Muryeong of Baekje
king of Baekje (501–523)

Muryeong (461/462–523) was the 25th king of Baekje, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, reigning from 501 to 523. During his reign, Baekje remained allied with Silla against Goguryeo, and expanded its relationships with China and Japan. According to Samguk sagi, he was 8 cheok tall, kind and generous, whom people followed naturally.
Background
The Tomb of King Muryeong calls him King Sama (斯麻), and records his birth year as 462. Mur is king surname and Yeong is personal name.
The Samguk sagi calls him King Muryeong, with the personal name (휘) of Sama (斯摩). He is described as the second son of the 24th king Dongseong, though the Nihonshoki pertains that he was the son of Prince Gonji (곤지), and thus Dongseong's half brother. He became king when Dongseong was assassinated by the court official Baek Ga. The following year, he crushed a planned rebellion by Baek Ga.
Other records
China's Liang shu gives his surname as Yeo and personal name as Yung, and states that he restored Baekje into a strong nation.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Muryeong of Baekje” as king of Baekje (501–523). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as king of Baekje (501–523). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 21, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q497878. VIAF identifies the subject as 103640960. The Library of Congress control number is nr93046116. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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Three-step research path
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Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Muryeong of Baekje” 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.