Gyeongjong of Joseon

Gyeongjong of Joseon
Gyeongjong
King of Joseon
Reign

12 July 1720 October 1724

Born

20 November 1688

Birthplace

Changdeok Palace, Korea

Died

11 October 1724 (aged 36)

Buried

Uireung. Seokgwan-dong, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul

Predecessor Sukjong of Joseon

Successor

Yeongjo of Joseon

Consort

Queen Danui,
Queen Seonui

Royal house House of Yi

Father

King Sukjong of Joseon

Mother

Royal Noble Consort Hui of the Jang clan

Korean name
Hangul

Hanja

Revised Romanization Gyeongjong

McCuneReischauer

Kyngjong

Birth name
Hangul

Hanja

Revised Romanization I Yun

McCuneReischauer

I Yun

Courtesy name
Hangul

Hanja

Revised Romanization Hwiseo

McCuneReischauer

Hwis

Gyeongjong (20 November 1688 11 October 1724, reigned 17201724) was the 20th king of the Joseon Dynasty
of Korea. He was the son of King Sukjong by Royal Noble Consort Hui of the Jang clan.

Gyeongjong of Joseon

Biography
In 1690, Gyeongjong's designation as heir to the throne precipitated a struggle between the Noron and the Soron
political factions, which supported Gyeongjong of Joseon.
Following the death of King Sukjong in 1720, Royal Prince Successor Hwiso (Yi Yun, ) ascends the
throne at age 33 as King Gyeongjong. When Sukjong died in 1720, he supposedly told Yi Yi-myoung to name
Yeoning-geum as Kyungjong's heir, but suspicions arose between Soron, Noron enemies, from the absence of a
histriographer or recorder.
Gyeongjong suffered from ill health during his reign, and the Noron political faction pressured Gyeongjong to step
down in favor of his half-brother, Prince Yeoning. In 1720, two months after his enthronement, his half brother,
Prince Yeoning (the future King Yeongjo) was installed as Royal Prince Successor Brother (wangseje, ,
) to handle state affairs, since the king weak health made impossible for him to manage politics.
Gyeongjong's mother, Lady Jang, is to blamed for his illnesses. She was sentenced to death by poison, in 1701,
following the ruling, Lady Jang begged to see her son, the Crown Prince (later Gyeongjong). As she dashed towards
him to greet him, she inflicted a severe injury to the Crown Prince's lower abdomen that left him sterile and unable to
produce an heir. Due to King Gyeongjongs fragile health, he had no energy or time to do anything significant in the
four years of his reign.[1]
This aggravated the power struggle and led to a big massacre, namely the Shinimsahwa ( ).[2] The
Norons sent memorials to the king to no effect while the Sorons used this to their advantageclaiming the Noron
faction were trying to usurp power and subsequently getting their rival faction removed from several offices.
Members of the Soron faction then came up with an idea to assassinate the heir (Yeoning-geum) under the cover of
hunting for a white fox said to be haunting the palace, but Queen dowager Inwon protected him and he was able to
keep living, after this he said to the king he rather would go and live as a commoner.
During his four years reign, there were two major incidents of massacre; one is Sinchuk-oksa in which the ruling
political party, Soron, swept the opposition Noron, a group that insisted that Gyeongjong's half-brother, Prince
Yeoning, handle national affairs on behalf of the weak and ailing king during the first year of Gyeongjongreign 1720
and the other one is Imin-oksa which took place in the 2nd year of his reign, circa 1722. History calls both incidents
as Sinim-sahwa. During his reign, he made small guns in imitation of the western weapons and reformed the land
measurement system in the southern parts of the country.[3]
King Gyeongjong died in 1724 and was entombed in the Cheonjangsan Mountain of Yangju. The title of the tomb
was granted as the Uireung.
There was some speculation from Soron party members that his half-brother, Prince Yeoning, had something to do
with his death due to the earlier attempt by the Noron faction to have him replace Gyeongjong on the throne, but
several historiographers now conclude that he could have died of eating spoiled seafood, as described in Homer's
book, The History of Korea.[4] But we may well doubt the truth of the rumour, for nothing that is told of that brother
indicates that he would commit such an act, and in the second place a man who will eat shrimps in mid-summer, that
have been brought thirty miles from the sea without ice might expect to die.[5]
After his death, the chronicles of Gyeongjong's rule were published in 1732 under the reign of Yeongjo's reign. A
few of Gyeongjong's youthful calligraphic works have also survived: [6]

Gyeongjong of Joseon

Family
Monarchs of Korea
Joseon Dynasty

Taejo 13921398

Jeongjong 13981400

Taejong 14001418

Sejong the Great 14181450

Munjong 14501452

Danjong 14521455

Sejo 14551468

Yejong 14681469

Seongjong 14691494

Yeonsangun 14941506

Jungjong 15061544

Injong 15441545

Myeongjong 15451567

Seonjo 15671608

Gwanghaegun 16081623

Injo 16231649

Hyojong 16491659

Hyeonjong 16591674

Sukjong 16741720

Gyeongjong 17201724

Yeongjo 17241776

Jeongjo 17761800

Sunjo 18001834

Heonjong 18341849

Cheoljong 18491863

Gojong 18631907

Sunjong 19071910

Father: King Sukjong ()

Mother: Royal Noble Consort Hui of the Jang clan ( )
Consorts[7] and their Respective Issues:
Queen Danui of the Shim clan ( , 16861718)[8]
No issue
Queen Seonui of the Eo clan ( , 17051730)[9]
No issue

Gyeongjong of Joseon

References
[1] http:/ / www. exploringkorea. com/ uireung-tomb/
[2] Royal Palaces and tomb http:/ / jikimi. cha. go. kr/ english/ royal_palaces_new/ Uireung. jsp?mc=EN_05_02_08
[3] Uireng, Royal tomb of Queen Seonui http:/ / www. seongbuk. go. kr/ pms/ contents/ contents. do?contseqn=508& sitecdv=S0000200&
menucdv=04010600& decorator=user02En
[4] http:/ / archive. org/ stream/ historyofkorea02hulbuoft#page/ 164/ mode/ 2up
[5] Uireung - A Story of King Sukjong and King Gyeongjong http:/ / samedi. livejournal. com/ 359996. html
[6] http:/ / 147. 46. 103. 163/ HEJ/ HEJ_ENGHVIEW. jsp?cn=GK11961_00
[7] His consorts were entitled, at their respective marriages, as "Princess Consort to the Prince Successor" () before being given the title
"Queen" ()
[8] Daughter of Shim Ho ()
[9] Daughter of Eo Yu-gu ()

His full posthumous name

King Gyeongjong Gakgong Deokmun Ikmu Sunin Seonhyo the Great of Korea

Article Sources and Contributors

Article Sources and Contributors

Gyeongjong of Joseon Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=600997324 Contributors: 2T, Aciram, Againme, Appleby, C.Fred, Chathu1994, Confuzion, Deriyaki123, El Otro,
Gareth Griffith-Jones, GrahamHardy, Heran et Sang'gres, Historiographer, Hvn0413, Leggsoh, Mariposa0230, Materialscientist, Mazarin07, OccultZone, PC78, Pakcw, Pengiran bini, Python
eggs, Reuben, Rich Farmbrough, RoyalNobleConsort, Sengkang, Seonookim, Shyam, Tsiaojian lee, Visviva, 11 anonymous edits

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