Taejo of Joseon

By the late 14th century, the 400-year-old Goryeo dynasty established by Wang Geon in 918 was tottering, its foundations collapsing from years of war and de facto occupation by the waning Yuan dynasty. The legitimacy of Korea itself was also becoming an increasingly disputed issue within the court, as the ruling house failed not only to govern the kingdom effectively, but was also tarnished by generations of forced intermarriage with members of the Yuan imperial family and by rivalry amongst various Goryeo royal family branches (even King U's mother was a known commoner, thus leading to rumors disputing his descent from King Gongmin).

Within the kingdom, influential aristocrats, generals, and even prime ministers struggled for royal favor and vied for domination of the court, resulting in deep divisions among various factions. With the ever-increasing number of raids against Goryeo conducted by Japanese pirates (wakō) and the Red Turbans, those who came to dominate the royal court were the reformed-minded Sinjin aristocracy and the opposing Gweonmun aristocracy, as well as generals who could actually fight off the foreign threats—namely a talented general named Yi Seong-gye and his rival Choe Yeong. With the rise of the Ming dynasty under a former monk, Zhu Yuanzhang (the Hongwu Emperor), Yuan forces became more vulnerable. By the 1350s Goryeo regained its full independence from the Yuan dynasty, although Yuan remnants effectively occupied northeastern territories with large garrisons of troops.

General Yi Seong-gye had gained power and respect during the late 1370s and early 1380s by pushing Mongol remnants off the peninsula and also by repelling well-organized Japanese pirates in a series of successful engagements. He was also credited with routing the Red Turbans when they made their move into the Korean Peninsula as part of their rebellion against the Yuan Dynasty. Following in the wake of the rise of the Ming dynasty under Zhu Yuanzhang, the royal court in Goryeo split into two competing factions: the group led by General Yi (supporting the Ming dynasty) and the camp led by his rival General Choe (supporting the Yuan dynasty).

When a Ming messenger came to Goryeo in 1388 (the 14th year of King U) to demand the return of a significant portion of Goryeo's northern territory, General Choe seized the opportunity and played upon the prevailing anti-Ming atmosphere to argue for the invasion of the Liaodong Peninsula (Goryeo claimed to be the successor of the ancient kingdom of Goguryeo; as such, restoring Manchuria as part of Korean territory was a tenet of its foreign policy throughout its history).

A staunchly opposed Yi was chosen to lead the invasion; however, at Wihwa Island on the Amrok River, he made a momentous decision, commonly called "Turning back the army from Wihwa Island", that would alter the course of Korean history. Knowing of the support he enjoyed both from high-ranking government officials, the general populace, and the great deterrent of Ming Empire under the Hongwu Emperor, he decided to revolt and swept back to the capital, Gaegyeong, to secure control of the government.

General Yi swept his army from the Yalu straight into the capital, defeated forces loyal to the king (led by General Choe, whom he proceeded to eliminate), and forcibly dethroned King U in a de facto coup, but did not ascend to the throne right away. Instead, he placed on the throne King U's son, King Chang, and following a failed restoration of the former monarch, had both of them put to death. General Yi, now the undisputed power behind the throne, soon forcibly had a Goryeo royal named Yo, now King Gongyang (공양왕; 恭讓王), crowned as king. After indirectly enforcing his grasp on the royal court through the puppet king, Yi then proceeded to ally himself with Sinjin aristocrats, such as Jeong Do-jeon and Jo Jun. In 1392 (the 4th year of King Gongyang), Yi dethroned King Gongyang, exiled him to Wonju (where he and his family were secretly murdered), and ascended the throne, thus ending the Goryeo Dynasty after 475 years of rule.

One of the most widely repeated episodes that occurred in the immediate aftermath of the fall of Goryeo was in 1392, when Taejo's fifth son, Yi Bang-won (later King Taejong), threw a party for the renowned scholar, poet and statesman Jeong Mong-ju, who refused to be won over by Yi despite their numerous correspondences in the form of archaic poems, and continued to be a faithful supporter of the old dynasty, and a leading figure in the opposition to Yi's claim to the throne. Jeong was revered throughout Goryeo, even by Yi Bang-won himself, but he was seen to be an obstacle and as such, in the eyes of supporters of the new dynasty, had to be removed. After the party, on his way home, Jeong was murdered by five men on the Seonjuk Bridge (선죽교; 善竹橋) in Gaeseong. This bridge has now become a national monument of North Korea, and a brown spot on one of the stones is said to be a bloodstain of his which turns red when it rains.

