Prince Yeonsan (Yeonsangun) the Worst Ruler in Korean History [History of Korea]
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- čas přidán 3. 12. 2021
- #korea #kdrama #koreanhistory #koreanculture #joseon #history #historyofkorea (episode 25)
Yeonsangun 연산군, Prince Yeonsan (1476-1506, r.1494-1506, born Yi Yung 이융), was the 10th King of Joseon and is remembered as the worst ruler of the Joseon Dynasty; a tyrant. He is the only ruler to never receive a temple name, a posthumous title accorded to monarchs for the purpose of ancestral worship.
I will discuss the era in which Yeonsangun lived from the death of King Sejong the Great. I will briefly talk about the reigns of King Munjong 조선 문종, King Danjong 조선 단종 and his execution by King Sejo 조선 세조, the second son of King Sejong. Sejo’s reign was a prelude to what Yeonsangun’s reign would be. He famously executed six ministers: sayukshin 사육신. His son King Yejong 조선 예종 succeeded him. He was followed by King Seongjong 조선 성종, King Sejo’s grandson.
Yeonsangun succeeded his father King Seongjong. His mother was Lady Yun (Queen Jeheon) 제헌왕후 who was executed by poison for striking her husband, King Seongjong and enraging the Queen mother, Grand Queen Insu 소혜왕후. He didn’t know about her until later in his life. This is possibly what started Prince Yeonsan’s descent into madness as soon as he learned about what happened to his real mother. Yeonsangun famously executed his opposition, transformed a university and a temple into his personal brothel gathering young women from all over the kingdom there. He also destroyed a big part of the capital to turn it into hunting grounds. The populace criticized him with posters written in Hangul making the King furious. He banned the use of Hangul. His purging of officials became known as the first and second literati purges (무오사화, 갑자사화). Yeonsangun also executed an eunuch Kim Cheo-seon 김처선 who asked him to repent his ways. He famously used him as target practice and cut his limbs as well as executed his family and extended family. Prince Yeonsan also famously asked his ministers to wear a sign saying: "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.”
Yeonsangun may have been the worst tyrant in Korean history but his behaviour is just the amplification of what his ancestors were accustomed to, except King Sejong.
*Other figures and topics explored in this video: Hwangbo In 황보인, Queen Jeonghui 정희왕후, Nam I 남이 장군, Princess Yi Gu-ji 이구지, Sarimpa 사림파, Hungupa 훈구파, Kim Il-son 김일손, Sunggyungwan 성균관, Wongaksa Temple 원각사, Office of Censors 사간원, Hongmoongwan 홍문관, Jang Nok-su 장녹수
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🎬 Recommended viewings:
King and the Clown (2005) 왕의 남자 Starring: Kam Woo-sung, Lee Joon-gi, Jung Jin-young. It’s the story of street clowns whom Yeonsangun invites to his court as royal jesters.
The Treacherous (2015) 간신 Starring: Ju Ji-hoon, Kim Kang-woo, Lim Ji-yeon.
Yeonsangun (1961) • 연산군(장한사모편)(1961) / Pri... Directed by Shin Sang-ok
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Music credit:
Asian Drums - Vadodara by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Source: incompetech.com/music/royalty-...
Artist: incompetech.com/
Machinations by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Source: incompetech.com/music/royalty-...
Artist: incompetech.com/
The Voyage by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Artist: audionautix.com/
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I can tell he was very angry at his mother's death and really wanted revenge. But the scholars and grandma were dumb to think he wouldn't retaliate aftering find out who his real mother was and how she died.
You can't really blame Queen Insu, it was the King who made Yeonsangun his successor. Also during the last few years of his tyranny. Queen Insu was very old and sick, and after her Son ascended the throne, she got comfortable
He is just born psyco
@@kaceesnowbefore king sejong's death, minister ask him to sign it regarding about yiyung need to pass over the throne to his younger brother, minister said he is not qualified to be king after the queen being deposed and yiyung know about this when he become successful king, after that he ask one of his minister to find and burn it, in order to hide the truth
I did a whole lot of research on Yeonsangun for my Masters. He is infamous as being a tyrant but his story is actually quite sad if you read deep enough (and the right stuff). I like this presentation, its nice to see a little actual research, 🙂👏 I will say for anyone who doesnt know much about this man, please PLEASE dont rely on dramas and films for information. While they depict him and his rule, they are fiction and use quite a bit of artistic license 😅
Can you give a very brief Summary so it’s better to understand.
