Friday, March 29, 2024
FILM&DRAMAKOREAN HISTORY

Mid Joseon Kings in Historical Drama (1494-1649)

In this second post on Joseon kings in historical drama, I’ll take a look at the mid Joseon period which lasted just over 150 years. There were 7 kings, although two were deposed and demoted to Prince status:

Yeonsangun (r. 1494-1506); King Jungjong (r.1506-1544), King Injong (r. 1544-1545); King Myeongjong (r.1545-1567); King Seonjo (r.1567-1608); Gwanghaegun (r.1608-1623); King Injo (r.1623-1649)

Related posts:

Joseon Kings Overview

Early Joseon Kings and related dramas

Late Joseon Kings and related dramas 

A quick overview of the period:

We start with the troubled and tyrannical Yeonsangun who was violent and cruel. And we end with the weak and indecisive King Injo whose lack of diplomatic skills leaves him struggling with the Qing Dynasty and the Manchu wars.

Yeonsangun appears in Jewel in the Palace (MBC 2004)


(10) 연산군 Yeonsangun, Yi Yung (r.1494-1506)

The worst tyrant in Joseon history?

We can often tell how successful a king’s reign was by looking at their grave. Sejong the Great and his queens are buried in huge sprawling grounds complete with a museum dedicated to the work of King Sejong. But on the other hand, Yeonsangun is buried in a small and modest site in the north of Seoul. Because Yeonsangun is known as a tyrant king.

See the modest tomb of Yeonsangun and read what it says about him by his tomb.

See the tomb of King Sejong 

Yeonsangun’s reign was very different to life under his father, the liberal and diplomatic King Seongjong. He didn’t follow Confucian values of self cultivation and restraint by living a frugal life. In fact, Royal extravagance reached its peak during his reign.

The Naesusa (Royal Treasury) had already started to ‘acquire’ land and increase the wealth of the royal family. (And this continued well after Yeonsangun’s reign). Yeonsangun financed his extravagant lifestyle through high taxes leading to severe poverty around the country.

He wasn’t into studying and personal growth either (as a Joseon sage king should be) and instead infamously converted Seonggyungwan (the national university) into a BROTHEL for himself with up to 1000 women.

Of all the Joseon kings in historical drama, Yeonsangun offers a lot of tragedy. Yeonsangun and his concubine Noksu are depicted in the film The King and the Clown (2005) starring Jung Jin-young as the diabolical King. The king is portrayed as having a smutty sense of humour, but also prone to sudden and frightening bouts of extreme violence and cruelty.

death of Yeonsangun’s mother 

One of the possible causes for the king’s outrageous behaviour was that he was traumatised by the death of his mother.

The death of Yeonsangun’s mother, Consort Yoon, is portrayed in  Jewel in the Palace, (MBC, 2003). She was a concubine who in a fit of jealous rage poisoned another concubine and then attacked the king too. For this, she was exiled and forced to drink poison by the Sarim faction.


Yeonsangun is one of the Joseon kings in historical drama


In the drama, wanted posters go up for those involved in his mother’s death and officials connected to the incident have to drink poison. (Jang Geum’s father is also killed).

But Yeonsangun killed members from both political factions

– the Hungu faction and the Sarim faction – even though it was the Sarim who he blamed for his mother’s death. In the end over 200 people were affected in some way – being executed or exiled.

Finally members of the Hungu faction couldn’t take the king’s leadership anymore and they came up with a plan to depose Yeonsangun. It worked and his half-brother became King Jungjong.

Yeonsangun was deposed and demoted from king to ‘prince’ (gun) and so his sons couldn’t become king.

related posts: 

The titles of kings: JO, JONG, & GUN 

Dae Jang Geum episode summaries


king Jungjong ruled during the time of Dae Jang Geum who appears in the drama Jewel in the Palace

(11) 중종 King Jungjong, Yi Yeok (r.1506-1544)

Famous from the drama Jewel in the Palace 

King Jungjong was not the first king to come to the throne after a coup: in the early Joseon period, Grand Prince Suyang usurped the throne from his nephew in a coup and became King Sejo (r. 1455-1468). But King Jungjong WAS the first king to come to the throne after a coup by government officials!

The Hungu faction deposed Yeonsangun. But corruption had become ingrained and the Hungu faction carried on the bad practices of Yeonsangun’s court!

King Jungjong spent a frustrating reign trying to clear up Yeonsangun’s mess. Amongst other things, he reopened the Seonggyungwan, national university and opened the first private Confucian Academy (Seowon). Yeonsangun had also closed the Office of Censors since it was allowed to criticise inappropriate actions of the king! King Jungjong reopened that too.

Read how King Jungjong is portrayed in Dae Jang Geum

 Dae Jang Geum (Jewel in the Palace) 

In episode 3 of Dae Jang Geum we see the plot to overthrow Yeonsangun which took place in 1506. Here the Hungu officials gather secretly to discuss their plans.


