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| Taejo 태조 太祖 | |||||||||||||||||
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 Portrait of King Taejo | |||||||||||||||||
| Grand King Emeritus ofJoseon | |||||||||||||||||
| Tenure | 14 October 1398 – 27 June 1408 | ||||||||||||||||
| Successor | Taejong | ||||||||||||||||
| King of Joseon | |||||||||||||||||
| Reign | 5 August 1392 – 14 October 1398 | ||||||||||||||||
| Enthronement | Suchang Palace,Gaegyeong | ||||||||||||||||
| Predecessor | Dynasty established (Gongyang asKing of Goryeo) | ||||||||||||||||
| Successor | Jeongjong | ||||||||||||||||
| Born | 4 November 1335 Ssangseong Prefecture,Great Yuan | ||||||||||||||||
| Died | 27 June 1408(1408-06-27) (aged 72) Byeoljeon Hall, Gwangyeonru Pavilion,Changdeokgung,Hanseong,Joseon | ||||||||||||||||
| Burial | Donggureung,Guri, South Korea | ||||||||||||||||
| Spouse(s) | |||||||||||||||||
| Issue among others... | |||||||||||||||||
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| Clan | Jeonju Yi | ||||||||||||||||
| Dynasty | Yi | ||||||||||||||||
| Father | Yi Cha-ch'un | ||||||||||||||||
| Mother | Lady Ch'oe | ||||||||||||||||
| Religion | Korean Buddhism | ||||||||||||||||
| Signature |  | ||||||||||||||||
| Military career | |||||||||||||||||
| Allegiance |  Goryeo | ||||||||||||||||
| Years of service | 1356–1392 | ||||||||||||||||
| Rank | Commander-in-Chief of the Three Armies | ||||||||||||||||
| Battles / wars |
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| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 태조 |
|---|---|
| Hanja | 太祖 |
| Revised Romanization | Taejo |
| McCune–Reischauer | T'aejo |
| Art name | |
| Hangul | 송헌 & 송헌거사 |
| Hanja | 松軒 & 松軒居士 |
| Revised Romanization | Songheon & Songheongeosa |
| McCune–Reischauer | Songhŏn & Songhŏn'gŏsa |
| Birth name | |
| Hangul | 이성계, later 이단 |
| Hanja | 李成桂, later 李旦 |
| Revised Romanization | I Seonggye, later I Dan |
| McCune–Reischauer | I Sŏnggye, later I Tan |
| Courtesy name | |
| Hangul | 중결 & 군진 |
| Hanja | 仲潔 & 君晋 |
| Revised Romanization | Junggyeol & Gunjin |
| McCune–Reischauer | Chunggyŏl & Kunjin |
| Monarchs of Korea | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Joseon monarchs | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Taejo (Korean: 태조;Hanja: 太祖; 4 November 1335 – 27 June 1408),[b] personal nameYi Sŏng-gye (이성계;李成桂), laterYi Tan (이단;李旦), was the founder and first monarch of theJoseon dynasty ofKorea. After overthrowing theGoryeo dynasty, he ascended to the throne in 1392 and abdicated six years later during a strife between his sons. He was honored asEmperor Go (고황제;高皇帝) following the establishment of theKorean Empire.
Taejo emphasized continuity over change. No new institutions were created, and no massive purges occurred during his reign. His new dynasty was largely dominated by the same ruling families and officials that had served the previous regime.[5] He re-established amicable ties with Japan and improved relations withMing China.[6][7][8]
The future King Taejo was born inSsangseong Prefecture on the frontiers of theYuan dynasty. Taejo's father wasYi Cha-ch'un, an official of Korean ethnicity serving theMongol-led Yuan.[9] His mother,Lady Ch'oe, came from a family originally from Deungju (present-dayAnbyŏn County, North Korea).[10] In 1356, the Yi family defected to Goryeo, helping Goryeo seize control of Ssangseong Prefecture from its governor, Cho So-saeng.[11]
By the late 14th century, the 400-year-oldGoryeo dynasty established byWang Kŏn in 918 was tottering, its foundations collapsing from years of war andde facto occupation by the disintegratingMongol Empire. The legitimacy of the royal family itself was also becoming an increasingly disputed issue within the court. Theruling house not only failed to govern the kingdom effectively but was also affected by rivalry among its various branches and by generations offorced intermarriage with members of the Yuan imperial family.King U's biological mother being a knownslave led to rumors contesting his descent fromKing Gongmin.
