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Research on the Goryeo Campaign against Zhang Shicheng in 1354

  • The Review of Korean History
  • 2025, (159), pp.39~70
  • Publisher : The Historical Society Of Korea
  • Research Area : Humanities > History
  • Received : August 14, 2025
  • Accepted : September 18, 2025
  • Published : September 30, 2025

Heo In-Uk 1

1전북대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

During the reign of Toghon Temür, the Shundi Emperor of the Yuan, the dynasty was repeatedly afflicted by floods and famines, while uprisings led by Han Chinese broke out with increasing frequency, throwing the empire into turmoil. In particular, the anti-Yuan resistance spearheaded by the so-called Red Turbans obstructed the north–south transport routes, thereby aggravating the Yuan’s internal economic distress. In order to suppress these anti-Yuan forces, the Grand Chancellor Toqto’a (脫脫), who had assumed overall command, requested military assistance from Goryeo. King Gongmin, whose political authority was still precarious in the early years of his reign, was in no position to reject the Yuan’s demand. In response, Goryeo dispatched over forty commanders and more than two thousand troops. These forces engaged Zhang Shicheng’s faction in battles at Gaoyou, Liuhe, and Huai’an. Arriving in Beijing in the eighth month of 1354, the Goryeo troops marched under Toqto’a’s command and fought against Zhang Shicheng’s forces at Gaoyou and Liuhe in the eleventh month. Even after Toqto’a’s downfall-brought about by shifts in Yuan court politics-the Goryeo army continued its campaigns under the leadership of Taybugha. From early 1355 onward, they engaged Zhang’s forces primarily in the region of Huai’an. Goryeo suffered considerable losses, including the deaths of six generals such as Yi Gwon and Choe Won. Ultimately, however, the suppression campaign collapsed due to Toqto’a’s dismissal and the declining morale of the expeditionary forces. Following Toqto’a’s removal, the Goryeo troops gradually returned home between the second and fifth months of 1355. The campaign against Zhang Shicheng nonetheless provided Goryeo with first-hand experience of the Yuan’s internal instability and its weakened military capacity. The intelligence gathered on the battlefield was conveyed to King Gongmin through the participating commanders, and this information played a formative role in the king’s reorientation of relations with the Yuan. Although the elimination of Gi Chŏl’s faction and the attack on the Eight Garrisons west of the Amnok River were only carried out in the fifth month of 1356, the incident in Jeonju involving the envoy Yesübüqa and the official Chŏng Ji-sang suggests that such plans had already been in motion as early as 1355. This indicates that Goryeo’s involvement in the suppression campaign had enabled a clearer assessment of the political situation. In this sense, Goryeo’s participation in the 1354 campaign against Zhang Shicheng holds historical significance, for it decisively influenced King Gongmin’s policy of establishing an independent political order free from Yuan domination.

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