Tedjo
Tedjo of Sjakwang (1849-1921), formally known as Emperor Tedjo (Hankoel: 태조제 tedjodje, Handja: 太祖帝), was the first monarch of the Sjakwang dynasty of Corea. He deposed the Yi dynasty of Tsjosan in the 1883 Gyemi Coup and ruled Corea and Poeja until his death in 1921.
Biography
Early life
He was born as Ki Ripbam [Hankoel: 기립범, Handja: 奇砬犯] in Damjang County, the son of scholar Ki Tsjangdjin of the Hengdjoe Ki family. His mother was a Corean Catholic woman from the Andong Kwan clan, her name erased from historical records.
In 1858 following the collapse of the Qing dynasty, the family moved to their ancestral hometown of Hengdjoe on the outskirts of the Corean capital, Hansjang. Ripbam was tutored by Confucian scholars throughout his childhood. The young boy would observe his father during debates with Neo-Confucian and Christian scholars. He briefly attended a Catholic boys' academy during his teenage years. In his servant's journals, it is noted that the young Ripbam enjoyed Corean wrestling, French pastries, and newspapers. He worked as a scribe at the Chinese embassy for many months and was reportedly in love with the daughter of a Hokkien merchant.
When his mother died in 1867, he secluded himself near Sanam Temple for fifteen months. He then toured Corea until 1869, learning swordsmanship in Sangdju, studying theology in Pjangjang, and hiking Mount Hallasan. Ripbam was then employed at the Royal Inspectorate-General, where he came into contact with anti-government forces. When his father fell ill in 1871, Ripbam befriended his physician, Simon de Spaans, from Tauland. At the age of 23, he was married to Pak Mjanghwa [박명화] of the Mirjang Pak clan.
While visiting new hotels and cafés, Ripbam began periodically writing novellas and socio-political commentary. He adopted the pen name Oeimoedjak [疑無敵, lit. to doubt invincibility], under which he published his works. King Hjodjo's repressive policies forced anti-government publications underground by 1874. Via Kanghwa Island's port, Ripbam secretly wrote for the Taulander newspaper Gallant Tulips [勇土日朴, Mandarin: yong-tu-ri-po, lit. brave soil sun roots].
By 1875, his marriage to Lady Mjanghwa began to deteriorate. She began to spend months on end visting family in the Jangnam region. In order to have an excuse to visit her, he volunteered to become an officer and subdue civil unrest near Poesjan. On his arrival, she refused to return to Hansjang. While heartbroken, Ripbam's military gallantry had earned him great respect.
Rise to power
His curriculum vitae earned him the position of Military District Governor of Kesang County in 1876. From here, Ripbam - publicly known as Lord-Governor Ki - periodically coordinated with anti-government forces and was known for hosting regional rebel conferences. His father's position in Confucian circles and his family's influence in the capital shielded him from any thorough investigations. With the help of his late mother's Andong Kwan clan, he orchestrated plans to transport persecuted persons to the Jangdong, and then on to Russia.
In 1881, the Mayor of Iksan began forcibly shutting down schools and selectively enslaving pro-Silhak peasants who failed to meet the tax deadline. Ripbam's father, Lord Ki Tsjangdjin, gathered 83 scholars from all over the country in front of Kjangbak Palace to implore the King to end persecutions, abolish slavery, and reannex Poesjan from the Dutch. To support his father, Ripbam dispatched a contingent of 225 soldiers to the capital. This resulted in the Oeitongbang Incident [의통방사건], where 21 people died and 13 buildings were set ablaze in and around the capitol. Ripbam's father, Lord Ki Tsjangdjin, passed away due to a heart attack during the Incident.
The entire Kjanggi region remained insufferably suspenseful for the next two years until the 1883 Gyemi Coup. The Coup began in the Insa Locale, where the rebels assassinated four Tsjosan officials within an hour. Ripbam arrived in Hansjang the day after the Coup began with 500 soldiers, fighting government forces. Soon, a Dutch Reformed church in Jongsan District was set ablaze, leading to an extremely destructive conflagration. Eventually, on the 17th of June - twelve days since the Coup began and with over 1,000 casualties - Ripbam's forces imprisoned the King and executed the Left and Chief State Councillors.
A week later, Ripbam was a leading candidate for the new King. He was challenged by candidates from the Andong Kim, Soenhoeng Ahn, and other clans. Using his connections, he hired mercenaries from Tauland and allied with several key families in return for discreet favours. Ripbam's Ki clan and their allies commit acts of violence across the nation, at one time even executing the wife and children of an ultraconservative governor. Nakatomi Hidehasa, a Japanese accountant and translator in Corea at the time, described the Ki clan's atrocities as 'tragedy framed by justice' and 'the novel Jansangun dreamed of writing'.
Eleven days before Tsjusak, Ripbam decisively declared himself King of Corea, the formation of the House of Ki, and the establishment of the state of Sjakwang. 326 people were exiled, 64 sentenced to death, and 1,102 pardoned on the day of the declaration. Ripbam declared himself King Tedjo and began his coronation on the 26th of October, the same day as King Yangdjo's. Shortly before his coronation, King Tedjo divorced his estranged wife Lady Pak Mjanghwa and took on two consorts the next day.