Influential aristocrats, generals, and ministers struggled for royal favor and vied for domination of the court, resulting in deep divisions between variousfactions. With the ever-increasing number of raids against Goryeo conducted byJapanese pirates and theRed Turbans, those who came to dominate the royal court were the reform-mindedSinjin faction of thescholar-officials and the opposingGwonmun faction of the oldaristocratic families as well as generals who could actually fight off the foreign threats—namely Yi Sŏng-gye and his rivalCh'oe Yŏng. As theMing dynasty started to emerge, the Yuan forces became more vulnerable, and Goryeo regained its full independence by the mid-1350s although Yuan remnants effectively occupied northeastern territories with large garrisons of troops.
Yi Sŏng-gye started his career as a military officer in 1360 and would eventually rise up the ranks.[5] In October 1361, he killed Pak Ŭi who rebelled against the government. In the same year when the Red Turbans hadinvaded and seized Gaegyeong (present-dayKaesŏng), he helped recapture the capital city with 3,000 men. In 1362, GeneralNaghachu invaded Goryeo and Yi Sŏng-gye defeated him after being appointed as commander.[2]
General Yi had gained prestige during the late 1370s and early 1380s by pushing Mongol remnants off the peninsula and also by repelling the well-organized Japanese pirates in a series of successful engagements.[5] In the wake of the rise of the Ming dynasty under Zhu Yuanzhang (theHongwu Emperor), the royal court in Goryeo split into two competing factions: the camp led by General Yi (supporting the Ming) and the one led by General Choe (supporting the Yuan).
When a Ming messenger came to Goryeo in 1388 to demand the return of a significant portion of Goryeo's northern territory, Ch'oe Yŏng seized the opportunity and played upon the prevailing anti-Ming atmosphere to argue for the invasion of theLiaodong Peninsula. Goryeo claimed to be the successor of the ancient Korean kingdom ofGoguryeo; as such, reclaimingManchuria as part of Korean territory was a tenet of its foreign policy throughout its history.[citation needed]
A staunchly opposed Yi Sŏng-gye was chosen to lead the invasion; however, atWihwa Island on theAmnok River, he made a momentous decision known as theWihwado Retreat (위화도 회군;威化島 回軍;lit. 'Turning back the army from Wihwa Island') which would alter the course of Korean history. Aware of the support he enjoyed from both high-ranking officials and the general populace, he decided to revolt and return to Gaegyeong to secure control of the government.
General Yi led his army from the Amnok River straight into the capital, defeated forces loyal to the royal family (led by General Ch'oe whom he proceeded to eliminate), and forcibly dethronedKing U in ade factocoup d'état but did not ascend to the throne himself. Instead, he placed on the throne King U's eight-year-old son,Wang Ch'ang, and following a failed attempt to restore the former king to the throne, had both U and his son put to death. Yi Sŏng-gye, now the undisputed power behind the throne, soon forcibly had a distant royal relative namedWang Yo (posthumously King Gongyang) crowned as the new ruler, even among opposition from Goryeo loyalists. After indirectly enforcing his grasp on the royal court through the puppet king, he proceeded to ally himself with Sinjin scholar-officials such asChŏng To-jŏn andCho Chun.
One of the most widely known events that occurred during this period was in 1392 when one of Yi Sŏng-gye's sons,Yi Pang-wŏn, organized a banquet for the renowned scholar and statesmanChŏng Mong-ju who refused to be won over by General Yi despite their assorted correspondence in the form of archaic poems and continued to be a faithful advocate for the old regime. Chŏng Mong-ju was revered throughout Goryeo, even by Yi Pang-wŏn himself, but in the eyes of the supporters of the new dynasty, he was seen as an obstacle which had to be removed. After the banquet, he was killed by five men on theSeonjuk Bridge.
In 1392, Yi Sŏng-gye forced King Gongyang to abdicate, exiled him toWonju (where he and his family were secretly executed), and enthroned himself as the new king, thus ending Goryeo's 475 years of rule.[12] In 1393, he changed his dynasty's name to Joseon.[13]
Among his early achievements was the improvement of relations with theMing; this had its origin in Taejo's refusal to attack their neighbor. Shortly after his accession, he sent envoys to inform the court atNanjing that a dynastic change had taken place.[14] Envoys were also dispatched to Japan, seeking the re-establishment of amicable connections. The mission was successful, andAshikaga Yoshimitsu was reported to have been favorably impressed by this embassy.[6] Envoys from theRyūkyū Kingdom were received in 1392, 1394 and 1397, as well as fromSiam in 1393.[14]
In 1394, the new capital was established at Hanseong (present-daySeoul).[15][16]
When the new dynasty was officially promulgated, the issue of which son would be the heir to the throne was brought up. Although Yi Pang-wŏn, Taejo's fifth son by his first wifeQueen Sinui, had contributed the most to his father's rise to power, he harbored a profound hatred against two of Taejo's key allies, Chŏng To-jŏn andNam Ŭn.
