page_title: Crown Prince Sado
section_title: Life
hierarchical_section_title: Crown Prince Sado / Biography / Life
caption_attribution_description: Letter of Crown Prince Sado of Joseon
context_page_description: Crown Prince Sado was born Prince Jangheon, the second son of the Korean king Yeongjo. Due to the prior death of his older half-brother Crown Prince Hyojang, the new prince was the probable royal heir. However Prince Sado was not given an opportunity to reign. At the age of 27 he was executed by order of his father and died of starvation by being confined in a rice chest. His father gave him the posthumous title Sado, meaning "Thinking of with great sorrow."
context_section_description: Lady Hyegyeong, Sado's wife, wrote a memoir in 1805 detailing their life together. She records that the prince suffered a severe illness during 1745, during which he often lost consciousness. Although he recovered, the tense relationship between Sado and King Yeongjo led to him experiencing severe anxiety whenever in his father's presence. When Sado came of age at 15, his father appointed him regent, giving him the power to make decisions on administrative matters. Lady Hyegyeong describes King Yeongjo as perpetually dissatisfied with whichever course of action Sado chose. Yeongjo also did not permit Sado to visit the ancestral tombs until as late as 1756, nor was he allowed to attend auspicious court events. Yeongjo also always made sure to chastise his son in front of a large crowd, either of ladies-in-waiting or eunuchs. As a result, Sado formed a strong bond with his sister Princess Hwahyeop, who was similarly disfavoured by their father. When she died in 1752, Sado was reported to have grieved intensely.
  In 1752, Sado read a Taoist text called Okchugyeong (Korean: 옥추경; Hanja: 玉樞經). Whilst reading, he hallucinated that he saw the Thunder God. Henceforth, Sado was terrified of thunder and refused to touch any object engraved with the characters of the book.
  Sado took a secondary consort, Yeongbin (Royal Noble Consort Suk), with whom he had a son in 1754. Terrified of his father's anger, Sado forced her to take abortive medicines, but still, the child was born safely. Arrangements for Yeongbin's delivery and housing were made by Lady Hyegyeong. Sado had another son with Yeongbin in 1755, from whom the first emperor of Korea was descended.
caption: Letter written by Crown Prince Sado to his father-in-law Hong Bong-han.
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