A History of Korea (48 page)

THE BIRTH OF A SON TO LADY CHANG, 1688

In late 1688, news quickly spread that Lady Chang, the favored concubine of King Sukchong, had given birth to a son. Though certainly not an unusual event in the annals of the Korean monarchy, in the tense atmosphere of court politics at this time, it carried strong repercussions. For Lady Chang, known commonly as Chang H
ibin, was not just a royal concubine. Through her actions and her unwitting status as a political symbol, she also embodied the tensions and conflicts that had roiled the capital for years involving fundamental issues of Korean identity and civilization. Lady Chang had so smitten the monarch that he promptly designated the newborn as the crown prince, divorced his own queen, who had yet to bear a son, and promoted Lady Chang as her replacement.
The vehement objections to this move from many top advisors, including the most notable Confucian scholar of the era, unleashed a storm of political strife. Within fifteen years, this conflict would ultimately victimize dozens of high officials on all sides and end with Lady Chang’s own execution ordered by the monarch himself.

A riveting story that has been replayed countless times on Korean television dramas and movies, this episode’s historical significance extends far beyond the realm of the inner palace quarters. It underscores, for one, the conflicts surrounding ideological and factional struggles, family practices, social organization, and even civilizational identity that had been stirring for decades as the country recovered from the Japanese and Manchu invasions (
Chapter 9
). From the historian’s perspective, these wider implications in turn highlight the significance of this middle period of the Chos
n dynasty, when some of the most familiar features of Korea’s Confucian society came into form.

KING SUKCHONG’S TRIANGLES

The mid-Chos
n, in turn, can be further divided: the half-century of devastating invasions from 1592 to 1637, and the seven or eight decades thereafter of recovery and reconstruction. The political figure dominating the latter period was King Sukchong, who ascended the throne in 1674 and survived to reign for forty five years. His longevity alone suggests a strong monarch ruling at a time of welcome stability, which indeed was the case for the country as a whole. King Sukchong bolstered Korea’s defenses and stabilized its northern frontier, implemented major tax reforms that contributed to the growth of agricultural production, and chipped away at the social discrimination against lower status groups in the government and military. All these deeds for the public good, however, are overshadowed in the prevailing historical perspective by his private failings—his quick-tempered, inconstant, and often scandalous behavior—which in turn had a great bearing on the history of this period.

The consequences of these personal weaknesses might not have extended beyond his private quarters had he not ruled amidst the peak of factional wrangling among high officials, a phenomenon
that he actually furthered. The bitter partisan court battles of the late sixteenth century, which affected Korea’s preparations for and response to the Japanese invasions, had again undermined Korea’s preparations for and response to the Manchu incursions beginning in the 1620s (
Chapter 9
). But it did not stop there; following the Manchu conquest of Ming China in 1644, factional wrangling in Korea became intricately tied to sophisticated debates concerning the country’s place in the larger realm of civilization. Indeed, since the early Chos
n era, philosophical differences had often spawned factional divisions. This relationship became crystallized in the arcane metaphysical rivalry of the sixteenth century between the forerunners of the Southern School, who followed the great philosopher T’oegye, and the Westerners, forming around the teachings of Yulgok (
Chapter 8
). Such a close intertwining of ideological and political affiliations had overwhelmed the political system and debilitated the monarch. Sukchong, though, used factional hostilities as a political tool even while claiming to abhor it. Partisan strife, a phenomenon commonly associated with the institutionalized weakness of the Chos
n crown, stood in this case as a manifestation of a powerful king attempting to increase his leverage through his triangulation between two bitterly opposing sides.

Sukchong was also immersed in another, better-known triangle, however—the love triangle involving his wife and his concubine. The troubles arising from this particular dynamic were commonplace in Korean elite families throughout the Chos
n era (and beyond), but, when these private travails racked the royal family, they had a pronounced effect on politics. The two-decade drama involving these three figures resulted in major political upheavals leading to the deaths of dozens of people. It also highlighted the tensions of the mid-Chos
n era between the ongoing efforts at Confucianization and the great native impulses—socially, culturally, and in the realm of the family—continuing to resist a complete makeover.

Sukchong’s second wife, Queen Inhy
n (his first had died at an early age), had impeccable family credentials and, according to both official and unofficial historical sources, was widely revered for her grace and character. But as time passed these qualities were overshadowed by the lack of a male heir. In the meantime, the king
grew strongly fond of one of the palace ladies, Lady Chang, who had already developed a reputation for her spellbinding beauty and cunning. She even suffered expulsion from the palace for her potentially dangerous effect on the harmony of the royal family. Queen Inhy
n herself, credited with selflessly putting her husband’s desires above those of her own, urged that Lady Chang be allowed to return. In early 1688, when news of Lady Chang’s pregnancy spread, it seemed to validate Queen Inhy
n’s noble move even as it threatened to unleash yet another struggle for royal succession. When, in answering the monarch’s fervent wishes, Lady Chang bore a son, King Sukchong’s affection for her grew immeasurably. In the midst of this euphoria, the monarch named the newborn the crown prince. An explosion of political strife quickly followed.