A History of Korea (38 page)

Yi S
ŏ
ng-gye, however, had opposed the expedition from the start. Thus he did not cross the Yalu but marched his troops back from Wihwa-do at the mouth of the river. In a nearly bloodless coup Yi S
ŏ
ng-gye ousted King U and Ch’oe Y
ŏ
ng from power, seizing the reins of government himself. He deposed King U under the pretext that he was not the true heir but the son of the monk Sin Ton. The king, said to have been born to King Kongmin and a slave woman of Sin Ton, was succeeded by King Ch’ang (1388–1389), nine year old. Yi S
ŏ
ng-gye removed or exiled many old-line members of powerful family lineage from the court and consolidated his power. As a result of Yi’s march back from Wihwado, Kory
ŏ
did not conquer the Liaodong region, but, in the end, Ming was unable to take possession of the land belonging to the Tianling-wei, and so Kory
ŏ
did not lose its territory.

Yi and his Neo-Confucian literati supporters such as Ch
ŏ
ng To-j
ŏ
n and Cho Chun also deposed King Ch’ang on the grounds that he was a grandson of Sin Ton, and in his place raised King Kongyang (1389–1392) to the throne. Then they carried out a sweeping land reform that had long been advocated by the literati class and dreamed of by the populace for many years. These radical elements were opposed by a moderate group led by Yi Saek, but these moderates were swiftly purged from the government. Because opponents of land reform offered stubborn resistance, Yi S
ŏ
ng-gye had to keep them in submission by the power of the sword. Land reform represented the destruction of the old economic
order that had been maintained and enjoyed by Kory
ŏ
’s powerful families and its replacement by a new order that would benefit the rising literati class.

In 1390 Yi S
ŏ
ng-gye and his supporters, in a dramatic move, burned the land registers, which were in flames for days, and confiscated all public and private lands. In 1391 an ordinance stipulating a new land system, called the
Kwaj
ŏ
np
ŏ
p,
or Rank Land Law, was promulgated. Its terms provided for the allocation of land stipends, taken only from the Ky
ŏ
nggi region around the capital, to incumbent and former government officials for life in accordance with the rank they had achieved. The land allocated would vary from 10 ky
ŏ
l to 150 ky
ŏ
l and would be cultivated to support the central bureaucracy. The Yi S
ŏ
ng-gye faction was the greatest beneficiary of the land reform. Those who disobeyed Yi received land allotments of just 5 to 10 ky
ŏ
l. Recipients were given the right to collect rent, and peasants were given the right to cultivate. The level of taxation to be imposed on farmlands was set at 30 tu, or some 160 kilograms, per ky
ŏ
l.

The peasants’ livelihood would be stabilized, as they were guaranteed land tenure in terms of cultivation rights and their lands were not subject to confiscation. Further, the accumulation of land by the recipients, namely, office holders, was strictly controlled by the stipulation that land would be granted only in the Ky
ŏ
nggi areas, where land accumulation was placed under government supervision and surveillance. The land in the rest of the country was all subsumed under the category of state land, which meant that the agricultural estates of the former powerful families were confiscated, thus completely destroying their economic foundation and causing their ultimate demise. At the same time the land reform represented the eventual downfall of the Kory
ŏ
dynasty and heralded the coming of the new Chos
ŏ
n dynasty. The increase in state land resulted in a corresponding increase in government revenues, which secured the economic foundation of the new kingdom.

After completely ousting moderate literati such as Ch
ŏ
ng Mong-ju, who opposed the establishment of a new dynasty and was killed, Yi S
ŏ
ng-gye finally ascended the throne in 1392. His crowning was legitimized by the confirmation of the Top’y
ŏ
ng
ŭ
isasa. Yi S
ŏ
ng-gye became the founder of Korea’s longest-ruling dynasty, Chos
ŏ
n, more accurately “Modern Chos
ŏ
n,” which would survive into the early twentieth century. To make a clean break with the previous dynasty, Yi S
ŏ
ng-gye was determined to move the capital to Hanyang (present-day Seoul), which he did in 1394, and the next year Hanyang was renamed Hans
ŏ
ng. From this time on, Seoul would become the political, economic, social, and cultural center of Korea. Finally Korean history had entered a new era.

