The Sarim (sometimes known as Saarim), or "forest of scholars", was a powerful faction of literati who emerged in the Early Joseon period under Kil Chae , and would later come to dominate Middle and Late Joseon politics in Korea . After outliving the Hungu faction , the Sarim faction experienced several breakups during and after the reign of King Seonjo (1567–1608) into the Western and Eastern factions; these factions would also experience their very own splits in the coming years. By the 19th century, Joseon court politics would see a shift in control from scholarly factions towards the 'in-law families'; for most of the 19th century, the Jangdong branch of the Andong Kim clan was in control of the government.
49-752: Yeonsan or Yŏnsan may refer to: Yeonsangun of Joseon (1476–1506), Joseon king Prince Yeonsan (film) , a 1961 South Korean film directed by Shin Sang-ok Yonsan County , a county in North Hwanghae Province, North Korea Yeonsan-myeon , a township of Nonsan, South Chungcheong Province, South Korea Yeonsan County , the former county in Chungcheong Province, Korea to 1914 See also [ edit ] Yeonsan Station (disambiguation) Topics referred to by
98-541: A concubine until the death of Queen Gonghye , Seongjong's first wife. With no heir, the king was urged by counselors to take a second wife to secure the royal succession . Lady Yun was chosen for her beauty and was formally married in 1476. Several months later, she gave birth to Yi Yung. The new queen proved to be temperamental and highly jealous of the other concubines, even going as far as poisoning one of them in 1477. One night in 1479, she physically struck her husband and left scratch marks. Despite his efforts to conceal
147-837: A rival faction, giving the king cause enough to order the execution of many Sarim officials and the mutilation of Kim Chong-jik's remains. This came to be known as the First Literati Purge ( Muo Sahwa ; 무오사화, 戊午士禍). In 1504, Im Sa-hong revealed to Yeonsangun the details of his mother's death and showed him a blood-stained piece of clothing that was obtained from Lady Yun's mother, the blood allegedly vomited by her after taking poison. Subsequently, Yeonsangun beat to death two of his father's concubines, Lady Jeong and Lady Eom, for their part in his mother's death. His grandmother, Grand Royal Queen Dowager Insu , also passed away soon after he pushed her during an altercation. He sentenced to death many government officials who had supported
196-417: Is called Kyungshin hwanguk (경신환국). Now in power, Western faction split into Noron (Old Doctrine) faction, led by Song Siyeol , and Soron (New Doctrine) faction, led by Yoon Jeung. After nine years in power, Noron collapsed when Sukjong deposed Queen Inhyeon, who was supported by Western faction, and named Consort Hee of Jang clan (or Consort Jang) as the new queen. Western faction angered Sukjong when it opposed
245-557: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Yeonsangun of Joseon Yeonsangun or Prince Yeonsan ( Korean : 연산군 ; Hanja : 燕山君 ; 23 November 1476 – 20 November 1506), personal name Yi Yung ( 이융 ; 李㦕 ), was the 10th monarch of the Joseon dynasty of Korea . Often considered the worst tyrant in Joseon's history and perhaps all Korean history , he
294-427: Is not true. Yeonsan allowed Hangul books translated from Hanja, or Unhaeseo ( 언해서 ; 諺解書 ); These books were often the works from a former monarch, and it is speculated that even a tyrant like Yeonsan couldn't have purged the achievements of the former monarchs, which were also his ancestors. The rounding up of people who knew Hangul and the investigations continued through early August, but they failed to catch
343-534: Is notorious for launching two bloody purges , seizing hundreds of women from all over the peninsula to serve as palace entertainers, and appropriating Sungkyunkwan as a personal pleasure ground. Yeonsangun's despotic rule provided a stark contrast to the liberal era of his father , and as a much-despised overthrown monarch, he did not receive a temple name . Lady Yun, later known as the Deposed Queen Yun , served Yeonsangun's father, King Seongjong , as
392-635: The Office of Special Advisors (a library and research institute that advised the king with Confucian teachings). He ordered his ministers to wear a sign that read: "A mouth is a door that brings in disaster; a tongue is a sword that cuts off a head. A body will be in peace as long as its mouth is closed and its tongue is deep within" (口是禍之門 舌是斬身刀 閉口深藏舌 安身處處牢). Chief Eunuch Kim Cheo-sun, who had served three kings, tried to convince him to change his ways, but Yeonsangun killed him by shooting arrows and personally cutting off his limbs. In addition, he also punished
