Yi Song-Gye

Yi Song-gye

 or T'aejo

(born 1335—died 1408) Founder of the Korean Choson dynasty (1392–1910). A military leader in the Koryo dynasty, he rose through the ranks by battling invading forces. He defeated his rivals and drove out the last king of the Koryo dynasty, taking the throne in 1392. He established his capital at Hanyang (now Seoul). He and his successors redistributed land, which had been concentrated in the hands of a few high-ranking bureaucrats, throughout the various levels of officialdom. In a break with the past, he made Neo-Confucianism the state religion, replacing Buddhism. Farming was made the centre of the economy. In foreign relations, he maintained a close relationship with China's Ming dynasty.

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Yi Song-Gye 

(temple name, T’aejo). Born 1335; died 1408. King of the Korean state of Choson and founder of the Yi dynasty.

Yi Song-gye came from the provincial gentry. In the late 1380’s he led a grouping of middle and petty feudal lords who opposed the powerful landowning aristocracy. In 1388, during a conflict between Koryo and the Ming dynasty, Yi Song-gye overthrew the government. In 1391 his supporters promulgated a law on landholding (the Kwajong pop), then raised him to the throne (in 1392). Under Yi Song-gye, the state was renamed Choson and the capital became Seoul. The new ruler implemented reforms to strengthen central authority but was forced to acknowledge Korea’s vassalage to China.