Gyeongjong of Joseon
| Gyeongjong | |
|---|---|
| King of Joseon | |
| Reign | 12 July 1720 –11 October 1724 |
| Predecessor | Sukjong of Joseon |
| Successor | Yeongjo of Joseon |
| Born |
20 November 1688 Changdeok Palace, Korea |
| Died | 11 October 1724 (aged 35) |
| Burial | Uireung. Seokgwan-dong, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul |
| Spouse | Queen Danui, Queen Seonui |
| House | House of Yi |
| Father | King Sukjong of Joseon |
| Mother | Royal Noble Consort Hui of the Jang clan |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 경종 |
|---|---|
| Hanja | 景宗 |
| Revised Romanization | Gyeongjong |
| McCune–Reischauer | Kyŏngjong |
| Birth name | |
| Hangul | 이윤 |
| Hanja | 李昀 |
| Revised Romanization | I Yun |
| McCune–Reischauer | I Yun |
| Courtesy name | |
| Hangul | 휘서 |
| Hanja | 輝瑞 |
| Revised Romanization | Hwiseo |
| McCune–Reischauer | Hwisŏ |
Gyeongjong of Joseon (20 November 1688 – 11 October 1724, reigned 1720–1724) was the 20th king of the Joseon Dynasty of Korea. He was the son of King Sukjong by Royal Noble Consort Hui of the Jang clan.
In 1690, Gyeongjong's designation as heir to the throne precipitated a struggle between the Noron and the Soron political factions, which supported Gyeongjong of Joseon.
Following the death of King Sukjong in 1720, Royal Prince Successor Hwiso (Yi Yun, 이윤 왕세자) ascended the throne at age 33 as King Gyeongjong. When Sukjong died in 1720, he supposedly told Yi Yi-myoung to name Yeoning-geum as Kyungjong's heir, but suspicions arose between Soron, Noron enemies, from the absence of a histriographer or recorder.
Gyeongjong suffered from ill health during his reign, and the Noron political faction pressured Gyeongjong to step down in favor of his half-brother, Prince Yeoning. In 1720, two months after his enthronement, his half brother, Prince Yeoning (the future King Yeongjo) was installed as Royal Prince Successor Brother (wangseje, 왕세제, 王世弟) to handle state affairs, since the king weak health made impossible for him to manage politics.
It is said that, Gyeongjong's mother, Lady Jang, was to blame for his illnesses. She was sentenced to death by poison, in 1701. Following the ruling, Lady Jang begged to see her son, the Crown Prince (later Gyeongjong). As she dashed towards him to greet him, she inflicted a severe injury to the Crown Prince's lower abdomen that left him sterile and unable to produce an heir. Due to King Gyeongjong’s fragile health, he had no energy or time to do anything significant in the four years of his reign.
This aggravated the power struggle and led to a big massacre, namely the Shinimsahwa (辛壬士禍). The Norons sent memorials to the king to no effect while the Sorons used this to their advantage—claiming the Noron faction were trying to usurp power and subsequently getting their rival faction removed from several offices. Members of the Soron faction then came up with an idea to assassinate the heir (Yeoning-geum) under the cover of hunting for a white fox said to be haunting the palace, but Queen dowager Inwon protected him and he was able to keep living, after this he said to the king he rather would go and live as a commoner.
During his four years reign, there were two major incidents of massacre; one is Sinchuk-oksa in which the ruling political party, Soron, swept the opposition Noron, a group that insisted that Gyeongjong's half-brother, Prince Yeoning, handle national affairs on behalf of the weak and ailing king during the first year of Gyeongjongreign 1720 and the other one is Imin-oksa which took place in the 2nd year of his reign, circa 1722. History calls both incidents as Sinim-sahwa. During his reign, he made small guns in imitation of the western weapons and reformed the land measurement system in the southern parts of the country.
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