Yi Seong-gye declared a new dynasty in 1392–1393 under the name of Joseon, thereby reviving an older state, also known as Joseon, that was, legendarily, established nearly three thousand years previously, and renamed the country the "Kingdom of Great Joseon".

An early achievement of the new monarch was improved relations with China; and indeed, Joseon had its origin in General Yi's refusal to attack China in response to raids from Chinese bandits.[5] Shortly after his accession, the new monarch sent envoys to inform the Ming court at Nanjing that a dynastic change had taken place.[6] Korean envoys were dispatched to Japan, seeking the re-establishment of amicable relations. The mission was successful; and shōgun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu was reported to have been favorably impressed by this initial embassy.[7] Envoys from the Ryūkyū Kingdom were received in 1392, 1394 and 1397. Siam sent an envoy in 1393.[6]

In 1394, the capital was established at Hanseong (Seoul).[8][9] When the new dynasty was promulgated and officially brought into existence, Taejo brought up the issue of which son would be his successor. Although Taejo's fifth son by Queen Sineui, Yi Bang-won, had contributed most to assisting his father's rise to power, he harbored a profound hatred against two of his father's key allies in the court, the prime minister Jeong Do-jeon and Nam Eun.

Both sides were fully aware of the mutual animosity that existed between each other and constantly felt threatened. When it became clear that Yi Bang-won was the most worthy successor to the throne, Jeong Do-jeon used his influence on the king to convince him that the wisest choice would be in the son that Taejo loved most, not the son that Taejo felt was best for the kingdom.

In 1392, the eighth son of King Taejo (the second son of Queen Sindeok), Grand Prince Uian (Yi Bang-seok) was appointed Prince Royal, or successor to the throne. After the sudden death of the queen, and while King Taejo was still in mourning for his second wife, Jeong Do-jeon conspired to pre-emptively kill Yi Bang-won and his brothers to secure his position in court.

In 1398, upon hearing of this plan, Yi Bang-won immediately revolted and raided the palace, killing Jeong Do-jeon, his followers, and the two sons of the late Queen Sindeok. This incident became known as the First Strife of Princes. Aghast at the fact that his sons were willing to kill each other for the crown, and psychologically exhausted from the death of his second wife, King Taejo immediately crowned his second son Yi Bang-gwa, later King Jeongjong, as the new ruler. Thereafter, King Taejo retired to the Hamhung Royal Villa. After that, he maintained distance with Yi Bang-won. Doing so provoked huge rampage from Taejo, because both the two sons and Jeong Do-jeon were whom he favored. Allegedly, Yi Bang-won sent emissaries numerous times, and each time Taejo killed them to express his firm decision not to meet his son again. This historical anecdote gave birth to the term "Hamhung Cha sa", which means a person who never comes back despite several nudges.[10] But recent studies have found that Taejo in fact did not kill any of those Hamung emissaries. Those subjects were killed during revolts, which coincidentally occurred in the Hamhung region.[11]

In 1400, King Jeongjong pronounced his brother Yi Bang-won as heir presumptive and voluntarily abdicated. That same year, Yi Bang-won assumed the throne of Joseon at long last as King Taejong.

