The Korean dynasty mentioned today refers to the last feudal dynasty that unified the Korean peninsula in the history of North Korea. Because the royal family's surname is Li, it is also called Li Chao or Lee Chosun. It lasted 518 years from the founding of the country in 1392 to the annexation by Japan in 1910. Such a long Guozuo time is not in our feudal dynasty.
Then, why can the Joseon Dynasty, which has always been a vassal state, enjoy the country for more than 500 years? From the perspective of Chinese feudal history, the change of dynasty was nothing more than the usurpation of power by officials, peasant uprisings, and foreign invasions. However, if you simply apply these kinds of understandings to Lee Korea, it is obviously too subjective and unrealistic. The Joseon Dynasty was able to rule Joo for more than 500 years for its unique reasons.
One is the unique geographical location of the peninsula
In fact, the life span of the dynasties in the history of the Korean peninsula is not short, not the long life of the Lee Korea. For example, the Goryeo dynasty before the Lee Joseon lasted 474 years, and the Silla dynasty before the Goryeo dynasty has been more than 230 years since it became the unified dynasty of the Korean peninsula. If it were a dynasty with a longer life span in Chinese history. In this way, the longevity of Lee Korea is not because of how advanced or superior it is in terms of system.
As mentioned above, the general replacement of dynasties is due to the usurpation of power officials, peasant uprisings, foreign invasions, etc. However, the following also discusses that these aspects have basically not happened in North Korea. In fact, the more than 500 years of Lee's Joseon Kingdom is directly related to the unique geographical environment of the peninsula where he is located.
The Korean peninsula is located in a relatively closed geographic location between the East Asian continent and the ocean. Under normal circumstances, the probability of a disruptive revolution in this geographic environment is low. For example, the island nation of Japan is more closed than the Korean peninsula. The Japanese imperial family has stretched for more than 2,000 years, and the 500-plus years of Lee's Korea cannot be compared with the Japanese imperial family.
The Central Plains Dynasty does not seem to be interested in the Korean peninsula of Lee's Korea, and the shock wave of the Central Plains war has been left to it. However, the island nation of Japan is different from the Central Plains dynasty. Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the initiator of Japan's mainland policy, first coveted the Korean peninsula. The war of aggression launched by him made the peninsula face the threat of subjugation for the first time.
Lee’s North Korea’s geographic advantages: one is that it was not too close to the Central Plains at the time, which allowed it to maintain a delicate relationship with the Central Plains, which not only avoided the assimilation of the Central Plains dynasty, but also Maintained the independence of the nation. The other is that this short distance just didn’t make it impossible for the two sides to communicate. Therefore, the peninsula has worshipped Chinese civilization for thousands of years and maintained a tributary relationship with it. Therefore, when Toyotomi Hideyoshi launched the war of invasion of Korea, he was the suzerain country. The Ming Dynasty sent troops to rescue each other.
In ancient times, due to navigational conditions, only Japan and the northern nomads could pose a threat to the Korean peninsula, but the sovereign state protected the Korean dynasty from being annexed. After Toyotomi Hideyoshi's invasion of the dynasty, Emperor Taiji's Eastern Expedition also once caused an existential crisis to the Joseon dynasty. At this time, the Ming dynasty, the suzerain state, had declined. However, Huang Taiji's interest was not in North Korea, but in passing the Pass. The conquest of North Korea was only to eliminate the threat of the flanks. Therefore, after establishing a tribute relationship with the Joseon Dynasty, he did not use force against the Joseon Dynasty.
The second is the way to survive under the Jujuren.
Jujurenxia is the basic diplomatic strategy that the Joseon Dynasty has pursued for more than 500 years. Except after the Sino-Japanese War of Jiawu, and temporarily attached to Tsarist Russia after the independence from the Qing Dynasty was lifted from the vassal vassal, the rest of the time was subordinate to the Ming and Qing Dynasties in the Central Plains.
The Joseon Dynasty recognized the Central Plains Dynasty as its suzerain, because it not only avoided its annexation, but also received effective protection from the Central Plains Dynasty in the event of invasion by foreign enemies. In 1592 and 1597, the Toyotomi Hideyoshi regime of Japan attempted to annex the Korean peninsula and invaded Korea twice, and Korea was on the verge of subjugation. The Ming Dynasty sent troops to aid Korea against the Japanese and defeated Japan, enabling the Joseon Dynasty to recover its territory. Otherwise, the Joseon Dynasty would cease to exist more than 200 years after its founding.
Therefore, the Joseon Dynasty has always insisted on the way of subsistence, because the facts have proved that it was the Ming Dynasty and the Joseon Dynasty that had this suzerainty relationship, so they were in danger.Only then will the Ming Dynasty come to rescue. However, when Huang Taiji invaded Korea in 1636, the King of Korea was forced to surrender, abandon the Ming Dynasty, and recognize Huang Taiji as his suzerain. This not only resolved the crisis of subjugation, but also allowed the Joseon Dynasty to survive.
