History of The Joseon Dynasty - Literati Purges

Literati Purges

Seongjong's son Yeonsangun is often considered the worst tyrant in Joseon dynasty, whose reign was marked by a series of bloody purges of neo-Confucian scholars between 1498 and 1506. His behaviors became erratic after he learned that his biological mother was not Queen Jung-hyeon but deposed Consort Yoon, who was forced to drink poison after poisoning one of Seongjong's concubines out of jealousy and leaving a scratch mark on Seongjong's face. When he was shown a piece of clothing that was allegedly stained with his mother's blood vomited after drinking poison, he beat to death two of Seongjong's concubines who accused Consort Yoon and pushed Grand Queen Insu, who died afterward. He executed government officials who supported Consort Yoon's death along with their families. He also executed Sarim scholars for writing phrases critical of Sejo's usurpation of throne. He also seized a thousand women from the provinces to serve as palace entertainers and appropriated the Seonggyungwan, Royal University, as a personal pleasure ground. He abolished Office of Censors, whose function was to criticize inappropriate actions and policies of the king, and Hongmungwan. He banned the use of hangul when the common people criticized the king with posters written in hangul. After twelve years of misrule, he was finally deposed in a coup that placed his half-brother Jungjong on the throne in 1506.

Jungjong was a fundamentally weak king because of the circumstances that placed him on the throne, but his reign also saw a period of significant reforms led by his minister Jo Gwang-jo, the charismatic leader of Sarim scholars. He established local self-government system called Hyang'yak to strengthen local autonomy and communal spirit among people, sought to reduce gap between the rich and poor with a land reform that would distribute land to farmers more equally and limit amount of land and number of slaves that one could own, promulgated Confucian writings among the populace widely with vernacular translations, and sought to trim the size of government by reducing the number of bureaucrats. According to Annals of Joseon Dynasty, it was said that no official dared to receive a bribe or exploit the populace during this time because he applied law strictly as Inspector General. These radical reforms were very popular with the populace but were fiercely opposed by the conservative officials who helped to put Junngjong on the throne. They plotted to cause Jungjong to doubt Jo's loyalty by writing "Jo will become the king" (주초위왕, 走肖爲王) with honey on leaves so that caterpillars left behind the same phrase as if in supernatural manifestation. Jo Gwang-jo was executed, and most of his reform measures died with him in the resulting Third Literati Purge of 1519. For nearly fifty years afterward, the court politics was marred by bloody and chaotic struggles between factions backing rival consorts and princes. In-laws of the royal family wielded great power and contributed to much corruption of the era.