supported King Muwang. They are presumed to have family names such as HaeandYeon. In addition, other groups could have supported King Muwang. However, the family of Sa is not likely to have contributed to the enthronement of King Muwang although the Queen having the familyname, Sa, existed. On the contrary, at the later stage of King Muwang’sreign, the family, Sa, could have held important office sand mean while a member of Sa family could have become a wife for King Muwang. In conclusion, the enthronement of King Muwang was possible due to his legitimacy as the firstborn heir of a ‘dead prince’ and moreover wide range supports of direct royal family members of King Wideok, local powers of Iksan area, some prominent aristocrats and Buddhist groups.