-1469- King Seongjong is enthroned, but is too young, so the regency goes to his grandmother, Queen Jeonghee, and his mom, Queen Insu.
-During this time, the number of merit scholars surged, entering into a special rank of royal subjects that enjoyed a very privileged life.
-The old-school Confucian literati hated these new-school privileged chumps, especially because they had to compete with them for government administration jobs.
-King Seongjong grew up to be a hardcore Confucian.
-First law he implemented was the identity card system, which was a joke.
-He also reinvested in the government branches in order to strengthen each department, as their power had been stripped under King Sejo.
-Also for fun acquired a huge collection of monkeys from the Ryukyu Islands.
-Also began to crack down on Buddhism in order to promote Confucianism.
-1472- King Seongjong orders the banishment of all Buddhist monks, fortune tellers, and shamans out of the capital. He also gutted 23 temples and convents, either converting them into schools, or just demolishing them completely.
-1474- The new law code (started being written during the reign of King Sejo) was finally finished.]
-Under the guidance of King Seongjong, conservative social laws were implemented, such as the outlaw of couples dancing together. In ceremonial dancing, young boys were to play the female roles.
-Raunchy language from popular folk songs was banned.
-Widows were not allowed to remarry.
-Etc.
-Also during this time, Joseon allied with the Ming dynasty to fight against the Jurchen hordes.
-King Seongjong also loved debate, and his court became quite intellectual and surprisingly "liberal".
-Joseon began printing many books during this time, including texts on history, poetry, geography, etc.
-There was also some court drama too, involving the crown prince, concubines, etc.
-During this time emerged the elite yangban class, who had even existed before this time (ever since Goryeo) but just hadn't been as powerful.
-During the Goryeo dynasty, it seemed like overall the military had dominated the government, but with the Joseon dynasty the power shifted to civilian elites who were strictly Confucian, and this class status was hereditary.
-Obviously there were lots of opportunities to be had by staying close to all the drama and intrigue in Seoul, but the crafty knew that the key to power was really to go out and amass power in the provinces.
-This was during peacetime too, so the yangban were able to grow in power since no one was busy serving in the army.
-They were always trying to undermine each other and shit, really vicious.
-There were 2 main factions- the Hoonggu and the Sarim.
-The Hoonggu were more old-school elites, and the Sarim were new-money elites.
-1494- King Seongjong dies. His reign was long, but he died young for whatever reason. He was replaced by his son, King Yeonsan ("Yeonsangun"), who was a really shitty king.
-Had a really bad temper, which was kept in check when he was a prince, but as king he had full rein.
-Had his tutor executed.
-Also, as a kid, loved to torture animals :(
-He gutted the Confucian college, Seonggyeonggwan, and converted it into his pleasure palace, filled with babes and animals for hunting.
-His agents scoured the land for the hottest girls and the best horses, and they would then capture them and take them back to his pleasure palace.
-While he didn't have any violent outbursts against his brothers or other family members, he would steal his courtiers' wives for sex whenever he wanted. He also replaced many of his father's old concubines.
-His rule is said to have been a "long carnival of murder, lust, and oppression".
-Of course, he also had violent purges of perceived political rivals, including the prime minister and a bunch of Sarim yangban via disgusting executions and other gross shit that everyone in the court was forced to watch (and those who looked away or failed to show up were punished, obviously).
-He also tried to suppress the power of the Office of the Censors, whose job it was to criticize or keep in check the power of the king. He made the ministers wear a sign that said "A mouth is a door that brings in disaster, a tongue is a sword that cuts off a head. A body will be in peace as long as its mouth is closed and its tongue is deep within."
-This event is known as the First Literati Purge.
-During this time, there was an eerie calm in the capital, as anyone smart (or who could afford it, at least) had fled the capital. Schools also had closed.
-1504- King Yanseon found out about how his mother had been executed during the reign of his father. This really pissed him off, especially since everyone else knew the truth and no one had ever told him (including who his true mother really was). Thus, the Second Literati Purge took place, with much violence.
-Over 200 scholars (and even their families in some instances) were executed.
-Meanwhile, anonymous posters began to pop up around the city, critical of the king (and written in Hangul, which King Yanseon hated).
-1506- A group of courtiers (Park Won-jong, Seong Hui-an, Yoo Soon-jeong, and Hong Gyeong-ju) plotted to overthrow the king.
-They initially plotted to surprise the king outside the palace gates, but I guess somehow people sensed what was up, and there was soon a huge mob that had gathered demanding the ousting of the king. The mob broke down the gates and stormed the palace.
-The king's inner circle was executed, political prisoners were set free, and there was little overall resistance against this revolution since King Yeonsan was a such a shitbag.
-King Yeonsan was captured, exiled to Ganghwa Island, and eventually died of illness. He was replaced by his half-brother, King Jungjong.
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