Sunjong

Sunjong 2nd emperor of the Joseon Dynasty
Sunjong, Emperor of the Daehan Empire (around 1923)
Spelling of names
Hangeul	순종
Hanja	純 宗
Revised Romanization	Sunjong
McCune-Reischauer	Sunjong
Reign
Reign of	July 19, 1907
Reign until	August 29, 1910
predecessor	Emperor Gojong
successor	none
Life dates
Born on the	March 25, 1874
place of birth	Changdeokgung , Hanseong , Joseon
Birth Name	이척
Hanja	李 坧
Revised Romanization	Yi Cheok
McCune-Reischauer	Yi Ch'ŏk
father	King Gojong
mother	Queen Myeongseong also called Queen Min
Death dates
Died on	April 25, 1926
Place of death	Changdeokgung , Hanseong , in Korea under Japanese rule
Spouses, mistresses, offspring
Woman (s)	Empress Sunmyeong Empress Sunjeong
Remarks
was the last monarch of the Joseon Dynasty and the last emperor of the Korean Empire

Sunjong ( Korean : 순종 ) (born March 25, 1874 in Changdeokgung , Hanseong , Joseon ; † April 25, 1926 , in Korea under Japanese rule ) was the last monarch of the Joseon dynasty ( 조선 왕조 ) (1392–1910) and the last emperor of the Korean Empire .

Early life

Sunjong was born under the name Yi Cheok ( 이척 ) on March 25, 1874 as the third son of King Gojong ( 고종 ) and the second son of his wife, Queen Myeongseong ( 명성 ), in Changdeokgung Palace ( 창덕궁 ) in Hanseong ( 한성 ) . He was perceived by his parents as a blessing for them and the monarchy and was constantly highlighted, but as a ten-year-old externally not described as particularly handsome. Later comments about him from US visitors were not very beneficial either. It was also said that his mother was very often too careless about his upbringing.

At the age of 21, he witnessed his mother being murdered on October 8, 1895 by Japanese soldiers and Korean collaborators and then burned. In 1898 he was accidentally poisoned while drinking the coffee that was meant for his father. It took several days to recover from the poisoning. The infertility he is said to have been a result of this, because his two marriages with Sunmyeong Hyo Hwang-hu of the Min clan ( 순명 효 황후 민씨 ) and Sunjeong Hyo Hwang-hu of the Yun clan ( 순정 효 황후 윤씨 ) did not result in any Children.

Rule without power

Sunjong was crowned emperor on July 19, 1907 after his father was forced to abdicate by the Japanese Empire. During his lifetime he was perceived as incapable of governing and was linked to the loss of Korea's independence. He did not have the strong will of his father to stand up to Japanese aggression and stand up for an independent Korea. His ties to the Japanese colonial administration in the later years made him a traitor in the eyes of some Koreans.

It was the Japanese general resident for Joseon, Itō Hirobumi ( 伊藤 博 文 ), who forced Sunjong's father to abdicate and installed Sunjong as his successor. Itō Hirobumi began to use Emperor Sunjong as a symbol for a new modern Korea and for Japanese-Korean integration. As a sign of this, Itō Hirobumi had him remove the traditional Korean topknot , Danballyeong ( 단발령 ), and for his enthronement he briefly wore his traditional Korean costume and then a western-style military uniform to which European military marching music was played.

In 1909 Itō Hirobumi accompanied Emperor Sunjong on two processions through the country to bring the emperor closer to the people and to signal the benevolence of the Japanese Empire towards Joseon. While the event in the southern part of the country had gone well for Itō Hirobumi, the reaction of the people in the northern part of the country led him to believe that an annexation of Joseon by Japan was inevitable in order to get the country under control.

In May 1910 the Japanese general Terauchi Masatake ( 寺内 正毅 ) took over the function of general resident in Joseon and had the treaty for the annexation of Joseon by the Japanese Empire signed by Prime Minister Yi Wan-yong ( 이완용 ) on August 22, 1910 . The treaty, which ceded all of Joseon's sovereign rights to the Japanese Empire, was signed by Emperor Sunjong on August 29, 1910, and thus became legally binding. In return, the entire royal and imperial family of Joseon received the assurance that they would be able to retain their titles and rank and that they would be provided with sufficient financial resources. Sunjong was demoted from emperor to king with the annexation, but many of the Korean population wanted to continue to refer to him as their emperor.

Sunjong's last 16 years as the degraded monarch have ridiculed him in the world. Called an incompetent monarch, he was credited with one thing that he was particularly good at, the game of pool. In 1910, two billiard tables were purchased in the palace and a small billiards club was founded, with Sunjong supposedly the best player.

death

King Sunjong died on April 25, 1926 in Changdeokgung Palace in Hanseong. His brother Yi Eun ( 이은 ) formally followed him as the 28th king of the Joseon Dynasty. But the Japanese colonial government no longer allowed an official successor.

Sunjong's state funeral was held in a large procession on June 10, 1926. The plan of independence activists to use the state funeral for an anti-Japanese demonstration failed and was stopped in advance by the Japanese police.

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).
• Nai Rhee Song : Beautiful as the Rainbow . Nashimoto Masako, a Japanese Princess Against All Odds for Love, Life, and Happinesse . Inspiring Voices , 2013, ISBN 978-1-4624-0707-1 (English).
• Yong-Chool Ha, Hong Yung Lee, Clark W. Sorensen : Colonial Rule and Social Changes in Korea, 1910–1945 . University of Washington , Washington 2013, ISBN 978-0-295-80449-1 (English).

Web links

Commons : Emperor Sunjong  - Collection of Pictures, Videos and Audio Files

• transformingArt : (Rare) Funeral of Emperor Sunjong of Korean Empire (1926) . (Video 7:13 min) YouTube , March 15, 2008, accessed April 3, 2019 (Korean). 

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Kim Eun-ho : Portrait of King Sunjong . National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art , 1923, accessed April 3, 2019 .  
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Robert Neff : Sunjong's unhappiness shadows turbulent last decades of Yi Dynasty . In: The Korea Times . May 16, 2011, accessed April 3, 2019 .  
3. ↑ ^{a b} Song : Beautiful as the Rainbow . 2013, p.  100 .
4. ^ Ha, Lee, Sorensen : Colonial Rule and Social Changes in Korea, 1910-1945 . 2013, p.  183 .
5. ^ Ha, Lee, Sorensen : Colonial Rule and Social Changes in Korea, 1910-1945 . 2013, p.  184 .
6. ^ ^{A b} Ha, Lee, Sorensen : Colonial Rule and Social Changes in Korea, 1910–1945 . 2013, p.  185 .
7. ↑ ^{a b} Treaty of Annexation . In: UCLA International Institute . The Regents of the University of California , August 22, 1910, accessed April 3, 2019 .  
8. ^ Lee : A New History of Korea . 1984, p.  313 .
9. ^ Song : Beautiful as the Rainbow . 2013, p.  101 .
10. ^ Song : Beautiful as the Rainbow . 2013, p.  102 .
11. ↑ transformingArt : (Rare) Funeral of Emperor Sunjong of Korean Empire (1926) . (Video 7:13 min) YouTube , March 15, 2008, accessed April 3, 2019 (Korean).  
12. ^ Lee : A New History of Korea . 1984, p.  363 .