Posthumous name
King Taejong Gongjeong Seongdeok Sin-gong Geoncheon Chegeuk Daejeong Gye-u Munmu Yecheol Seongnyeol Gwanghyo the Great 태종공정성덕신공건천체극대정계우문무예철성렬광효대왕 太宗恭定聖德神功建天體極大正啓佑文武叡哲成烈光孝大王
Temple name
Taejong

House

House of Yi

Father

Taejo of Joseon

Mother

Queen Shinui

Posthumous name
King Taejong Gongjeong Seongdeok Sin-gong Geoncheon Chegeuk Daejeong Gye-u Munmu Yecheol Seongnyeol Gwanghyo the Great 태종공정성덕신공건천체극대정계우문무예철성렬광효대왕 太宗恭定聖德神功建天體極大正啓佑文武叡哲成烈光孝大王
Temple name
Taejong

Birth name
Taejong of Joseon
Hangul
Hanja
Revised Romanization	Tae-jong
McCune–Reischauer	T'ae-jong
Hangul
Hanja
Revised Romanization	I Bang-won
McCune–Reischauer	I Pang-wŏn

Taejong of Joseon (13 June 1367 – 30 May 1422) was the third king of the Joseon dynasty in Korea and the father of King Sejong the Great.

He was born as Yi Bang-won in 1367 as the fifth son of King Taejo, and was qualified as an official of Goryeo Dynasty in 1382. During his early days, he helped his father to extend his support with the citizens and many influential figures of the government. Taejong helped his father found a new dynasty by assassinating powerful officials such as Jeong Mong-ju, who remained loyal to the Goryeo dynasty. He was called as Prince Jeong-an during the reign of King Taejo.

In 1392 he helped his father overthrow Goryeo in order to establish a new dynasty, Joseon. He expected to be appointed as the successor to the throne for he contributed most to the founding of Joseon, but his father, Taejo, and prime minister Jeong Do-jeon favored Taejo's eighth son and Yi Bangwon's half-brother (second son of Queen Sindeok), Yi Bangseok, as the crown prince. This conflict arose chiefly because Jeong Dojeon, who shaped and laid down ideological, institutional and legal foundations of the new dynasty more than anyone else, saw Joseon as a kingdom led by ministers appointed by the king while Yi Bangwon wanted to establish the absolute monarchy ruled directly by the king. Both sides were well aware of each other's great animosity and were getting ready to strike first. After the sudden death of Queen Sindeok, and while King Taejo was still in mourning for his second wife, Yi Bang-won struck first by raiding the palace and killed Jeong Do-jeon and his supporters, as well as Queen Sindeok's two sons including the crown prince in 1398. This incident became known as the First Strife of Princes.

Aghast at the fact that his sons were willing to kill each other for the crown, and psychologically exhausted from the death of his second wife, King Taejo abdicated and immediately crowned his second son Yi Bang-gwa, or King Jeongjong, as the new ruler. One of King Jeongjong's first acts as monarch was to revert the capital to Gaeseong, where he is believed to have been considerably more comfortable. Yet Yi Bangwon retained real power and was soon in conflict with his disgruntled older brother Yi Bang-gan, who also yearned for power. In 1400, General Bak Po, who was disappointed by Yi Bangwon for not rewarding him enough for his action in the First Strife of Princes, allied with Bangwon's older brother Yi Bang-gan (Prince Hoean) and rebelled against him in what came to be known as the Second Strife of Princes. Yi Bangwon successfully defeated his brother's forces, then executed Bak Po and sent Yi Bang-gan into exile. King Jeongjong, who was afraid of his powerful brother, named Yi Bangwon as crown prince and abdicated in the same year. Yi Bangwon assumed the throne of Joseon at long last as King Taejong, the third king of Joseon.

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Wikipedia