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Gyeongjong of Joseon

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Gyeongjong of Joseon
조선 경종
朝鮮景宗
King of Joseon
Reign12 July 1720 – 11 October 1724
PredecessorSukjong
SuccessorYeongjo
Born20 November 1688
Chwiseondang Hall, Changgyeong Palace, Hanseong, Joseon
Died11 October 1724(1724-10-11) (aged 35)
Hwanchujeon Hall, Changgyeong Palace, Hanseong, Joseon
Burial
Uineung Mausoleum, Seongbuk District, Seoul, South Korea
Spouse(s)
​
​
(m. 1696; died 1718)​
​
(m. 1718)​
Names
Yi Yun (이윤; 李昀)
Posthumous name
Joseon: King Gakgong Deokmun Ikmu Sunin Seonhyo the Great (각공덕문익무순인선효대왕; 恪恭德文翼武純仁宣孝大王)
Temple name
Gyeongjong (경종; 景宗)
ClanJeonju Yi
DynastyYi
FatherSukjong of Joseon
MotherRoyal Noble Consort Hui
ReligionKorean Confucianism (Neo-Confucianism)
Korean name
Hangul
경종
Hanja
Revised RomanizationGyeongjong
McCune–ReischauerKyŏngjong
Birth name
Hangul
이윤
Hanja
Revised RomanizationI Yun
McCune–ReischauerI Yun
Courtesy name
Hangul
휘서
Hanja
Revised RomanizationHwiseo
McCune–ReischauerHwisŏ
Art name
Hangul
양성헌
Hanja
Revised RomanizationYangseongheon
McCune–ReischauerYangsŏnghŏn
Monarchs of Korea
Joseon monarchs
Taejo 1392–1398
Jeongjong 1398–1400
Taejong 1400–1418
Sejong 1418–1450
Munjong 1450–1452
Danjong 1452–1455
Sejo 1455–1468
Yejong 1468–1469
Seongjong 1469–1494
Yeonsangun 1494–1506
Jungjong 1506–1544
Injong 1544–1545
Myeongjong 1545–1567
Seonjo 1567–1608
Gwanghaegun 1608–1623
Injo 1623–1649
Hyojong 1649–1659
Hyeonjong 1659–1674
Sukjong 1674–1720
Gyeongjong 1720–1724
Yeongjo 1724–1776
Jeongjo 1776–1800
Sunjo 1800–1834
Heonjong 1834–1849
Cheoljong 1849–1864
Gojong 1864–1897

Gyeongjong (Korean: 경종; Hanja: 景宗; 20 November 1688 – 11 October 1724), personal name Yi Yun (이윤; 李昀), was the 20th monarch of the Joseon dynasty of Korea. He was the eldest son of King Sukjong by his concubine, Royal Noble Consort Hui of the Indong Jang clan.

Biography

[edit]

In 1690, Gyeongjong's designation as heir to the throne precipitated a struggle between the Noron faction, which supported his half-brother Prince Yeoning, and the Soron faction, which supported Gyeongjong of Joseon.[1] Due to this struggle, Soron scholars were kept out of power and factional strife reached a high point during Gyeongjong's reign.[2]

Following the death of King Sukjong in 1720, Crown Prince Hwiso (Yi Yun, 이윤 왕세자) ascended the throne at age 31 as King Gyeongjong. When Sukjong died in 1720, he supposedly told Yi Yi-myoung to name Yeoning-geum as Gyeongjong's heir, but suspicions arose between Soron, Noron enemies, from the absence of a historiographer or recorder.

Gyeongjong suffered from ill health during his reign, and the Noron political faction pressured Gyeongjong to step down in favor of his half-brother, Prince Yeoning. In 1720, two months after his enthronement, his half brother, Prince Yeoning (the future King Yeongjo) was installed as Crown Prince (wangseje, 왕세제, 王世弟) to handle state affairs, since the king's weak health made impossible for him to manage politics.

