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Yejong of Goryeo

 

 
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Yejong of Goryeo
 
 
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For the later ruler, see Yejong of Joseon
Yejong of Joseon

Yejong of Joseon was the 8th king of the Joseon Dynasty Korea. He succeeded his father, Sejo of Joseon in 1468, but was too physically ill to govern, and died a year later....
.
Yejong of Goryeo (1079-1122, r. 1105-1122) was the 16th emperor of the Korean Goryeo
Goryeo

The Goryeo Dynasty was a sovereign state established in 918 by Taejo of Goryeo. It united the Later Three Kingdoms in 936 and ruled most of the Korean peninsula until it was removed by the Joseon dynasty in 1392....
 dynasty. He was the son of Emperor Sukjong
Sukjong of Goryeo

Sukjong of Goryeo was the 15th ruler of the Goryeo dynasty of Korea. He was the younger brother of Sunjong of Goryeo. He married Myeongui, the daughter of Yu Hong....
 and Empress Myeongui. He succeeded Sukjong upon his father's death.

Among his first decrees, in 1106, was an order breaking up the empire into new administrative divisions.

He was a great promoter of Daoism
Taoism

Taoism refers to a variety of related philosophical and religious traditions and concepts. These traditions have influenced East Asia for over two thousand years and some have spread to the West....
, preferring its precepts over those of the previously ascendant court religion of Buddhism
Buddhism

Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices considered by most to be a religionand is based on the teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as "The Buddha" , who was born in what is today Nepal....
.






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For the later ruler, see Yejong of Joseon
Yejong of Joseon

Yejong of Joseon was the 8th king of the Joseon Dynasty Korea. He succeeded his father, Sejo of Joseon in 1468, but was too physically ill to govern, and died a year later....
.
Yejong of Goryeo (1079-1122, r. 1105-1122) was the 16th emperor of the Korean Goryeo
Goryeo

The Goryeo Dynasty was a sovereign state established in 918 by Taejo of Goryeo. It united the Later Three Kingdoms in 936 and ruled most of the Korean peninsula until it was removed by the Joseon dynasty in 1392....
 dynasty. He was the son of Emperor Sukjong
Sukjong of Goryeo

Sukjong of Goryeo was the 15th ruler of the Goryeo dynasty of Korea. He was the younger brother of Sunjong of Goryeo. He married Myeongui, the daughter of Yu Hong....
 and Empress Myeongui. He succeeded Sukjong upon his father's death.

Among his first decrees, in 1106, was an order breaking up the empire into new administrative divisions.

He was a great promoter of Daoism
Taoism

Taoism refers to a variety of related philosophical and religious traditions and concepts. These traditions have influenced East Asia for over two thousand years and some have spread to the West....
, preferring its precepts over those of the previously ascendant court religion of Buddhism
Buddhism

Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices considered by most to be a religionand is based on the teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as "The Buddha" , who was born in what is today Nepal....
. During his reign, Daoist court rituals were introduced from Song Dynasty
Song Dynasty

The Song Dynasty was a ruling Chinese dynasty in China between 960–1279 AD; it succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period, and was followed by the Yuan Dynasty....
 China; many Daoist practices and institutions were established and began to flourish.

Although the early 12th century was a relatively stable period for Korea, Yejong did have to deal with Jurchen
Jurchens

The Jurchens were a Tungusic peoples who inhabited the region of Manchuria until the 17th century, when they adopted the name Manchu. They established the Jin Dynasty between 1115 and 1122; it lasted until 1234 when the Mongols arrived....
 incursions in the northern part of the kingdom. He refused the diplomatic overtures of the Jin Dynasty
Jin Dynasty, 1115–1234

The Jin Dynasty , also known as the Jurchen Dynasty, was founded by the Wanyan clan of the Jurchens, the ancestors of the Manchus who established the Qing Dynasty some 500 years later....
, a rival to China that had been founded in 1115 by the Jurchens, instead sending a large army to repel Jin attacks in Korea's northern regions.

