Yeongjo

Yeongjo 21st King of the Joseon Dynasty
Eojin ( 어진 ) of King Yeongjo at the age of 51 (1744) National Palace Museum of Korea ( 국립 고궁 박물관 ) Color on silk in the format 203 × 83 cm
Spelling of names
Hangeul	영조
Hanja	英 祖
Revised Romanization	Yeongjo
McCune-Reischauer	Yǒngjo
Reign
Reign of	October 16, 1724
Reign until	April 22, 1776
predecessor	King Gyeongjong
successor	King Jeongjo
Life dates
Born on the	October 31, 1694
place of birth	Changdeokgung Palace, Hanseong
Birth Name	이금
Hanja	李 昑
Revised Romanization	Yi Geum
McCune-Reischauer	Yi Kŭm
father	King Sukjong
mother	Wife Suk of the Haeju Choi clan
Death dates
Died on	April 22, 1776
Place of death	Gyeonghuigung Palace, Hanseong
tomb	Wonneung Tomb, Guri City , Gyeonggi-do Province
Spouses, mistresses, offspring
Woman (s)	Queen Jeongseong Queen Jeongsun and four other ladies of the court
Sons	Prince Hyojang (Yi Haeng) Prince Sado (Yi Seon)
Daughters	Princess Hwaeok Princess Hwasun Princess Hwapyong Princess Hwahyeop Princess Hwawan and three other princesses and four daughters, whose names are not known
Remarks
King Yeongjo killed his son Prince Sado in a rice box by dying of thirst

Yeongjo ( Korean : 영조 ) (born September 13, 1694 in Gyeongdeokgung Palace, Seoul , Korea ; † March 5, 1776 ibid), was the 21st king of the Joseon Dynasty ( 조선 왕조 ) (1392-1910) in Korea and Representative of a Confucian mode of government.

Life

King Yeongjo lived at the beginning of the last third of the Joseon Era (1392–1897). As the second-born son of King Sukjong ( 숙종 ) (1661-1720), he first had to leave the succession to the royal throne to his older brother Gyeongjong ( 경종 ), whose reign was due to his untimely death but only briefly (1720-1724). Yeongjo's mother Choe Sukbin ( 최숙빈 ) was a concubine of the king.

Until his enthronement , Yeongjo was known as a prince under the name Yeoninggun Geum ( 연잉군 금 ). In 1704 he married Jeongseong ( 정성 ) (1692–1757) from the Seo clan . She became queen when he took the throne in 1724. After his wife died in 1757, he married 15-year-old Jeongsun ( 정순 ) (1745–1805) three years later at the age of 66, making her the second queen during his reign.

Yeongjo had no children with his first wife. He had his two sons from a woman of the royal court who was of lower rank. His first son died early, so Jangheon ( 장헌 ), the second-born, was elected crown prince by him under the name Sado ( pr ). But Prince Sado's behavior became increasingly strange, unpredictable and violent. Yeongjo gave him royal duties and responsibilities in the hope that it might help him improve. But outbreaks that ended in violence, which often ended with the death of servants, finally led Yeongjo to hand his son the sword to commit suicide in August 1761. When the latter refused his request to commit suicide and the tension between the two increased, Yeongjo had him locked in a rice box a year later, in which he died after eight days without food or water. This incident led to a new camp formation at the court. After the death of his son Prince Sado , Yeongjo appointed his grandson Jeongjo ( 정조 ) (1752–1800) (son of Prince Sado) as prince and later heir to the throne.

Yeongjo died at the age of 81 on March 5, 1776 in Gyeonghuigung Palace in Seoul.

Reign

King Yeongjo ruled from August 1724 until his death and, with almost 52 years in office, was the longest reigning king among the rulers of the Joseon Dynasty.

With his accession to the throne, he inherited the problem of camp formation and hostilities among the country's scholars and administration. As early as the late 17th century, the country's elite had begun to split. While the Namin ( 남인 ) (Eastern) ruled the administration in 1674, the Seoin ( 서인 ) (Western) came to power in 1689 , who in turn joined the camps of the Noron ( 노론 ) (representatives of the old doctrine ) and Soron ( 소론 ) (Representatives of the new doctrine) split. The representatives of the old Confucian doctrine dominated the court.

While his father was still alive, the Soron camp supported Gyeongjong for the succession to the throne, while the Noron camp was on his side. After the death of his brother Gyeongjong , who died under mysterious circumstances at the age of 36 years, the accused Soron bearings the fraction of Noron , Gyeongjong killing, after which the tension between the two hostile camps grew in sharpness. He was also blamed for the death of his brother, the cause of which has never been clarified. The enmity between the camps found expression a few years after he came to power in a rebellion that rose in 1728 in Chungcheong Province ( 충청 ) and was instigated by the representatives of the new doctrine. Yeongjo was able to put down the rebellion and then changed his policy.

It was ultimately a merit of his reign to pacify the warring camps. He balanced representatives of all factions in power and administration and at the same time exerted a strong influence at court, which brought him stability and development throughout his reign and the country for over half a century. In addition, through his many years of reign he acquired experience and skills that enabled him to dominate his scholars and administration.

It also became a moral standard in terms of rites and customs. He spent much of his time dutifully performing and performing rites. This earned him recognition, more power, and more influence. He also developed new rites, such as meeting scholars, representatives of the administration and the military, as well as ordinary people, outside the palace, talking to them, and learning about needs and needs. He developed this after the great famine in 1748, which caused epidemics and killed an estimated 500,000 people.

