Taejong (Korean:태종;Hanja:太宗; 21 June 1367 – 8 June 1422), personal name Yi Pangwŏn, was the third monarch of Joseon and the father of Sejong the Great. The fifth son of King Taejo, the founder of the dynasty, he was himself a major contributor toward the establishment of the new regime. He ascended to the throne upon the abdication of his elder brother, King Jeongjong.
Biography
Early life and founding of Joseon
Born in 1367 as the fifth son of the future King Taejo and his first wife, Lady Han (posthumously Queen Sinŭi), Yi Pangwŏn qualified as an official in 1382. He studied under Confucian scholars such as Wŏn Ch'ŏnsŏk. During his early years, he assisted his father in gathering the support of the commoners and of many influential figures in the government. He also helped in the founding of Joseon by assassinating powerful officials who remained loyal to Goryeo, most prominently Chŏng Mongju.
Strifes of the Princes
After contributing heavily to the overthrowing of the previous dynasty and the establishment of Joseon, he expected to be appointed as successor to the throne. However, his father and Chŏng Tojŏn favored King Taejo's eighth son and Yi Pangwŏn's youngest half-brother (second son of Queen Sindeok), Yi Pangsŏk. This conflict arose chiefly because Chŏng Tojŏn, as the principal architect of the ideological, institutional and legal foundations of the new dynasty, saw Joseon as a kingdom led by its ministers by virtue of the king's appointment. In contrast, Yi Pangwŏn sought direct rule through an absolute monarchy. These differences ultimately contributed to an environment of deep political tension. Meanwhile, Taejo was possibly motivated by deep fondness for his second wife.
Yi Pangwŏn, frustrated that he and his elder brothers had been passed over, began moving to eliminate his half-brothers. After his father fell ill, he launched the First Strife of the Princes, in which he had both sons of Taejo's second wife, including the crown prince, murdered. His eldest surviving brother, Yi Panggwa, then became the new crown prince. Shortly after, Taejo abdicated the throne in favor of Yi Panggwa (posthumously King Jeongjong). As Jeongjong did not have any legitimate sons, he intended to pass the throne onto Yi Pangwŏn after his death. However, in early 1400, their brother Yi Panggan attempted to seize the throne in the Second Strife of the Princes[ko]. The coup was suppressed. Soon afterwards, Jeongjong abdicated the throne in favor of Yi Pangwŏn (posthumously King Taejong).
Reign
Consolidation of royal power
One of Taejong's first acts as king was to abolish the privilege to maintain private armies which was enjoyed by the aristocracy and the upper echelons of the government. His revoking of the right to keep independent forces effectively severed the upper class' ability to muster large-scale revolts, and drastically increased the number of soldiers employed by the national army.
Taejong's next act was to revise the existing legislation concerning land taxation. With the discovery of previously hidden land, national wealth increased twofold.
In addition, Taejong created a strong central government. In 1400, before taking the throne, he had played a key role in eradicating the Dopyeong Assembly[ko], a branch of the old administration that had monopolized the executive power during the waning years of Goryeo, in favor of the Privy Council; during Taejong's reign, the Privy Council was replaced by the State Council. Taejong also issued an edict according to which all decisions passed by the State Council could only come into effect with the approval of the king. This ended the custom of court ministers making decisions through debate and negotiations among themselves, and thus brought the royal authority to new heights.
Shortly thereafter, Taejong installed a new department known as the Sinmun Office, to hear cases in which aggrieved subjects felt that they had been exploited or treated unjustly by officials or aristocrats.
Reforms and policies
Despite being the one responsible for Chŏng Mong-ju's assassination, Taejong posthumously honored him as chief state councilor, leading to a great irony — Chŏng Tojŏn, whose policies governed Joseon for five centuries, was vilified throughout the dynasty, while Chŏng Mongju was revered in spite of his opposition to its founding.[citation needed]
Taejong promoted Confucianism as the state ideology, thus demoting Buddhism, which consequently never recovered the glory and great power it had enjoyed during the Goryeo period. He closed many Buddhist temples; their vast possessions were seized and added to the national treasury.
In foreign policy, he was a straight hardliner — he attacked the Jurchens at the northern border and the Japanese pirates on the southern coast. Taejong is also remembered for being the initiator behind the Ōei Invasion of Tsushima Island in 1419.
He set up the system of hopae, an early form of identification which consisted of tags recording the bearer's name and place of residence; those tags were used to control the movements of the population.
In 1403, Taejong ordered 100,000 pieces of metal type and two complete fonts. Predating Gutenberg and Laurens Janszoon by several decades, he accomplished the metal movable type.
He promoted commerce and education, and also reformed the Sapyeongsunwibu (사평순위부), Joseon's early military and law enforcement agency, and separated the Ŭigŭmbu as Joseon's law enforcement agency but without military functions.
Later life and death
In 1418, Taejong abdicated in favor of his third legitimate son, Yi Do (posthumously King Sejong, commonly known as Sejong the Great), but continued to rule with an iron fist and decide on important matters.
Along the years, as a means to strengthen royal authority and subdue corruption, he executed or exiled some of the supporters who helped him ascend to the throne; he also executed the four brothers of his wife Queen Wŏngyŏng, as well as Sejong's father-in-law, Sim On, and Sim's younger brother, Sim Chŏng, in order to limit the influence of in-laws and powerful clans.
King Taejong died four years after his abdication, in Suganggung. He was buried alongside Queen Wŏn'gyŏng within Heolleung (헌릉), today part of the Heonilleung burial ground in Seocho District, Seoul.
Legacy
Taejong remains a relatively controversial figure in Korean history, as he eliminated many of his rivals (such as Chŏng Mongju and Chŏng Tojŏn), and yet ruled effectively to improve the populace's lives, strengthen national defense, and lay down a solid foundation for his successor's reign.
Outside of Korea, he is better known for having fallen off his horse in the early years of his reign and requesting historians to not record his fall, which they did anyway.
The king himself rode a horse and shot arrows at a deer. However, the horse stumbled, causing him to fall off, but he was not injured. Looking around, he said, "Do not let the historians know about this."
↑탐라 성주시대 413년 ~ 탐라 성주시대 464년[Year 413 of the era of the Lord of Tamna ~ Year 464 of the era of the Lord of Tamna]. jejugo.co.kr (in Korean). Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
↑Choi, Yang-jin (4 July 2008). 한비자의 냉정한 정치로 승부수 띄운 '태종'['Taejong' who raised the odds with Han Feizi's cool-headed politics]. The Korea Economic Daily (in Korean). Archived from the original on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 10 May 2010.
↑Grayson, James H. (22 August 2002). Korea – A Religious History (1sted.). United Kingdom: Routledge. p.108. ISBN9780700716050.
↑문화재 검색 – 창경궁 (昌慶宮)[Cultural Heritage Search – Changgyeonggung Palace]. heritage.go.kr (in Korean). 18 January 1963. Archived from the original on 19 February 2022. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
# denotes that the king was deposed and never received a temple name.
↑Those who were listed were not reigning monarchs but posthumously recognized; the year following means the year of recognition.
↑Only the crown princes that did not become the king were listed; the former year indicates when one officially became the heir and the latter one is that when one died/deposed. Those who ascended to the throne were excluded in the list for simplification.
↑The title given to the biological father, who never reigned, of the kings who were adopted as the heir to a precedent king.
↑The de jure monarch of Korea during the era was the Emperor of Japan, while the former Korean emperors were given nobility title "King Yi" instead.
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