Gwangjong of Goryeo (925 – 4 July 975), personal name Wang So, was the fourth king of

Goryeo Goryeo (; ) was a Korean kingdom founded in 918, during a time of national division called the Later Three Kingdoms period, that unified and ruled the Korean Peninsula until 1392. Goryeo achieved what has been called a "true national unificati ...

Biography

Birth and early life

Gwangjong was born in 925 as Wang So, fourth son of King Taejo, who had founded Goryeo in 918. His mother was

Queen Sinmyeongsunseong Queen Sinmyeong of the Chungju Yu clan () or long-called as Queen Sinmyeongsunseong (; ) was the third Goryeo queen consort through her marriage as the third wife of Wang Geon, its founder and also became the mother of his 5 sons (include Jeongjon ...

of the Chungju Yu clan, who also gave birth to princes

Wang Tae Wang Tae () was a Korean Royal Prince as the first and oldest son of Taejo of Goryeo and Queen Sinmyeong, also the oldest brother of Yo and So. He married his half sister (only daughter of Lady Heungbok), but they had no any issue. Since his ...

, Wang Yo, Wang Jeong,

Jeungteong-guksa Jeungtongguksa (; ) was a Korean Royal Prince as the fifth and youngest son of Taejo of Goryeo and Queen Sinmyeong, also a Korean Buddhist monk and was the one who rebuilt Jinpyoyul Temple (진표율사). Later, during the Joseon dynasty period ...

, as well as the princesses,

Princess Nakrang Princess Nakrang (), also known as Princess Anjeong Sukui () or Lady Sinran (신란궁부인, 神鸞宮夫人; ) was a Goryeo princess as the first daughter of King Taejo and Queen Sinmyeong who became the wife of King Gyeongsun of Silla. As th ...

and

Princess Heungbang Princess Heungbang was a Goryeo Goryeo (; ) was a Korean kingdom founded in 918, during a time of national division called the Later Three Kingdoms period, that unified and ruled the Korean Peninsula until 1392. Goryeo achieved what has been ...

. Moreover, Gwangjong had twenty half-brothers and seven half-sisters from his father's other marriages. As he had three older brothers, Mu, Tae and Yo, he was far from the succession to the throne; however, Wang Tae died early on, and Wang Mu died in 945, three years after being crowned king, leaving the throne to Wang Yo, who ruled Goryeo for four years as Jeongjong. Before dying, he decided to make Wang So his heir instead of his one and only son,

Prince Gyeongchunwon Prince Gyeongchunwon (; ; d. 960) was a Korean Royal Prince as the only son of Jeongjong of Goryeo, from Queen Munseong, also the nephew of Gwangjong of Goryeo. Upon the death of his father on April 13th 949, he was unable to succeed the throne ...

. According to contemporary

Choe Seungno Choi Seungno or Choi Seung-ro (; 927 – 17 June 989 was a politician, Confucian scholar, poet, and literary writer in the early Goryeo dynasty. He came from the Gyeongju Choe clan, one of the third class noble families of Silla. He was famous f ...

, Gwangjong "was careful and laconic, but bold if he had to seize an opportunity." He had excellent appearance and qualities, and he received a special love from his father. During his time as a prince, he gave a great contribution in the crowning of Wang Yo as Jeongjong, and played a big role in removing opposing forces to the sovereigns: one was Wang Gyu, who had helped King Taejo in the founding of Goryeo, climbing to the position of prime minister, and who, after King Hyejong was crowned, tried to carry out a coup to raise his grandson, prince Gwangju, to the throne. The second one was Park Sul-hee, a general who promoted the appointment of Hyejong to Crown Prince and continued to support him later, becoming a threat to Jeongjong's coronation.

Reign

When Gwangjong ascended the throne on April 13, 949, at the age of 25, the kingdom of Goryeo was unstable: to unify the

Later Three Kingdoms The Later Three Kingdoms period (889-935 AD) of ancient Korea saw a partial revival of the old three kingdoms which had dominated the peninsula from the 1st century BC to the 7th century AD. After the Unified Silla kingdom had ruled Korea alone ...

