Cheoljong of Joseon

Early life

He was born the illegitimate son of Yi Gwang, Prince Jeongye of the Joseon dynasty and his concubine Lady Yeom of Yongseong, in Ganghwa. His first name was Yi Won-beom. though some years later he was changed his name to Yi Byeon.

In August 1841, Min Jin-yong and Lee Won-deok were plotting a coup d'etat to crown Yi Won-gyeong as king, primogeniture and legitimate child of Jeongye Daewongun. Yi Won-gyeong was the second cousin of King Heonjong of Joseon and the great-great grandson of 21st King Yeongjo of Joseon. However, Min Jin-yong and Lee Won-deok's coup d'etat was detected and they were executed along with Yi Won-gyeong. His only descendants the and sole survivors were two Illegitimate sons, Yi Kyung-eung and Yi Won-beom, who were deported to Ganghwa-do.

He was part of the royal family of the Joseon dynasty but he was illegitimate. During his childhood times, all the legitimate children of the Joseon dynasty died.

Background

At the beginning of the 19th century, the Andong Kim clan, who had provided the Joseon state with several queens, had seized power almost everywhere in Korea. The social stagnation that resulted was a breeding ground for unrest. Corruption and embezzlement from the treasury and its inevitable exploitation were taken to extreme levels, and reached staggering proportions. One rebellion after another was accompanied by natural disasters. Indeed, it was one of the most gloomy periods in the country’s history.^[2]

The only aim of the Andong Kim clan was the preservation of their influence. Their fierce campaign to dominate the royal house had led to a situation in which almost all of the representatives of the royal family fled from Seoul. When the royal family produced intelligent and appropriate candidates for the accession, they were either accused of treason and executed or sent into exile, so when Heonjong died, leaving no son, no acceptable candidate could be found to succeed to the throne.^[2]

Reign

Cheoljong ascended to the throne in 1849 at the age of 19 after King Heonjong died without an heir. As a distant relative of King Yeongjo, the 21st king of Joseon, Cheoljong was selected for adoption by the Dowager Queen at the time and to allow him to ascend to the throne. The future Cheoljong was found on Ganghwa Island where his family had fled to hide from oppression.

When the envoys (dispatched in order to seek for the future king) arrived on Ganghwa Island, they found the remaining clan of the Yi's barely surviving in wretched poverty.^[3] In 1849, at the age of 18, Yi Byeon/Seong^[4] (the future Cheoljong), the 3rd son of Prince Jeon-gye (great-grandson of King Yeongjo), was proclaimed King, amidst obvious degradation and poverty. Though from the start of the Joseon Dynasty Korean kings had given top priority to the education of their sons, Cheoljong could not even read a single word on the notice delivering congratulations to him on his elevation to the royal throne.^[2]

For the Andong Kims, Cheoljong was an excellent choice. His illiteracy made him manipulable and vulnerable to their control. Proof of this was that even though Cheoljong ruled the country for 13 years, until his very last days he had not yet learned how to move with dignity or how to wear royal clothes, so that in even the most luxurious of robes he still looked like a fisherman.^[2]

As part of the Andong Kim's manipulation of Cheoljong, in 1851, the clan married Cheoljong to Kim Mun-geun, daughter of a member of the clan, known posthumously as Queen Cheorin.^[2]

Death

Cheoljong died at the age of 32 in January 1864 (by suspected foul play by the Andong Kim clan, the same clan which made him king), without a male heir qualified for the throne, as his only son was born to a lower ranked consort, and not to Queen Cheolin. Once again, it became necessary to search far back in the Yi lineage to find a candidate for the throne.