441-461: The Sarim faction opposed his efforts on account of serving Seongjong's will, and greatly displeased, Yeonsangun started looking for ways to eliminate them. In 1498, Kim Il-son [ ko ] , a disciple of Kim Chong-jik , included a paragraph in the royal records that was critical of King Sejo 's coup d'état (1455). Kim Il-son and other followers of Kim Chong-jik were accused of treason by
490-633: The Second Literati Purge ( Gapja Sahwa ; 갑자사화, 甲子士禍). Yeonsangun closed Sungkyunkwan , the royal university, as well as the temple Wongaksa , and converted them into personal pleasure grounds, for which young girls were gathered from the eight provinces . He also demolished a large residential area in the capital and evicted 20,000 residents to build hunting grounds. People were forced into involuntary labor to work on these projects. Many commoners mocked and insulted him with posters written in hangul , and in retaliation, Yeonsangun banned
539-608: The 18th century, the kings pursued a strict policy of equality, favoring no faction over another. However, in Jeongjo's reign, strife re-emerged as the ruling Noron faction split further between the Byeokpa and Sipa , two groups which cut across the earlier factions and differed in their attitudes concerning Yeongjo's murder of his son, who was also Jeongjo's father. The division and subsequent conflicts of these factions generally revolved around minor issues and reflected dogmatic and
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#1732790367812588-658: The Easterners back in power. However the Easterners would soon split over the level of punishment of the now-exiled Jeong Cheol, into the hardline Northern faction ( Buk-in ) and the moderate Southern faction ( Nam-in ). The Northerners were largely disciples of Jo Shik and Seo Gyeong-deok and suffered more from Jeong Yeo-rip's "rebellion" while the Southerners were largely Yi Hwang's disciples and less affected. The Southerners , led by Yu Seong-ryong , were initially in power after Japanese Invasion in 1592, and maintained
637-466: The Sarim after its split is very complicated because there is a wealth of conflicting historical accounts written by each faction. This is especially true with what became known as Gichuk Treason Case of 1589 (기축옥사), the bloodiest purge in Joseon history by far. There is still a dispute about the nature and purpose of Jeong Yeo-rip's group of armed supporters and whether it was treason or frame up. His group
686-592: The Sarim faction maintained political power for much of the Joseon dynasty. After the Sarim faction replaced the Hungu faction as the predominant political force in the late 16th century, a nationwide split occurred between the Eastern faction ( Dong-in ) and Western faction ( Seo-in ). Political divisions intensified even further as the Eastern faction in turn split between the hard-line Northern faction ( Buk-in ) and
735-510: The Sarim faction, whose origin stems from denial of the legitimacy of Joseon dynasty, was vulnerable to Hungu's attacks because it questioned the legitimacy of King Sejo's usurpation and primarily engaged in the censorate role against the king and ministers. After four major purges that saw Jo Gwang-jo and many others executed, the Sarim scholars again retreated to rural villages where they continued to spread their philosophy through local schools called seowon and maintained their power base through
784-598: The Western faction back in power. The Southern faction would never recover from this blow, also called Gapsul hwanguk (갑술환국). Sukjong demoted Queen Jang to Consort Jang and reinstated Queen Inhyeon. Consort Jang was eventually executed (with poison) for cursing Queen Inhyeon after the latter died. Soron faction supported the crown prince, Consort Jang's son, while Noron faction supported Consort Choi's son, Yeonying-gun (later to become Yeongjo ). Late Queen Inhyeon and newly installed Queen Inwon were childless. In 1718, Sukjong let
833-572: The Western faction was becoming more powerful. In the early years of Sukjong 's (1674–1720) reign, the Southern faction and Western faction clashed over the Royal Funeral Dispute, a seemingly minor issue regarding the mourning period for Queen Insun. The Southern faction claimed that the mourning period should last one year while the Western faction argued for a nine-month mourning period. A one-year mourning period meant that Hyojong
882-485: The aftermath. It is also believed that Seonjo used this incident to weaken the Sarim's power. This incident put the Westerners in power, but did not last long because of intrigue involving the appointment of the crown prince. In an Easterner plot to make it seem the Westerners were attempting to murder Prince Sinseong, Jeong Cheol was exiled in 1591. Being the head Westerner figure in government, Jeong Cheol's exile put