It is said that, Gyeongjong's mother, Lady Jang, was to blame for his illnesses. She was sentenced to death by poison, in 1701. Following the ruling, Lady Jang begged to see her son, the Crown Prince (later Gyeongjong). As she dashed towards him to greet him, she inflicted a severe injury to the Crown Prince's lower abdomen that left him sterile and unable to produce an heir. Owing to King Gyeongjong's fragile health, he had no energy or time to do anything significant in the four years of his reign.[3]

This aggravated the power struggle and led to a big massacre, namely the Shinimsahwa (辛壬士禍).[4] The Norons sent memorials to the king to no effect while the Sorons used this to their advantage—claiming the Noron faction were trying to usurp power and subsequently getting their rival faction removed from several offices. Members of the Soron faction then came up with an idea to assassinate the heir (Yeoning-geum) under the cover of hunting for a white fox said to be haunting the palace, but Queen dowager Inwon protected him and he was able to keep living, after this he said to the king he rather would go and live as a commoner.

During his four years reign, there were two major incidents of massacre; one is Sinchuk-oksa in which the ruling political party, Soron, swept the opposition Noron, a group that insisted that Gyeongjong's half-brother, Prince Yeoning, handle national affairs on behalf of the weak and ailing king during the first year of Gyeongjongreign 1720 and the other one is Imin-oksa which took place in the 2nd year of his reign, circa 1722. History calls both incidents as Sinim-sahwa. During his reign, he made small guns in imitation of the western weapons and reformed the land measurement system in the southern parts of the country.[5]

King Gyeongjong died in 1724 and was entombed in the Cheonjangsan Mountain of Yangju. The title of the tomb was granted as the Uireung.

There was some speculation from Soron party members that his half-brother, Prince Yeoning, had something to do with his death due to the earlier attempt by the Noron faction to have him replace Gyeongjong on the throne, but several historiographers now conclude that he could have died of eating spoiled seafood, as described in Homer's book, The History of Korea.[6] “But we may well doubt the truth of the rumour, for nothing that is told of that brother indicates that he would commit such an act, and in the second place a man who will eat shrimps in mid-summer, that have been brought thirty miles from the sea without ice might expect to die.”[7]

After his death, the chronicles of Gyeongjong's rule were published in 1732 under the reign of Yeongjo's reign. A few of Gyeongjong's youthful calligraphic works have also survived: [1]

Family

[edit]
  • Father: King Sukjong of Joseon (조선의 숙종; 7 October 1661 – 12 July 1720)
    • Grandfather: King Hyeonjong of Joseon (조선의 현종; 14 March 1641 – 17 September 1674)
    • Grandmother: Queen Myeongseong of the Cheongpung Kim clan (명성왕후 김씨; 13 June 1642 – 21 January 1684)
  • Mother: Royal Noble Consort Hui of the Indong Jang clan (희빈 장씨; 3 November 1659 – 9 November 1701)
    • Grandfather: Jang Hyeong (장형; 25 February 1623 – 12 January 1669)
    • Grandmother: Lady Yun of the Papyeong Yun clan (파평 윤씨; 1626–1698)

Consort(s) and their respective issue

[edit]

Calligraphy by Gyeongjong

[edit]
  • Written during the time being the Crown Prince
    Written during the time being the Crown Prince
  • Written in 1708
    Written in 1708
  • Written in 1713
    Written in 1713
[edit]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Jackson, Andrew (2016). The 1728 Musin Rebellion: Politics and Plotting in Eighteenth-Century Korea. University of Hawaii Press. pp. 17–18.
  2. ^ Jackson, Andrew (2016). The 1728 Musin Rebellion: Politics and Plotting in Eighteenth-Century Korea. University of Hawaii Press. pp. 18–20.
  3. ^ "Uireung Tomb - Exploring Korea". Archived from the original on 21 July 2017. Retrieved 31 July 2013.
  4. ^ Royal Palaces and tomb http://jikimi.cha.go.kr/english/royal_palaces_new/Uireung.jsp?mc=EN_05_02_08
  5. ^ Uireng, Royal tomb of Queen Seonui http://www.seongbuk.go.kr/pms/contents/contents.do?contseqn=508&sitecdv=S0000200&menucdv=04010600&decorator=user02En Archived 2014-03-24 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ "The history of Korea". Seoul, Methodist Pub. House. 1905.
  7. ^ Uireung - A Story of King Sukjong and King Gyeongjong http://samedi.livejournal.com/359996.html
  8. ^ Daughter of Shim Ho (심호)
  9. ^ Daughter of Eo Yu-gu (어유구)
Gyeongjong of Joseon
Born: 1688 Died: 1724
Regnal titles
Preceded by King of Joseon
1720–1724 		Succeeded by
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