Ten years after his abdication, King Taejo died on May 24, 1408 in Changdeok Palace. He was buried at the tomb of Geonwonleung (건원릉, 健元陵) in the city of Guri.[12]

One of the many issues demonstrating the early strained relationship between the early Joseon & Ming was the debate of Taejo's genealogy, which began as early as 1394 [Taejo Sillok, vol.6, July 14, 1394, entry 1] and became a sort of diplomatic friction that lasted over 200 years. The Collected Regulations of the Great Ming (then known as simplified Chinese: 大明会通; traditional Chinese: 大明會通; pinyin: Dà Míng Hùitōng) erroneously recorded "Yi Dan" (이단; Taejo's original name) as the son of Yi In-im (이인임), and that "Yi Dan" killed the last four kings of Goryeo, thereby establishing Ming's opinion of Taejo as an usurper first and foremost, from the time of the Hongwu Emperor when he repeatedly refused to acknowledge him as the new sovereign of the Korean peninsula (1373-1395). The first mention of this error was in 1518 (about 9 years after the publication; Jungjong Sillok, vol.32, June 3, 1518, entry 1), and those who saw the publication wrote petitions towards Ming demanding for redress, among others Fourth State Councillor (좌찬성) Lee Gye-maeng (이계맹) & then-Minister of Rites (예조판서) Nam Gon, whose petition "Jong'gye Byeonmu" (종계변무 宗系辨誣) [Jungjong Sillok, vol.33, July 3, 1518, entry 1] took until 1584 (after many Ming envoys had seen it), through Chief Scholar (대제학) Hwang Jeong-uk (황정욱), that the issue was finally addressed Seonjo Sillok, December 2, 1584, entry 2]; the Wanli Emperor commissioned a second edition in 1576 (covering the years covers the years between 1479 and 1584). About a year after its completion, Yoo Hong (유홍) saw the revision, and returned to Joseon with the good news [Seonjo Sillok, vol.22, April 23, 1588, entry 1; May 19, 1588, entry 1].

• Father: King Hwanjo of Joseon (1315 – January 1, 1361) (조선 환조)[13] (이자춘, 1315-January 1361)[14]
  • Grandfather: King Dojo of Joseon (? – 1342) (조선 도조)
  • Grandmother: Queen Gyeongsun of the Munju Park clan (경순왕후 박씨)
• Mother: Queen Uihye of the Yeongheung Choi clan (의혜왕후 최씨)[14][15]
  • Grandfather: Choi Han-Gi (최한기)
  • Grandmother: Lady Joseonguk of Lee clan (조선국대부인 이씨)
• Consorts and their Respective Issue:

1. Queen Shinui of the Anbyeon Han clan (September 1337 – October 21, 1391) (신의왕후 한씨)[16][17]
   1. Yi Bang-U, Grand Prince Jinan (1354 - January 15, 1394) (이방우 진안대군)[18]
   2. Yi Bang-Gwa, Grand Prince Yeongan (July 18, 1357 – October 15, 1419) (이방과 영안대군)
   3. Yi Bang-Ui, Grand Prince Ikan (1360 – September 26, 1404) (이방의 익안대군)
   4. Yi Bang-Gan, Grand Prince Hwoean (July 2, 1364 – April 10, 1421) (이방간 회안대군)
   5. Yi Bang-Won, Grand Prince Jeongan (June 13, 1367 – May 30, 1422) (이방원 정안대군)
   6. Yi Bang-Yeon, Grand Prince Deokan (이방연 덕안대군)
   7. Princess Gyeongshin (? – April 29, 1426) (경신공주)[19]
   8. Princess Gyeongseon (경선공주)[20]
2. Queen Sindeok of the Goksan Kang clan (July 12, 1356 – September 15, 1396) (신덕왕후 강씨)[21][22][23]
   1. Yi Bang-Beon, Grand Prince Muan (1381 - October 6, 1398) (이방번 무안대군)[24][25])
   2. Yi Bang-Seok, Grand Prince Uian (1382 – October 6, 1398) (이방석 의안대군)[24][25]
   3. Princess Gyeongsun (? – September 8, 1407) (경순공주)[26][27]
3. Royal Noble Consort Seong of the Wonju Won clan (? – December 29, 1449) (성비 원씨)[28][29]
4. Lady Jeonggyeong of the Goheung Yu clan (정경궁주 유씨)[30][31]
5. Princess Hwaui of the Kim clan (? – 1428) (화의옹주 김씨)[32]
   1. Princess Sukshin (? – 1453) (숙신옹주)[33]
6. Lady Chandeok of the Ju clan (찬덕 주씨)[34]
   1. Princess Uiryeong (? – February 1, 1466) (의령옹주)[35]