Ch'oe Ch'unghŏn


Ch'oe Ch'unghŏn was a military ruler of Korea during the Goryeo period. After overthrowing the previous military ruler, Yi Ŭimin, Ch'oe consolidated his power through purges and presented reform measures known as 'Bongsa Sipjo'. To maintain control, he created a dual administration, with private government institutions and private military forces answering directly to him, while maintaining the government structures of the old dynastic regime and limiting its authority. His power was so immense that he replaced four kings and established a power base that maintained the Ch'oe family's military regime for over 60 years.

Early life

Ch'oe Ch'unghŏn was born in 1149, the son of Supreme General Ch'oe Wŏnho and his wife, Lady Yu. He is thought to have been born in Gaeseong or Gyeongju. He was descended from the famous Confucian scholar Ch'oe Ch'iwŏn, who lived in the North South States Period and was the ancestor of the Gyeongju Ch'oe clan, but because Ch'oe Wŏnho was given the ancestral seat of Ubong, his family split from the Gyeongju Ch'oe clan and became the Ubong Ch'oe clan. He married Lady Song, the daughter of general Song Ch'ŏng, and had two sons by her, Ch'oe U and Ch'oe Hyang.

Military career

Ch'oe entered the military, like his father, and was a colonel until he reached age 35 when he became a general. He joined the Council of Generals at age 40. Ch'oe served under the military dictators during the reign of King Myeongjong. During the rule of military dictator Yi Ŭimin, Ch'oe and his brother Ch'oe Ch'ungsu became dissatisfied with his reign. Initially, he became the yangonryŏng via protected appointment due to his father's status in the military. It was the first official position that Ch'oe Ch'unghŏn which was an 8th rank position in the Agency for Royal Liquors, responsible for producing and supplying alcohol to the royal family and government offices. For a while, he moved between lower positions, but after the military coup occurred, he felt ashamed to remain in a clerical position despite his determination to achieve merit and make a name for himself, so he reportedly changed to a military position.
In 1174, he rose to prominence in the central political arena during Cho Wich'ong's rebellion. General Ki T'aksŏng selected Ch'oe and he made significant contributions at the forefront, leading to his promotion to the position of a commandant of the special patrol troops and later to sŏp-changgun upon his return. He subsequently held various positions in both central and local government.
During Yi Ŭimin's reign, he became the royal inspector of Gyeongsang Jinju Province but was impeached for going against the wishes of the powerful officials, which reportedly blocked his path for several years thereafter. It seems that the relationship with the governor Yi Ŭimin, who was likely from Gyeongju and had deep ties to the region, was not good. Ch'oe Ch'unghŏn, who was full of ambition, had not been able to seize the opportunity to realize his aspirations until he was in his late 40s.

