page_title: History of the Joseon dynasty
section_title: Consolidation of power
hierarchical_section_title: History of the Joseon dynasty / Consolidation of power
caption_attribution_description: King's throne room(Keun Jeong Jeon) in Gyeongbokgung
context_page_description: The history of Joseon is largely divided into two parts: the early period and the late period; some divide it into three parts, including a middle period. The standard for dividing the early period and the late period is the Imjinwaeran period. The standard for dividing the early period and the middle period is the Jungjong coup and the standard for dividing the middle period and the late period is the Imjinwaeran period or the Qing invasion of Joseon.
context_section_description: With his father unwilling to pass over the royal seal he needed for recognition, Taejong began to initiate policies he believed would prove his intelligence and right to rule. One of his first acts as king was to abolish the privilege enjoyed by the upper echelons of the government and aristocracy to maintain private armies. This effectively severed their ability to muster large-scale revolts, and drastically increased the number of men employed in the national military.
  Taejong's next act as king was to revise the law concerning the taxation of land ownership and the documentation of state subjects. Although many aristocrats who benefited from King Taejo's property redistribution laws, from the Gwonmun aristocrats to the members of the Sinjin faction, had managed to avoid taxation by deliberately hiding land they acquired, King Taejong's re-investigation of land ownership in 1405 put an end to such practices. With the discovery of previously hidden land, national income increased twofold. In addition, King Taejong initiated the first population survey in 1413 and ordered the documentation of family names and clans, places of birth and death, and dates of birth and death for all Korean men. All males over the age of 16, whichever class in society they occupied, were also required by law to carry wooden tablets on which their name, birth date, and other information was engraved. Many historians regard this legislation as the predecessor of the Korean resident identification and social security system. It was also effective in preventing men from evading their mandatory military service.
  In 1399 (the second year of King Jeongjong), Taejong had played an influential role in scrapping the Dopyeong Assembly—a council of the old government that held a monopoly on court power during the waning years of the Goryeo Dynasty—in favor of the State Council of Joseon, a new branch of central administration that revolved around the king and his edicts. After passing the subject documentation and taxation laws, King Taejong issued a decree that decisions passed by the Euijeong Department could only come into effect with the approval of the king. This ended the custom in which court ministers and advisers made decisions by debating and negotiating among themselves, with the king as an onlooker, and thus brought royal power to new heights. Shortly afterward, Taejong also created a branch of the government, known as the Sinmun Office, to hear cases in which subjects felt they had been exploited or treated unfairly by government officials or aristocrats.
  In 1418, Taejong abdicated. Two months later, in August, Sejong ascended to the throne. However, Taejong retained certain powers at court, particularly regarding military matters, until he died in 1422. King Sejong was an effective military planner. In May 1419, under the advice and guidance of his father, he embarked on the Gihae Eastern Expedition against Japanese pirates who had been operating out of Tsushima. (Before the Gihae expedition, Korea had cleared out pirates in 1389 and 1396.)
  In September 1419, the daimyō of Tsushima, Sadamori, capitulated to the Joseon court. In 1443, The Treaty of Gyehae was signed, in which the Daimyo was granted the right to conduct trade with Korea on 50 ships per year, in exchange for sending tribute to Korea and helping stop any Japanese coastal pirate raid on Korean ports.
  On the northern border, Sejong established four forts and six posts (Hangul: 사군육진; Hanja: 四郡六鎭) to safeguard his people from the hostile Chinese and Jurchens (who later became the Manchus) living in Manchuria. In 1433, he sent Kim Jong-seo (Korean: 김종서; Hanja: 金宗瑞), a prominent general, north to destroy the Jurchens. Kim's military campaign captured several castles, pushed north, and restored Korean territory, roughly the present-day border between North Korea and China.
  During the rule of Sejong, Korea saw technological advances in natural science, agriculture, literature, and traditional medicine. Because of his success, Sejong received the title "King Sejong the Great of Joseon".
caption: Geunjeongjeon (Throne Hall)
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