I would love to read your research
What reliable sources are out there that show this? I’d like to read them
May we have your sources? I wanted to know why he was like that. And to know how sad his story was.
i would like to read your research please
In the movie, he is described as middle-aged, but he is said to be handsome and close to 2m tall at a young age in 20s. His family was a military family for generations, so he excelled in martial arts like other Joseon kings, but the problem was that he wielded his own sword
He was known to be one of the best looking kings in Joseon history. I wonder how history would've changed if his mother wasn't forced to drink poison.
his mother is really innocent???@@CWG-op9td
Great content and well presented. i liked that you referenced some movies/drama on the subject. I don't see that much often in this type of content. Excellent job!!!
Thank you for the series recommendations. Will definitely check on them.
I watch the treacherous and was blown away on how despicable man can be. This video explains a lot more than I thought. Why are people so wicked? Don't they believe that karma will definitely judge them?
Treacherous was a bad movie. Watch The King and the Clown. That movie had the most accurate portryal of his 'issues'. Other than that his portrayal in Kdrama, Queen for Seven Days was pretty poignant as well. There is also another Kdrama called The Rebel where Yongsangun is portrayed very accurately.
He’s mental ill
By man you mean person in general?because I can give a lot of examples of women who were greedy,cruel and egocentric
@@Itachi3040 Please differentiate between man and men, woman and women first.
@Nothing Mate Please differentiate the context and the meaning between man and men, woman and women first.
These videos are so great! Thank you so much for your awesome work
Thank you!
He is NOT the only one not to receive a temple name (-jo, -jong). Gwanghae also did not receive one because he was deposed.
yes, right... I realized this quite quickly when making a video on Gwanghaegun
I’m sad about Gwanghae. I wish anyone of the Joseon kings gave him a temple name. Injo didn’t deserve to be a king and he does not deserve the temple name!
@@hera_avria9265 Injo was a worthless king for sure.
@@CWG-op9tdHowever, Gwanghaegun also killed Prince Yeongchang and dethroned his mother-in-law, Inmok Daebi, for a reason of opposition.
@@hera_avria9265 Agree with you 100! Injo was awful king/father who killed great Crown Prince Sohyeon.
Great video, very informative as usual!
Thanks for taking time to watch ^^
You have a tantalizing narration,..you seem well informed of the matter .
Good illustration 👍👍
Thank you so much 😀
So fascinating 😁😁 I will be learning more 🙌🙌
So interesting thank you 😊
I am new to the kdramas and as I am watching I read the information provided on the internet. It sometimes seems quite confusing; I am glad I stumbled onto your channel. You explain it so simply and slowly that I am able to keep up. So your are my second source as to accuracy to the Korean monarchy. Hi, from Texas!
Well Done...Great video.....I have heard tales and read them of how Yeonsan was tyrant but hearing about how Joseon Dynasty hit rock bottom from 5th King to 10th is pretty much revealing.
yes I was surprised to read all this in my research as well and sadly it seems like it didn't get any better for Joseon's population after Yeonsangun.
Ironically, Sejo turned out to be a pretty capable head of state once he was on the throne-the one thing he shared with his father.
Thank you for history.❤️
Excellent video friend 😎👍, Greetings from Paraguay 🇵🇾
Thank you! Cheers!
Really great video! I am really happy to have found your channel😁
Welcome aboard ^^
You deliver stories of Joseon kings here I'm subscribing!
Thanks for that! Much appreciated ^^
The mad king of Korea is infamous for his era of blood and madness. To a layman foreigner like me, who don't normally study the Korean dynasty, yet this mad king comes to mind whenever I think about the Royal Family of the peninsula nation and if I was asked by someone to say something about my knowledge on the history of Korean royal family, I would find myself talking about this mad king instead of the other good kings of Korea. Weird but that's the truth about majority of the foreigners.
The Mad King is the famous King of Korea to an outsider.
Many mad & perverted men in Korea, even now.
I really enjoyed the way you laid out the actions of prince yeonsaj
You were succinct and kept the story moving at good pace. Continue the good work.
Thank you very much ^^
This is the first video that I'm watching from your channel. Will binge-watch it later after work. I teach Koreans. This is very helpful :D
Thank you for your hard work!
Well thanks for watching!
You saved me from watching very long historical korean dramas. Thanks.
The king's motivations were represented pretty well in my favourite historic drama Rebel: Thief Who Stole the People. They also gave Jang Nok Soo a really interesting story.
