Têdjo
서광 태조 曙光太祖 | |||||
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| Emperor of Corea | |||||
| Reign | 23 June 1883 – 17 January 1921 | ||||
| Predecessor | Hjodjong | ||||
| Successor | Hjodjo | ||||
| King of Poeja | |||||
| Reign | 8 January 1889 – 17 January 1921 | ||||
| Born | 6 April 1849 Damjang, Corea | ||||
| Died | 17 January 1921 (age 71) Jasoe, Corea | ||||
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| House | Ki | ||||
Têdjo (Corean: 태조, 太祖; 6 April 1849 – 17 January 1921), personal name Gim Ribbôm (기립범, 奇砬犯), was the first monarch of Corea's last kingdom, the Sôgwang dynasty. A bureaucrat, politician, and author, he orchestrated the 1883 coup d'état which toppled the Djosôn and installed his clan as the new royal family. During his reign, Corea saw a thorough process of industrialization, territorial expansion to the north and east, and experienced efforts to create a pan-Asian regional bloc to combat Russian and British influence.
Early life and rise to power
Gi Ribbôm was born as the son of scholar Gi Oen in Damjang, a county town in the Honam region. His mother, known as Lady Gwon, was a Catholic convert member of the aristocratic Andong Gwon clan, a family from which the then-Queen of Corea hailed from. The Hêngdjoe Gi clan had affiliated closely with the ruling classes of Corea since at least the 14th century; they had provided a Mongol empress as well as several viceroys, soldiers, and philosophers.
As a child, Ribbôm had a privileged upbringing in the southern suburbs of the capital Hansông. He attended a Catholic boarding academy for several years, gaining fluency in Chinese and Dutch. At age 15, he was hired as a scribe by the newly established consulate of the Ye dynasty. In his journals, it was noted that he enjoyed traditional wrestling, French pastries, and newspapers imported from Tauland. His teachers and peers long noted his keen interest in international politics and the internal mechanisms of Corean administration. In 1867, upon the sudden and unexpected death of his mother, he retreated to Honam's Sanam Temple for fifteen months.
In the summer of 1868, Ribbôm was employed at the Royal Inspectorate-General, where he regularly came into contact with anti-government forces. His father's Taulander physician, Simon de Spaans, befriended the young man and occasionally offered to tutor him. The same year, he married Lady Manghwa of the Mirjang Bak clan at the suggestion of his father. The newlyweds did not particularly like each other and would not attempt to conceive a child for seven years. After years of underground political commentary and observation, the Chinese-language reformist newspaper Gallant Tulips accepted him as a regular writer in 1874.
Rise to power
In 1876, Ribbôm was appointed Mayor of Kêsông and was awarded a baronial title. Being close to the capital and secretly disgruntled with the oppressive policies of the government, he participated in the trafficking of persecuted political figures to China via ship. In 1881, the Mayor of Iksan ordered the forcible closure of schools and arrest of pro-reform personalities who had committed tax infractions. In collaboration with other reformists, the Gi clan gathered eighty-three scholars from all over the country in front of Gjôngbok Palace, imploring the King to end persecutory campaigns, abolish slavery, and reannex the factory of Poesjan from the Dutch.
This culminated in the Ûitongbang incident of 1881, where government soldiers clashed with demonstrators, resulting in over two hundred deaths. The entire Gjônggi region, of which the capital and Kêsông are both part of, remained inflamed for the next two years. Ribbôm quickly accumulated political and military power through his bureaucratic authority and social capital, supplying groups of irregular militants that had appeared across the nation.
On the fifth of June 1883, Ribbôm co-led an overthrow of the Corean government under the banner of the Sôgwang Committee, a political party that fused the various branches of opposition in the country. The next day, the opposition forces and allied irregular militias entered Hansông, triggering a series of incidents that led to a city-wide fire emanating from an arson attack on a Dutch Reformed church. Eventually, on the seventeenth of the month, Hjodjong was successfully captured as a political prisoner. Many high-ranking bureaucrats, including the Left and Chief State Councillors, faced execution.
Reign
Death and legacy
Air pollution from the industrialized city of Pjôngjang led to Têdjo developing disease in his lungs and liver. The Emperor's habitual long-term use of cigars, alcohol, and toxic red cedar oil also contributed to this ill health. In 1919, it was confirmed that he was suffering from bronchitis; this particular bout lasted for several months. In 1920, his illness reappeared during a state visit to Beiging, causing him to lose consciousness for several hours. Upon his return to Corea, he retreated to the coastal town of Jasoe in order to recuperate. In January 1921, he contracted pneumonia. Consequentially, he spent the last days of his life bedridden on the seafront struggling to breathe. The government in Pjangjang was notified of his poor condition and preparations for the coronation of Crown Prince Oeng.
On January 17, the King experienced cirrhosis of the liver. He spoke only a few words the whole day, spending the remainder of his time watching boats pass by and reviewing his old publications. At around 21:00, his nurse noted that 'his lips turned as blue as celadon and his face the hue of sunset'. Half an hour later, he began muttering in a raspy voice, mainly concerning his parents. The King's official time of death was recorded as 21:46.