From the mid-twelfth century on, the Kory
ŏ
kingdom was afflicted with several rebellions and gradually declined. The turn of the dynastic cycle manifested itself by rebellions and uprisings. After the deadly Mongol invasions, Kory
ŏ
barely preserved its political independence and actually fell under Yuan domination. After freeing itself from Yuan control, Kory
ŏ
failed to recover its previous strength and finally gave way to the new Chos
ŏ
n kingdom. Compared to its successor state of Chos
ŏ
n, Kory
ŏ
was distinguished by its independence and autonomy. Thus North Korea, a self-proclaimed “state of self-reliance,” contends that Kory
ŏ
was superior to any other Korean kingdom in Korean history. North Koreans have even suggested that the name of the unified Korean state be the “Kory
ŏ
Democratic Confederate Republic.” An open society, Kory
ŏ
actively accepted foreign cultures from many parts of the civilized world and produced brilliant cultural achievements characterized by cosmopolitanism and diversity.

The first century of the Chos
Ŏ
n dynasty, which ranged from King T’aejo (1392–1398) to King S
ŏ
ngjong (1469–1494), saw a new ruling order established and witnessed the dynasty’s greatest strength, prosperity, cultural brilliance, and unprecedented vitality. Inheriting the brilliant Kory
ŏ
civilization, the Chos
ŏ
n kingdom created its own developed civilization.

Chos
ŏ
n was sinicized far more than any previous Korean kingdom in terms of its institutions and culture. Within the first two centuries of its reign, Chos
ŏ
n became recognized as even more sinicized than China itself. It was often called
So chunghwa,
or “Little China,” meaning that Chos
ŏ
n was the perfect embodiment of Chinese (“Middle Kingdom”) civilization.

It was also in this period of the new dynasty when the influence of Buddhism greatly diminished. The Chos
ŏ
n kingdom launched a sweeping attack on Buddhism and its institutions, with profound and enduring effects on the character of subsequent civilization in Korea. In place of Buddhism, Confucianism, particularly Neo-Confucianism, was instituted as a state philosophy. The Neo-Confucian literati managed to inculcate Confucianism throughout Chos
ŏ
n society, which had a profound effect on the position of women. As time went
on, women were increasingly relegated to the category of the so-called
naeja,
or “inside people,” who devoted themselves to the domestic chores of child rearing and housekeeping.

Confucianism is based on an ideal model of relations between family members that called for special bonds between sovereign and subject, father and son, and husband and wife, as well as five moral disciplines. Confucianism generalized the family model and relationships of subjects to the state and to an international system. In political terms, these principles meant that a village followed the leadership of venerated elders, and citizens revered a king who was thought of as the father of the state. Generalized to international relations, the Chinese emperor was the big brother of the Chos
ŏ
n king. A conservative philosophy, Confucianism stressed tradition, strict social hierarchies, obedience to superiors, and identification of the father with the monarch. It adopted the proper rite as one of its major virtues and therefore paid careful attention to the performance of ritual. In the international context, it envisioned a China-centered world order.

Yi S
ŏ
ng-gye, known by the posthumous title T’aejo, promptly sought confirmation of his status by the Chinese Ming emperor and eventually received it. In 1393 he renamed the new dynasty Chos
ŏ
n, with the Ming emperor’s approval. Two names, Chos
ŏ
n and Hwary
ŏ
ng, had been presented to the Chinese, and although Hwary
ŏ
ng was Yi S
ŏ
ng-gye’s birthplace, Chos
ŏ
n was presented to the Ming emperor based on the idea that the new dynasty would succeed Korea’s ancient state of “Old Chos
ŏ
n.” Thus the Chinese recommended Chos
ŏ
n as the name of their neighboring state.

In 1394 the new dynasty moved its capital to Hanyang (Seoul), located almost in the center of the Korean peninsula. To the south of Hanyang was the Han River, which enabled the new capital to secure good facilities for water transport, and it was surrounded by high mountains, creating a heaven-sent fortified zone. Already in the earlier Kory
ŏ
dynasty Hanyang had been regarded as a propitious locale. King Munjong (1046–1083) elevated the city to the status of Nam-gy
ŏ
ng. King Sukchong (1095–1105) constructed a palace in the town, frequently touring and staying there for several months annually. Several Kory
ŏ
kings attempted to move the capital to this southern town, but this was blocked based on the geomantic belief that not the Wang house but the Yi house would become the master of the city. Yi S
ŏ
ng-gye finally succeeded in relocating the capital, and built royal shrines, palaces, and a fortified wall surrounding it, making it the center of political power.