931-461: The author was unidentifiable. Enraged, Yeonsan ordered a total ban of the learning, teaching, or using of Hangul, and ordered the five Hansung administrative districts to identify and report of the individuals who know to use it, and to punish people who knowingly didn't report of their neighbors; He also ordered for the comparisons of handwriting of people who have been reported. In addition,he hung up high-ranking titles and lots of money as bounty for
980-412: The author. On July 22, he ordered the beheadings of people who use Hangul, and a hundred beatings ( 곤장 ; 棍杖 ) for persons who knowingly did not report others. He ordered his court's ministers to burn all books at their homes with Hangul Gugyeol footnotes, however allowed Hangul books translated from Hanja. There is a misconception that Yeonsan ordered the burnings of all Hangul books, but that
1029-462: The court and arranging truce between Easterner Yi Bal and Westerner Jeong Cheol . After Yi I's death, however, the conflict between two factions became more intense as the Easterners impeached Shim Eui-gyeom and Jeong Cheol, leading to their dismissal, and gained upper hand. In 1589, Easterner Jeong Yeo-rip was accused of treason because he had formed a society with his supporters that met each month to study and receive military training. The history of
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#17327903678121078-439: The crown prince, soon to be Gyeongjong , rule the country as regent. He died in 1720 supposedly after telling Yi Yi-myoung to name Yeonying-gun as Kyungjong's heir, but in the absence of a historiographer or recorder. This would lead to yet another purge which led to the execution of four Noron leaders in 1721, followed by another purge with executions of eight Noron followers in 1722. Under the reigns of Yeongjo and Jeongjo in
1127-606: The culprit, and Yeonsan's short lived Hangul ban was over; Later in December Yeonsan himself ordered the translations of calendar-books ( 역서 ; 曆書 ) into Hangul, and in September next year he ordered for the translations and recitals of a mourning script ( 제문 ; 祭文 ) regarding a dead court woman. In 1506, the 12th year of Yeonsangun's reign, a group of officials — notably Park Won-jong , Seong Hui-an , Yu Sun-jeong , and Hong Gyeong-ju — plotted against
1176-407: The despotic ruler. They launched their coup in September 1506, deposing the king and replacing him with his younger half-brother, Grand Prince Jinseong . The king was demoted to "Prince Yeonsan" ( Yeonsangun ; 燕山君, 연산군) and sent into exile on Ganghwa Island , where he died after two months. His concubine, Jang Nok-su , who had encouraged and supported his misrule, was beheaded. In addition, despite
1225-530: The dethronement of his mother resulting in the victory of the extremist Greater Northerners. During Prince Gwanghae's reign, Greater Northern faction split further and persecuted other factions until Southerners and Westerners joined their forces in a coup d'état that deposed Prince Gwanghae and placed Injo on the throne. With the Westerners back in power, Joseon politics entered more stable stage in which they competed with Southerners in relatively peaceful coexistence for about 100 years. But under Hyojong 's reign,
1274-530: The entrenched "Hungu" officials, who accumulated great power and wealth by supporting King Sejo when he usurped the throne from his nephew. In their conflict with the established Hungu faction , the Sarim faction suffered a series of bloody purges during the reigns of Yeonsangun , Jungjong , and Myeongjong . They enjoyed a brief period of power during Jungjong's reign through Kim Gueng-pil's disciple Jo Gwang-jo , who pursued radical reforms to transform Joseon into an idealistic neo-Confucian society. However,
1323-423: The eunuch's relatives down to the 7th degree , and when he asked the royal secretaries whether such punishment was appropriate, they did not dare to say otherwise. On July 19, 1504, the 10th year of his reign, three Hangul 'tuseo's ( 투서 ; 投書 ), with the contents mocking and insulting him for his tyranny was discovered. The tuseos criticized him of his violence to his ministers, and his lust for women, and
1372-510: The execution of his mother, now posthumously honored as "Queen Jeheon" ( 제헌왕후 ; 齊獻王后 ), and ordered the grave of Han Myeong-hoe to be opened and the head to be cut off the corpse. Yeonsangun went as far as punishing officials who were simply present at the royal court at that time, for the crime of not preventing the actions of those who abused his mother. Meanwhile, Im Sa-hong and his allies were promoted and they received many important offices and other rewards. This came to be known as
