Jeongjong (Korean: 정종; Hanja: 定宗; 1 July 1357 – 26 September 1419),[b][c] personal name Yi Bang-gwa (이방과; 李芳果), later Yi Gyeong (이경; 李曔), was the second monarch of the Joseon of Korea. He was the second son of King Taejo, the founder of the dynasty. Before ascending to the throne, he was known as Prince Yeongan (영안군; 永安君).
Biography
Born in 1357 as the second son of Yi Seong-gye (posthumously King Taejo) and his first wife Lady Han, he was a prudent, generous, brave, and able military officer. During the latter days of the declining Goryeo dynasty, Jeongjong followed his father to various battlefronts and fought at his side. When his father took the throne in 1392, he became a prince.
Taejo had two wives — the first one, who gave birth to six sons (including Jeongjong), died before he was crowned; the second wife was Lady Gang, with whom he had two sons. The king favored his youngest son, whose mother was Lady Gang. Chief State CouncillorJeong Do-jeon also backed him as successor, causing much resentment in the other princes.
In 1398, Taejo's fifth son, Yi Bang-won (posthumously King Taejong) led a coup along with many military officers and killed his two younger half-brothers, Jeong Do-jeon, and many of his faction. Yi Bang-won first tried to show that he was not interested in the throne, so he gave a push to Yi Bang-gwa (who was the eldest son by then), to be the next crown prince. King Taejo was upset and abdicated in disgust, and Yi Bang-gwa became Joseon's second ruler.[1] The same year he moved the government back to Gaegyeong, the old Goryeo capital.
In 1400, a conflict broke out between Yi Bang-won and his elder brother, Yi Bang-gan. Yi Bang-won's force attacked and defeated that of his brother Yi Bang-gan's, who was then sent into exile along with his family. General Park Bo, who persuaded Yi Bang-gan into rebellion, was executed. King Jeongjong, knowing that he was a mere political figurehead for his younger brother, appointed him as crown prince and abdicated months later.[1]
He was an able and wise administrator despite his short reign being marked by bloodshed within the royal family.
^After Sejong ascended to the throne in 1418, Jeongjong was known as 'The Old King Emeritus' (노상왕; 老上王; Nosangwang) to distinguish him from his younger brother Taejong, who had also abdicated.
# denotes that the king was deposed and never received a temple name.
^Those who were listed were not reigning monarchs but posthumously recognized; the year following means the year of recognition.
^Only the crown princes that did not become the king were listed; the former year indicates when one officially became the heir and the latter one is that when one died/deposed. Those who ascended to the throne were excluded in the list for simplification.
^The title given to the biological father, who never reigned, of the kings who were adopted as the heir to a precedent king.
^The de jure monarch of Korea during the era was the Emperor of Japan, while the former Korean emperors were given nobility title "King Yi" instead.
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