After six years on the throne Yi S
ŏ
ng-gye wearied of the power struggles within his family and, in 1398, abdicated the throne in favor of his second son, King Ch
ŏ
ngjong (1398–1400). The transition of power from the Kory
ŏ
kingdom to the Chos
ŏ
n kingdom was relatively peaceful, with little damage to property or life. But there was a power struggle within the royal Yi family, in which Yi Pang-w
ŏ
n, the fifth son of Yi S
ŏ
ng-gye, was behind most of the plots and undertakings that had made his father the founder of the Chos
ŏ
n kingdom. He used extraordinary measures, including the assassination of political foes such as Ch
ŏ
ng Mong-ju, a moderate Neo-Confucian scholar-official loyal to Kory
ŏ
, whom he killed in 1392. His father never approved his son’s aggression and cruel behavior.

As soon as Yi S
ŏ
ng-gye ascended the throne, he named the youngest of his eight sons, Pang-s
ŏ
k, the crown prince, bypassing Pang-w
ŏ
n. Confounding matters, each son had a private army of his own. In 1398 in the “First Strife of Princes,” Pang-w
ŏ
n attacked and killed two of the king’s youngest sons, including the crown prince (his half-brother). He also slaughtered his father’s two eminent merit subjects, Ch
ŏ
ng To-j
ŏ
n and Nam
Ŭ
n, who then patronized the crown prince. Yi S
ŏ
ng-gye, aghast that his sons were willing to kill each other for the throne, abdicated, and the second son, Pang-gwa, was made king. But he was a puppet of Pang-w
ŏ
n, who watched his every move. Pang-gwa was named King Ch
ŏ
ngjong but was not much of a king, as Pang-w
ŏ
n controlled every affair of the nation. Then Yi S
ŏ
ng-gye’s fourth son, Pang-gan, emerged as Pang-w
ŏ
n’s political rival. In 1400 in the “Second Strife of Princes,” Pang-gan attacked his younger brother with his own army but was defeated. Pang-w
ŏ
n exiled his older brother and killed his brother’s subordinates.

Thoroughly intimidated, King Ch
ŏ
ngjong abdicated the throne in favor of his younger brother, Pang-w
ŏ
n. In 1400 Pang-w
ŏ
n became the third king of the Chos
ŏ
n kingdom, King T’aejong (1400–1418). Yi S
ŏ
ng-gye was so disheartened that he returned to his birthplace, now called Hamh
ŭ
ng. Once he ascended the throne, King T’aejong became an effective ruler who did much to consolidate royal authority. Before actually taking the throne, T’aejong had already seized political power and made drastic reforms. In 1400 he abolished private armies, thereby instituting centralized military control and increasing the number of men employed in the national military. At the same time he changed the Top’y
ŏ
ng
ŭ
isasa into the
Ŭ
ij
ŏ
ngbu, with greatly diminished power and authority. All decisions passed by the
Ŭ
ij
ŏ
ngbu could only come into effect
with the king’s approval. He entrusted the overall conduct of government business to six ministries, each authorized to receive royal commands directly. In these ways the monarch could participate directly in the administration, bringing royal power to new heights. He confiscated a great deal of Buddhist property, thus completing the land reform. In 1413 he initiated the first population survey and ordered the documentation of family names and clans, as well as places and dates of birth and death for all males. He required males over the legal age of 16, whatever their class in society, to carry wooden tablets, called
hop’ae,
or identification tags, engraved with their name, date of birth, birthplace, and other information, in effect preventing peasants from abandoning the land they tilled or evading the mandatory military draft service. Although he was an effective monarch, his brutal method for ascending the throne had set a precedent of bloody purges among royalty and the bureaucracy that continued throughout the Chos
ŏ
n dynasty and greatly contributed to the weakening of the kingdom.