History of The Joseon Dynasty - Initial Consolidation of Power

Initial Consolidation of Power

With his father unwilling to pass over the royal seal he needed for recognition, Taejong began to initiate policies he believed would prove his intelligence and right to rule. One of his first acts as king was to abolish the privilege enjoyed by the upper echelons of government and the aristocracy to maintain private armies. His revoking of such rights to field independent forces effectively severed their ability to muster large-scale revolts, and drastically increased the number of men employed in the national military.

Taejong's next act as king was to revise the existing legislation concerning the taxation of land ownership and the recording of state of subjects. Although many aristocrats who benefited from King Taejo's laws redistributing property from the Gwonmun aristocrats to the members of the Sinjin faction managed to avoid taxation by deliberately hiding land they acquired, King Taejong's re-investigation of land ownership in 1405 put an end to such practices. With the discovery of previously hidden land, national income increased twofold. In addition, King Taejong initiated the first population survey in 1413 and ordered the documentation of family names/clans, places of birth/death, and the dates of birth/death for all Korean male subjects. All males over the legal age of sixteen, whichever class in society they occupied, were also required by law to carry wooden tablets on which their name, birth date, and other information was engraved. Many historians regard this legislation as the predecessor of the Korean resident identification and social security system. Taejong's new law regarding the documentation of males was also effective in preventing men from evading the mandatory military draft service.

In 1399 (the 2nd year of King Jeongjong), Taejong had played an influential role in scrapping the Dopyeong Assembly, a council of the old government administration that held a monopoly in court power during the waning years of the Goryeo Dynasty, in favor of the State Council of Joseon, a new branch of central administration that revolved around the king and his edicts. After passing the subject documentation and taxation legislation, King Taejong issued a new decree in which all decisions passed by the Euijeong Department could only come into effect with the approval of the king. This ended the custom of court ministers and advisors in making decisions through debate and negotiations amongst themselves and with the king only as an onlooker, and thus, through the implication of the king in the actual administration of Korea, brought royal power to new heights. Shortly afterward, Taejong also installed a branch of the government, known as the Sinmun Office, to receive cases in which aggrieved subjects felt that they had been exploited or unfair actions had been taken against them by government officials or aristocrats.

In August 1418, following Taejong's abdication two months earlier, Sejong ascended the throne. However, Taejong still retained certain powers at court particularly regarding military matters until he died in 1422. King Sejong was an effective military planner. In May 1419, King Sejong, under the advice and guidance of his father Taejong, embarked upon the Gihae Eastern Expedition to remove the nuisance of Japanese pirates who had been operating out of Tsushima. Before Gihae expedition, Korea used to clear the island of Wokou pirates in 1389 and 1396.

In September 1419 the Daimyo of Tsushima, Sadamori, capitulated to the Joseon court. In 1443, The Treaty of Gyehae was signed, in which the Daimyo of Tsushima was granted rights to conduct trade with Korea in fifty ships per year, in exchange for sending tribute to Korea and aiding to stop any Japanese coastal pirate raid on Korean ports.

On the northern border, Sejong established four forts and six posts (hangul: 사군육진 hanja: 四郡六鎭) to safeguard his people from the hostile Chinese and Manchurian nomads living in Manchuria. In 1433, Sejong sent Kim Jong-seo (hangul: 김종서, hanja: 金宗瑞), a prominent general, north to destroy the Manchu. Kim's military campaign captured several castles, pushed north, and restored Korean territory, roughly the present-day border between North Korea and China.

During the rule of Sejong, Korea saw technological advances in natural science, Agriculture, literature, traditional medicine etc. Because of his success, Sejong was credited the title "King Sejong the Great of Joseon". The most remember contribution of King Sejong is the creation of Hangeul (the Korean alphabet) in 1443. Prior to Hangeul, all of the Korean literati used the Hanja writing system, which were traditional Chinese characters with Korean pronunciation and meaning, and used a written language known as Hanmun, which was basically Classical Chinese, for official court documents. Everyday written use of Hanja and Hanmun eventually came to end slowly in the latter half of the 20th century.