I really appreciate the movie recommendations. Please never change
So that's why Yeonsangun is familiar, the Kdrama that I've watched "Dae Jang Geum" set their timeline in this era where her father, an officer, is there beside the deposed queen which he himself witnessed how she drank the poison. Later on, her father became wanted because Yeonsangun wanted to kill all the people involved in his mother's death, even if Jang Geum's father was just there to be present since he is an officer.
Oh, Jewel in The Palace. I remember that drama. That's so long ago.
Queen for days days is also one of kdrama showing the life of yeonsangun
The thing is Yeonsangun was actually a decent, if harsh, ruler for the first decade or so of his reign (even during the first literary purge, which had more justification than often granted) It’s just that he SPECTACULARLY went off the rails once he finally out his revenge plot into motion to the point he ended up being the worst head of state in Korean history in his final two years.
Also; Sejong the Great was rolling in his grave when his descendant made his greatest achievement illegal….
I went down a rabbit hole after reading about the queen Dangyeong and now im watching videos about the history of the previous kings lol. This is so interesting
First time I comment here. I find history of Korea very interesting. Greetings from Mexico.
Cheers ^^
Yup, Korea had one of the most corrupt government ever. Every 5-10 years, some minister is execute or exile, Kings trying to punish Queen Dowagers who hands were dirty, but didn't have enough power too, they was always strife and purges and Tyranny
I’ve watched the treacherous but didn’t knew it was based on true events, so now I’m gonna watch other movies too that you suggested. Btw, this was a really great video 🤩🙌
Thank you for taking the time to watch ^^
the treacherous was so disturblingly good!
Omy King Yeonsangun is a character at the Historical Korean Drama Series called Queen for Seven days. Same in the drama that his mother is a deposed queen, Lady Yun.
Really interesting historical figure. Makes me wonder if Sado's reign would have played out similarly if he'd actually ascended the throne.
Good video! I would like to say there is a typo with General Nam I’s death year as it says 148?
omg thanks for catching this oups! He died in 1468.
There is a manga called “I shall live as the prince” who talks about him.
I know it’s a fiction and it doesn’t portray reality but the aspect of him not being a “tyrant” but a person who suffered is described quite well, even if this video is way more complete (of course I’d say) but I mean if u eant to read something funny that teaches u also something, I’d recommend it. anyway i’m gonna continur with the video
Yeongsangun is indeed the Korean Hamlet with the debauchery of Caligula. I'm looking foward to the next episodes about Yi Sun Shin and the Imjin War.
The King and The Clown was a very accurate portrayal of this crazy man.
You mean Crowned Clown?
@@Shisui5752 Two different movies
I was wondering why this seems familiar. Just realized I was reading manhwa called 'My royal awakening' which was about king yeonsan.
Easy to remember the events in the history great video! Thanks!
Thanks for watching!
Sad. Seems that he went after every single person that had a hand in his mother's death. Although she "had a temperament" she was also sabotage because of jealousy. She gave birth to a son, an heir. And his other concubines were jealous and did everything they could to sabotage her and in the end she was killed for it. And to make matters worse passed her son off as someone else's and covered the incident up. But while getting his revenge it seems he went nuts. I get the going after the people that had a hand in his mother death...but the rest......
Lots of similarities with the story of Shaka Zulu.
The King and The Clown is a great masterpiece of a movie .... its up there with even the greatest oscar winning korean movies like Parastite ...
You get a strong sense of korean culture from its wonderful depictions of ancient poetry, jokes, costumes, stage plays, etc. Great cinematography, acting and music too ...
Agreed. Love that movie!
You forgot to mentioned the Series 'Queen Insu'
AH! I realized why some things sounded familiar here! The K-drama The King and I, is about Seongjong and Lady Yun! Interesting to learn about the actual people!
I think the kdrama jang geum, intertwine with this story. The father of jang geum was executed by the king because of his participation in the death of king’s mother
If you know korea, you know that people can get a bit carried away.
I also wanted to suggest queen Insoo's drama which makes everything that happened before Yeonsang gun so clear.
All he did was prove every bias and hate anyone would have had against his mother, as she’s the one who messed up first and brought upon her fate to herself. He had the chance to be great but chose to be a terror instead, him and his mother just end up being a black stain on the legacy of Kim Sejong’s family.
wow. I was watching QUEEN FOR SEVEN DAYS and headed here, cause I don't rely on dramas. I trust documentaries more. thanks for having this informative and very nice visuals. As a visual learner, it's easier for me to understand the concept bec of your visuals.
