|
|
|
Biography of Yi Sng-gye
Name: Yi Sng-gye
Birth Date: 1335
Death Date: June 18, 1408
Place of Birth: Ynghung, Korea
Nationality: Korean
Gender: Male
Occupations: military leader, ruler
Yi Sng-gye
Yi Sng-gye (1335-1408) was the founder of the Yi dynasty, which lasted until 1910. An able military leader, he unified Korea under Chinese suzerainty.Yi Sng-gye was born in modern Ynghung, the second son of Yi Chach'un. Yi's family, originally said to be of Chnju in the south, moved to the northeast in the second half of the 13th century. This migration was undertaken by Yi's great-great-grandfather, who later held a Mongol office. Yi's father is mentioned in the official annals for the first time in 1355, when he arrived in the capital to pay homage to King Kongmin. Later, when the King initiated a campaign to free himself from the Mongol occupation and to regain Korean territories in the north, Yi Chach'un received royal orders and participated in the successful campaign.Thus Yi Sng-gye's ancestors were Kory nationals who had served the Mongols in the northeast. Because of geographical proximity, they were …showed first 150 words…
You are viewing only a small portion of the biography.
Please login or register to access the full copy.
|
|
…showed last 150 words…and of sending weak horses as tribute. Several missions sent to exculpate Korea of these charges were unsuccessful, until Yi's third son went to Nanking (1394). Sino-Korean relations were, however, normalized only in 1401, when Ming envoys brought investiture and the golden seal of the "King of Korea."When the investiture belatedly came (1401), Yi had already abdicated in favor of his second son, who was in turn succeeded by Yi's third son. Yi died on June 18, 1408. He had eight sons and five daughters. Further Reading A forthcoming English publication by Peter H. Lee will be titled Songs of Flying Dragons, a critical study of the eulogy cycle compiled to praise the founding of the Yi dynasty. For background on Yi Sng-gye's life and reign see Takashi Hatada, A History of Korea (1951; trans. 1969), and Edwin O. Reischauer and John K. Fairbank, A History of East Asian Civilization , vol. 1: East Asia: The Great Tradition (1958).
|
|
275 words per page