Gwangjong of Goryeo
| Gwangjong of Goryeo 고려 광종 高麗 光宗 | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emperor of Goryeo | |||||||||||||
Jeongjong of Goryeo | |||||||||||||
| Successor | Gyeongjong of Goryeo | ||||||||||||
| Born | Wang So 925 Gaegyeong, Goryeo | ||||||||||||
| Died | 4 July 975 (aged 49–50) Gaegyeong, Goryeo | ||||||||||||
| Burial | Heolleung
(헌릉, 憲陵) | ||||||||||||
Consort | Lady Gyeonghwa Palace Lady Kim | ||||||||||||
| Issue | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| House | Wang | ||||||||||||
| Dynasty | Goryeo | ||||||||||||
| Father | Taejo of Goryeo | ||||||||||||
| Mother | Queen Sinmyeong | ||||||||||||
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 광종 |
|---|---|
| Hanja | |
| Revised Romanization | Gwangjong |
| McCune–Reischauer | Kwangjong |
| Birth name | |
| Hangul | 왕소 |
| Hanja | |
| Revised Romanization | Wang So |
| McCune–Reischauer | Wang So |
| Courtesy name | |
| Hangul | 일화 |
| Hanja | |
| Revised Romanization | Ilhwa |
| McCune–Reischauer | Irhwa |
| Posthumous name | |
| Hangul | 대성대왕 |
| Hanja | |
| Revised Romanization | Daeseong Daewang |
| McCune–Reischauer | Taesŏng Taewang |
Gwangjong of Goryeo (925 – 4 July 975), personal name Wang So, was the fourth monarch of Korea's Goryeo dynasty.[1][2]
Biography
Birth and early life
Gwangjong was born in 925 as Wang So, fourth son of King
As he had three older brothers, Mu, Tae and Yo, he was far from the succession to the throne; however, Wang Tae died early on, and
According to contemporary
During his time as a prince, he gave a great contribution in the crowning of Wang Yo as Jeongjong,[3] and played a big role in removing opposing forces to the sovereigns: one was Wang Gyu, who had helped King Taejo in the founding of Goryeo, climbing to the position of prime minister, and who, after King Hyejong was crowned, tried to carry out a coup to raise his grandson, prince Gwangju, to the throne.[4] The second one was Park Sul-hee, a general who promoted the appointment of Hyejong to Crown Prince and continued to support him later, becoming a threat to Jeongjong's coronation.[4]
Reign
| Monarchs of Korea |
| Goryeo |
|---|
|
When Gwangjong ascended the throne on April 13, 949, at the age of 25,
His first reform was the law of emancipation of slaves (노비안검법; Nobi-angeombeop) in 956. The noble families had many slaves, mainly prisoners of war, who served as private soldiers; they numbered more than commoners and didn't pay taxes to the crown, but to the clan they worked for. By emancipating them, Gwangjong turned them into commoners, weakening the noble families' power, and gaining people who paid taxes to the king and could become part of his army. This reform won his government the support of the people, while nobles were against it; even queen Daemok tried to stop the king as the law affected her family, but to no avail.[2][3][5][6][7]
Regarding foreign policy, Gwangjong maintained the close connection between China and Goryeo which was made by Taejo of Goryeo, focusing on the relationship with Later Zhou and the Song dynasty. Many diplomats were sent back and forth between the two countries, as well as many goods. Gwangjong also built diplomatic relationships with Wuyue.[8]
In 957, Later Zhou diplomat and scholar Shuang Ji was sent to Goryeo as an envoy. Gwangjong discovered his ability and requested him to stay; Shuang Ji agreed and worked as a Goryeo official:[8] with his advice, Gwangjong instituted the national civil service examination (과거; Gwageo) in 958, with the goal to expel officials who gained court positions due to family influence or reputation rather than by merit.[9] The examination, based on the Tang's civil service exam and the Confucian classics,[7] was open to all male free-borns to give everyone, not only the rich and powerful people, the opportunity to work for the state, but in practice only sons of the gentry could gain the necessary education to take the exam; royal relatives of the five highest ranks were, instead, left out on purpose.[10] In 960, the king introduced different colours for court robes to distinguish officials of different ranks.[11]
During Gwangjong's reign, medical centers known as Daebi-won (대비원; 大悲院; lit. "houses of mercy"), which provided free medicines to poor patients, were set up in Kaesong and Pyongyang, later expanding in the provinces as the Hyeminguk (혜민국; 惠民局; lit. "public health department"). Taejo had established regional granaries (의창; 義倉; uichang) to face the times of drought, and Gwangjong added jewibo (제위보; 濟危寶), stores which charged interests on grain loans, which were then used for poor relief. These measures, even if in modified forms, kept on working for the next 900 years, parallel to better cultivation methods to keep up with the growth of population.[10]
When emperor
Gwangjong saw the association of religious institutions and the state as an aid to subdue local lords, and chose the abbot of
