Search Results: Taejong of Joseon

King Taejong of Joseon (r. 1400-1418) was the third ruler of the Joseon Dynasty in Korea. Taejong was a driving force behind consolidating and strengthening the king’s power, and while he was an effective ruler, his violent means of winning...

The Early Joseon Period (1392 - c. 1550 CE) in Korea was bookended by internal power struggles but witnessed major scientific and societal advances and prosperity. The Joseon (Choson) Dynasty ruled Korea from 1392 CE to 1897 CE, and scholars...

Portrait of King Taejong of Joseon (r. 1400-1418), aka Yi Bang-won, the third king of the Joseon Dynasty in Korea, by an unknown artist. National Museum of Korea, Seoul.

King Sejong the Great (15 May 1397 to 8 April 1450 CE) ruled Korea from 1418 to 1450 CE as the fourth king of the Joseon Dynasty (also spelled Choson). One of only two Korean kings called 'the Great' today, Sejong had a major impact on Korea...

King Jungjong of Joseon (r. 1506-1544 CE), painting by a Joseon artist, before 1506 CE.

Pyongyang (aka Pyeongyang) was the capital of several successive ancient Korean kingdoms. Located on the Daedong River in the north of the peninsula, the site was chosen by the legendary Dangun (Tangun), founder of the first Korean state...

In this interview, James Blake Wiener, Co-Founder and Communications Director at Ancient History Encyclopedia (AHE), speaks to Emeritus Professor James H. Grayson, Professor of Korean Studies at the University of Sheffield, about the historical...

Gojoseon (Gochoson or Old Choson) was an ancient kingdom which ruled northern Korea in the second half of the first millennium BCE. Gojoseon possessed the most advanced culture in the Korean peninsula at that time and was an important marker...

Portrait of Jeong Mong-ju, one of King Taejo of Joseon's (r. 1392-1398) advisors, by Yi Han-cheol, 1880. Jeong Mong-ju was killed in the First Strife of Princes by Taejo's son, Bang-won (later King Taejong, r. 1400-1418).

Principles of Confucianism were adopted by successive dynasties and kingdoms in ancient Korea, and the study of classic Confucian texts was an important part of education and entrance examinations for the state administration. Confucianism...