Heonjong of Joseon

Heonjong (Korean: 헌종; Hanja: 憲宗; 8 September 1827 – 25 July 1849), personal name Yi Hwan (이환; 李烉), was the 24th monarch of the Joseon dynasty of Korea. His father was Crown Prince Hyomyeong, who died at the age of 20 before becoming king, and his mother was Queen Sinjeong of the Pungyang Jo clan.

Biography

Yi Hwan was born to Crown Princess Jo and Crown Prince Hyomyeong on 8 September 1827 in Gyeongchunjeon (경춘전; 景春殿) within Changdeok Palace. It was said that when the day before he was born, she dreamt of giving her son a box containing a tree carved with jade, and on the day of his birth, a group of cranes flew from the front room and went around for a long time. She and the others considered it to be strange.^[1]

The young Heonjong ascended to the throne in 1834 at the age of 7 after his grandfather, King Sunjo, died. Heonjong was the youngest monarch to ascend the throne in Joseon's history.^[2] Like King Sunjo, Heonjong took the throne at a young age and his grandmother, Queen Sunwon served as queen regent. Although King Heonjong ascended to the throne, he had no political control over Joseon. When Heonjong reached adulthood, Queen Sunwon refused to give up control. In 1840, the control over the kingdom was then handed down to the Andong Kim clan, the family of his grandmother Queen Sunwon, following the anti-Catholic Gihae persecution of 1839. During Heonjong's reign, he built the Nakseonjae complex and insisted that his beloved concubine, Kim Gyeong-bin, be given sole use of the complex which was an unprecedented move in Joseon's history.^[3]

King Heonjong died after reigning for 15 years in 1849 at the age of 21. He was buried at the Gyeongneung tomb within the Donggureung Tomb Cluster in Seoul, where several kings and queens of the Joseon Dynasty were buried, with Queen Hyohyeon and Queen Hyojeong.^[4] As King Heonjong died without an heir, the throne passed to a distant descendant of King Yeongjo, King Cheoljong.

As was customary with the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty, the chronicle of Heonjong's reign was compiled after his death, in 1851. The compilation of the 16-volume chronicle was supervised by Jo In-yeong, her mother's uncle.

Family

• Father: King Munjo of Joseon (조선의 문조; 18 September 1809 – 25 June 1830)
  • Grandfather: King Sunjo of Joseon (조선의 순조; 29 July 1790 – 13 December 1834)
  • Grandmother: Queen Sunwon of the Andong Kim clan (순원왕후 김씨; 8 June 1789 – 21 September 1857)
• Mother: Queen Sinjeong of the Pungyang Jo clan (신정왕후 조씨; 21 January 1809 – 4 June 1890)
  • Grandfather: Jo Man-yeong, Internal Prince Pungeun (풍은부원군 조만영; 1776–1846)
  • Grandmother: Lady Song of the Eunjin Song clan, Internal Princess Consort Deokan (덕안부부인 은진 송씨; 1776–1834)

Consorts and their respective issue:

1. Queen Hyohyeon of the Andong Kim clan (효현왕후 김씨; 27 April 1828 – 18 October 1843)
2. Queen Hyojeong of the Namyang Hong clan (효정왕후 홍씨; 6 March 1831 – 2 January 1904)
3. Royal Noble Consort Gyeong of the Gwangsan Kim clan (경빈 김씨; 27 August 1832 – 21 April 1907)
4. Royal Noble Consort Jeong of the Haepyeong Yun clan (정빈 윤씨; 1827 – ?)
5. Royal Consort Suk-ui of the Gimhae Kim clan (숙의 김씨; January 1814 – 12 November 1895)
   1. First daughter (1848–1848)

In popular culture

• Portrayed by Jung Hae-in in the 2018 film Heung-boo: The Revolutionist.
• The starting king of Joseon in the video game Victoria 3.

Ancestry

See also

• List of Rulers of Korea
• Joseon Dynasty
• History of Korea

References