Thanks for watching! ^^
I also watched that recently too and felt bad for him while watching the drama. The actor portrayal was excellent but definitely watered him down a bit in that.
You forgot to mention “the King and I” kdrama
اتمنى من صاحب القناة ان يترجم الى اللغه العربيه لاني احب معرفه تاريخ كوريا القديم
وسبق لي ان شاهدت فلم الخوناء يحكي عن قصه الملك المجنون يونساج وشكر جزيلا لكم♥️
Good video indeed
Thank you ^^
Is this the story at the beginning of the drama Jewel in the Palace? Starring Lee Young Ae? I remember something like this where a girl was force to drink poison and swear her son will avenged her death?
Yes it pretty much starts with the execution of prince Yeonsan's mother...
It’s difficult to make clear judgements on whether one was power hungry as a ruler. In the case of Danjong the son of Munjong, he was too young to be considered a stable heir to lead a country and with the court factions at the time working to secure their positions under the shifting administrations, Sejo merely did what was needed to rectify a country from ruin. In addition by being born as the second child of Sejong, Sejo was never considered a heir apparent. However he was often regarded a better candidate than his brother by state officials. If Sejo was the firstborn the outcome would have been different.
It’s not mentioned in the video but any ruler with -Jo are kings that weren’t enthroned under royal traditions, and Jong are heirs that were entrusted by their predecessors but all of the kings with Jo at the end are relatives or direct bloodline of the king. But simply deprived of the right due to the mere order in which they were born. So instead of anyone making further judgements on what’s right or wrong please do your own personal research rather than taking them from dramas that were partially made for entertainment. There’s still limitations to these dramas as it can be drawn to portray anyone towards any direction. History is not to be played with but respected and observed in silence for all the good and bad occurrences within any era.
To add to this, Sejo actually proved to be a decent ruler, which may have been because he often performed administrative duties late in his father’s reign (due to his father being occupied with the whole “inventing a new written language” thing); this applies to Munjong to an even greater extent, since he basically ran the country as crown prince for years before he became monarch, but he also worked himself to death like his father and lasted only two years. After that Sejo was honestly the most qualified individual left to take the throne, in spite of not being in the direct line of succession.
The king before Dae jang geum is born ...
I'm here after I watched the drama queen for 7 days and couldn't stop but think about prince yoengsan and why he was so tyranted and mad and a sadist... I really loved that drama which is not entirely about yoengsan but I understood what kind of reign it was.
Me too. I'm here after watching queen for 7 days..
This is basically like Calligula but born in early modern era.
most featured king in costume dramas and movies!
he was pretty much a fervent conservationist
creating all those wildlife reserves… i mean grabbing land for hunting grounds…
Left out The Crowned Clown on Netflix. Show wasn't that historically accurate, but it was pretty good
Lol didn’t gwangjong exterminate around 3000 people that helped his father rise to the throne? Wouldnt that make him one of the bloodest ruler in korea? I suppose because he was great at politics and established many basic foundations that was disregarded
I watched "Queen Insu" It depicted the life of Grand Queen Insu from her marriage to the over throw of Yeonsan
He was like Korea’s Caligula.
People will say he is all bad and what he did was bad of course but we understand why he did it and it was sad. Any child would be angry to find out what happen to their parents and mostly their mother. I would have been mad and did the same to get revenge as well. Just like people wrote how Jang Ok-Jung was a bad woman, they could easily wrote how he was a bad king, I am pretty sure he had some good as well but the revenge he did for his mother really impacted what people view him.
I also think because he was so angry, he did many thing that wasn’t right. He became crazy because of that
What happened to him was unjust cruel and lead him creating much more cruelty
It's not that deep. He was just a psychopath. You are really minimizing what he did.
He just took after his mother. Many royals go through this but many werent as psychopath as him
Now now... bringing Jang Hee-bin/Ok-jung into this is kinda missing the point. She got greedy for court power and let it get to her head, while Yeonsangun acted out of bloodlust and revenge.
Well the bad out ways any good.
Cc an you do the rein of the 11th king and what happened how he became king and what happened with his wife I think she’s called the Queen of 7 days.
You mean Jungjong and his first wife who was deposed after 7 days of being queen? That's one long story tho but interesting nonetheless.
