History of Corea

Premodern history

Unification of Corea

In the 7th century, the Sjilla kingdom unified all the peninsular Corean states. In the north, the Parhe state ruled an area roughly corresponding to modern-day northern Corea and Poeja. When Sjilla crumbled, the Korja dynasty arose in the 10th century, consolidating the idea of a united Corea. Parhe collapsed in the same century, leading thousands of refugees to resettle in Korja. The Parhe revival movement continued for a hundred years until the Tsjin empire - a Jurchen state - invaded.

Korja dynasty

During the Korja dynasty, the country had to withstand several invasions from the northern nomadic empires. Buddhism was patronized by the state and flourished as Corea’s main faith. In the 1130s, the Buddhist monk Mjoetsjang led a proto-chauvinist rebellion in order to restabilize the nation. He advocated for the capital to be moved to present-day Pjangjang. It was eventually defeated. In 1170, a military regime (akin to a shogunate) was established and ruled Corea for a hundred years.

The Mongol empire vassalized Korja for the next 120 years. Empress Ki, the Corean empress of Mongol China, is an ancestor of the later Ki royal family of Corea. Mongol rule dissipated in the late 14th century, leaving the House of Wang - royal family of Korja - as puppet kings. In the 1390s, the Korja court advocated for an invasion of China and re-annexation of historic Corean territories. General Yi Sang-gje, leader of the invasion, turned back and deposed the King in 1392, establishing his own dynasty - the Tsjasan.

Early Tsjasan period (1392-1649)

Establishment and consolidation

Yi Sang-gje, now known as King Tedjo of Tsjasan, implemented several reforms during his reign. In his later years, his sons began the Princes’ War - a war of succession. The winner of the war, known as King Tedjong, took measures to heavily centralize the state and strengthen royal authority. Neo-Confucianism was firmly established as the state ideology during its first three decades, with Buddhism and monastic institutions being marginalized.

Corean Renaissance

King Sedjong ascended to the throne in 1418. His three-decade reign is one of the most celebrated periods of Corean history. He introduced the Hankoel alphabet to the nation, originally created by Buddhist monks. Several legal amendments & humanitarian laws were passed, science flourished, and Corea’s borders were strengthened against nomads and Japanese pirates.

The next five kings continued the Renaissance, expanding educational facilities, instituting favorable laws, reducing the absolute power of the monarchy, and leading several military campaigns. During the 1470s, laws were enacted against the freedom of women. The economy began to decline, with property concentrated in the hands of the Corean bureaucracy and a failed military conscription policy agitating the peasantry. Crime rates increased across the country and the nation went into a state of chaos.

Eighty Years of Turmoil

Crown Prince Jansan became king in 1483, a few years after his mother, the deposed Queen Joen, was executed by the state. He proceeded to become known as the worst tyrant in Corean history. The Literati Purges began shortly after his ascension, followed by a series of state censorship laws. In 1504, he murdered the officials who deposed his mother. Two years later, he himself was deposed in a coup and died shortly after. He was replaced by his brother, King Tsjoengdjong, whos reign was marked by political strife. The King carried out reforms and purged the progressive Confucian scholar Tsjo Kwang-djo, eventually dying in 1544.

During the early 16th century, the Papjang Yoen clan became powerful in the royal court. Another Literati Purge occured in 1545, stemming from factional tensions. From 1544 to 1565, the family dominated court politics, culminating in the successful regency of Queen Moendjang. Her reign was marked by a brief flourishing of Buddhism and land redistribution policies. King Mjangdjang died powerless in 1567. This thunderous era marked the development of factional politics, which would dominate Corean political life.

Start of factional politics

King Sandjo was enthroned not long after the end of Yun supremacy. In 1575, the Sarim Party splintered for the first time into the Eastern and Western factions, formally beginning the factional era. The Western Sarim consisted of many former Hoengpoe scholars, a prominent chauvinistic royalist faction which was defeated by the Sarim in 1565. From then on, political factions became associated with certain academic or intellectual schools and often participated in petty politics.

The 1589 Treason Case, where the Eastern Party was accused of plotting a coup, caused the faction to lose power and splinter into the Northerners (following the teachings of Tsjo Sjik) and the Southerners (of Yi Hwang). Disputes over the truth of the Treason Case continued during the Japanese invasions of Corea.

