Joseon Dynasty

Royal throne of the Joseon Dynasty, c. 1800-1900, in front of Sun, Moon, and Five Peaks Screen, also c. 1800-1900, at Asian Art Museum, San Francisco

• Dates: 1392-1897
• Capital: 漢城 (Hanseong, Hansŏng)
• Korean/Japanese: 朝鮮 (Joseon, Chosŏn / Chousen)

The Joseon Dynasty ruled a united Korea from 1392 until 1897, from its capital at Hanseong, the city today known as Seoul.

History

The dynasty was founded by Yi Sŏnggye, who then took the name King Taejo, ruling from 1392 until 1398. The fall of the preceding Koryŏ Dynasty came in part due to Koryŏ campaigns against Ming Dynasty China over control of the Ssangsŏng region, and Yi Sŏnggye's preference for negotiation over combat as a means to resolve the matter. Immediately after establishing the new dynasty, Yi made efforts to reaffirm Korea's tributary loyalties to the Ming, and sought to receive investiture - a sign of formal recognition of Joseon legitimacy - in return. However, it was not until 1403 that the Ming granted that investiture, and formally recognized the Yi clan (i.e. the Joseon dynasty) as legitimate rulers of all the territory Koryo had previously held.

At the beginning of the Joseon Dynasty, the population of Korea was likely around 3.5 million, up from 3 million a century earlier.

The early Joseon Dynasty (c. 1400-1450) saw the introduction of porcelain technology into Korea.

King Taejo was raised in a Yuan Dynasty commandery, the son of a Yuan official of Korean extraction; as such, he grew up with close Jurchen, Mongol, and Han Chinese associates, as well as those of Korean ethnicity. Following the fall of the Yuan, that commandery became a portion of Korean territory once again, and after taking the throne, Taejo began receiving tribute from the Jurchens immediately. Around a century later, Joseon had incorporated a number of Jurchen areas (and thus, many Jurchen people) into its territory, and had begun re-settling Koreans into the northern border regions. Six garrisons on the Tumen River (today the eastern part of North Korea's border with China and Russia) guarded these settlements.

Wakô pirate raids on the Korean and Chinese coasts were perhaps the most major concern in Japan's relations with both Joseon Korea and Ming Dynasty China in the 15th-16th centuries. Due to these pirate threats, the Korean court gave up on attempts to send formal missions to Southeast Asian courts after the 1390s. Trade in Southeast Asian goods continued, however, through Korea's contacts with China, Japan, and Ryûkyû. The wakô (lit. "Japanese pirates") were in fact people from all over the region, mainly Chinese, under the direct control of no central or prominent Japanese authority. Despite demands from Joseon and Ming to the Ashikaga shogunate to put an end to the piracy, it was not within the shogun's power to command the pirates. In the 15th century, Joseon made several attempts to curb or cut off this pirate activity, eventually entering into an arrangement in 1443 with the Sô samurai clan of Tsushima, who were granted a variety of privileges in exchange for taking a leading role in ensuring that all Japanese trading ships traveling to Korea were properly licensed and authorized, and in taking care of those which were not (i.e. the pirates). In the Edo period, the Sô came to be the only Japanese traveling or communicating between Korea and Japan, wielding considerable power as the only intermediaries between the Joseon court and the Tokugawa shogunate, overseeing and managing all trade and diplomatic interactions between the two lands.

As the Manchus gained strength in Northeast Asia in the early decades of the 17th century, factions emerged within the Joseon Court for and against submission to the Qing. Prince Gwanghae, who reigned as king from 1608, sought to accommodate the Manchus, and was supported by the Puk'in faction; however, the rival Sŏin faction saw this as submission to barbarians, as a violation of the recognition of Ming China as the source of great civilization, and as a betrayal to the Ming, who had so aided Korea in defeating Hideyoshi's forces. In 1623, the Sŏin faction staged a coup, and placed King Injo on the throne, marking the beginning of an even deeper adherence to Confucian orthodoxy, and Ming loyalty. This came to be known as the Injo Revolt. Manchu attacks on Korea in 1636 only strengthened anti-Manchu attitudes within the Korean court, and though the court did eventually capitulate to paying tribute to the Qing, they maintained their loyalty to the Ming as one of the central ideals of their state.

While Joseon maintained a policy of maritime restrictions more or less just as strict as that of the Tokugawa shogunate, it was less strict in banning Christianity, and a number of Christian missionaries managed to sneak into Korea from China over the course of the period.