Both sides were fully aware of the mutual animosity and felt constantly threatened. When it became clear that Yi Pang-wŏn was the most worthy successor, Chŏng To-jŏn used his influence to convince the king that the wisest choice would be the son that he loved most, not the son that he felt was best for the kingdom.
In 1392, the eighth son of King Taejo and his second son byQueen Sindeok, Yi Pang-sŏk, was appointed as crown prince. After the sudden death of the queen in 1396 and while Taejo was still in mourning for his wife, Chŏng To-jŏn began conspiring to preemptively kill Yi Pang-wŏn and his brothers to secure his position in the royal court.[citation needed]
Upon hearing of this plan in 1398, Yi Pang-wŏn immediately revolted and raided the palace, killing Chŏng To-jŏn, his followers, and the two sons of the late Queen Sindeok. This incident became known as the First Strife of Princes (제1차 왕자의 난). Aghast at the fact that his sons were willing to kill each other for the throne and psychologically exhausted by the death of his second wife, Taejo immediately named his second son,Yi Pang-gwa (posthumously King Jeongjong), as the new successor and abdicated.[17]
Thereafter, Taejo retired to theHamhung Royal Villa and maintained distance with his fifth son for the rest of his life. Allegedly, Yi Pang-wŏn sent emissaries numerous times and each time the former king executed them to express his firm decision not to meet his son again. This historical anecdote gave birth to the termHamhung Chasa (함흥차사;咸興差使) which means a person who never comes back despite several nudges.[18] However, recent studies have found that Taejo did not actually execute any of the emissaries; these people died during revolts which coincidentally occurred in the region.[19]
In 1400, King Jeongjong named Yi Pang-wŏn as heir presumptive and voluntarily abdicated. That same year, Yi Pang-wŏn assumed the throne of Joseon; he is posthumously known as King Taejong.[20]
King Taejo died ten years after his abdication on 27 June 1408 inChangdeokgung. He was buried at Geonwolleung (건원릉) in theDonggureung Cluster (present-dayGuri, South Korea).[21] Thetomb of his umbilical cord is located inGeumsan County, South Korea.
Although Taejo overthrewGoryeo and expelled officials who remained loyal to the previous dynasty, many regard him as a revolutionary and a decisive ruler who eliminated an inept, obsolete and crippled governing system to save the nation from foreign forces and conflicts.
The resulting safeguarding of domestic security led theKoreans to rebuild and further discover their culture. In the midst of the rivalYuan andMing dynasties, Joseon encouraged the development of national identity which was once threatened by theMongols. However, some scholars, particularly in North Korea,[22] view Taejo as a mere traitor to the old regime and bourgeois apostate while paralleling him to GeneralCh'oe Yŏng, a military elite who conservatively served Goryeo to death.
His diplomatic successes in securing Korea in the early modern period are notable.[23][24][25]
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One of the many issues demonstrating the early strained relationship between Joseon andMing was the debate of Taejo's genealogy which began as early as 1394[26] and became a source of diplomatic friction that lasted over 200 years. TheCollected Regulations of the Great Ming erroneously recorded 'Yi Tan' (Taejo's personal name) as the son ofYi In-im and that Yi Tan killed thelast four kings of Goryeo. This established Ming's opinion of Taejo as an usurper first and foremost from the time of theHongwu Emperor when he repeatedly refused to acknowledge Taejo as the new sovereign of the Korean Peninsula. The first mention of this error was in 1518 (about 9 years after the publication).[27] Those who saw the publication petitioned the Ming for redress including, among others,leftchanseong Yi Kye-maeng andminister of ritesNam Gon, who wroteJonggye Byeonmu (종계변무;宗系辨誣).[28] It took until 1584 (after many Ming envoys had seen the petitions) throughchief scholar Hwang Chŏng-uk that the issue was finally addressed. TheWanli Emperor commissioned a second edition in 1576 (covering the years between 1479 and 1584). About a year after its completion, Yu Hong saw the revision and returned to Joseon with the good news.[29][30]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)Taejo of Joseon Born: 4 November 1335 Died: 27 June 1408 | ||
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| New title | King of Joseon 5 August 1392 – 14 October 1398 | Succeeded by |
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| King of Joseon (1392–1897) |
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| Emperor of Korea (1897–1910) | |||||||
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| Daewongun[note 3] | |||||||
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| King Yi[note 4] (1910–1947) |
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| Director of the Royal Family Association (1957–) |
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