Coup d'état

In April 1196, when Ch'oe Ch'unghŏn turned 48, an opportunity finally came to him. The incident began in an unexpected place. His younger brother, Ch'oe Ch'ungsu, had his pet pigeon taken by Yi Chiyŏng, the son of Yi Ŭimin. Ch'oe Ch'ungsu, who had a fierce temperament, immediately went to Yi Chiyŏng's house and demanded the pigeon's return, but he was met with insults and returned humiliated and tied up instead. Ch'oe Ch'ungsu then went straight to his brother and expressed his intention to eliminate Yi Ŭimin and his three sons. At that time, it had been over ten years since Yi Ŭimin came to power, and his and his sons' tyranny was becoming more severe daily, causing them to lose the people's support. In particular, his two sons, Yi Chiyŏng and Yi Chigwang, were even worse, to the point that people referred to them as the "Double Knives" and hated them. After some hesitation, Ch'oe Ch'unghŏn ultimately agreed.
On April 9, 1196, the king was scheduled to visit the temple of Bojeisa near Gaegyeong. However, Yi Ŭimin did not follow the royal procession and went to his Mount Mita in Hapcheon, Gyeongnam. Having obtained this information in advance, Ch'oe Ch'unghŏn and his brothers, along with his nephew Pak Chinjae and his relative No Sŏsung, went there and beheaded Yi Ŭimin. Ch'oe Ch'unghŏn and his group immediately returned to Gaegyeong to convince General Paek Chonyu, a military officer in the capital, to support his cause. He then massacred or exiled numerous civil and military officials identified as Yi Ŭimin's followers and seized power.
To justify these actions, he reported to the king:
With the King's approval, Ch'oe led the government forces and defeated the armies of the Yi loyalists. They also killed or exiled dozens of highranking military officials who were considered potential threats, including Kwŏn Chŏlp'yŏng, Kwŏn Chun, Son Sŏk, Son Hongyun, Kil In, Yi Kyŏngyu, Kwŏn Yun, Yu Sambaek, Ch'oe Hyŏkyun, Chu Kwangmi, Kim Yusin, Kwŏn Yon, and many others.
As a military officer who had not participated in the previous army coup, Ch'oe Ch'unghŏn faced potential backlash from other military officials. To legitimize his rule, he and his brother Ch'oe Ch'ungsu submitted a reform proposal called the Bongsasipjo, which included the following points:
  1. The king should return to the main palace.
  2. Reduce the number of unnecessary officials.
  3. Correct land ownership issues.
  4. Levy taxes fairly.
  5. Prohibit tribute to the royal family.
  6. Regulate monks and prohibit usury by the royal family.
  7. Appoint honest local officials.
  8. Prohibit the extravagance of officials and promote frugality.
  9. Abolish temples except for essential ones.
  10. Criticize flattery among officials and promote capable individuals.
The beginning of this reform proposal justified the assassination of Yi Ŭimin. Ch'oe Ch'unghŏn and his brother argued that they killed Yi Ŭimin for his crimes against the state and threats to the people. They consolidated power by eliminating the ruling military faction following the military coup.
Ch'oe Ch'unghŏn, who seized power, held positions such as the Left Minister of State, responsible for conveying the king's orders, and the Chief Inspector of Officials, responsible for overseeing the conduct of officials. It was not until the following year that he was appointed a worthy subject. Unlike other military rulers who immediately ascended to the highest offices and ranks upon seizing power, he maintained a cautious attitude.

Rise to power

In 1197, Ch'oe Ch'unghŏn was granted the title of Chungseongjari Gongsin, and his father was given the title Bonguichandeok Gongsin Su Taewi Munhasirang. Although the position he held was not high, the power was solely in the hands of Ch'oe Ch'unghŏn. The first scapegoat was King Myeongjong. It seems that Myeongjong did not actively support Ch'oe Ch'unghŏn when he staged a coup. This can be inferred from the fact that the Suchang Palace, where the king resided, became a stronghold for the anti-coup forces. As a result, Ch'oe Ch'unghŏn decided to depose Myeongjong in 1197, the year following the coup. There was no particular justification for this. According to Ch'oe Ch'ungsu, who discussed this matter, the following can be said.
In September of that year, citing the king's failure to implement the Bongsasipjo and waste of state treasury, he confined the king to Changrak Palace. The only justification was that the king was old and weary of his duties, yet without causing much controversy, they replaced a king who had reigned for nearly 30 years, which shows the power of Ch'oe Ch'unghŏn. At this time, Ch'oe Ch'unghŏn mobilized troops, dividing them into five groups and deploying them throughout the city of Gaegyeong. He exiled key officials of the court, such as Tu Kyŏngsŭng and Yu Tŭgŭi, and deposed King Myungjong. He sent his subordinates into the palace to pressure the king, forcing him to come out alone and confining him in Changrak Palace. It is said that he also sent the crown prince and crown princess away on horseback to Ganghwa Island, braving the rain. Myeongjong died in 1202, five years later.
Initially, Ch'oe Ch'ungsu argued for appointing Wang Chin, the 6th descendant of Hyeonjong and the Minister of State, as the next king because he favored Wang Chin's female servant. However, Ch'oe Ch'unghŏn wanted to make Wang Min, the son of Injong and the younger brother of Myeongjong, the king. The justification was to follow the precedent set by Uijong and Myeongjong, which involved passing the throne from brother to brother. Thus, Wang Min ascended to the throne, becoming Sinjong, the 20th king of Goryeo. He was 54 years old at the time of his accession. The king was nothing more than a puppet. He couldn't even freely choose the water he drank. There was a popular belief among the people that if the king drank from the water of the Dalaejeong, the eunuchs would seize power, so Ch'oe Ch'unghŏn went so far as to destroy that well and have the king drink from the well of Gwangmyeongsa.
Under King Sinjong, Ch'oe Ch'unghŏn was appointed Jeongguk Gongsin Samhan Daegwang Daejung Daebu Sangjanggun Juguk, and his father received the title Yeongryeol U Seong Gongsin Samjung Daegwang Munhasijung. This established the Ch'oe family's military rule.

