Friday, March 29, 2024
BOOK REVIEWSKOREAN HISTORY

Who Was the Sage King Yeongjo? Book Review

King Yeongjo was the longest reigning monarch in the Joseon period (r.1724 -1776) but his rise to the throne was controversial. First, he was the son of King Sukjong and his concubine Suk Bin.  And Suk Bin came from the servant class. (see drama Dong YiSecondly, he was the half-brother of the previous king whose death was suspicious. There were rumours that he had been poisoned! And that King Yeongjo may have had something to do with it.

Another controversial episode of his reign came when with the death of Crown Prince Sado.  (See chapter 5) The 2015 film The Throne is also about this tragic incident.

Yeongjo and the Confucian Kingship of Korea

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The Sage King

So for these reasons, King Yeongjo worked on establishing his moral credentials. He chose to do this by branding himself as a sage king. And he worked diligently at this hoping to receive the Mandate of Heaven. This book explores King Yeongjo’s reign and what it meant to be a sage king in the Joseon period.

King Yeongjo believed he had to be virtuous and disciplined and was burdened with restoring moral order in the country! He became a great scholar of Confucianism. And he often went out in public to speak to the commoners and searched out ways to have more contact with them.

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Overview

There’s not much information in English about the kings of Joseon. And quite often the information about them is pretty dry and limited to battle dates and main events of the king’s reign.

But this book is more engaging. In particular, I like the details about the king’s daily life, his character, and his motivations for doing what he did. We can get a deeper understanding of Joseon’s longest ruling monarch. The book is divided into 5 chapters covering the king’s character, the political structure at the time, and of course the death of Crown Prince Sado.

There are also some fascinating details about relationships. Transcripts of dialogues between the king and his officials are revealing. Then there was the complicated relationship between Joseon and its neighbours, particularly the Ming Dynasty.

I learned that the Ming emperors considered themselves to be the sons of Heaven and so they wore yellow. But the kings of Joseon had a lower status and so they wore red. But this was confusing as red was the same colour as the Joseon government officials wore. So the king’s garment had to be adjusted to make it stand out. (the Joseon King had a dragon embroidered on the front but the scholar officials had cranes)

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 CHAPTER 1

Confucian Kingship and Royal Authority in the Yi Monarchy 

This chapter gives an overview of the changes in the political structure that occurred when the Joseon Dynasty was founded in 1392 and ruled for 500 years. It looks at the relationship between the king and his government and the role that Confucianism played in this. The relationship between the Joseon kings and the Ming emperors was important as Joseon acknowledged Ming as the centre of the world. Joseon accepted a subservient position as a tributary state in return for being accepted as belonging to Confucian civilisation.

The Ming Dynasty was respected. So when it fell in 1644 to the Manchus,  Joseon saw the new Qing Dynasty as barbarians. After the fall of Ming, Joseon believed it was up to them alone to continue to uphold and protect Confucian values. But how to do this caused disagreements and ended up with serious factional disputes.

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CHAPTER 2

Yeongjo’s Reign: Images of Sagehood

This chapter looks at how King Yeongjo created his image as a sage king. As there were questions about his legitimacy to the throne, Yeongjo realised he had to establish his moral credentials and chose to do this by becoming a sage king. He worked diligently at this hoping desperately for a sign from above that proved he had received the Mandate of Heaven.

The chapter also gives an insight into the daily work of the king. His demeanour during ritualistic ceremonies was observed intensely. So he paid great attention to details and made sure he always showed devotion and sincerity. He also became a scholar and Confucian moralist to be able to lead by example and follow Confucian rituals meticulously to show respect and devotion.  Showing filial piety not only to his parents but also to the previous king was important.  But this was also problematic as he was accused of killing him!

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CHAPTER 3

Yeongjo’s Rule: Politics of Patriarchy

This chapter looks at how King Yeongjo used practical politics to make tax reforms. The changes in society since the beginning of the Joseon period had created a big burden on commoners (the number of upper class yangban had increased and they didn’t pay tax).

It explains about two strands of Confucianism – hierarchical and egalitarian. The officials backed whichever side that suited them at the time. And when it came to taxes the officials became hierarchical! The king could not pass a law without the government. So how could he persuade the members to vote for something that would not benefit them?

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CHAPTER 4

Magnificent Harmony: dealing with factional disputes 

This chapter deals with how King Yeongjo introduced tangpyeong: Magnificent Harmony. This meant nullifying factions and not taking either side in factional disputes. It also covers the lead up to a serious revolt against his leadership led by extremists of the Soron faction. A serious famine helped to anger the people enough to join the rebels and revolt in 1728.

Previous kings had not tried to tackle the issue of factions. Some had even encouraged factions when it suited them. For many years Yeongjo insisted on a coalition government – Soron and Noron. At the beginning of his reign the Soron had greater power, by the end the balance had swung to the Noron. So he never eradicated the factions completely.

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CHAPTER 5

Yeongjo’s Tragedy: The Prince of Mournful Thoughts

The final chapter deals with the lead up to the controversial and infamous death of Prince Sado. It’s a sad, sometimes shocking chapter which reveals the reasons for the downward spiral in the relationship between Yeongjo and his son Crown Prince Sado.

Apparently some of the Records of the Royal Secretariat (sungjongwon) which would have  given more details of the event were destroyed. (on King Jeongjo’s orders – King Yeongjo’s successor and Prince Sado’s son). But the chapter includes records from Sado’s mother’s memoirs. (A journal Written At Leisure; Yi Kwanghyong’s Diary)

Since Yeongjo had no other heir, his grandson (and Crown Prince Sado’s son) became King Jeongjo (r.1776-1800)

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***

The Confucian Kingship of Korea: Yeongjo and the Politics of Sagacity by Jahyun Kim Haboush, a Korean American scholar of Korean history and literature. (This is the 2001 paperback updated version of the book first published by Columbia in 1988)

5 thoughts on “Who Was the Sage King Yeongjo? Book Review

  • I really enjoyed Jang OK Jung, Living in Love and am eager to hear your impression of it. It seems challenging for dramas to twist away from their romantic predilections to adhere more to historical reality since the required happy endings become impossible as a result. JOJLiL appeared to do that fairly well. I wonder if you will agree.
    Cheers, Christina

    Reply
    • I’m on episode 15 at the moment and loving the drama so far. Comparing this version of events to the drama Dong Yi is very interesting. Either way, Jang Ok Jung’s character is very compelling. I just have to prepare myself for what’s going to happen from now on – it has to go pear-shaped for JOJ. 🙁

      Reply
  • I cannot express adequately in words how much I enjoy and benefit from your blog. Do you think I would be able to get this book in USA
    Can you do a blog on his grandson.?
    He was my favorite king.

    Reply
    • Yes, you can get this book on Amazon. And there are several dramas based on Yeongjo’s grandson – King Jeongjo – so I’ll be getting to him soon! Thanks for reading my blog 🙂

      Reply
  • I have this book as well. It’s a brilliant book. Also love Haybush’s translation of Lady Hong’s Memoirs

    Reply

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