Lesser Goguryeo or Little Goguryeo is a hypothetical term for a state proposed by Japanese scholar Kaizaburo Hino. The existence of the state has been debated among scholars. The name was not mentioned in historical records, and the leaders were recorded as Governors-General subject to the Tang dynasty. It was allegedly established by the refugees of Goguryeo, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, after its defeat by the Tang dynasty. The kingdom was supposedly originally called Goryeo, but later historians added "Lesser" for disambiguation from Goguryeo, which was also often called Goryeo. "Goryeo" is also the name of a later period of Korean history, and the source of the English nameKorea. After the Korean Silla kingdom and the ChineseTang Dynasty allied to destroy Goguryeo, the Liaodong Peninsula was administered by the Tang. The theory is that Tang lost effective control due to rebellion by Goguryeo refugees, and the region became a buffer zone between Tang and the Korean kingdom of Balhae. Although Lesser Goguryeo declared itself an independent kingdom, it was soon absorbed into Balhae, which became a successor state to Goguryeo.
Establishment
In 699, the Tang government sent former Goguryeo Prince Go Deokmu, the third son of Goguryeo's last ruler, King Bojang, to Liaodong Peninsula, naming him "King of Joseon" and Governor of the Yodong Commandery of the Protectorate General to Pacify the East. Like his father, Go Deokmu had plans to rebel against the Tang, to revive Goguryeo and to provide a kingdom for the Goguryeo people. The Tang Empire at the time was undergoing several crises, especially the An Lushan Rebellion. Along with these major events was also the pressure given by the Empire of Balhae. These and many other pressures allowed Go Deokmu to take full control of the Protectorate General to Pacify the East and allegedly to establish a kingdom. The Little Goguryeo kingdom was established during that year with Go Deokmu as its first king. Very little is known about how the neighboring kingdoms reacted to the establishment of Little Goguryeo. It tis known that Balhae was on good terms with Lesser Goguryeo with respect to the similar purposes that the two kingdoms possessed.
Fall
At around 820, after two generations of ruling the Liaodong Peninsula and other former regions of Goguryeo, Lesser Goguryeo was absorbed into Balhae during the reign King Seon of Balhae.