, his father Taejo made alliances with powerful and influential families through marriages. Keeping them satisfied was paramount, as those families all had their own armies and could rebel at any time. For this reason, Gwangjong felt the need to consolidate the power of the king and made the creation of an absolute monarchy the purpose of his entire government. To avoid an increase in the power and in the influence of noble families, he refused to marry a woman from a noble clan, but instead married into the royal family:

Queen Daemok Queen Daemok of the Hwangju Hwangbo clan () or known as Queen Taemok () was a Goryeo princess as the only daughter of Taejo of Goryeo, King Taejo and Queen Sinjeong (Goryeo), Queen Sinjeong, also the full younger sister of Daejong of Goryeo, King ...

was his half-sister, whose mother came from the Hwangju Hwangbo family, while his second wife,

Lady Gyeonghwa Lady Gyeonghwa of the Jincheon Im clan (; ) was a Goryeo Royal Princess as the first and oldest daughter of Hyejong of Goryeo, King Hyejong and Queen Uihwa who became the second wife of her half uncle, Gwangjong of Goryeo, King Gwangjong, which sh ...

, was born by his elder half-brother Hyejong, the second king of Goryeo, and his first wife

Queen Uihwa Queen Uihwa of the Jincheon Im clan () was a Goryeo queen consort as the first and primary wife of King Hyejong. Their only son must lost his life for political reasons during King Gwangjong's reign without able to ascended the throne and their ...

of the Jinju Im clan. Along with studying Taizong of Tang's book ''Difan'' ( zh, t=帝範, l=Rules for an emperor) to better understand what to do, as he found many similarities between his situation and that of Taizong, Gwangjong rewarded all those who contributed to the progress of Goryeo, also making much effort to maintain good diplomatic relations with neighboring countries. This allowed him to concentrate power from within and without the court, and, seven years after the start of his reign, enact a series of reforms to promote a stable and royal-centered political system, and to expand economy and military. His first reform was the law of emancipation of slaves () in 956. The noble families had many slaves, mainly prisoners of war, who served as private soldiers; they numbered more than commoners and didn't pay taxes to the crown, but to the clan they worked for. By emancipating them, Gwangjong turned them into commoners, weakening the noble families' power, and gaining people who paid taxes to the king and could become part of his army. This reform won his government the support of the people, while nobles were against it; even queen Daemok tried to stop the king as the law affected her family, but to no avail. Regarding foreign policy, Gwangjong maintained the close connection between China and Goryeo which was made by

Taejo of Goryeo Taejo of Goryeo (31 January 877 – 4 July 943), also known as Taejo Wang Geon (; ), was the founder of the Goryeo dynasty, which ruled Korea from the 10th to the 14th century. Taejo ruled from 918 to 943, achieving unification of the Later Three ...

, focusing on the relationship with

Later Zhou Zhou, known as the Later Zhou (; ) in historiography, was a short-lived Chinese imperial dynasty and the last of the Five Dynasties that controlled most of northern China during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. Founded by Guo Wei ( ...

and the

Song dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...

. Many diplomats were sent back and forth between the two countries, as well as many goods. Gwangjong also built diplomatic relationships with

Wuyue Wuyue (; ), 907–978, was an independent coastal kingdom founded during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (907–960) of Chinese history. It was ruled by the Haiyan Qian clan (海盐钱氏), whose family name remains widespread in t ...

. In 957, Later Zhou diplomat and scholar Shuang Ji was sent to Goryeo as an envoy. Gwangjong discovered his ability and requested him to stay; Shuang Ji agreed and worked as a Goryeo official: with his advice, Gwangjong instituted the national civil service examination () in 958, with the goal to expel officials who gained court positions due to family influence or reputation rather than by merit. The examination, based on the

Tang Tang or TANG most often refers to: * Tang dynasty * Tang (drink mix) Tang or TANG may also refer to: Chinese states and dynasties * Jin (Chinese state) (11th century – 376 BC), a state during the Spring and Autumn period, called Tang (唐) b ...

