Injo

Injo 16th King of the Joseon Dynasty
Spelling of names
Hangeul	인조
Hanja	仁祖
Revised Romanization	Injo
McCune-Reischauer	Injo
Reign
Reign of	March 1623
Reign until	May 8, 1649
predecessor	King Gwanghaegun
successor	King Hyojong
Life dates
Born on the	December 7, 1595
place of birth	Haeju , Hwanghae-do
Birth Name	이종
Hanja	李 倧
Revised Romanization	Yi Jong
McCune-Reischauer	Yi Chong
father	Prince Jeongwon
mother	Inheon of the Neungseong Gu Klan
Death dates
Died on	May 8, 1649
tomb	Jangneung Tomb, Paju City , Gyeonggi-do Province
Spouses, mistresses, offspring
Woman (s)	Queen Inryeol Queen Jangryeol Gwi-in of the Okcheon Jo clan and five other ladies of the court
Sons	Prince Sohyeon (Yi Wang) Prince Bongrim (Yi Ho) Prince Inpyeong (Yi Yo) and four other princes by ladies of the court
Daughters	Princess Hyomyeong and one other daughter (name unknown)

Injo ( Korean : 인조 ) (* December 7, 1595 , Joseon ; † May 8, 1649 , ibid) was the 16th King of the Joseon Dynasty ( 조선 왕조 ) (1392-1910) in Korea during his reign from 1623 to 1649 .

Life

Injo was a grandson of King Seonjo ( 선조 ) and King Gwanghaegun ( 광해군 ), who was deposed by influential forces in the country in 1623 for the murder of his brother and parts of his critics, was his uncle. Other known names of injos are Neungyang-daegun ( 능양 대군 ), Cheonyun ( 천윤 ) and Jong ( 종 ).

Under the influence of his protégés , who had paved his way to the throne, King Injo pursued a traditional foreign policy in which he tried to maintain good relations with the Ming dynasty and at the same time severed relations with its adversary, the Manchu . But just a year after his enthronement he had to cope with a domestic political conflict. General Yi Gwal ( 이괄 ), one of those who brought him to the throne, did not feel sufficiently rewarded and rebelled in 1624 with an uprising against his king, in which he and his followers briefly also Hanyang ( 한양 ), the capital of the empire kept busy. His uprising was put down by government troops and some of the rebels fled to Manchuria to ask the Manchurians there to argue against Joseon. On the grounds that they wanted to undo the injustice that allegedly happened to King Gwanghaegun, around 10,000 Manchurian soldiers advanced to the south of Pyeongyang ( 평양 ). King Injo thereupon asked for peace, submitted to the Manchurian Empire and undertook to provide the Manchurians with warships and grain for their fight against the Ming Empire.

In 1636 the Manchurian Qing Dynasty requested King Injo to recognize the empire in the north as the only power. Injo rejected their ambassador and refused to accept the documents, which in December 1636 resulted in a second armed conflict between the Manchurians against Joseon. Led by the Emperor Huang Taiji ( Chinese  皇太極 ), an army of around 100,000 men invaded Joseon and King Injo initially fled with his court to the island of Ganghwado ( 강화도 ), west of the capital, and after it was also threatened, he helped took refuge in his courtyard in the fortress Namhansanseong ( 남한산성, ), southeast of the capital. But a defense against the superior strength of the Manchurian army was hopeless. On January 30, 1637, King Injo surrendered to the generic army with a bowing ceremony and swore allegiance to the Qing Dynasty. King Injo had to hand over his two eldest sons, Crown Prince Sohyeon ( 소현 ) and Prince Bongnim ( 봉림 ), to the Manchuria as hostages . Furthermore, From now on Injo had to make his troops available for the war of the Manchurians against the Ming Empire.

The tomb of King Injo

On June 17, 2016, the Cultural Heritage Administration opened the Jangneung ( 장릉 ) tomb , where King Injo and his wife found their final resting place, to the public. The tomb was originally erected in another part of Paju ( 파주 ) city in Gyeonggi-do ( 경기도 ) province in 1636 . But frequent fires and the existence of snakes and scorpions meant that the grave was moved in 1731 and rebuilt in the Tanhyeon-myeon ( 탄현면 ) district .

Film: The Fortress

→ Main article : The Fortress (film)

The South Korean film The Fortress describes the 47 days until the surrender that King Injo with his court staff and his soldiers spent in the fortress of Namhansanseong. The film, which is about the tragedy and the shameful surrender, premiered on September 27, 2017 in Seoul.

literature

• Kim Hiyoul : Korean History . Ed .: Heinrich P. Kelz (=  languages ​​and language learning . Volume 204 ). Asgard-Verlag, St. Augustin 2004, ISBN 3-537-82040-2 (series of the language learning center of the University of Bonn).
• Han Young Woo : Joseon Era . In: A Review of Korean History . Volume 2 . Kyongsaewon Publishing Company , Pajubookcity, Gyeonggi-do 2010, ISBN 978-89-8341-092-4 (English).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Han : Joseon Era . In: A Review of Korean History . 2010, p.  308 .
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Kim : Korean History . 2004, p.  138 .
3. ↑ Kim : Korean History . 2004, p.  138 f .
4. ↑ Kim : Korean History . 2004, p.  139 .
5. ↑ Lee Hana : King Injo's tomb now open to public . In: Korea.net . Ministry for Culture, Sports and Tourism , June 17, 2016, accessed November 3, 2018 .  
6. ↑ Shim Sun-ah : 'The Fortress' director hopes to provide a chance to learn from past . In: Yonhap News Agengy . August 23, 2017, accessed November 3, 2018 .