Chapter 144. The Founding of a State — Hoeryeongbu
The procedures for establishing a state moved forward swiftly.
Many tribes gathered from all directions.
The tribal leaders arrived with their direct kin and their warriors.
They were persuaded, organized, and then sent to Yeongu.
Once there, the commanders reorganized them into units, issued weapons and equipment, and immediately began training.
It took time before they were organized into units,
but once assigned, they fit seamlessly into the already moving structure.
On one side, construction was in full swing.
It was the palace of the new state, Jin.
This place was Hoeryeongbu, the center and point of origin of the Jurchen tribes.
It was also where the Meng'an–Mouke system first began.
People gathered first, and the enclosure followed.
Inside, houses and tents stood mixed together.
Some were homes built by packing earth, while others were leather-covered tents standing beside them.
It was difficult to tell which were temporary and which were permanent.
There were more horses than people.
Unbound horses crossed the open ground, and soldiers naturally stepped aside among them.
The sound of hammering iron never ceased.
There was no single building that could be called a forge.
Fires were lit everywhere, iron plates were heated, and hammers struck them into shape.
Soldiers sat with their armor spread out.
They rethreaded broken straps, straightened bent iron plates, and tightened knots.
There was a place that could be called the center,
but there was no stone palace or tall hall.
It was simply a slightly wider open space—
a place where, when people gathered, attention naturally converged.
That was where Wanyan Aguda stood.
He did not stand elevated, but only one step ahead among the people.
When he stood, silence followed.
No command had yet been given, yet all already knew he would speak.
Hoeryeongbu was not a completed city.
Yet it revealed, as it was, the process of scattered tribes becoming a single army.
At the center stood Aguda's tent,
and around it, the tents of tribal leaders were arranged in a radial pattern.
The strongest and largest tribes were placed closest, and the rest followed in the order of arrival.
Behind them, the tents of their people spread outward in long lines.
Behind Aguda's tent, wooden structures were built, resembling the buildings of Goguryeo.
At the center of Hoeryeongbu, there was always an empty space.
No one had designated it, nor marked it,
yet whenever people gathered, it was naturally left open.
It was where Wanyan Aguda stood.
That day, people gathered again, and the space remained empty.
Aguda stepped forward into it.
It was no different from any other day.
Yet that day, he stood a little longer.
He did not speak.
Instead, he looked over the ground.
The earth had been packed firm.
Frequent footsteps had naturally pressed it down.
Layers of footprints overlapped, and even when it rained, water did not collect there.
He pressed the ground lightly with his foot.
It was solid.
"We build it here."
No one had asked, yet he spoke.
The people looked at him.
No one asked what was to be built, nor why that place.
They already knew.
Someone stepped forward carrying a stake.
The first one driven into the ground was a small piece of wood.
No depth was measured, no direction aligned.
It was simply driven in.
Aguda looked at it once.
It leaned slightly.
Without a word, he pressed it with his hand.
The stake sank deeper.
Seeing this, others began clearing the area.
They removed stones, leveled the ground, and widened the space.
What they built that day was too small to be called a house.
It could not fully block the rain, nor enclose a person.
Yet from that moment on, everything changed.
He ordered the sides to be cleared.
On one side, a round altar for Heaven was built.
It was not a grand structure, but a circular patch of land carefully bordered with stones.
Objects symbolizing Heaven were placed there,
and the patterns of the Five Elements and the Twelve Zodiac Deities were carved into it.
A round stone engraved with the three-legged crow was erected.
In all of this, Baek In-gyeom was present.
From the first day, he set the direction, chose the place, and positioned the ritual objects.
He gave meaning to empty land.
He carefully selected where the state would announce itself to Heaven.
Each person brought a stone, and together they set them in place.
A few days later, a council was held.
All tribes unanimously proclaimed Aguda as emperor.
Aguda declared the founding of the Jin Empire and explained the name "Jin" as follows:
"The Liao took the name 'guest iron' (賓鐵), valuing its hardness, yet even iron rusts and breaks in the end. Only gold does not change and does not decay. The color of gold is white, and the color of the Wanyan tribe is also white."
"續資治通鑑" 권92 "遼以賓鐵為號,取其堅也.賓鐵雖堅,終亦變壞.惟金不變不壞,金之色白,完顏部色尚白"
Aguda spoke again:
"Wanyan Aguda stood within the tent and began to speak.
The founder of Jin, Hambu, came from Goryeo. He was already over sixty when he left the east and came here. His elder brother Ago remained in Goryeo, following the Buddhist path, saying that someone must stay behind to preserve the place where their descendants might gather again. Thus one stayed and one departed. Hambu came north with his younger brother Bohalli and settled by the waters of Fukan River in the land of the Wanyan tribe. It was not a place suited for long habitation, yet by following the water, lighting fires, and enduring, the branches of brothers that had once been separated scattered across time and then began to reconnect.
Later, many tribes came, each claiming to be descendants of those once-separated brothers. Shituomen and Chigone also declared themselves descendants of Bohalli, confirming that those called by different names all came from the same lineage. Thus the scattered branches gathered again and became one. This was not something newly created here, but merely the revelation of what had always continued.
The root lies in the east. It began from Silla. When Silla fell, amid the chaos, groups of the Kim clan moved north. What fell was the state, but what remained was the name. The surname Kim continued unbroken across generations to this day. The lineage of King Gyeongsun remained, and his descendants spread across the land. The trace of Prince Maye also did not disappear. Even after the fall of the state, their will did not fade, but remained among the people. That will continued, and the movement to rise again never ceased, leading to this moment.
Some say that the monk Kim Jun of Pyeongju came into Jurchen lands and became the ancestor; others say it was Geuksu, the son of Kim Haeng. Though names and traditions differ, the lineage is one and has never been severed. Our ancestors said they came from Daebang and regarded Goryeo as the parent state, maintaining that loyalty. Likewise, the saying that Jurchen and Balhae were one family comes from the understanding that what had been divided and named differently still originated from the same root.
I am not creating something new, but establishing what has continued. What has come down from Hambu, what began in the east under the name Kim and has reached this place through generations—I reveal it as it is, and by that name I establish a state.
It shall be called Jin."
A quiet wave of emotion spread in all directions.
The young men of the Wanyan clan were nearly overwhelmed.
They had known fragments of the legend, but this was the first time they heard it in full.
Scattered pieces of knowledge came together into one long whole.
Another reason for the name Jin was revealed.
Some parts came from historical records, some from legend,
and some were passed down as family stories from father to son.
Yeongu now understood why Kim Busik had supported them.
He belonged to another lineage that remained in Goryeo.
They were said to descend from Silla's King Naemul.
Among them, Kim Haeng, the monk, would in modern terms be considered a Taoist adept.
He had remained because his studies and his master were there.
A monk bearing children and continuing a bloodline would not make sense.
Wanyan Aguda declared the name of the state as Jin.
"Tomorrow, we will report to Heaven and Earth and perform rites for our ancestors. Purify yourselves and prepare."
No formal reply was spoken.
Instead, all bowed their heads deeply.
Not only the generals of the Wanyan clan,
but nearly all the gathered Jurchen tribes bowed together.
They all knew the ones who had established the laws of the Jurchen.
Names that needed no explanation flowed silently among them.
Everyone accepted, without question,
the founding declaration and imperial enthronement of Wanyan Aguda.