History of Corea

The Obstinacy: 1623–1670

Reigns of Indjo and Sangdjong
1623–1670
Monarch(s)	Indjo (1623–1649) Hjodong (1649–1662) Hjôndjong (1662–1670)

The Obstinacy (Corean: 조선 완고, Djosôn Wango) was a brief period of Corean history starting with the 1623 Restoration of Indjo and ending with the death–overthrow of his grandson Hjôndjong. It was defined by the social and political domination of Ming loyalists, acute political factionalism, the expansion of the state, as well as the resurgence of the Corean military for the first time since the Imdjin Wars.

Indjo's reign

In 1623, King Indjo dethroned Prince Gwanghê with the help of the Westerner Party (西人, Sô-in). Upon his ascension, deemed a "restoration" (反正, banjông), he broke his predecessor's policy of neutrality and declared Corea a pro-Ming and anti-Qing state. In passive opposition, the Northern Party (北人, Boek-in)'s influence in the country waned, though their most unblemished members still retained high government positions. This coup subsequently invited Manchu invasions in 1627 and 1636, resulting in forced Corean conformation to the Qing's new order. Several members of the royal family, including Indjo's sons Crown Prince Sohjôn and Grand Prince Bongrim, were taken as hostage by the Qing in Mukden (the modern Corean city of Sjimjang). Additionally, around half a million Coreans were forcibly relocated to Manchuria.

During Indjo's tenure as king, the Westerners and the Northerners encouraged state control of industry, the revamping of the military, and the passing of the Uniform Land Tax Law (大同法, Dêdongbôb), which was a regressive tax system targeting the peasantry. The Westerner–Northerner policies experienced massive pushback in Corea's southwestern provinces, where the Southerner Party (南人, Nam-in) continued to dominate. In 1631, a Portuguese Jesuit by the name of João Rodrigues gifted a number of Western items, including a firearm, to King Indjo — this otherwise minor event is often characterized as the birth of the Sahak (西學, sôhag, 'Western Learning') movement in the Corean peninsula.

In 1645, Crown Prince Sohjôn and many other hostages were returned to Corea. The Crown Prince, a pro-Qing figure, posed a threat to the continuation of Indjo's policies and ideology. Though the exact details of his death are unknown, it is widely supposed that the Crown Prince was murdered by his father in order to make way for the similarly-minded Grand Prince Bongrim to inherit the throne. Soon after, the late Prince's wife Crown Princess Minheu was accused of treason and sentenced to death. The Crown Prince was survived by his son Prince Gjôngan, who possessed a legitimate blood claim to the throne. On 6 February 1649, King Indjo died after years of unsuccessful medical treatment. He was naturally succeeded by his son Prince Bongrim, who became King Hjodjong.

Djo Djioen (조지운; fl. 1600s) was a notable painter of the Djosôn era who was particularly adored for his paintings of cats, birds, and plum blossoms.

Hjodong and Hjôndjong

Deeply concerned due to the rise of wêgoe (倭寇, 'dwarf pirates') and the consistent growth of Koxinga's Zeng organization, the government of King Hjodong dispatched an emissary to Beiging in 1656 with the purpose of establishing an anti-warlord coalition with the Qing dynasty and colonial Tauland. Two years later, flotillas under the authority of the Djosôn Navy aided Qing forces in the 1658 Battle of Namging, ultimately defeating the Ming loyalist pirate Koxinga and ridding large swathes of the East China Sea of illegal pirate activity.

In 1662, a negotiation between Dutch authorities and the Corean government allowed sailor Hendrick Hamel to leave Corea for Tauland after seven years of captivity. Reputedly, he brought to Tauland a Corean wife and a number of Corean colonists who eventually settled on the outskirts of the modern day city of New Hague. This group is widely considered the first major population of Corean immigrants on the island, though their exact numbers and the historical significance of the event are disputed by scholars. The king's life was cut short in January of the same year when he died of hypovolemic shock brought on by infection. Naturally, his eldest surviving son Crown Prince Ie Jôn supplanted him, taking on the regnal name Hjôndjong.

In 1668, the central government under King Hjôndjong introduced copper coinage to facilitate commercial exchange across the country. From this point on, regional economies within Corea began to consolidate into an integrated market area. By the end of the decade, Corean merchants met their Japanese counterparts four times a month and their Taulander counterparts on average one or twice a month. Few months before his death, the King issued the Pine Policy, protecting numerous forests of Corean red pine as a matter of economic security and prestige. Wood was continuously imported from the island of Tauland in order to satisfy domestic demand for timber and fuel.

Political chaos and the Mutiny of Gjôngsoel

Gim Oe-mjông (1619–1670) is often caricatured as an embodiment of political incompetence and nepotism in the mid-Djosôn period.

