Kang Kamch'an
Korean general during Third Koryŏ–Khitan War
Kang Kamch'an (Korean: 강감찬; Hanja: 姜邯贊; 22 December 948 – 9 September 1031) was a medieval Korean government official and military commander during the early days of the Goryeo period (918–1392). Even though he was a career scholar and government official, he is best known for his military victories during the Third Goryeo-Khitan War. Kang came from the Geumju Kang clan.
Early life
Kang was born on 22 December 948 into a prominent aristocratic family in the hyeon of Geumju (now Gwanak District, Seoul). His father also worked for the King Taejo of Goryeo, and he had been awarded for helping establish a new dynasty and unifying the Korean Peninsula. A legend tells that on the day he was born a meteor fell toward his house, and an advisor to the king visited to find that a baby had just been born there, whom he predicted would become great and be long remembered. Kang Kamch'an's birth site is called Nakseongdae (site of the falling star), near Seoul's Nakseongdae Station on the Line two subway.
As a child, Kang was small for his age, but he showed signs of leadership and loyalty at an early age. At seven he began to learn Confucian philosophy, military tactics and martial arts from his father. After his father's death in 964, he left his household and traveled around the country.
“Kang Kamch'an” enters the record as korean general during Third Koryŏ–Khitan War. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Kang, Kamch'an and Korean can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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The record creator and administrative purpose are central evidence, because official documentation reflects both action and institutional priorities. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 8, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q496799. VIAF identifies the subject as 4450148997599359870002. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1031 and 1392.
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This entry incorporates text from “Kang Kamch'an” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.