Other actions undertaken to reinforce the royal authority were naming Goryeo an empire and himself Emperor, thus ending tributary relationships with China; calling Kaesong the Imperial Capital and Pyongyang the Western Capital, and adopting the era name Gwangdeok (광덕; 光德; lit. "shining virtue") from 949 to 951, and Junpung (준풍; 峻豊; lit. "exorbitant abundance") from 960 to 963. By placing himself in the position of the emperor, he tried to instill in his servants that he had an absolute power.[3][11]
Gwangjong's reforms were not well-received by the nobles, especially by high military and civil officials who helped his father in the foundation of Goryeo.[2][11] The dissent of the nobles led them to stage a rebellion, but this attempt failed. In his eleventh year of reign, 960, Gwangjong started a series of purges, killing off his opposers: among them, there were his brother Wang Won (ninth prince Hyoeun), who was suspected of treason and poisoned, king Hyejong's son prince Heunghwa, and king Jeongjong's son prince Gyeongchunwon.[3][15] Gwangjong also mistrusted his eldest son Wang Ju, who was five years old at the time.[3] At the end of the purges, only forty of Taejo's 3,200 meritorious subjects who helped him in unifying the Later Three Kingdoms were still alive.[15]
Later years and death
In his later years, Gwangjong's reliance on Buddhism increased. In 968, after a nightmare, he convened a reunion and banned the slaughter of his family. In December 971, an earthquake occurred in Goryeo, and the nobles and the people blamed the king. Gwangjong managed to handle the situation, but a second earthquake occurred in February 972: during this time, he had a nightmare and granted amnesty to prisoners in August.
He developed a serious disease in July 975 (fifth month of the Lunar calendar) and died just a few days later at the age of 50.
He was succeeded by his only son Wang Ju, who became the fifth king of Goryeo, Gyeongjong.[3] The reform policies to curb the power of the capital aristocracy were passed down to his successors, but they weren't able to pursue them; as a result, the bureaucracy turned from a meritorious aristocracy to a hereditary class.[7] The law of emancipation of slaves was retracted during the sixth king's, Seongjong's reign.
Legacy
Gwangjong's bold reform policy weakened the nobles and stabilized the kingship. In addition, the national civil service examination caused the raise of a new wave of political forces, while a new cultural heritage was developed independently by taking inspiration from China.[3] Though Hyejong and Jeongjong established their reigns by relying on strong power bases represented by general Park Sul-hee and uncle Wang Sing-nyŏm, respectively, Gwangjong established his own power base,[19] and, in order to restrain the power of wealthy people and influential vassals, he encouraged consanguineous marriages to avoid troubles with maternal relatives.[19] He is regarded as the king who made the most strenuous and energetic efforts to strengthen the kingship in the early Goryeo.[20]
His reforms contributed greatly to the formation of a new political order in the newborn kingdom of Goryeo, but they were mainly limited to politics; the restructuring of the local government, and the reorganization of national economy and social system were comparatively weak. He was always wary of the possibility of hostile acts, and killed nobles and relatives recklessly.[3]
One of the most influential thinkers of the time was
He treated those under him with much propriety, and never lost his eye for judging people. He did not hold his royal relatives and high nobles too close, always restraining the mighty and powerful. He never neglected the humble, and accorded favors to widows and orphans. For eight years after he ascended the throne, the government was clean and equitable, meting out no excessive rewards or punishments. From the time he employed Shuang Chi, he leaned heavily toward the literati, dispensing excessive favors and courtesy to them. Thereupon, even the untalented came forward, upsetting the order of seniority and advanced quickly, becoming high ministers in less than two years. [...] As he neglected government affairs, important issues related to state security were ignored, but parties and banquets continued without interruption [...], and the initial virtue of the king gradually disappeared. [...] The population supplies were increasingly spent on buying honors. For this reason, the king didn't recover his previous zeal and diligence for state affairs, even when he met his counselors. Their disgust, therefore, deepened day by day. [...] Moreover, the king exceeded in his devotion to Buddhism and overestimated Buddhists. [...] In clothes and food, he spared no expense. In weighing up the merits of public works, he ignored the choice of the appropriate time. There was no respite in devising clever initiatives. Even according to a rough estimate, each year's expenses were equivalent to T'aejo's expenses for a decade.
