Crown Prince Sohyeon
| Crown Prince Sohyeon | |
| Hangul | 소현세자 |
|---|---|
| Hanja | 昭顯世子 |
| Revised Romanization | Sohyeon Seja |
| McCune–Reischauer | Sohyŏn Seja |
| Birth name | |
| Hangul | 이왕 |
| Hanja | 李왕 |
| Revised Romanization | I Wang |
| McCune–Reischauer | Yi Wang |
Crown Prince Sohyeon, Sohyŏn (소현세자, 昭顯世子, 5 February 1612 – 21 May 1645) was the first son of King Injo of Joseon Dynasty.
Sohyeon was a hostage in the Manchu court at Shenyang, by the terms of the peace treaty concluded after War in 1636. He moved to Beijing in 1644, and communicated with Johann Adam Schall von Bell. However, he died not long after he returned to Korea, in 1645.
Sohyeon was selected as the crown prince of the Joseon Dynasty in 1625 when his father King Injo took the throne through insurrection in 1623.
In 1627, he married a daughter of Gang Seok-gi (17th-generation descendant of General Gang Gam Chan). During the Second Manchu invasion of Korea in 1636, Sohyeon fled to the Namhan Mountain Fortress with his father King Injo. But when Ganghwa Island was captured by the Manchus, King Injo surrendered to Hong Taiji. Sohyeon voluntarily gave himself up to be a hostage together with his wife and several other Korean officials at Shenyang, the capital of the Qing Dynasty.
During his time as a hostage, Prince Sohyeon tirelessly worked as a mediator between Joseon Korea and Qing China. He put much effort into ensuring that Qing would not engage in hostilities against Korea. He protected his people, such as Kim Sang-heon 1570-1652, who was accused by the Manchus of being an anti-Qing agent. Prince Sohyeon also learned the Mongol language and assisted in the conquest of the Western frontier.
In 1644, Prince Sohyeon stayed 70 days in Beijing with Dorgon, who had set out to conquer the remnants of the Ming Dynasty. There Prince Sohyeon met Jesuit missionaries such as the German Johann Adam Schall von Bell, and through them he was introduced to Roman Catholicism and Western culture.
...
Wikipedia