Gongmin Wang

Gongmin Wang 31st King of the Goryeo Dynasty
Spelling of names
Hangeul	공민왕
Hanja	恭 愍 王
Revised Romanization	Gongmin Wang
McCune-Reischauer	Kongmin Wang
Reign
Reign of	1351
Reign until	1374
predecessor	King Chungjeong Wang
successor	King U Wang
Life dates
Born on the	May 23, 1330
place of birth	Kaesŏng , Goryeo
Birth Name	왕전
Hanja	王 顓
Revised Romanization	Wang Jeon
McCune-Reischauer	Wang Jŏn
father	King Chungsuk Wang ( 충숙왕 )
mother	Queen Gongwon of the Mongolian Namyang Hong Clan ( 공원 )
Death dates
Died on	October 27, 1374
Place of death	Kaesŏng , Goryeo
Spouses, mistresses, offspring
Woman (s)	Queen Indeok of the Mongolian Borjigin clan ( 인덕 ) Queen Sunjeong of the Goksan Han clan ( 순정 ) and five other ladies of the court
Sons	King U Wang ( 우왕 )

King Gongmin Wang ( Korean 공민왕 ) (born May 23, 1330 in Kaesŏng , Kingdom of Goryeo ; † October 27, 1374 in Kaesŏng, Goryeo) was the 31st King of the Goryeo Empire and the Goryeo Dynasty during his reign from 1351 to 1374 ( 고려 왕조 ) (918-1392).

Life

Gongmin Wang was the second-born son of King Chungsuk Wang ( 충숙왕 ) and his first wife, Queen Gongwon ( 공원 ), who came from the Mongolian Namyang Hong clan. Gongmin Wang was given the name Wang Jeon ( 왕전 ) at birth and was called Wang Gi ( 왕기 ) during his childhood . King Gongmin Wang had seven wives, of whom the first two, Indeok of the Mongolian Borjigin clan ( 인덕 ) and Sunjeong of the Goksan Han clan ( 순정 ), became queens. All marriages and relationships were childless except with his last wife, concubine Ban-Ya ( 반야 ). With the latter he had a son who succeeded him to the throne as King U Wang ( 우왕 ) after his death .

Early childhood he became the Great Prince of Gangneung ( 강릉 appointed) and the 1341 at the age of eleven years to the court of the Yuan Dynasty sent. There he was also married to his first wife, Queen Indeok. After King Chungjeong Wang ( 충정왕 ) was dethroned in 1351, the ruler of the Mongol Empire sent him back to the Goryeos court to take over the reign there.

By the time King Gongmin Wang ascended the Goryeos throne, the power of the Yuan Dynasty was in decline and was replaced by the Ming Dynasty in 1368 . King Gongmin Wang cleverly exploited the power vacuum that had arisen in the meantime and, on the one hand, released Goryeo from the ties to the Yuan dynasty by removing the pro-Yuan faction from the government, militarily recapturing the northern territory that had been surrendered to the Mongols, and on the other hand the Stripped of power and influence from powerful families of Goryeos. A power struggle arose and the Yuan dynasty tried to remove King Gongmin Wang from the throne with the help of loyal followers. But he prevailed and signaled benevolence to the Ming dynasty, founded in 1368, which helped him to concentrate on domestic politics in terms of foreign policy. He launched far-reaching reforms, including the restoration of Buddhism in the country and land and land ownership reform. But rich and powerful family clans made sure that he could not go on with his project and had him murdered in October 1374 together with a monk, whom he got an important post for the implementation of his projects in the government.

Under the control of the Mongols

Like his forefathers, Gongmin Wang and all men, from the king down to simple citizens in the Gorgeo Empire, had to wear the Mongolian hair style, in which the front hair was completely removed and a plait was worn on the back of the head. It was also compulsory to wear Mongolian clothing, to speak the Mongolian language and to send the young princes of the court to the Mongol Empire for training.

With Gongmin Wang's ancestor, King Chungnyeol Wang 충렬왕 , the duty of kings Goryeos to use Mongolian names began. As for previous kings, could now from 1274 the syllables jo ( 조 ) for progenitor and jong ( 종 ) for ancestors, a posthumous "temple name" to create the kings are not used more. Instead, the names of the kings had to be prefixed with chung ( 충 ) to express the spirit of loyalty to the Yuan dynasty. The addition wang ( 왕 ), as a symbol for king, had to be placed after the name.

With the power of the Mongols over the Goryeo empire, its kings were no longer independent rulers of their kingdom for almost 80 years, but were firmly integrated into the structure of the Yuan dynasty as sons-in-law. This only changed with King Gongmin Wang, who managed to free Goryeo from the rule of the Mongols.

literature

• Ki-baik Lee : A New History of Korea . Harvard University Press , Seoul 1984, ISBN 0-674-61576-X (English, Chinese: 韓國 史 新 論 . 1961. Translated by Edward W. Wagner).
• Michael J. Pettid, Mark C. Mueller, Raymond F. Wall : Kang Kamch'an . In: Yang Hi Choe-Wall (Ed.): Encyclopedia of Korea . Australian National University , Canberra May 1999 (English).
• Han Young Woo : Ancient / Goryeo Era . In: A Review of Korean History . Volume 1 . Kyongsaewon Publishing Company , Pajubookcity, Gyeonggi-do 2010, ISBN 978-89-8341-091-7 (English, translated from Korean by Hahm Chaibong).

Web links

• 충정왕 [ 恭 愍 王 , 1330 ~ 1374]. In: Doopedia . Doosan Corporation.Retrieved November 17, 2019(Korean). 

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Han : Ancient / Goryeo Era . 2010, p.  370 .
2. ^ Lee : A New History of Korea . 1984, p.  393 .
3. ↑ ^{a b c} Pettid, Mueller, Wall : Kongmin, King (r.1351-1374) . In: Encyclopedia of Korea . 1999, p.  718 f .
4. ↑ 충정왕 [ 恭 愍 王 , 1330 ~ 1374]. In: Doopedia . Doosan Corporation . Retrieved November 17, 2019 (Korean).  
5. ^ ^{A b} Lee : A New History of Korea . 1984, p.  161 .
6. ↑ Pettid, Mueller, Wall : Pou . In: Encyclopedia of Korea . 1999, p.  1085 .
7. ↑ Pettid, Mueller, Wall : Clothing . In: Encyclopedia of Korea . 1999, p.  260 f .
8. ^ ^{A b c} Lee : A New History of Korea . 1984, p.  156 .