Gongsun Kang
The polity of Goguryeo developed among the peoples of Manchuria and the Korean Peninsula during the 1st and 2nd century BC as the Chinese Han dynasty extended its control to Northeast Asia, creating the Four Commanderies of Han. As it grew and centralized, Goguryeo increasingly contacted and conflicted with China. Gogeryeo consolidated its power by conquering the territories on the north of the peninsula which were under Chinese rule. When the power of the Han dynasty declined to internal turmoils in the 2nd century AD, the warlord Gongsun Du came to control the commanderies of Liaodong (遼東) and Xuantu, directly adjacent to Goguryeo. Gongsun Du's faction often quarreled with Goguryeo despite initial cooperation, and the conflict culminated in the Goguryeo succession feud of 204, which Gongsun Du's successor Gongsun Kang exploited. Though the candidate supported by Gongsun Kang was eventually defeated, the victor Sansang of Goguryeo was compelled to move his capital southeast to Hwando (present-day Ji'an, Jilin) on the Yalu River, which offered better protection. Gongsun Kang moved in and restored order to the Lelang Commandery and established the new Daifang Commandery by splitting the southern part of Lelang.