Increased factionalism gradually led to violence in the capital. The Sambok (三福) — three minor grandsons of King Indjo — were increasingly seen as a political threat to the succession of Crown Prince Ie Bo, the eight-year-old heir apparent. Amidst this tension, the ostracized Prince Gjôngan returned to the capital, aiming to capitalize on the chaos plaguing the nation. The Southerner Party, particularly politicians Joen Hjoe and Hô Mok, supported the Sambok against accusations of treasons made by the Westerner Party. They particularly feuded with Gim Oe-mjông, the father-in-law of the King and son of famous scholar Gim Joek. It is in this disorder that the exiled Prince forged a diverse coalition of Southerners, members of the Westerner Mountain faction, non-partisan officials, as well as several soldiers, promising to restore Corean neutrality, reform taxation, and correct the immorality of the ruling government — all of which were succinctly summarized with the centuries-old catchphrase Hjôngmjôngron (革命論, 'revolutionary teachings').

The King, experiencing severe eye disease and abscess compounded with immense stress, passed away suddenly in May 1670, triggering the struggle for the throne. In mid-June, the Prince's coalition successfully detained Queen Mjôngsông (명성왕후), the wife of the deceased King and daughter of Gim Oe-mjông. Shortly after, the deposed Queen and her father both committed suicide within days of each other. Meanwhile the Sambok, with the exception of Prince Bokpjông (福平君), fell in line. On 28 June, the Regent for Crown Prince Ie Bo was executed and Prince Gjôngan, at the age of twenty-six, was crowned monarch with the regnal name of Soendjo (순조, 純祖).

Moendjo's reign

Reign of King Moendjo
1766–1817
Monarch(s)	Moendjo

King Moendjo was the longest reigning monarch of the Tsjasjan dynasty, ruling from 1766 to 1817 for a total of 51 years. He is often compared to the Gwangzi Emperor of the 18th-century Qing due to his longevity, reforms, and administrative prowess.

Sôgwang dynasty

Sôgwang dynasty 대서광국 Dê Sôgwang Goeg
1883–1936
Capital and largest city	Hansjang
Official languages	Corean
Government	Constitutional monarchy
King
• 1883–1921	Têdjo
• 1921–1936	Hjodjo
History
• Established	1883
• Disestablished	1936

The Sôgwang dynasty (Corean: 서광, 曙光) was a short-lived Corean state that lasted for fifty-three years, ruled by the Hengdjoe Ki clan. It was characterized by aggressive military expansion spearheaded by the Royal Corean Army, the introduction of constitutional monarchy, industrialization, and the rise of a Neronian ideology known domestically as the Kinsfolk Principle (혈족념, Hyôldjoknjôm).

The Third and Fourth Northern Expeditions

Main article: Sino-Corean War

In 1886, the new monarch Têdjo announced the Third Northern Expedition (삼北伐, Samboekbôl) into the northern Qing dynasty. China had recently been devastated by the Canton War, which partitioned the country in two. The term 'Northern Expedition' references two previous failed Corean military incursions into China, namely those that happened under monarchs Indjo and Hûidjong. In European and American historiography, the conflict is most commonly referred to as the Sino-Corean War.

Supported by the Russian and Dutch empires, the renewed Corean army invaded the region then popularly known as Manchuria. Corean emigration to the region from the early 19th century onwards provided invading forces with a civilian population to rely on for support, greatly increasing their odds of victory. Over the next two years, the Corean and Russian militaries would gradually consolidate their occupation of vast swathes of Manchuria, causing many Hwa Chinese residents to flee south and overseas.

Early 1888 saw the signing of the Bukwey Treaty, which forced the Qing dynasty to cede territory up to the Lwan River, a body of water which had previously ran through the Viceroyalty of Zili. Most of the territory captured by Corea was soon reorganized into the Kingdom of Poeja (부여국, Boejô Goeg), a semi-autonomous state ultimately under the control of the Sôgwang dynasty.

The monarchy of Canton had been overthrown in 1931 by the Huaxia National Reform Party, who established the First Chinese Republic. This threatened Corea's dominance in Northeast Asia. Fearing that the First Republic would seek to reunify China and invade the waning Qing dynasty, Corea pre-emptively invaded the Great Chinese Plainson the 8th of February, 1931, violating the Treaty of Peking of 1888. After three months of fighting, the city and Qing capital of Peking fell to Corean forces. The Kingdom of Haboek was established as a Corean puppet state, with a member of the Ki dynasty chosen to serve as king.

Fall of the Ki: the Russo-Corean War

Main article: Russo-Corean War

National republican era: 1936–

After the abolition of the Sjakwang dynasty, the ideology of national republicanism became dominant in Corea. Several political parties and associations - many of them formerly persecuted by the imperial government - coalesced to form a republican administration with Russian support in the mid-1930s.

Reforms of 1939

The new capital

As part of the early national republican policies, the capital of the country was moved to Pjangjang, which was renamed Rjoekjang (류경, lit. capital of willow trees). This decision was seen as the eventual fulfilment of the wishes of the Mjoetsjang uprising that occurred 900 years prior.