1421-480: The initial split of Sarim into the Western and Eastern factions, there was a large element of generational conflict. The Westerners were largely older Sarim scholars who had entered politics during Myeongjong 's (1545–1567) reign while the Easterners, led by Kim Hyo-won (김효원) were mainly a younger generation who had become officials in Seonjo 's reign and saw themselves uncorrupted by excesses of Myeongjong's era, which
1470-446: The injury, Seongjong's mother, Royal Queen Dowager Insu , discovered the truth and ordered Lady Yun into exile. After several attempts to restore the deposed queen to her former position, government officials petitioned that she be executed. Queen Yun died in 1482, after being ordered to commit suicide by drinking poison. The crown prince grew up believing that he was the son of Queen Jeonghyeon , his father's third wife. He succeeded to
1519-546: The moderate Southern faction ( Nam-in ) and the Western factions split between the Old Doctrine ( Noron ) and the Young Doctrine ( Soron ). These factional splits grew out of allegiance to different philosophical schools and regional differences. For instance, the Eastern faction was largely Yeongnam -based, and its subfaction Southerners were mainly followers of Yi Hwang while Northerners coalesced around
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1568-650: The naming of Consort Jang's son as crown prince. Southern faction, who supported Consort Jang and her son, regained power and drove out Western faction, executing Song Siyeol in revenge. This is called Gisa hwangguk (기사환국). Five years later in 1694, Southern faction was planning another purge of Western faction, accusing them of conspiracy to reinstate deposed Queen Inhyeon, when Sukjong began to regret deposing Queen Inhyeon and favor Consort Suk of Choi clan (Consort Choi), an ally of Queen Inhyeon and Noron faction. Angry with Southern faction's attempt to purge Westerners, Sukjong abruptly turned around to purge Southerners and brought
1617-462: The new Joseon dynasty despite King Taejong 's request. Kil Chae concentrated on cultivating a new generation of neo-Confucian scholars including Kim Suk-ja and his son Kim Chong-jik . When King Seongjong (1469–1495) became the ninth king of Joseon, he invited Kim Chong-jik and his disciples, who came to be called Sarim scholars, to his court and supported their political growth. They primarily served in so-called Three Offices , from which challenged
1666-512: The new king's reluctance, Yeonsangun's four young sons were also forced to commit suicide by poison only a few weeks later. Consort(s) and their respective issue Sarim The philosophical lineage of the Sarim scholars originated from the neo-Confucian school of Kil Chae (1353–1419), a Goryeo scholar who studied under Yi Saek and Chŏng Mong-ju . After the fall of the Goryeo dynasty, he retreated to his home village refusing to serve
1715-406: The policy of coexistence with Northerners and Westerners until its effort to reach peace agreement with Japan failed. The Northerners, now in power, split again over the proper successor to Seonjo, who had no legitimate son. Greater Northern faction supported Prince Gwanghae while Lesser Northern faction supported the newly born Grand Prince Yeongchang , with the death of Grand Prince Yeongchang and
1764-435: The populace. Nevertheless, factional conflicts had some positive side effects as well. Compared to the late Jungjong and Myeonjong periods, corruption was limited since any faction engaged in excessive corruption would become an easy target for impeachment by its rival faction. Sukjong's reign, which saw some of the most intense factional struggles since Seonjo and Gwanghaegun 's time, was one of more prosperous periods for
1813-479: The rigid nature of their philosophical interpretations. Sarim philosophy, which was progressive in Jo Gwang-jo 's time, became very conservative and fundamentalist over time. The power struggle between these factions were marked by bloody purges with each change of power and resulted in a vicious cycle of revenge. The minor issues that divided these factions distracted the officials from real problems that affected
1862-410: The royal authority. With each change of government, which was called hwanguk (환국 換局), literally turn of the state, the losing faction was completely driven out of politics with executions and exiles. Sukjong at first sided with the Southern faction, but in 1680, Huh Jeok was accused of treason by Western faction, which led to execution of Huh Jeok and Yoon Hyu and purge of Southern faction. This incident
1911-538: The ruling class and rooting out corruption of earlier period while Westerners emphasized reforms that would strengthen the country and improve livelihood. (Easterners blamed Shim Eui-gyeom's ill-willed opposition to Kim Hyo-won's appointment at a key position in Ministry of Personnel for split while Westerners blamed Easterner's self-righteous attack.) Yi I attempted to prevent the factional split by appointing Shim Eui-gyeom and Kim Hyo-won to provincial posts far away from
