After hundreds of years of ups and downs, the Joseon Dynasty was once regarded as a jewel in the long history of East Asia. Late in the 19th century, however, the once-glorious dynasty was plunged into unprecedented upheaval. A woman named Concubine Min became the fuse, and her intervention completely changed the fate of North Korea. This woman from a concubine, with her extraordinary wisdom and decisiveness, ruled almost the entire Korean government and the opposition. Her influence on North Korea can even be compared to the Empress Dowager Cixi in Chinese history. What is the reason why Concubine Min has gained so much power? What major decisions did she make that changed the future and destiny of North Korea?
1. A poppy blooms secretly
The Min family was prominent in North Korea, and their ancestors were once generals. And Concubine Min was born in such a powerful family and has received a good education since she was a child. She was gifted and intelligent, and she was one of the very few women in North Korea who had received a new type of education at that time.
In 1873, at the age of 16, Concubine Min was elected to the palace and became a concubine of Gaozong. At first, she was unknown in the deep palace, but soon attracted the attention of Gojong with her outstanding talent and extraordinary intelligence. Gaozong appreciated her and soon made her a concubine.
Since then, Concubine Min began to wait for opportunities in the court, secretly befriended henchmen, and gradually controlled the power of the court. She knows very well that in order to seize greater power, she must first get rid of the biggest obstacle in front of her - the emperor of the courtyard, who is the real power of the dynasty.
Dayuanjun is Gaozong's father, and has been manipulating the government since Gaozong succeeded to the throne, and Concubine Min is just a concubine with limited power. As a result, she began to secretly instigate a palace coup d'état, isolating and expelling the Dayuan monarch and his henchmen.
Concubine Min first provoked Gaozong to order Dayuanjun to be placed under house arrest, and then provoked the contradiction between Gaozong and his biological mother, expanding the suspicion between the two sides. After a shocking "Renwu Mutiny" that shocked the government and the opposition, Daewonjun was finally forced into exile in Russia, and since then he has completely lost all political power in Korea.
2. The Game of Thrones with the veil peeled off
After Concubine Min eliminated the obstacle of Dayuanjun, although the power of the court was still nominally in the hands of Gaozong, in fact, it had been completely covered by her. She began to eradicate dissidents on a large scale, promoted a large number of cronies to the DPRK as prime ministers, and transformed the Korean political arena into her own private kingdom.
First of all, she vigorously purged the henchmen of the monarch of the courtyard, and even those officials whose surnames were related to the word "yuan" were not spared. Then, she will reuse the Min clan relatives and old acquaintances who were marginalized by Dayuan Jun in the past, such as Min Qianhao, Min Taihao and others, so that the government is completely controlled by the Min family.
Most of these new officials were uneducated, greedy, and even had committed serious crimes, but as long as they were loyal to Concubine Min, she had no qualms about handing over the power of the court to them. It was inevitable that power would lead to corruption, and it was not long before these officials pushed corruption to a new level.
At the same time, Concubine Min also carried out a "big blood change" in the palace. She installed a large number of cronies in important positions in the palace to monitor and control Gaozong's every move. She even changed the style of inspection and restraint that the Korean royal family has always had, and she flourished in the palace and indulged in pleasure all day long.
In order to strengthen her power, Concubine Min is also keen on intrigues. In 1882, she instigated Gojong to make her half-brother his son, but secretly blamed him, framed him for his misdeeds, and finally expelled him from Korea. In 1884, she even staged the "Koshin Coup" that shocked Unai, killing opposition members and suppressing the opposition.
Under the entrenchment of Concubine Min, the Joseon Dynasty gradually transformed from a radiant pearl into a cancerous lump. The ministers in the palace controlled the power of the military state, and extravagance and erosion became the norm. People of insight are worried and deplored the decline of this once civilized country.
3. The East is no longer "closed to the rest of the country"
Although Concubine Min wantonly corrupted the government for her selfish desires, she also had extraordinary foresight. She was well aware that in order for the Joseon Dynasty to survive in the face of increasingly fierce international competition, it was necessary to abandon the outdated idea of "closing the country to the outside world" and take the initiative to embrace the advanced civilization of the West.
Therefore, after taking control of the government, Concubine Min soon started a series of Westernization reform measures. She set up the Managing Machinery Yamen, which was responsible for handling external affairs. At the same time, she also sent her cronies to Western countries many times to learn about their systems and technology.
After returning to China, these envoys reported to Concubine Min what they had witnessed in the Western scientific and technological achievements, and she ordered them to be introduced and promoted. As a result of her efforts, North Korea finally began to build modern institutions such as new armies, firearms factories, schools, and hospitals.
The new army was first founded by naturalized Japanese in Korea, who trained Korean soldiers according to Western-style standards and taught them to use advanced weapons such as artillery. Although the strength of this army is limited, it marks the official break of the traditional confinement of "no military preparation" in North Korea.