Dictator

Ch'oe Ch'unghŏn purged 50 close associates of the king, rose to various high-ranking positions, and in 1200, established a personal guard unit based on Kyŏng Taesŭng's bodyguards, the Tobang, consisting of influential men from both civil and military ranks. Ch'oe Ch'unghŏn started to reorganize the government, but Ch'ungsu unseated the Crown Princess and tried to marry his daughter to the Crown Prince. Ch'oe Ch'unghŏn immediately intervened, and a bloody struggle between the Ch'oe brothers ensued. In the end, Ch'ungsu lost and was beheaded by Ch'oe Ch'unghŏn's troops. Ch'oe Ch'unghŏn was said to have wept when he saw his brother's head and gave him a proper burial.
In 1201, he became commissioner of the Security Council, the minister of personnel and war and chief censor. In 1202, he took over civil and military personnel administration from his residence. Ch'oe established a government where he could work with ministers and military officials to stabilize his regime. He also appointed several relatives to high government positions to slowly expand his power. By 1203, he was appointed to the offices of vice-director of the Secretariat, minister of personnel, and junior preceptor of the crown prince.
In 1204, King Sinjong fell ill 1204 after seven years of rule and secretly begged Ch'oe to preserve and not overthrow the kingdom. Ch'oe respected this last request from the king and the next day, Ch'oe Ch'unghŏn secretly discussed and handled this issue with Ch'oe Sŏn and Ki Hongsu at his residence. The succession of the throne was also decided by Ch'oe Ch'unghŏn. Thus, Huijong ascended to the throne. At the end of the Sinjong section in the "History of Goryeo," the envoy commented on his reign as follows.
Ch'oe gave the throne to Sinjong's son, who became King Huijong. Sinjong died of disease immediately after that he deposed King Sinjong and installed King Huijong, becoming Byeoksang Samhan Samjung Daegwang Gaebu I Dong Samsa Su Taesa Munhasirang Dong Jungseo Munha Pyeongjangsa Sangjanggun Sangjuguk Panbyeongbu Eosadaesa Taesasa. The king treated him with particular respect, calling him Eunmun Sangguk.
In 1205, Ch'oe Ch'unghŏn was granted 100 plots of land, the title Teukjin Humoe Il Deok Ansa Jese Gongsin, and the office of Chancellor. He was given the title Jinganggun Gaegukhui with 3,000 households and 300 practical plots. The following year, he became Jinganghu and established Heungnyeongbu. Huijong was determined to retrieve all the former powers that military dictators and usurpers had taken from the kings, including by removing Ch'oe. Ch'oe had been given the State and Royal Protector rank, with power equivalent to the kings.
In 1207, he was given the title Jinganggong. Simultaneously, Ch'oe appointed Yi Kyubo to revive the declining literary fortune.

