Sejo of Joseon
Sejo (Korean: 세조 ) (* September 29 1417 in Gyeongbokgung Palace ( 경복궁 ), Seoul, † September 8, 1468 in Gyeongbokgung Palace, Seoul ), was the seventh king of the Joseon Dynasty ( 조선 왕조 ) ( 1392 -1910 ) in Korea.
Life
Sejo was the second son of King Sejong the Great ( 세종 ) and his first wife Soheon ( 새헌 ). 1428 he was appointed by his father Prince Suyang. He was the younger brother of King Munjong ( 문종 ) and uncle of King Danjong he violated in a conspiracy from the throne. When his brother Munjong died on 14 May 1452 he promised himself rights to the throne. This said, however Munjong to only his almost 12 - year-old son Danjong. Since he was too young to rule, took over the Prime Minister Hwang Bo - in ( 황 보인 ) and his deputy General Kim Jong -seo ( 김 종서 ) government affairs for the young king.
A weakened kingdom in mind, instigated Prince Suyang almost 1 1/2 years later in a conspiracy. He had the help of the scholar Han Myeonghoe ( 한 명회 ) and some other high-ranking royal officials of his younger brother, Prince Anpyeong ( 안평 ), take over the throne in appearance. Then he presented himself as the savior of the throne, took power in the palace and sent his brother to the island of Ganghwa -do ( 강화도 ) into exile, where it was poisoned eight days later. Hwang Boin and General Kim Jongseo were also killed.
Reign
After he had taken over the business of government as Prince Suyang and de facto already exercised the power in the palace, he tried with the help of the scholar Han Myeonghoe and his followers to move Danjong to give up the throne. Danjong, only 14 years old, finally gave in to pressure, so that Suyang was enthroned on June 11, 1455 as King Sejo. Danjong remained king, but without any power.
In June 1456 Sejo resisted the attempt of scholars Seong Sam -mun ( 성삼문 ), Bak Paeng - nyeon ( 박팽년 ), Ha Wi -ji ( 하위지 ), Yi Gae ( 이개 ), Yu Seong -won ( 유 성원 ) and the military leader Yu Eung -bu ( 유응부 ) from to lift Danjong back on the throne. He had all six executed what was known in the writings later than Sayuksin ( 사육신 ) (six killed royal servants ). A year later he degrading king Danjong to Prince Nosan ( 노산군 ) and sent him into exile in Yeongwol ( 영월 ) in the province of Gangwon -do ( 강원도 ).
In September 1457 Sejo fended off another attempt to bring Danjong back on the throne. This time he ordered the demotion Danjongs to the level of a scholar. Danjong died shortly afterwards on 24 October 1457 unexplained circumstances. Since Sejo had removed forcibly over time all his adversaries, he now had unlimited power, but its illegal appropriation of power, threw among the scholars of later generations the moral question of whether usurpation, so usurpation of power, with the Confucian principles can be compatible.
Sejo ruled the country with a firm hand, reorganized the army, away from the cross -based defense with 3 HQs towards a regionally - oriented defense with five commanderies: east, west, south, north and center. For this, he recruited a million men who could be drafted for military service if necessary.
Sejo strengthened the monarchy and created an economic boom in the country. He left many books from the Chinese in Hangul ( Korean script ) translated, let manuals on agriculture for farmers and managed to develop a responsible individual for Sutra publications, which should translate Buddhist texts into Korean.
In 1460, Sejo developed the administrative and economic rules based on the Gyeongje Yukjeon ( 경재 육전 ), the laws based on the Joseon Dynasty and called the entire work Gyeongguk daejeon ( 경국 대전 ) (National Code). In the last year of his reign, he devoted himself to the translation of Gyeongguk daejeon. However, the publication he had to leave his successor Yejong, the six volumes published in 1469. He died on 8 September in 1468.