Jeongjo of Joseon

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jeongjo of Joseon

Hangul	정조
Hanja	正祖
Revised Romanization	Jeongjo
McCune-Reischauer	Chŏngjo

Birth name

Hangul	이산
Hanja	李祘
Revised Romanization	I San
McCune-Reischauer	I San

Hwaseong Fortress.

King Jeongjo was the 22nd ruler of the Joseon Dynasty of Korea. Because of his various attempts to reform and improve the nation, King Jeongjo is regarded as the reformation ruler in Korea. He was preceded by his grandfather King Yeongjo (1724–1776) and succeeded by his son King Sunjo (r. 1800–1834). He is widely regarded as one of the most successful and visionary rulers of Joseon along with King Sejong.

He was the son of Crown Prince Sado, who was put to death by his own father, King Yeongjo. His mother, Lady Hyegyeong, wrote an autobiography, The Memoirs of Lady Hyegyeong (한중록, 閑中錄), detailing her life as the ill-fated Crown Princess of Korea. This collection of memoirs serve as an invaluable source of historical information on the political happenings during the reigns of King Yeongjo, King Jeongjo and King Sunjo.

Through his reform, King Jeongjo met Hong Guk-yeong (홍국영, 洪國榮), a controversial politician who first toiled to improve the king's power, but ended up trying to assassinate the monarch.

Jeongjo spent much of his reign trying to clear his mentally-ill father's name. He also moved the court to the city of Suwon to be closer to his father's grave. He built Hwaseong Fortress to guard the tomb. It is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

1 Accession
2 Renaissance
3 Death
4 Full posthumous name
5 Family
6 Portrayal in works of media
7 Reference
8 External links

[edit] Accession

His era was quite in disorder as his father was forcefully killed. King Yeongjo's ultimate decision to execute Prince Sado was greatly influenced by other politicians who were against Prince Sado.

From this, he went through many turbulent times but overcame them with the aid of Hong Guk-yeong.^[1]

[edit] Renaissance

King Jeongjo led the new renaissance of Joseon dynasty. It was originally stepped by continuing policy of Tangpyeong, Yeongjo's. He tried to control whole politics of the nation for acquisition of national progress.

He made various reforms throughout his reign, notably establishing Kyujanggak (규장각), an imperial library. However, its purpose was to improve the cultural and political stance of Joseon and to recruit gifted officers to run the nation. Also, it was created to lessen the grip of various wealthy aristocrats and relatives of the queen, which had occurred various times throughout Korea's history. Jeongjo had the support of the many Silhak scholars, in addition to Silhak scholars aid of Jeongjo's regal power, and during the Jeongjo's reign advance of Popular culture.

[edit] Death

He got the wide historical title of innovative people in spite of having such high status in Joseon.

In the era of Jeongjo, other nations had shown much progress such several civil wars. But he did not achieve further achievement owing to sudden death.

He died suddenly in 1800 for a mysterious reason, without seeing his lifelong wishes realized by his son, Sunjo. ^[2]

There are many books regarding the mysterious death of Jeongjo, even today.

He is buried with his wife at the royal tomb of Geonneung (건릉, 健陵) in the city of Hwaseong.

[edit] Full posthumous name

King Jeongjo Gyeongcheon Myeongdo Hongdeok Hyeonmo Munseong Muryeol Seongin Janghyo the Great of Korea
정조경천명도홍덕현모문성무렬성인장효대왕
正祖敬天明道洪德顯謨文成武烈聖仁莊孝大王

[edit] Family

Father: Crown Prince Sado.
Mother: Lady Hyegyeong.
Consorts:

Queen Hyoeui
Royal Noble Consort Ui from the Seong clan.
Royal Noble Consort Su from the Park clan.
Royal Noble Consort Won from the Hong clan.
Royal Noble Consort Hwa from the Yun clan.

Children:

Crown Prince Munhyo, Only son of Lady Seong.
Sunjo, Only son of Lady Park.
Princess Sukseon, Only daughter of Lady Park.

[edit] Portrayal in works of media

Jeongjo is portrayed in two modern dramas.

Yi San - primarily concerns his life story.
The Ballad of Seoul - also known as "Conspiracy in the Court", this story starts from a mystery thriller evolving into a court intrigue surrounding the king and his conservative ministers.