's civil service exam and the Confucian classics, was open to all male free-borns to give everyone, not only the rich and powerful people, the opportunity to work for the state, but in practice only sons of the gentry could gain the necessary education to take the exam; royal relatives of the five highest ranks were, instead, left out on purpose. In 960, the king introduced different colours for court robes to distinguish officials of different ranks. During Gwangjong's reign, medical centers known as ''Daebi-won'' (), which provided free medicines to poor patients, were set up in Kaesong and Pyongyang, later expanding in the provinces as the ''Hyeminguk'' (). Taejo had established regional granaries () to face the times of drought, and Gwangjong added ''jewibo'' (), stores which charged interests on grain loans, which were then used for poor relief. These measures, even if in modified forms, kept on working for the next 900 years, parallel to better cultivation methods to keep up with the growth of population. When emperor Shizong of

died in 959, leaving the throne to his six-year-old son, the dynasty fell as the army, who was marching towards the northern border, defected and chose its commander

Zhao Kuangyin Emperor Taizu of Song (21 March 927 – 14 November 976), personal name Zhao Kuangyin, courtesy name Yuanlang, was the founder and first emperor of the Song dynasty of China. He reigned from 960 until his death in 976. Formerly a distinguish ...

as emperor. As Zhao decided to return from battlefield to found the

, he left the mountains of Manchuria and the northern plains to

Khitans The Khitan people (Khitan small script: ; ) were a historical nomadic people from Northeast Asia who, from the 4th century, inhabited an area corresponding to parts of modern Mongolia, Northeast China and the Russian Far East. As a people desce ...

and

Jurchens Jurchen (Manchu: ''Jušen'', ; zh, 女真, ''Nǚzhēn'', ) is a term used to collectively describe a number of East Asian Tungusic-speaking peoples, descended from the Donghu people. They lived in the northeast of China, later known as Manch ...

. To improve Goryeo's defences, Gwangjong reorganized and expanded military, and built twelve garrisons along the northeast and northwest borders; also, under his reign, the kingdom moved the border beyond the

Chongchon river The Ch'ŏngch'ŏn is a river of North Korea having its source in the Rangrim Mountains of Chagang Province and emptying into the Yellow Sea at Sinanju. The river flows past Myohyang-san and through the city of Anju, South P'yŏngan Province. ...

, heading towards the

Yalu river The Yalu River, known by Koreans as the Amrok River or Amnok River, is a river on the border between North Korea and China. Together with the Tumen River to its east, and a small portion of Paektu Mountain, the Yalu forms the border between ...

. Gwangjong saw the association of religious institutions and the state as an aid to subdue local lords, and chose the abbot of Haeinsa Temple to promote Buddhism among the people. He took capable monks as advisers, and promoted the construction of temples: for example, he built the Yongjusa Temple in

Cheongju Cheongju () is the capital and largest city of North Chungcheong Province in South Korea. History Cheongju has been an important provincial town since ancient times. In the Cheongju Mountains, specifically in the one where Sangdang Sanseong is ...

North Chungcheong North Chungcheong Province ( ko, 충청북도, ''Chungcheongbuk-do''), also known as Chungbuk, is a province of South Korea. North Chungcheong has a population of 1,578,934 (2014) and has a geographic area of located in the Hoseo region in the ...

, in 962, and the Cheongpyeongsa Temple in Chuncheon,

Gangwon Gangwon or Kangwŏn may refer to: * Gangwon Province (historical), the Goryeo, Joseon Dynasty and the Japanese Korean province * Gangwon Province (South Korea), a province of South Korea, with its capital at Chuncheon. Before the division of Kore ...