At the same time, this subdued way of survival kept the Joseon dynasty under the suzerainty system, which played a role in deterring domestic instability in North Korea to a certain extent. Because the legal status of the Korean king needs to be recognized and canonized by the suzerain. In the final analysis, whether it is the usurpation of the throne by the power ministers or the peasant rebels in North Korea, even if they overthrow Lee Korea and want to stand on their own, they must pass the suzerain state's approval.
and this is basically impossible. Because what I want to see as the sovereign state is a stable Korean peninsula. If Lee Korea has been overthrown after working with the suzerain for many years, many variables will arise and a lot of trouble. Therefore, the suzerain is more willing to maintain this stable suzerain-vassal relationship with Lee Korea. Therefore, the Korean peninsula is in chaos and Lee's North Korea is in crisis. For example, the Ming Dynasty Wanli aided Korea to resist the Japanese, the Beiyang Army put down the Renwu Mutiny in the late Qing Dynasty, and the "Dongxue Party" uprising, the purpose was to preserve the Li family.
The third is a deep-rooted hierarchical system
We should be clear that the Joseon Dynasty Guojo has played a leading role within 500 years. This is in line with the principle of the dialectical relationship between internal and external causes. In other words, it is the deep-rooted hierarchy of Lee's Korean ruling class that plays a major role.
The ruling class of the Joseon Dynasty is mainly the scholar-official class who advertises Chinese Confucianism. They have monopolized education, imperial examination, and official privileges for a long time. The relationship between the central and local governments is intertwined and complicated, and it has developed to the middle and late stages. At that time, some powerful officials and party powers developed to the extreme, and even controlled the king's power, left the king abolished, and the more influential officials such as Andong Kim, Pongyang Cho, Popeung Yoon, Lixing Min, etc. were influential. The political parties such as the Eastern People’s Party, the Western People’s Party, the Old People’s Party, the Young People’s Party, the Southern People’s Party, and the Northern People’s Party are all very powerful.
However, these officials or parties did not cause the dynasty to change no matter how much they tossed. Because they are concerned about the power of the sovereign state, they are guilty and not guilty. They can only achieve their goals by abolishing the king through a coup d'etat, and never dare to claim the king by themselves. In the Joseon Dynasty, there were only two successful coups in more than 500 years, namely "Jungjong Anyway" and "Injo Anyway", both of which were initiated by the literati class. King Yeonsan and King Gwanghae were overthrown, and they all supported the successor king of other Li clan members without exception, and used them to make great contributions and enjoy the privileges, while the Korean royal family remained the same as Li.
Then there is that their internal struggle is fierce and divided. This also makes it difficult for North Korean officials and parties to form a climate. In order to fight for power and gain, these power officials and parties do not hesitate to suppress and restrict other factions. The result of this is that they continue to divide themselves. For example, the Eastern People’s Party is divided into Southern and Northern Parties, the Western Party is divided into Old Theory and Shao Theory, and the Northern Party is divided into the Great Northern Party, the Little Northern Party, the Bone Northern Party and the Meat Northern Party, etc., fighting each other. Difficult to solve. The root of this problem lies in the artificial division of the entire society into royal family and scholar-officials (two classes of nobles), middlemen, commoners, and untouchables, starting from Li Fangyuan, Taizong of the Li family of Joseon Dynasty.
In this way, the party struggles are endless, the strength of the parties is declining, and the contradictions within the ruling class are resolved, which is more conducive to the survival and continuation of the Li family. This is an example of how Li, the Lord of the Great Court, should crack down on power politics.
In short, above the court of Lee's Joseon, there is a battlefield where the political parties of all factions fight together. However, it is this deep-rooted hierarchical system that provides Lee Korea with the protection of continuing Guozuo.
Fourth is the weak peasant uprising
In the feudal history of our country, the peasant uprising is one of the important factors for dynasty change. However, this article seems to be wrong in the Joseon Dynasty, because the peasant uprising in the Joseon Dynasty is very weak and its influence is minimal, and it is difficult to shake the rule of Lee.
Lee’s North Korea is a small country with barren land, extremely limited population, and relatively scarce resources and products. Through the tributary trade with the Central Plains, Lee’s North Korea has relatively developed commerce and handicrafts, so there are fewPeasant uprising. Moreover, the Central Plains dynasty, as the suzerain state, protected the Korean Peninsula not only from foreign enemies, but also had the responsibility to maintain the internal stability of the Korean Peninsula.
By the end of the 19th century, with the aggravation of the Korean national crisis and the rapid spread of Christianity, Dongxue thought gradually formed. North Korean farmers took this as a guide to the outbreak of the largest peasant uprising in North Korean history. At one time it swept half of North Korea. At the invitation of the North Korean government, the Qing government as the suzerain sent troops. The Dongxue Party uprising was finally defeated by the joint suppression of the North Korean government and the Japanese army.
Seeing this, we can understand how the Joseon Dynasty can be a country for more than 500 years.