I watched this Story on Netflix Queen For 7 Days ☺️
Yeonsan as in the under the queen’s umbrella prince?
can you make jang hee bin (jag ok jung) her background story?
I will put it in my backlog ^^
@@loonytricky thankyou!
5:11 The Crowned Clown bits of storyline.
I started getting interested in Joseon dynasty history after watching the zombie series Kingdom 😂
There is so much corruption with political figures and even family members that are in politics. I am sure he was traumatized learning who his real Mother was then found out how she died. He blew a gasket and wanted revenge. I do not blame him
Legenda em português por favor
I mean, I understand why he was mad but his mother was no saint. If she was innocent then I would understand but she was hot headed and evil
I saw a movie about this evil King last week. Very disturbed man.
I think he did many terrible things, but we must always remember that the Victor writes the history books. At first look, he seems like he was pushing back against Confucianism. The King that followed him restored it.
I'm not well versed with korean history but isn't the Buddhist(?) scholars/officials the one who drove joseon to ruin? can you correct me on this
Confucian. Not Buddhist.
@Loonytricky Him?! Not Seonjo of Joseon, who presided over the Imjin War / Japanese Invasions of Korea in (1592-1598)?
I've been murmuring his name for the past few weeks near my iPhone and this came up on CZcams recommendations. Apple and Google are heinous spies.
Yes, they are 🙈🙉🙊
Wait so taking revenge for mom is a bad idea?
Taejong was also power hungry. He should not even have been king in the first place.
However, if he had not become king, there would have been no hangul 😢
While I'm not knowledgeable enough to say exactly which of these people inspired which characters, it feels some of the events depicted here have found their way into the TV series Moonlovers (starring IU) in some form or other. Some bits seem to have been reenacted as faithfully as possible while others may have merely been used for inspiration... the familial killings in particular shook me... killing entire families on the King's orders is portrayed... it's fascinating to learn it's rooted in historical events...
atcually in moonlovers its another king who is depicted ! its a king from goryeo period (before joseon) named gwangjong !
If the throne belongs to me instead idk what I would do if I'm the most unpredicable queen 😂
The korean Drama series The King and I is one of the complete story of king Yeongsun. The few last part episode the King was terribly mad slaughtered all palace people like a mad dog. This series King and I continued the story Jewels of the Palace
It has no engliah subtiltles though.
Wow he just went around killing everyone 🤦♀️
2:32 Lee Jung-Jae in the house!
Korean drama Queen for Seven Days also tell story of this king.
Amo fatos históricos principalmente da Coréia do Sul pena que é em inglês
Damn, he’s insane Omg
I wonder if there was any character in Game of Thrones inspired on his biography
Is this who the movie crowned Clown was about?
Nope. Crowned clown was inspired by gwanghe gun (the second joseon king with no temple name) though the actual king in crowned clown was fictional. Yonsan gun was the king in queen for seven days
Aku tinggal di perbatasan tamansari. Bisa jadi satpam.
this guy and emperor wanli of ming
In the movie the king and the clown did the king ever sleep with the clown???
watch The Queen and I its about her mother and him and their eunuch!
❤
It,s very good ceremony of Indonesian freedom
Many men have been like this before in world now and before
Only ruler? Gwanghargun? And that's just joeson. Quite a few goryeo rulers didnt recieve a title either
Yes indeed, Gwanghaegun didn't receive a title as well. He was a way better ruler than Yeonsangun but was caught in political feuds...
@@loonytricky Thank you both for the correction and the manner in which it was received. I totally agree with your conclusions, especially after viewing the inaccurate portrayals of Gwanghaegun in The Crowned Clown and The Tale of Nokdu.
Tbh I really feel for him cause he has honor and he was loyal to his mother who was murdered. All he wanted was to restore his mothers name and they fought him and honestly they all deserved it. His tutor was his first kill. You never know maybe the man beat him and was abusive. I’m betting he was. Idc what ppl write in history but King Yeonsangun was betrayed, lied to about his mother and he wielded revenge on those guilty of killing her, I would’ve done the same.
It’s better to live a life of a poor man than to live rich and be surrounded by snakes and poison.
He maybe the worst one but speculation says he's the most handsome. Not sure
We aren't born bad .... We are nourished as bad .... Please know this before judging and cursing him .... I know I can't defend his crimes but we all are devils at a particular moment of life
Is this where the treacherous movie adapted?
He is the personification of karma to elite of joseon.