, in 973. The king also created an exam for Buddhist priests, called ''seonggwa'' (), to link the government and the church, and he attempted to make peace between the Zen and textual schools to unify them under a single order, but he didn't have much success. Other actions undertaken to reinforce the royal authority were naming Goryeo an empire and himself Emperor, thus ending tributary relationships with China; calling Kaesong the Imperial Capital and

Pyongyang Pyongyang (, , ) is the capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is known as the "Capital of the Revolution". Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. According to the 2008 populatio ...

the Western Capital, and adopting the

era name A regnal year is a year of the reign of a sovereign, from the Latin ''regnum'' meaning kingdom, rule. Regnal years considered the date as an ordinal, not a cardinal number. For example, a monarch could have a first year of rule, a second year of ...

Gwangdeok () from 949 to 951, and Junpung () from 960 to 963. By placing himself in the position of the emperor, he tried to instill in his servants that he had an absolute power. Gwangjong's reforms were not well-received by the nobles, especially by high military and civil officials who helped his father in the foundation of Goryeo. The dissent of the nobles led them to stage a rebellion, but this attempt failed. In his eleventh year of reign, 960, Gwangjong started a series of purges, killing off his opposers: among them, there were his brother Wang Won (ninth prince Hyoeun), who was suspected of treason and poisoned, king Hyejong's son prince Heunghwa, and king Jeongjong's son prince Gyeongchunwon. Gwangjong also mistrusted his eldest son Wang Ju, who was five years old at the time. At the end of the purges, only forty of Taejo's 3,200 meritorious subjects who helped him in unifying the Later Three Kingdoms were still alive.

Later years and death

In his later years, Gwangjong's reliance on Buddhism increased. In 968, after a nightmare, he convened a reunion and banned the slaughter of his family. In December 971, an earthquake occurred in Goryeo, and the nobles and the people blamed the king. Gwangjong managed to handle the situation, but a second earthquake occurred in February 972: during this time, he had a nightmare and granted amnesty to prisoners in August. He developed a serious disease in July 975 (fifth month of the Lunar calendar) and died just a few days later at the age of 50. He was given the

posthumous name A posthumous name is an honorary name given mostly to the notable dead in East Asian culture. It is predominantly practiced in East Asian countries such as China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, and Thailand. Reflecting on the person's accomplishments or ...

of "Hongdoseon-yeolpyeongse sukheon-ui hyoganghye daeseong dae-wang" (), while his

temple name Temple names are posthumous titles accorded to monarchs of the Sinosphere for the purpose of ancestor worship. The practice of honoring monarchs with temple names began during the Shang dynasty in China and had since been adopted by other dyna ...

Gwangjong means "shining emperor". His tomb, called Heolleung (), is located on the north side of Mount Songak, in

Kaepung County Kaep'ung County was a county in North Hwanghae Province, North Korea. Formerly part of the Kaesong urban area, the county was merged with North Hwanghae when Kaesong was demoted in 2003. The area is the site of the royal tombs of King Kongmin and ...

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

. The site inspection in 1916 found a severely damaged tomb, but the stairway and the foundation stone are preserved. He was succeeded by his only son Wang Ju, who became the fifth king of Goryeo, Gyeongjong. The reform policies to curb the power of the capital aristocracy were passed down to his successors, but they weren't able to pursue them; as a result, the bureaucracy turned from a meritorious aristocracy to a hereditary class. The law of emancipation of slaves was retracted during the sixth king's, Seongjong's reign.

Legacy

Gwangjong's bold reform policy weakened the nobles and stabilized the kingship. In addition, the national civil service examination caused the raise of a new wave of political forces, while a new cultural heritage was developed independently by taking inspiration from China. Though Hyejong and Jeongjong established their reigns by relying on strong power bases represented by general Park Sul-hee and uncle Wang Sik-ryeom, respectively, Gwangjong established his own power base,Global World Encyclopedia, ''Unification of Goryeo''. and, in order to restrain the power of wealthy people and influential vassals, he encouraged consanguineous marriages to avoid troubles with maternal relatives. He is regarded as the king who made the most strenuous and energetic efforts to strengthen the kingship in the early Goryeo. His reforms contributed greatly to the formation of a new political order in the newborn kingdom of Goryeo, but they were mainly limited to politics; the restructuring of the local government, and the reorganization of national economy and social system were comparatively weak. He was always wary of the possibility of hostile acts, and killed nobles and relatives recklessly. One of the most influential thinkers of the time was