At the same time, North Korea's first new government-run school, Yuying Gongyuan, also came into being with the support of Concubine Min. The school not only offered new courses such as mathematics and physics, but also hired many Westerners as instructors to transfer modern knowledge to North Korea.
In health care, North Korea has also begun to follow the West's lead. In 1885, the first government-run Western medicine hospital, the Pulwon Hospital, was completed, marking the official establishment of a hospital that met international standards. Since then, the theories and therapies of Western medicine have begun to spread in North Korea.
Although the implementation of these reforms was difficult and tortuous, they did help North Korea get rid of the outdated state of "closed off from the rest of the country" and to some extent promote the modernization of the eastern kingdom. However, whether Concubine Min's starting point was to revitalize North Korea or simply to satisfy her personal desires remains to be further explored.
Fourth, the end of the relationship between the clan and the vassal
While implementing Westernization reforms, Concubine Min also realized the necessity of reforming foreign relations. She clearly saw that the suzerain-vassal relationship between North Korea and China had already existed in name only, and that another path to modernization was necessary.
Against this backdrop, in 1876, Concubine Min used her huge influence in the Korean political arena to prompt Korea and Japan to sign the Treaty of Ganghwa. This was the first unequal treaty ever concluded by North Korea, which completely broke the long-standing status of the "hermit state" and dragged it into the international system dominated by Western powers.
The signing of the Treaty of Ganghwa marked Korea's open denial of China's suzerainty. Since then, North Korea has actively opened up to Western countries, signing a series of unequal treaties with the United States, Britain, Germany, Russia and other countries, thus deepening its alienated relations with China.
In the face of this "counterattack" by North Korea, although the Qing Dynasty government of China initially made some opposition, due to the decline of its national strength, it soon chose to let it go. The suzerain-vassal relationship between China and Korea existed in name only until it broke down after the Sino-Japanese War in 1894.
At the same time, Concubine Min also intended to contain China's influence in Korea by co-opting Western powers, so as to consolidate her dominance in Korea. She first appointed Han Chinese as cronies in an attempt to enrich herself; Later, he brought in Westerners to serve in North Korea in a big way, seeking external support.
This is undoubtedly risky. As a result, the covetous eyes of the Western powers towards North Korea were further stimulated, and North Korea gradually became a new battlefield in their game in East Asia. In particular, after the end of the First Sino-Japanese War, Russia and Japan rapidly intensified their penetration in Korea, and Korea's sovereignty was challenged and weakened as never before.
It was Concubine Min who single-handedly led to this tragic result for her personal gain. While seeking a path to modernization for North Korea, she also pushed the country deeply to the forefront and became a new battlefield for the wrestling of foreign powers. This is undoubtedly a major historical regret for Concubine Min.
5. The gains and losses of Concubine Min's power
Concubine Min went through a bumpy journey and finally reached the peak of her power in 1895. That year, she took advantage of the authority of Gaozong and launched the "Renwu Coup" that shocked the government and the opposition, completely swept away dissidents, and made her alone in North Korea.
The coup d'état was triggered by the armed intervention of Japan in North Korea. In 1894, Japan intervened in the internal affairs of Korea by force in order to seek control of Korea. Faced with the menacing Japanese army, Gojong was forced to leave the palace and take refuge in the Russian legation.
Concubine Min saw that she could not miss the opportunity, and took the order of Gaozong to launch a powerful coup d'état. She not only purged all pro-Japanese officials, but also arrested and killed hundreds of intellectuals, severely suppressing pro-Japanese forces. At the same time, Russia, as the "backing" of North Korea, also controlled the process of the coup d'état behind the scenes.
In this way, Concubine Min took advantage of the wrestling between Japan and Russia in Korea to clear all potential threats and bring her power to an unprecedented height. However, the good times did not last long, and the twist of her fate gradually unfolded.
The first is the intensification of the rivalry between Japan and Russia in Korea, with both countries eager to gain control of the country. In 1895, Japan simply promulgated the "Edict on Intervention in Korea" and directly regarded Korea as its protectorate. Seeing this, Russia is also determined to reassert its influence in Korea.
Under the attack of the two great powers of Japan and Russia, Concubine Min, a key figure in charge of the government, soon became a victim of the game between the two countries. In October 1895, at the instigation of the Japanese, a group of pro-Japanese samurai raided the Joseon royal palace and brutally murdered Concubine Min. In this way, this powerful woman who once swept the government and the opposition finally came to the end of her fate.
Concubine Min's death marked the end of the Min clique, which had ruled Korea for 23 years. Although Gojong continued to govern, he completely lost the initiative and became a pawn in the wrestling between Japan and Russia. From then on, Korea embarked on a path of no return and eventually became a colony of Japan. Concubine Min's life, just like the troubled times she lived in, was full of bizarre twists and turns and helpless regrets.