Rebellions

In 1207, Pak Chinjae rebelled against his uncle, but Ch'oe crushed him, exiled Pak Chinjae to Baekryeongjin, and banished many of Pak's followers for rebelling against him.
There was resistance centered around Gyeongju, which was significant as it was a Silla restoration movement that outright denied the legitimacy of the dynasty. This movement shocked the ruling military factions and the general ruling class and posed a substantial obstacle to Ch'oe Ch'unghŏn's regime. Therefore, following a harsh suppression of the Gyeongju area, they established an even stronger control structure than the previous military regimes. As a result, local resistance gradually diminished during King Huijong's reign.
This was followed by a slave rebellion, led by one of Ch'oe's slaves, Manjeok. The enslaved people killed their masters and gathered on a mountain, around 100 strong. This rebel army was quickly terminated, and the bodies of the dead were thrown into a river, unburied. More rebellions occurred, including by Buddhist priests. Ch'oe was not able to completely silence the Buddhists, but he did capture the individual Buddhists who were behind a plot to assassinate him.

Assassination Attempts and Consolidation

In 1209, an assassination attempt by three clerks at Cheonggyo Station was uncovered. Ch'oe Ch'unghŏn established the Directorate-General for Policy Formulation at Yeongeungwan to investigate and eliminate the conspirators. This office later became the highest authority under the Ch'oe regime gathering information and expanded its role to encompass all national affairs such as controlling personnel, inspections, and taxation, with Ch'oe Ch'unghŏn as its head with the office of special commissioner for policy formulation. Especially after the capital moved to Ganghwa Island during the Mongol invasions during the tenure of Ch'oe's son, the Directorate-General became central to national administration, including tax collection.
In 1211, he narrowly escaped death due to a plot by palace official Wang Chunmyŏng, thanks to his guards. He deposed King Huijong and exiled him to Ganghwa Island, installing King Gangjong.
In 1212, he renamed Heungnyeongbu to Jingangbu and was honored as Mungyeong Muwi Hyangri Jo an Gongsin. In 1213, Gangjong died and Ch'oe installed Gojong. In 1214, Ch'oe Ch'unghŏn's wife, Lady Im, became Suseongtaekju, and Lady Wang became Jeonghwataekju.
To firmly maintain his regime, Ch'oe Ch'unghŏn reorganized the ruling apparatus, expanding private ruling bodies such as the Directorate-General for Policy Formulation, Tobang, and private soldiers. These organizations prioritized the prosperity of Ch'oe Ch'unghŏn's regime over maintaining state power. As Ch'oe Ch'unghŏn undermined the existing bureaucratic system to establish a framework for his one-person dictatorship, he required substantial human and material resources. After 1216, the economic impoverishment that had accumulated until then led to a resurgence of local resistance, triggered by the invasion of the Khitan remnants.

Khitan Invasion

During this time, various northern tribes, including the Khitans, were being driven from their homelands by the invading Mongols. Many escaped to Goryeo, and violence flared along the northern border. Ch'oe's sons, U and Hyang, led separate campaigns in response. Hyang defeated the minor tribal armies to the east, and U defeated those in the west with the help of General Kim Ch'wiryŏ. Small contingents of the Mongols aided these victories.
In 1218, at 70, he was granted a staff. In 1219, King Gojong gave him the surname Wang.

Succession

Ch'oe witnessed the downfall of Chŏng Chungbu's regime, partially caused by the lack of a strong legitimate heir. Ch'oe's first son, Ch'oe U, was an influential strategist, soldier, and leader. The second son, Ch'oe Hyang, was an exceptional soldier but not a good negotiator or statesman.
Knowing a succession fight would ensue, Ch'oe forbade U to enter the house. Hyang attempted to kill his brother to cement his position as a successor. U and Hyang fought a sword battle, which U won. U did not kill his brother as his father had done to Ch'ungsu. Instead, he left his younger brother's fate in his father's hands.
Ch'oe Ch'unghŏn was pleased by U's decision and sent his younger son into exile. Ch'oe announced that he would be succeeded by his son, U, and that he would retire. He was around 65 when he made this announcement, and U was probably in his mid-thirties.