King Jungjong is one of the mid Joseon kings in historical drama


Prince Jinsung, the future King Jungjong, (played by Im Ho) is aware of his brother’s increasingly violent behaviour but can’t do anything about it. In fact he also lives in fear of his own life under the tyranny of the unpredictable king.

If the Hungu succeed with the coup, he will be king. But he doesn’t want to be king. But if they don’t succeed and are caught, he will be executed with them as a traitor. And he doesn’t want that either! It’s Catch 22! But the plot is successful and in 1506 King Jungjong has his coronation. Although he doesn’t look too happy about it.

King Jungjong tried to balance political power

He promoted a member of the opposing Sarim faction, Jo Gwang-jo, to a high position in government. But of course members of the powerful Hungu faction didn’t like this and it all ended badly with the third Literati purge of 1519.

Towards the end of King Jungjong’s reign,  a very bad harvest and famine brought hardship and affected the king’s reputation. (people believed that natural disasters were a punishment from the gods for the king’s bad decisions.)

Politically, the Hungu faction lost power and the Sarim took over and remained in power for the rest of the Joseon period – but they gradually broke into splinter groups (due to ideological differences) leaving lots of opportunities for conflict in historical dramas…


(12) 인종 King Injong, Yi Ho (r.1544-1545)

had the shortest reign and was possibly poisoned 

King Injong tried to end corruption and make reforms in the government, but he died of ‘ill health’ just eight months after coming to the throne. And there was a rumour that he was poisoned so that his half-brother Grand Prince Kyung Won (son of Queen Munjeong) could take the throne.

The rumoured plot to kill him by his step-mother Queen Munjeong is portrayed in the drama Mandate of Heaven: The Fugitive of Joseon (KBS 2013).

Queen Munjeong is presented in the drama as a ruthless queen desperate for power.

The prince is portrayed as lonely and powerless in a court full of spies and enemies. And he’s naive: he struggles to believe that the queen could possibly want to harm him because, although she’s not his biological mother, she brought him up as her own child…

Here she is (played by Park Ji Young) in one of the creepiest sageuk drama scenes ever – even if it does involve flower petals and what should be a relaxing bath!

Queen Munjeong ruled for many years on her son King Myeongjong's behalf even after he became of age

(13) 명종 King Myeongjong, Yi Hwan (r.1545-1567)

his mother Queen Munjeong reigned as Regent as he was too young

King Myeongjong (r.1545-1567) was only 12 years old when he came to the throne, after his half-brother died of ill health. Rumour has it that his mother Queen Munjeong plotted to kill King Injong, so that she could be Regent in place of her young son.

She did in fact rule for many years on Myeongjong’s behalf even after he became of age! She was a strong supporter of Buddhism even though Buddhist worship was technically banned in favour of Confucianism.

In Mandate of Heaven the young king is portrayed as a kind boy who is dominated by his ambitious mother.

More rival factions

There were two rival political factions both led by relations of the royal family. Members of the Greater Yoon faction (Dae Yoon) were generally young literati from the provinces. The Smaller Yoon (So Yoon) were literati from the capital and led by Queen Munjeong’s brother, Yun Wonhyeong.

He became the most powerful leader at court as the Smaller Yoon became the ruling party and he is considered to be one of the worst politicians of the Joseon dynasty! yikes!

The So Yoon eventually accused the Dae Yoon of treason and so we come to the Fourth Literati Purge of 1545 where many sarim scholars were killed.

For crying out loud enough with the purges already!

Meanwhile, with all the purges and political squabbling, SECURITY had been put on a back burner. And the military had become old-fashioned and under-funded even though there were BIG SIGNS that Joseon was under threat from foreign invaders.

Well before the Imjin invasion (led by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1592), there were reports of Japanese pirates pillaging in Joseon. King Myeongjong was asked to melt the bells from the east and west gate in the capital for weapons. But he declined. And his lack of preparation meant that Joseon was not ready for war…

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King Seonjo is one of the mid Joseon kings in historical drama


(14) 선조 King Seonjo, Yi Yeon (r.1567-1608)

flees the capital during the Imjin Wars

The half-nephew of King Myeongjeong, started his reign off well making reforms and trying to rid the government of corruption.

He encouraged intellectual pursuits and built a reading hall for the scholars (Dokseodang) on the River Han. So it was a good time for intellectuals. But in the middle of political power struggles came the Japanese invasion of 1592 and the start of the 7 year war.

The Sarim broke up into the Seo-in (Westerners) who were established scholars from the capital, the Dong-in (Easterners) who were younger rebels. The Dong-In came to power and then THEY separated into hardliners (Bug-in, Northerners) and moderates (Nam-In Southerners).