As a result, in order to alleviate the misery in the population and to strengthen the country again, he passed the so-called Gyunyeokbeop ( 균역법 ) (Equal Duties Act) in 1750 . The law was supposed to make the tax liability of the citizens fairer on the one hand and reduce the tax burden on the common people and on the other hand to oblige the state's expenditure side to be more economical. In May of that year, leaders of his administration protested against the law, but two months later in July it was a done deal. Yeongjo had prevailed. For example, the law reduced the tax that men who did not serve in the military had to pay in the form of materials from 2  pil ( 필 ) to 1  pil . A pil comprised a length of 95 cm × 1290 cm and was therefore a considerable tax burden for ordinary people. With the change in the law, this tax now only had to be paid for men between 16 and 60 years of age, whereas previously the tax also applied to under 16s. He also reduced taxes on salt, fish, fishing boats and fabrics. He introduced a value-based tax on farmland that could be paid in rice or cash. But the changes also led to an increase in corruption . In order to be able to fight these and reduce the suffering of the population, he let secret inspectors travel through the country in search of corruption and abuse of power . For effective enforcement they were given far-reaching rights of the king by him.

As part of his "equal opportunities" policy, he also had the financial system revised and an accounting system introduced. In addition to revising numerous laws, he even reformed the hair style of women and abolished the wearing of oversized wigs .

In the 46th year of his reign he commissioned Dongguk munheon bigo ( 동국 문헌 비고 ) to compile a chronological overview of Korea's geography, government, economy and culture. Also in 1770, on the initiative of Shin Gyeong-jun ( 신경준 ) (1712–1781), calibrated maps of the provinces and prefectures of the country, each in sections of 20 Li- squares, were produced. They later formed the basis for the first detailed map of Korea in Korean , Daedongyeojido ( 대동 여지도 ), published in 1861 by the cartographer Kim Jeong-ho ( 김정호 ) (1804–1866).

During his reign, King Yeongjo had at least one eojin ( 어진 ) (religious and political emblem, in this case a portrait of the king) made every 10 years and distributed among some important places in the country. After more than 51 years in office, he left twelve of these Eojin to posterity.

literature

• National Museum of Korea (Ed.): Quarterly Magazine . Volume 1-21 (2006-2012) . Seoul 2006 (English).
• 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).
• Michael J. Seth : A Concise History of Korea, From the Neolithic Period through the Nineteenth Century . Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. , Oxford 2006, ISBN 978-0-7425-4005-7 (English).
• Djun Kil Kim : The History of Korea . Greenwood Press , Westport, Connecticut 2005, ISBN 0-313-33296-7 (English).
• Peter H. Lee : Sourcebook of Korean Civilization . Volume II . Columbia University Press , New York 1996, ISBN 0-231-07914-1 (English).
• Andrew C. Took : Korea - Tradition & Transformation - A History of the Korean People . Volume II . Hollym International Corp. , Elizabeth, New Jersey 1996, ISBN 1-56591-070-2 (English, ( 2nd edition )).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Woo : Joseon Era . In: A Review of Korean History . 2010, p.  194 .
2. ↑ Heritage Information - Soryeongwon Garden in Paju . Cultural Heritage Administration of Korea , accessed January 17, 2013 .  
3. ↑ ^{a b} Kang Jae-eun : The Land of Scholars: Two Thousands Years of Korean Confucianism . Homa & Sekey Books , New Jersey 2005, ISBN 1-931907-37-4 , pp.  372 (English).
4. ↑ Royal Tombs - Hongneung (弘 陵) . Cultural Heritage Administration of Korea , accessed January 17, 2013 .  
5. ↑ Bae-yong Lee : Women in Korean History . Ewha Womans University Press , Seoul 2008, ISBN 89-7300-772-6 , pp.  111 (English).
6. ^ Korea Focus - News . (PDF) Korea Foundation , August 29, 2011, accessed January 18, 2013 .  
7. ^ ^{A b} Seth : A Concise History of Korea . 2006, p.  183 .
8. ↑ ^{a b} Kim : The History of Korea . 2005, p.  91 f .
9. ↑ Peter H. Lee : Sourcebook of Korean Civilization . 1996, p.  42 f .
10. ↑ Chung Ah-young : King Yeongjo's writings reveal personal agony . The Korea Times , August 5, 2011, accessed January 18, 2013 .  
11. ↑ Peter H. Lee : Sourcebook of Korean Civilization . 1996, p.  39 .
12. ^ ^{A b} Seth : A Concise History of Korea . 2006, p.  182 .
13. ^ Taken : Korea - Tradition & Transformation . 1996, p.  128 .
14. ^ ^{A b} History of Korea - Late Joseon Period - King Yeongjo's Reforms . About Korea ㆍ KoreaAwards , June 2, 2009, archived from the original on February 16, 2013 ; accessed on January 13, 2019 (English, original website no longer available).  
15. ↑ 균역법 ( 均 役 法 ). isun corp , archived from the original on February 21, 2013 ; Retrieved January 13, 2019 (Korean, original website no longer available).  
16. ^ Taken : Korea - Tradition & Transformation . 1996, p.  130 f .
17. ^ Taken : Korea - Tradition & Transformation . 1996, p.  130 .
18. ↑ Hildi Kang : Family Linage Records as a Resource for Korean History, A Case Study of Thirty-Nine generations of the Sinch'on Kang Family (720 AD - 1955) . The Edwin Mellen Pressy , Lewiston 2007, ISBN 978-0-7734-5339-5 , pp.  124 (English).
19. ↑ Jang Sang-hoon : Detail Map of Korea: A great legacy lifetime devoted to compiling geography of the nation . In: National Museum of Korea (ed.): Quarterly Magazine . Volume 6 . Seoul 2006, p.  10 (English).
20. ^ Kang Kwan-shik : Portraits of the Joseon Dynasty Period . In: National Museum of Korea (ed.): Quarterly Magazine . Volume 9 , fall. Seoul 2009, p.  7 (English).