He could've been an amazing king if it weren't for his violent tendencies amongst other things. He started with promise, but because of the uncovering of what happened to his mom, he lost his shit. I feel his reign was the beginning of the downfall of the Joseon Dynasty.
He reminds me of Anakin Skywalker from Attack of the Clones. The moment his mother dies, he loses it just like Yeonsangun did. The moment the truth came out, guy was out for blood. Completely lost it
Do note that Yeonsangun did succeed in one area where most bad kings of the Joseon Dynasty failed: keeping other people in the court under control. But this is only a good thing if the monarch himself actually can handle administration effectively, which Yeonsangun didn’t bother to do after a few years of ruling.
I just discovered your channel. I love this kind of content. I am a history buff, and love all things historical. Especially all things of the Dynasties from China and Korea. I would love to see more videos of stories of the long dead rulers and scholars from the past. But this was very informative and so interesting. I've subbed!!!
Do also note that Queen Insu was rather Machiavellian herself: if you look at how Seongjong (Yeonsangun’s father and predecessor) got the throne, you can see that she and two other noblewomen played a massive role in putting him on the throne, because he wasn’t actually the next in line of succession after the early death of his predecessor (he was third on the line of succession)
The ultimate mommy's boy. I mean, did no one consider the ramifications of what the future king would do if they found out that thet would kill his mother.
Yes, Gong-gil was real. The source I have for that is in the description(8th link from the top). He was briefly mentioned in some historical records from that era called "Annals of the Chosun Dynasty".
@@TheTeaGarden yes yes!! I just read abt it some days ago and that he was even a posible influence to Yeonsangun's decision to ban Hangul. I am doing some research on this king thanks for this info!! n.n
According to annals written during Yeonsangun's reign he found out during his father's Jesa(Memorial day for the deceased ones). Because Jesa is important traditionally, they placed offerings to Yeonsangun's mother as well, but he did not recognize the name and got confused, asked around and learnt the truth. However, most likely he probably knew it way before. He just probably pretended to not know. He was 7 when his mother died and it's highly likely that 7 year old would remember some of his true mother. Also it is highly unlikely he never heard about it until his adulthood. Maybe he repressed his anger till he had power.
@@dirtiestharry6551 That could be true but it's worth noting that he might not have recalled his mother too well as a child because he was younger still when she was sent into exile and royal parents don't see their children every day. So, dad could have remarried, presented the new queen as "mom" and for the longest time, he'd have believed it up until the truth came out
@@michellecrocker2485 His father did remarry, but it does appear that Yeonsangun figured out the truth before he took the throne; one of the first things he tried to do as king was try to get his dead mother’s rank restored (mentioned in the video, but he did it much earlier than it makes out to be) So yeah, he probably waited most of his life to kill a bunch of people he blamed (rightly or wrongly) for his mother’s execution, until he actually went and did it.
Love the video! Great job. At least he had absolute power and killed those who weren't nice to his mother. Better than a weak king! Next King Jungjong was a weak imbecile king. I think his mother had mental issues and he inherited his mother's temperament. I wonder how he would have turned out if his mother was alive during his reign.... Can you do more videos like this? King Taejong is of my fav kings who usurped the throne but was an able powerful king. I love King Jeongjo but he was too nice enabling his evil step grandmother to poison him. He would have lived longer if he executed her after she tried to kill him several times. Without her, Joseon dynasty might have survived.
But yeonsangun himself was literally mentally unstable and i dont see whats so great about wiping out clans, going on purges, evicting 20000 people for his hunting grounds, banning an entire writing system made for the people + constant $$$ feasts and sex frenzies. He only had promise in the beginning. Hes incompetent and self indulgent
Queen Dangyeong, who is briefly shown at 7:54, loved Grand Prince Jinseong(who is the one wearing the orange). The two of them became King and Queen together when Yeonsangun was overthrown. All evidence suggests that they loved each other very much. If you are asking if Queen Dangyeon loved Yeonsangun then the answer would be no. She was more committed to her husband than to the tyrant he replaced.
@@TheTeaGarden oh thanks ı got it ! But ı wanted to ask did Yeonsangun have feelings for queen dangyeong? Because that was one of the big reason he hated the crown prince in the drama.
I didn't come across any accounts that Yeonsangun had any feelings for Dangyeong. From what I know he seems to have been more taken with Consort Jang Nok-su who was very influential in his decisions as king. Yeonsangun for sure did not like Jinseong and it could have to do with jealousy, but it could also be for a variety of other reasons.
Yeonsangun is worser. But world destruction, it would be Kim Jong-un. Yeonsangun made a royal ground his own pleasure grounds. If you know what I mean by “pleasure”
