Gyeyu Jeongnan (癸酉靖難) was a coup in which, on November 10, 1453 (the 10th day of the 10th lunar month) in the first year of Danjong, Grand Prince Suyang eliminated Kim Jong-seo, Hwang Bo-in, Choi Ji-ho and others, purged his opponents, and seized control of the government.
Background
Sejong's successor, Munjong, foresaw his own short life and asked Chief State Councillor Hwang Bo-in, Left State Councillor Nam Ji, Right State Councillor Kim Jong-seo and others to serve well his young crown prince after his death.
Because Danjong was only 12 years old when he ascended the throne, Gomyeong ministers Kim Jong-seo, who honored the last wishes of Sejong and Munjong, held the power to appoint officials as well as the civil and military authority, and governed as regent. With no queen dowager or Queen Grand Dowager to serve as the center of the royal household through regency, Sejong's talented sons had, during Sejong's reign, built considerable power of their own through their participation in various political and cultural projects. Among them, the forces of Sejong's second son Grand Prince Suyang and third son Grand Prince Anpyeong were the strongest, and the court officials, the royal family, and even eunuchs and court ladies were divided between these two factions. Grand Prince Yangnyeong, Suyang's younger brother Grand Prince Imyeong, and Gyeyang-gun were Suyang's allies, while Anpyeong was supported by the three sons of Sejong's concubine Consort Hye and by Grand Prince Geumseong, and opposed Suyang. Kim Jong-seo and his followers, who judged that these princes threatened royal authority, also formed a formidable force and kept the grand princes in check.
Suyang's Plan for a Coup
When court ministers allied themselves with Grand Prince Anpyeong, Suyang, feeling danger to his political position, brought in Kwon Nam and Han Myeong-hoe as strategists to support his cause. Through the scheming minister Kwon Nam, Suyang obtained Han Myeong-hoe, who then held the post of overseer at Gyeongdeok Palace, and through Han Myeong-hoe he recruited more than thirty capable military men, including Hong Dal-son and Yang Jeong, and waited for an opportunity.
After Han Myeong-hoe and Kwon Nam joined, Suyang's expansion of political power gained momentum. Former Hall of Worthies scholars and young officials who had long been close to him, such as Sin Sukju, the civil official well versed in martial arts Hong Yun-seong, the military official Yang Jeong, Hwang Su-sin, son of Hwang Hui, and Yi Jing-gyu and Yi Jing-seok, the elder and younger brothers of Yi Jing-ok, the closest aide of Kim Jong-seo, joined his forces. He also made efforts to win over members of the royal family, and Grand Prince Yangnyeong, Grand Prince Imyeong, Grand Prince Yeongeung, and Gyeyang-gun Yi Jeung, son of Sejong's concubine Consort Sin, also became part of his power base.
Han Myeong-hoe and Kwon Nam, who had the ability to read the times, served as Suyang's strategists. Han Myeong-hoe and Kwon Nam, who were in unfortunate circumstances, argued for the justification of a coup by citing the decline of royal authority, the overwhelming power of the ministers, and social disorder.
Course of Events
Suyang then, with the help of Han Myeong-hoe and others, plotted political schemes. The first of these was to send an envoy to the Ming dynasty in order to quell the wariness of Kim Jong-seo, Hwang Bo-in, Min Sin, and others. In fact, Grand Prince Anpyeong had first recognized the importance of this mission on the advice of his strategist Yi Hyeon-ro, and had volunteered himself, but Suyang mobilized his forces to block this and went instead. Through this diplomatic journey, Suyang fully won Sin Sukju over to his side, and he succeeded in calming the wariness of Kim Jong-seo and the other court ministers, which was his original aim.
After returning home, Suyang, together with Han Myeong-hoe, Kwon Nam, Hong Yun-seong and others, drew up a list of those to be killed, namely senior court officials who obstructed his rise to power, and hurried his plans for a coup. The date of the action was the 10th day of the 10th lunar month, and the first target was Left State Councillor Kim Jong-seo. Suyang planned to seize Gyeongbokgung through the military officials Yang Jeong and Hong Dal-son, who were able to mobilize troops, while he himself went to Kim Jong-seo's house in official robes, accompanied by the servant Im Un, Yang Jeong and others.
Kim Jong-seo had been visited by Sin Sukju and Choe Hang a few days before the action, and by Kwon Nam on the day of the action itself. However, Kim Jong-seo, who did not notice at all that Suyang was plotting a coup d'état, was unguarded. Suyang ordered the servant Im Un to carry an iron mace and, when he gave the signal, to strike Kim Jong-seo immediately.
Elimination of Kim Jong-seo and the Court Ministers
Suyang did not enter the house of Left State Councillor Kim Jong-seo, but waited outside with his men. Kim Jong-seo invited him in for conversation, but Suyang hesitated, making excuses, and delivered to Kim Jong-seo a letter he had prepared in advance as a lure. When Kim Jong-seo held the letter up to the moonlight, the servant Im Eoeulun (林於乙云)1, receiving Suyang's signal, struck Kim Jong-seo with the iron mace. Then Im Eoeulun struck Kim Jong-seo's son Kim Seung-gyu and his companions with the mace, and thus the Gyeyu Jeongnan began.