, the son of a high-ranked official, who strongly opposed Gwangjong's autocracy. He believed that the privileges of the nobility were to be protected, and that having as officials the sons of provincial gentlemen with no power base at the court would put it in danger. Therefore, he condemned Gwangjong for his obsession with Buddhism and public projects, which, according to him, drove the kingdom into debt, and declared him a tyrant for his cruelty. In the memorial he drew up for the sixth king of Goryeo, Seongjong, he wrote:

Family

*Father:

(고려 태조) **Grandfather:

Sejo of Goryeo Wang Ryung (died May 897), more commonly known by his Temple name of Sejo or Posthumous name of King Wimu the Great. He was a general and politician during the Later Goguryeo periods who would become the father of Wang Geon, founder of the Goryeo ...

(고려 세조) **Grandmother: Queen Wisuk (위숙왕후) *Mother: Queen Sinmyeong (신명왕후) **Grandfather: Yu Geung-dal (유긍달) *Consorts and their respective issue(s): # Queen Daemok of the Hwangju Hwangbo clan (대목왕후 황보씨); half younger sister. ## Crown Prince Wang Ju (태자 왕주) ## Prince Hyohwa (효화태자) ## Wang Aji, Lady Cheonchu (왕아지 천추전부인) ## Lady Bohwa (보화궁부인) ## Queen Mundeok (문덕왕후) # Lady Gyeonghwa of the Jincheon Im clan (경화궁부인 임씨); half niece – No issue. # ''Worthy Consort'', of the Gim clan (현비 김씨) – No issue.

In popular culture

*Portrayed by

Kim Sang-joong Kim Sang-joong (born August 6, 1965) is a South Korean actor. He is best known for starring in the television dramas '' My Husband's Woman'' (2007), ''City Hunter'' (2011), and ''The Chaser'' (2012). He won the Grand Prize at the MBC Drama Awar ...

in the 2002–2003 KBS TV series ''

The Dawn of the Empire ''The Dawn of the Empire'' () is a South Korean historical television series which aired on KBS1 from March 2, 2002 to January 26, 2003 for 94 episodes every weekend at 21:45 ( KST). It revolves around the reigns of the second, third and fourth ki ...

''. * Portrayed by Jung Seung-woo in the 2009

KBS2 The Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) () is the national broadcaster of South Korea. Founded in February 1927, it is one of the leading South Korean television and radio broadcasters. KBS operates seven radio networks, ten television channels, a ...

TV series ''

Empress Cheonchu ''Empress Cheonchu'' (; also known as ''The Iron Empress'') is a 2009 South Korean period television series based on the title character, an actual historical figure and her lifelong struggle to protect the country her ancestors built. The grand ...

''. * Portrayed by

Jang Hyuk Jeong Yong-jun (born December 20, 1976), better known as Jang Hyuk, is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his leading roles in the films ''Volcano High'' (2001) and ''Windstruck'' (2004), and the television dramas '' Successful Story of ...

in the 2015 MBC TV series ''

Shine or Go Crazy ''Shine or Go Crazy'' () is a 2015 South Korean television series based on the novel of the same name by Hyun Go-woon about the romance between a Goryeo prince and a Balhae princess. Starring Jang Hyuk, Oh Yeon-seo, Lee Hanee and Lim Ju-hwan, i ...

''. * Portrayed by

Lee Joon-gi Lee Joon-gi (born 17 April 1982) is a South Korean actor, singer, dancer, and model. He rose to fame on his first leading role playing a clown in the critically acclaimed film ''The King and the Clown'' (2005) and gained further recognition in ...

in the 2016 SBS TV series '' Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gwangjong Of Goryeo 925 births 975 deaths 10th-century Korean monarchs Familicides Korean Buddhist monarchs