1960-410: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Yeonsan . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Yeonsan&oldid=801851995 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
2009-598: The school of Jo Shik. Gyeonggi and the Chungcheong -based Western faction were largely followers of Yi I , of which the followers of Seong Hon then split to form the Soron faction, while Song Siyeol 's followers became the Noron faction. These divisions were often further driven by questions concerning royal succession or appropriate royal conduct. The factions were often named after the location of their leader's house. In
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2058-494: The system of Hyang'yak . While the Hungu faction declined over the years without any ideological successor to replace it, the Sarim faction maintained its identity through the "martydom" of the earlier generation and came to dominate court politics during the reign of King Seonjo in the latter half of the 16th century. By then, Sarim philosophy coalesced around the teachings of the philosophers Yi Hwang and Yi I . From that time,
2107-436: The throne in 1495 and during his early reign, he was a wise and able administrator who strengthened the national defense and aided the poor. However, he also showed signs of a violent side when he killed Jo Sa-seo, one of his tutors, soon after becoming king. Yeonsangun eventually learned the truth about his biological mother and attempted to posthumously restore her titles and position. However, government officials belonging to
2156-402: The use of the script. Furthermore, Yeonsangun was the only monarch of the Joseon dynasty who tried to dismantle Buddhism in Joseon, he attempted to abolish the system of head monasteries and examinations during his reign. When court officials protested against his actions, he abolished the Office of Censors (whose function was to criticize any inappropriate actions or policies of the king) and
2205-484: Was considered a barbarian government (as opposed to Ming Dynasty ) that threatened Joseon's national security. The Southern faction, led by Huh Jeok and Yoon Hyu, supported war against the Qing while the Western faction wanted to focus first on improving domestic conditions. Under Sukjong's reign the factional fight became more intense and deadly since Sukjong frequently replaced factions in power with another one to strengthen
2254-481: Was considered the eldest son while a 9-month period would suggest that Hyojong was considered not the eldest son, following the rules that governed the yangban class. In other words, the Western faction viewed the royal family as the first of the yangban class rather than a separate class for which different rules applied. The two factions were also in conflict over the issue on fighting the Qing Dynasty , which
2303-640: Was marred by his maternal uncle Yoon Won-hyeong 's corruption. The Westerners were led by Shim Eui-gyeom (심의겸), Myeongjong's brother-in-law whose house was on the west of the palace. Although Sarim scholars were usually hostile to royal in-laws as a corrupting influence, Shim was Yi Hwang 's disciple and protected Sarim scholars by impeaching his uncle who was planning another literati purge. In addition, many Westerners were disciples of Yi I and Seong Hon and followers of Giho school while many Easterners were disciples of Yi Hwang and Jo Shik and followers of Youngnam School. Easterners emphasized moral purification of
2352-586: Was not a secret society as it helped the local government in the fight against the Japanese marauders. On the other hand, it appears that Jeong truly had revolutionary ideas that were close to republicanism. He believed that the world was something to be shared and therefore could not have one master. His group, called "Great Common Society"(대동계), could be joined by anyone regardless of his social status, and it spread throughout Honam province and to other regions as well. Jeong Yeo-rip committed suicide after his arrest
2401-739: Was ordered, which was considered the admission of guilt, and letters of Easterners were discovered in his house. Jeong Cheol , famous poet and head of the Western faction, was in charge of investigating the case and used his authority to start the widespread purge of Easterners during the Treason Case of 1589 who had slightest connection with Jeong Yeo-rip. According to Easterners' accounts, Jeong Cheol tortured even 80-year-old mother and 8-year-old son of Yi Bal, leader of Eastern faction. According to Westerners' accounts, Jeong Cheol tried heroically to save Yi Bal and Choe Yeong-gyeong from Seonjo's wrath. In any event, 1,000 Easterners were killed or exiled in
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