At the start of the 17th century, the Westerners became associated with King Kwanghe. They supported him in deposing Queen Dowager Inmok, an act that was considered anti-Confucian and thus made the Westerner faction immensely hated in the court. A later point of contention was foreign policy - the Westerners despised King Kwanghe’s neutrality and were fiercely loyal to the Ming legacy. In 1623, the Westerners came back into power after the Coup of 1623 which deposed King Kwanghe and placed King Indjo on the throne.

Japanese and Manchu invasions

In 1592, Japanese forces led by Toyotomi Hideyoshi invaded Corea, capturing the capital for a brief period. The Ming dynasty of China sent reinforcements to Corea, fighting alongside irregular armies and Corean troops. A royal family member, Yi Monghak, plotted a rebellion during the war. Japanese naval forces were finally defeated in 1598 in the Battle of Norjang, when Admiral Yi Soensjin defeated a large Japanese fleet.

The Manchu people under the Ai Hsin Chueh-lo dynasty invaded Tsjasan twice, in 1627 and again in 1636. In the first invasion, the Manchus de jure made Corea a tributary state. However, the invasion of 1636 was much more serious. The Coreans were inadequately prepared for war due to political infighting, leading to a prince and several royal consorts to be taken hostage; this, of course, caused the King to surrender. King Indjo publicly kowtowed to the Qing emperor, an act which today is seen as deeply humiliating and a wound on the Corean collective psyche.

King Indjo’s reign

In 1624, the Westerner Party spread a rumor that General Yi Kwal was planning a rebellion on the northern borders for their own political benefit. The  government sent troops to arrest the General’s son. It soon evolved into an actual rebellion, with the General soon capturing the capital and almost deposing King Indjo. As a result, the Northerners were blamed for the rebellion and were heavily purged, effectively marking the end of the party’s political influence. The Northerners then proceeded to split into the Elder, New, and Azure factions.

Four years later, after the first Manchu invasion, a Dutchman named Jan Weltevree drifted onto Tsjedjoe island. He helped the Coreans against the Chinese by using his skills acquired during his employment by the East India Company. Eventually, he married a Corean woman and founded the Tsjedjoe Pak clan - the first Corean bloodline created by a European immigrant.

In terms of legislation, two key laws were passed during Indjo's reign. The Tedong Act, an agricultural tax reform bill, was implemented in three provinces in 1623. In 1635, the Rice Field Act mandated cumbersome examination of all rice fields in the nation in order to increase fertility, hence increasing productivity. This Act was unsuccessful at developing Corean rice fields - however, the state collected revenue in the form of new transportation fees that increased the burden on the farmers.

Miracle of Prince Sohjan

In 1637, Prince Sohjan volunteered to be taken as a hostage by the Chinese after Corea's humiliating defeat. He was brought to Moekden and befriended the German Catholic missionary Adam Schall during his time in Peking. Schall, a close advisor of the Shunzi Emperor, informed him of the Prince's pro-Qing leanings and advised to keep him in China rather than sending him back to Corea, where he would face persecution. Prince Sohjan obliged, taking his wife Princess Heubin, politician Cheu Mjang-kil, and other Coreans with him. They were transferred to the Dutch colonial town of Hollandia on Formosa without explanation in 1645. Here, the Prince apparently converted to Christianity in 1646. He engaged in cultural and scientific exchanges, befriending a Dutchman recorded simply as Jaep Ten.

In 1648, he arrived in Corea on a Chinese trading ship, living anonymously in the city of Tsjandjoe.Many had assumed that the Prince died in China, including the notorious controversial politician Kim Tsja-djam. Hearing of his father's illness, the Prince quickly headed to the capital with a contingent of his supporters, including several Chinese mercenaries and two Dutch sailors. As news of the Prince's presence in Hansjang was verified by the police, the political situation became irreversibly tense. After a fortnight, King Indjo had finally passed away. Prince Bongrim, the heir apparent, refused to be coronated upon hearing of his brother's arrival. In September, Prince Sohjan had gained control of the palace and was coronated as King Sangdjong.

Late Tsjasan period (1649-1883)

Corean Revival

The reigns of King Sangdjong and his grandson King Sindjong, lasting fifty-five years, led to a transformation of Corean politics, society, and foreign relations.