Afterward, Suyang carefully carried out his prepared actions. After seizing the Four Gates and the main military facilities, he entered the residence of Princess Gyeonghye, that is, the temporary royal lodging, and reported to Danjong that Kim Jong-seo had conspired with Grand Prince Anpyeong to plot treason. Using Danjong's name as a pretext, he had all the court ministers come to the palace. At this time, as the ministers entered, their attendants were removed and they were made to enter alone. After the ministers were admitted to the temporary lodging, those opposed to Suyang were struck with iron maces by Hong Yun-seong, Ham Gwi, Gu Chi-gwan, and other ruffians. Court ministers who had cooperated with Suyang, such as Jeong In-ji, Yi Gye-jeon, and Yi Sun-ji, who were Chief Councillors of the Privy Council, were spared, whereas Chief State Councillor Hwang Bo-in, Choi Ji-ho, Yi Yang, Jo Geuk-gwan and others, who were members of Kim Jong-seo's faction and listed in the list of those to be killed, were all struck with iron maces and killed. Yi Myeong-min, Jo Beon, Kim Dae-jeong, Ha Seok and others were killed by assassins sent by Suyang at their own homes. Min Sin, who was supervising the making of a stele at Hyeonneung, the tomb of Munjong, was stabbed to death at Hyeonneung. Jeong Bun and Pyeongan Province Governor Jo Su-ryang were exiled and then given poison and killed.
At this time, Kim Jong-seo, who had been struck by Im Un's iron mace, barely got up, dressed as a woman, climbed into a palanquin, and circled the capital's Four Gates, but since none of them opened for him, he fled to the home of his second son Kim Seung-byeok's wife's family. The next morning, some passersby found him, and Yang Jeong came to behead him again. Kim Jong-seo, who did not know the ministers had been killed, naively believed, just before his death, that he was being imprisoned, and said, "How can a minister go on foot? Bring me a sedan chair!" At that moment, Yang Jeong ruthlessly cut off Kim Jong-seo's head.
Just as Kim Jong-seo had revived after being struck by the iron mace, Yi Myeong-min, Director of the Board of Public Works, was struck by an assassin's iron mace at home but came back to life, and was carried on a stretcher to Kim Jong-seo's house. At that time Kim Jong-seo had been traveling about in a palanquin, so while he was returning home, Hong Dal-son, having heard the news, sent Hogun Park Je-ham to kill him.
Results
As the coup succeeded in this way, Suyang made a formal gesture of opposing the punishment of Grand Prince Anpyeong. However, he soon exiled Grand Prince Anpyeong to Ganghwa Island and then ordered him given poison through the Uigumbu. He also reduced the wives, concubines, and children of the court ministers who had been killed to slavery. Then he appointed himself, Jeong In-ji, and Han Hwak, who was related to him by marriage, as First-Rank Jeongnan Meritorious Subjects, and conferred second and third ranks on the remaining officials, thereby monopolizing the principal posts of the court. Suyang himself came to hold both the post of Chief State Councillor and military authority, and thus effectively established the foundation of his reign. Moreover, Grand Prince Anpyeong and others who had been condemned as traitors were erased from the Seonwon Boryak, and were later restored in the reign of Sukjong.
A rebellion very closely related to the Gyeyu Jeongnan also occurred: the Yi Jing-ok's Rebellion, launched by Yi Jing-ok, a strategist of Kim Jong-seo. Although it was launched on the pretext of avenging the killing of Kim Jong-seo, Yi Jing-ok himself declared himself emperor and established a state called "Daegeum," with the Ojeongseong fortress in southern Manchuria as its capital. However, this rebellion too was soon crushed, as Yi Jing-ok was killed by the secret agents of Jeong Jong, magistrate of Jongseong, and Yi Haeng-geom, a Grand Major General, and the rebellion was thus wasted and ended.
Suyang and Jeong In-ji pressured Danjong and had the Hall of Worthies write edicts praising Suyang, consolidating their hold on power. Having thus fully controlled the court, Suyang finally took the throne in 1455.
Influence
The Hungu (勳舊) meritorious subjects who formed intensively after the Gyeyu Jeongnan monopolized political power and economic wealth. As this situation continued, in reaction the Sarim (士林), supported by rural farmers, emerged in large numbers on the central political stage during the reign of Seongjong of Joseon after the 15th century and became a new political force. This became the occasion for the later division into the Giho School (畿湖學派) and the Yeongnam School (嶺南學派), and led to factional politics (朋黨政治).2
Works Depicting the Event
- Ryu Ju-hyeon, Pacheonmu, a three-part novel
- Sudaegun gil-eseo gil-eul mutda by Lee Jeong-geun (ISBN 978-89-5861-133-2)
- The Princess' Man, KBS drama, 2011
- Queen Insu, JTBC drama, 2011
- The Face Reader, film directed by Han Jae-rim, 2013
Notes and References
- This document includes material based on the entry "Establishment of the Joseon Yangban Society" in the Global World Encyclopedia, distributed by Daum Communications (now Kakao) under the GFDL or CC-SA license.
Footnotes