In the 1860s, seeking to protect and continue its traditional tributary relationship with Qing Dynasty China, Korea resisted entering into diplomatic relations in the Western mode with either Western powers, or with the Qing's own Western-style foreign affairs office, the Zongli Yamen. When informed in 1869 of the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate and the establishment of a new Imperial Japanese government, the Korean Court chastised the Sô family for its breach of the traditional vassal/tributary relationship, and Japanese-Korean relations soured for several years; after Tsushima and the Sô clan were removed from their traditionally special permission, and the Meiji government more fully took over control of foreign relations, factions within the government debated in 1873-1874 whether to invade Korea as punishment for its hostile position; in the end, there was no invasion, and several prominent figures in support of the invasion resigned from government. In 1875, a Japanese ship requesting aid, food, and water at a Korean port was fired upon in response, and so Inoue Kaoru and Kuroda Kiyotaka traveled to Korea on an official mission to address the issue. Mori Arinori was simultaneously dispatched to China, to seek China's assistance in securing friendly relations with Korea.

Japanese-Korean relations in the Western/modern mode were finally established in 1876. The Treaty of Ganghwa signed that year has been regarded as one of the Unequal Treaties, granting Japan many of the same privileges in Korea that Western powers now enjoyed in Japan.

Kings of Joseon

(Rulers are listed with their queen or consort)

• King Taejo 太祖 (1335-1408, r. 1392-1398)
• King Jeongjong 定宗 (1357-1419, r. 1398-1400)
• King Taejong 太宗 (1367-1422, r. 1400-1418)
• King Sejong 世宗 (1397-1450, r. 1418-1450)
• King Munjong 文宗 (1414-1452, r. 1450-1452)
• King Danjong 端宗 (1441-1457, r. 1452-1455)
• King Sejo 世祖 (1417-1468, r. 1455-1468)
• King Yejong 睿宗 (1450-1469, r. 1468-1469)
• King Seongjong 成宗 (1457-1494, r. 1469-1494)
• Prince Yeonsan 燕山君 (1476-1506, r. 1494-1506)
• King Jungjong 中宗 (1488-1544, r. 1506-1544)
• King Injong 仁宗 (1515-1545, r. 1544-1545)
• King Myeongjong 明宗 (1534-1567, r. 1545-1567)
• King Seonjo 宣祖 (1552-1608, r. 1567-1608)
• Prince Gwanghae 光海君 (1575-1641, r. 1608-1623)
• King Injo　仁祖 (1595-1649, r. 1623-1649)
• King Hyojong 孝宗 (1619-1659, r. 1649-1659)
• King Hyeonjong 顕宗 (1641-1674, r. 1659-1674)
  • Queen Myeongseong 明聖 (mother of King Sukjong and Princess Myeong-an)
• King Sukjong 肅宗 (1661-1720, r. 1674-1720)
  • Royal Noble Consort Sukbin (mother of King Yeongjo)
• King Gyeongjong 景宗 (1688-1724, r. 1720-1724)
• King Yeongjo 英祖 (1694-1776, r. 1724-1776)
  • Royal Noble Consort Yeongbin 寧嬪 (mother of Crown Prince Sado)
  • Crown Prince Sado (Honorary King Jangjo, father of King Jeongjo)
  • Lady Hyegyeong (wife of Crown Prince Sado, mother of King Jeongjo)
• King Jeongjo 正祖 (1752-1800, r. 1776-1800)
  • Royal Noble Consort Subin 綏嬪 (mother of King Sunjo)
• King Sunjo 純祖 (1790-1834, r. 1800-1834)
  • Queen Sunwon (1789-1857, mother of Crown Prince Hyo-myeong)
  • Crown Prince Hyo-myeong (Honorary King Munjo, father of King Heonjong)
  • Queen Sinjeong (1808-1890, wife of Crown Prince Hyo-myeong, mother of King Heonjong)
• King Heonjong 憲宗 (1827-1849, r. 1834-1849)
• King Cheoljong 哲宗 (1831-1863, r. 1849-1863)
• King Gojong 高宗 (Emperor Gojong, 1852-1919, r. 1863-1907)
  • Empress Myeongseong (mother of Emperor Sunjong)
  • Royal Noble Consort Gwibi (mother of Imperial Prince Yeong)
  • Imperial Prince Yeong (1897-1970)
  • Crown Princess Uimin (consort of Imperial Prince Yeong)
  • Emperor Sunjong (1874-1926, r. 1907-1910)

References

• In Grand Style, San Francisco: Asian Art Museum (2013), xxii-xxiii.

Preceded by: Goryeo (Koryŏ)

Joseon Dynasty 1392-1897

Succeeded by: Korean Empire