|
Overview of Early Joseon Kings: Taejo to Seongjong (1392-1494) In this post I will take a look at the kings of the Early Joseon period. First we meet warriors who helped found the new Joseon dynasty but fight amongst themselves over the throne. Then we move onto 32 successful and peaceful years under King Sejong. And finally there is instability in the monarchy again with sickness and young weak rulers opening the way for a coup d’état.. It’s a rocky start to the Joseon period with nine kings in just over 100 years!
King Taejo (r.1392 – 1398) King Jeongjong (r. 1398-1400) King Taejong (r.1400 – 1418); King Sejong (r.1418-1450); King Munjong (r.1450-1452); King Danjong (r.1452-1455); King Sejo (r.1455-1468); King Yejong (r.1468-69); King Seongjong (r.1469-1494) A NOTE ON THE KING’S TITLE BTW I’m using the posthumous titles for the kings here most of the time. The family name of the ruling dynasty was Yi and the name of the first king of Joseon was Yi Seung-gye. He was given the title of King Taejo after he died (so that’s why we won’t catch him being called King Taejo to his face in any dramas!) But I’ll mostly just refer to him and the other kings by their posthumous titles just to make things easier. WARRIORS FORM THE NEW DYNASTY King Taejo (r.1392 – 1398) King Jeongjong (r. 1398-1400) King Taejong (r. 1400 – 1418) The early kings of Joseon were hardy military men who preferred hunting and sleeping outdoors to studying. (They had to be like that to overthrow the previous Goryeo dynasty!) But after King Taejo founded Joseon, the monarchy soon became unstable when his ambitious sons began to squabble over who should become his successor. (King Taejo had 8 sons altogether – 6 by his first queen and 2 by his second queen). Clearly the oldest son becomes king rule was not in place at this point, so a gruesome power struggle developed between the princes (known as the Strife of Princes). In the end King Taejo couldn’t take it anymore. He must already have been pretty tired after taking over Goryeo and now he had to deal with his sons trying to kill each other too  So he abdicated and became a Buddhist recluse while his sons continued to fight for power .. YI SEONG GYE and JEONG DO JEON Yi Seong Gye (King Taejo) the founder and first king of Joseon had been a general in the Goryeo army and he was known as a heroic military leader. He joined forces with a scholar who had been exiled during the Goryeo Dynasty – Jeong Do Jeon. They became a power couple bringing military and literati together. King Taejo moved the capital to Hanyang (Seoul) and with Jeong Do Jeon made many reforms to strengthen the new dynasty including reforms to the bureaucratic, military, land, and rituals systems. Buddhism was suppressed in favour of Confucianism. (The founders of Joseon blamed Buddhism for the weakening of the previous Goryeo dynasty. They felt that the military in Goryeo had been neglected over the years due to the decadent lifestyle of monks and yangban. Confucianism was much more austere in comparison.) As I mentioned in my post on Joseon portraits, there are only original portraits of 4 Joseon kings remaining today. There were more portraits made of King Taejo than any other king and a copy of the original portrait from 1372 is now in Gyeonggijeon Hall in Jeonju. ( I went there in 2011) We can see King Taejo here wearing blue robes which were worn during the Goryeo period. The later Joseon kings wear red in their portraits.)
| 
Post time 23-10-2015 02:38 PM
Author
Aigoo.![GEMPAR BUMI! Jabatan Kehakiman US Dedahkan Trump & Epstein Lelong Budak Perempuan ~ Jolok Jari Ukur Ketat! [Emel Bocor Tentang PMX Pun Ada!!]](https://uf.cari.com.my/forumx/mforum/block/08/08aabe7b59b1b1c32415904d8b18b1ca.jpg)
![[SBS/Netflix 2026] No Tail To Tell/Human From Today - Kim Hye Yoon, Lomon (Mulai 16 Jan 2026)](https://uf.cari.com.my/forumx/mforum/block/f5/f5273c914a3ec9a487ce79c852b1feef.jpg)