All very complicated…

Anyway, in the very early years of the Joseon period, defence of the country had been taken seriously. King Sejong had been keen to develop gunpowder weaponry, but now defence was being neglected.

This neglect began just a few years later after the 1455 military coup by King Sejo. He limited military and weapon production to stop a coup against himself! (since he had usurped the throne himself, his worries were probably understandable!)

Read about this in the Early Joseon kings and related historical drama 

early Joseon kings in historical drama

But King Seonjo ignored pleas to increase the size of the army.

And he had to deal with the Seven-year War (1592-1598) with Japan.

A drama that deals with this part of history is Heojun (MBC 2000).

Here King Seonjo (played by Park Chan-hwan) looks glum as he escapes from the capital to Uiju on the Ming border after the attack. He has just crossed the river but his men burn the boats to stop the enemy crossing the river after them. Unfortunately that means that the Joseon peasants are stranded on the other side of the river as well.

Back in the capital disgruntled peasants riot and set fire to official buildings including the palaces. (not a very useful thing to do, really) Doctor Heojun is desperate to save all the medical books from the royal library where years of work are about to be destroyed by fire.

But there was good news.

Admiral Yi Sunsin, the hero of the Imjin Wars, was able to lead the navy and the turtle ships to victory in this first battle thanks to his clever military strategy.

On land too, armies were put together made up of peasants and led by sarim scholars and Buddhist monks! Warrior Monk Samyeong is famous from this period and was also a renowned calligrapher.

50 years after the wars, the population was still only 1.5 million – a third of what it was at the beginning of the Joseon dynasty. Gyeongbok palace was burned down as well as many books, important documents, and other cultural artefacts.

related posts:

Who was Great Master Samyeong?

How famous director Lee Byeong Hoon changed historical drama with Heojun

Heojun

Yeosu, home of Admiral Yi Sunsin

(15) 광해 Gwanghaegun, Yi Hon (r.1608-1623)

a political victim ousted in a coup

King Seonjo fled the capital during the Imjin War, but his son Gwanghaegun stayed behind to fight and rebuild Joseon. So surely he was worthy to become king? The beautifully made film War of Arrows (see trailer above) is set during this period.

But there was a big hooha as the political factions argued over who should succeed King Seonjo. This comes up in the drama Jung Yi, Goddess of Fire, (2013). Gwanghaegun was the king’s second son and born to a concubine and not the Queen.

Read why Seonjo chose Gwanghaegun to be his successor.

Although he did eventually become King, he was also the next king to be ousted in a coup. So his title remained gun – prince. He was not given the title for a king (Jo or Jung).

But when Gwanghaegun was deposed by the pro-Ming faction, the friendly relations with the Manchus also disappeared.

Read about how the titles were given to kings: JO, JONG, GUN

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(16) 인조 King Injo, Yi Jong (r.1623-1649)

leads the country through two Manchu invasions

The opening scenes of War of Flowers, JTBC (JTBC 2013) depict January 1st in the 15th year of King Injo’s reign when Joseon surrenders to the Qing dynasty during the second Manchu War.

Huang Taiji the Emperor of the new Qing Dynasty has invaded Joseon. The scene shows the humiliated King Injo (played by Lee Deok Hwa) on the cold winter’s night being forced to first get out of his palanquin and walk through the snow to bow before the Emperor.

The Western Faction (Seo-in) of King Injo’s government was also pro-Ming and anti-Qing. So, unlike his predecessor Gwanghaegun, King Injo did NOT keep a neutral policy when dealing with his neighbours. That was a mistake…

The outcome of Joseon’s defeat after the second Manchu Invasion was that Joseon became a tributary state of Qing…

After the Manchu invasions

King Injo’s son Crown Prince Sohyeon (1612-1645) and brother (who later became King Hyojong) were taken to Qing as hostages to guarantee that Qing’s demands would be met. But still King Injo and his western Seoin faction didn’t seem to learn from their mistakes and they continued their pro-Ming and Anti-Qing regime!

The Ming Dynasty was eventually overthrown by the Qing Dynasty in 1644 and so Joseon would have to find a way to get along with the new dynasty.

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Related Posts: 

An Overview of Joseon Kings 

Early Joseon kings and related historical dramas

Late Joseon kings and related historical dramas 

chart of Joseon kings and related historical dramas 

Questions that come up watching Korean historical dramas!

One thought on “Mid Joseon Kings in Historical Drama (1494-1649)

  • You’ve done what I’ve been thinking of doing in a long time! I’m a fan of sageuk and I have always wanted to know more about throne ascension and the like and, ho much do I love that you used drama screencaps to illustrate your point. It made the article more relatable and I found myself nodding along with the overthrowing of Yeonsangun and the screenshots from Dae Jang Geum (awesome drama). I love what you do with your blog, keep on doing what you do.

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