He is also noted for his sponsorship of the arts. In 1114 Emperor Yejong sent a request to the Song Dynasty
Song Dynasty

The Song Dynasty was a ruling Chinese dynasty in China between 960–1279 AD; it succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period, and was followed by the Yuan Dynasty....
 Emperor Huizong
Emperor Huizong (Song Dynasty)

Emperor Huizong was the eighth and one of the most famous emperors of the Song Dynasty of China, with a personal life spent amidst luxury, sophistication and art but ending in tragedy....
 asking for Chinese musical instruments to be sent to his palace in the Goryeo capital of Gaeseong
Kaesong

Kaesong is a city in North Hwanghae Province, southern North Korea , a former Special cities of Korea#North Korea, and the capital of Korea during the Goryeo....
, so that he could conduct Confucian
Korean Confucianism

Korean Confucianism is the form of Confucianism developed in Korea. One of the most substantial influences in Korean intellectual history was the introduction of Confucius thought as part of the Culture of China from China....
 rituals in the Goryeo court. Huizong, apparently misunderstanding the request, sent a set of musical instruments to be used for royal banquet music. (Huizong had, in 1110, for political reasons, granted Yejong the status of "genuine king," and Goryeo had since then conducted itself with great deference to China.) Two years later, in 1116, Yejong sent another petition in which he reiterated his request for ritual instruments, whereupon Huizong sent an even larger gift of musical instruments (this time yayue
Yayue

Yayue is a form of China Chinese classical music that was performed at imperial courts. The basic conventions of yayue were established in the Zhou Dynasty....
 instruments, numbering 428 in total), as well as ritual dance regalia and the appropriate instructions, beginning Korea's tradition of aak
Aak

Aak is a musical genre of Korean court music. It is an imported form of China ritual music. Aak is often labeled as "elegant music" in contrast with other traditional Korean music....
.

It appears that the gifts of 1114 and 1116 were part of an attempt to gain Goryeo's loyalty against the Jurchen, but this strategy proved unsuccessful; Goryeo remained neutral and the Song capital of Kaifeng
Kaifeng

Kaifeng , formerly known as Bianliang , Bianjing , Daliang , or simply Liang , is a prefecture-level city in eastern Henan province of China, People's Republic of China....
 fell to the Jin in 1127, with Huizong being deported as a captive to northern Manchuria
Manchuria

Manchuria is a historical name given to a vast geographic region in northeast Asia. Depending on the definition of its extent, Manchuria either falls entirely within People's Republic of China, or is divided between China and Russia....
.

In order to promote government education, Yejong established a foundation called the Yanghyon'go (Foundation for the Training of Talents) and stationed seven specialized lecturers at the Gukjagam
Gukjagam

The Gukjagam, known at times as Gukhak or Seonggyungwan, was the highest educational institution of the Korean Goryeo dynasty. It was located at the capital, Kaesong , and provided advanced training in the Chinese classics....
 who faithfully carried out this education. He also added a seventh division to the institution in 1104, providing military training. This was the first recorded occasion of a Korean dynasty providing formal training in the military arts. Due to tensions between the aristocracy and the military, it was removed from the curriculum soon after his death, in 1133.

Yejong was also interested in botany, gathering rare plants from all over Korea and sending them to China in exchange for many Chinese plants. Also during his reign, the ceramic industry flourished, with Korean designs predominating over Chinese ones for the first time.

Yejong's reign was characterized by a dilution of his power by strong government advisors and other officials who often squabbled among one another. This, combined with the military difficulties with the Jurchen in the north, caused him to retreat further and further into his books and Daoist rituals. Yejong was succeeded upon his death by his son, Injong
Injong of Goryeo

Injong of Goryeo was the 17th emperor of the Korean Goryeo dynasty. He was the eldest son of Yejong of Goryeo and Empress Sundeok.For much of his reign, the government was dominated by Yi Ja-gyeom, the father of his queens, and by other members of the Gyeongwon Lee clan....
. Injong was the son of Yejong's queen, who was the second daughter of Yi Cha-gyom, the head of the Yi clan of Incheon
Incheon

Incheon is a Special cities of Korea and a major seaport on the west coast of South Korea, near Seoul.Human settlement at the location goes back to the Neolithic....
.

Yejong's Veritable Records (sillok) were compiled by three historians (including the Confucian scholar Kim Bu-sik
Kim Bu-sik

Kim Busik was an official and a scholar during Korea's Goryeo period. He is best known for compiling the Samguk Sagi, the oldest extant record of Korean history....
, who had been appointed as Royal Diarist, or ji, in 1121) beginning in 1123.

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See also

  • Rulers of Korea
  • History of Korea
    History of Korea

    The history of Korea stretches from Lower Paleolithic times to the present. The earliest known Korean pottery dates to around 8000 BC, and the Neolithic period began before 6000 BC, followed by the Bronze Age around 2500 BC....
  • List of Korea-related topics
    List of Korea-related topics

    This is a list of articles on Korea-related people, places, things, and concepts. For help on how to use this list, see the #Introduction below....
  • Yoon Gwan
    Yoon Gwan

    Yoon Gwan was a general of Goryeo who was known for training a seventeen-thousand man army and leading it to victory against the Jurchens tribes....