In his last ten years, many innocent people were killed. [...] For sixteen years, from the eleventh (960) to the twenty-sixth year (975) of Kwangjong's reign, the intriguing and the wicked competed to advance, and slanderous accusations raged. The true gentlemen were badly tolerated everywhere, while petty people reached their goals.
Family
 |
- Father: Taejo of Goryeo
- Grandfather: Sejo of Goryeo
- Grandmother: Queen Wisuk, of the Han clan
- Grandfather:
- Mother: Queen Sinmyeong, of Hwangju Hwangbo clan
- Grandfather: Yu Geung-dal (유긍달)
- Consorts and their respective issue(s):
- Queen Daemok of the Hwangju Hwangbo clan; half younger sister.
- Crown Prince Wang Ju, 1st son
- Prince Hyohwa, 2nd son
- Wang Aji, Lady Cheonchu, 1st daughter
- Lady Bohwa, 2nd daughter
- Queen Mundeok, 3rd daughter
- Lady Gyeonghwa of the Jincheon Im clan; half niece – No issue.
- Worthy Consort, of the Kim clan – No issue.
In popular culture
- Portrayed by Kim Sang-joong in the 2002–2003 KBS TV series The Dawn of the Empire.[22]
- Portrayed by Jung Seung-woo in the 2009 KBS2 TV series Empress Cheonchu.
- Portrayed by Jang Hyuk in the 2015 MBC TV series Shine or Go Crazy.[23]
- Portrayed by Lee Joon-gi in the 2016 SBS TV series Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo.[24]
See also
- List of Korean monarchs
- History of Korea
- List of Goryeo people
References
- ^ "Choi Seung-ro, the Architect of Goryeo Political Structure". May 3, 2013. Archived from the original on February 11, 2017. Retrieved September 18, 2016.
- ^ a b c d e f "Gwangjong, el monarca que otorga libertad a los esclavos" [Gwangjong, the monarch who granted freedom to slaves] (in Spanish). KBS World. May 30, 2014. Archived from the original on February 11, 2017. Retrieved September 18, 2016.
- ^ ISBN 9788975270482.
- ^ a b "또 한 번의 통일, 고려 광종의 꿈". KBS World. November 14, 2011. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
- ^ a b Lee, Carol (October 19, 2015). "A reforma política do reino de Goryeo" [The political reform of the kingdom of Goryeo] (in Portuguese). Korea Post. Retrieved September 19, 2016.
- ^ "Goryeo Dynasty". www.infokorea.org. Retrieved 2020-01-06.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-61069-581-7.
- ^ a b "냉철한 국왕, 왕의 힘을 키우다" (in Korean). Retrieved 2022-11-01.
- ^ Kim, Hae-Yeon (May 29, 2023). "[Stories of Artifacts] How Joseon strove to make exams fair: Gangseosigwon". Korea Herald. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
- ^ ISBN 9781136167058.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-67461-576-2.
- ^ "Iron Banner Pole of Yongjusa Temple". September 16, 2013. Retrieved September 18, 2016.
- ^ "Cheongpyeongsa Temple (Chuncheon) (청평사 (춘천))". Retrieved September 18, 2016.
- ISBN 978-0-70071-605-0.
- ^ ISBN 9788982065798.
- ^ "Goryeo: Heads of State: 936-1393". Archontology. Archived from the original on August 29, 2018. Retrieved September 12, 2017.
- ^ 헌릉 [Heolleung] (in Korean). Retrieved July 10, 2017.
- ^ 고려 광종 헌릉 (in Korean). Archived from the original on 2017-09-13. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
- ^ a b Global World Encyclopedia, Unification of Goryeo.
- ^ 광종 [Gwangjong] (in Korean). Archived from the original on July 10, 2012. Retrieved July 11, 2017.
- ^ ISBN 978-8-88751-001-0.
- ^ [방송]‘제국의 아침’ 광종-김상중 정종-최재성 맡아 (in Korean). December 24, 2001. Retrieved September 13, 2017.
- ^ "Jang Hyuk and Oh Yeon Seo to play royal lovers in 'Shine or Go Crazy'". Kdramastars. November 20, 2014. Retrieved July 3, 2013.
- ^ "이준기, 中 소설 원작 '보보경심:려' 남주 출연 확정". entertain.naver.com (in Korean). Retrieved 2020-01-06.
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