Death and Legacy

Ch'oe lived peacefully for the remaining seven years of his life and even got to see his grandson Hang, son of U. Ch'oe, who survived several attempts on his life. He suffered a stroke and lived for one more year before he died at the age of 71 on 29 October 1219. It is recorded that his funeral was like that of a king's.
What was different from former military leaders was the active involvement of scholars in Ch'oe's control, notably Prime Minister Yi Kyubo, who was a Confucian scholar-official. After Sinjong died, Ch'oe forced his son to the throne as Huijong. After seven years, Huijong led a revolt but failed. Then, Ch'oe found the pliable King Gojong instead. Although the House of Ch'oe established strong private individuals loyal to it, continuous invasion by the Mongols ravaged the whole land, resulting in a weakened defense ability, and the power of the military regime waned.
Ch'oe Ch'unghŏn seized power by eliminating Yi Ŭimin and his faction due to the political instability during King Myeongjong's reign and the resistance from local societies, which created a conducive social atmosphere. To renew this social atmosphere, Ch'oe Ch'unghŏn presented the "Ten Reform Proposals". Internally, he aimed to stabilize the regime by dispelling the frequent political upheavals and the alliances and divisions among military factions under King Myeongjong. Externally, his goal was to quell the unrest in local societies. However, Ch'oe Ch'unghŏn's regime was essentially a continuation of the previous military regimes, showcasing the characteristics of a new oppressor.
Ch'oe Ch'unghŏn was the first of the Ch'oe dictators, and he set up the system of rule that the later Ch'oe dictators would use after Ch'oe Ch'unghŏn was his first son Ch'oe U, who led the armies of Goryeo to fight the Mongol armies. After Ch'oe U came to his first son Ch'oe Hang, who forced the king to reject all offers of surrender that the Mongols offered. When Ch'oe Hang died, his only son Ch'oe Ŭi came to power.
The primary support for the Ch'oe family's power was their military strength. They commanded a large private army that far surpassed the official government forces. This army, known as the Tobang, was said to stretch for two to three ri when assembled. The Dobang was originally a guard unit created by Kyŏng Taesŭng. He gathered hundreds of elite soldiers, housed and trained them at his residence, and always kept them by his side, even sharing the same blankets to show his sincerity. After Kyŏng Taesŭng's death, his Dobang forces were thoroughly eradicated. However, the Ch'oe family revived the concept of maintaining a private army at their residence, also called Gobang, which always protected the ruling family.
The Ch'oe regime lasted 60 years, during which Goryeo could resist the Mongol invasions. After the fall of the Ch'oe military regime, the Sambyeolcho, which was the private army of the Ch'oe family, separated from the Goryeo government and attempted to start its nation, but this rebellion was defeated by a Mongol-Goryeo army.
Approximately 845 Koreans today are members of the Ubong Ch'oe clan.

Family

  • Father: Ch'oe Wŏnho
  • Mother: Lady Yu
  • *Brother: Ch'oe Ch'ungsu
  • *Sister: Lady Ch'oe
  • **Nephew: Pak Chinjae
  • Wives and their issue:
  • *Lady Song ; daughter of Song Ch'ŏng
  • **Ch'oe U, first son
  • **Ch'oe Hyang, second son
  • **Lady Ch'oe, first daughter
  • *Princess Jeonghwa of the Kaesong Wang clan, daughter of King Gangjong of Goryeo.
  • **Ch'oe Ku, third son
  • **Mr. Ch'oe, fourth son
  • *Princess Suseong of the Jangheung Im clan ; daughter of Im Pu.
  • **Ch'oe Sŏng, fifth son
  • *Cha Unsŏn

Title

  • Early title: 別抄都令 -> 攝將軍
  • 1196: The title of 左承宣 御史臺知事 was added.
  • 1197: The title of 靖國功臣 三韓大匡大中大夫 上將軍柱國 was added.
  • 1204: The title of 壁上三韓三重大匡 開府儀同三司守太師 門下侍郞同中書門下平章事 上將軍上柱國 兵部御史臺判事 太子太師 was added. Just a few days later 晋康郡候 門下侍中 was additionally added.
  • 1212: The title of 晋康府候 文經武緯嚮理措安功臣 was added.

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