Prince Yeongpyeong


Prince Yeongpyeong, personal name Yi Gyeong-eung, was a member of the Royal Jeonju Yi clan, as the second son of Grand Internal Prince Jeongye, and the second eldest half-brother of Cheoljong of Joseon. He was the last surviving great-great-grandson of Yeongjo of Joseon.

Biography

The future Prince Yeongpyeong was born on August 20, 1828, as the second son of Yi Gwang, by one of his concubines, Lady Yi. He was born as Yi Won-hui and a commoner.
In 1844, because of Min Jin-yong's plot, he was exiled to Ganghwa Island along with his younger half-brother.
After Cheoljong ascended to the throne in 1849, Yi Won-hui was renamed Yi Uk and received the royal title, Prince Yeongpyeong. Throughout the reign of Cheoljong, Prince Yeongpyeong remained childless despite marrying twice.
King Cheoljong died in 1864 and was succeeded by King Gojong. In that same year, Yi Sun-dal was chosen to be the heir of Prince Yeongpyeong, who was a key member of Jeongye Daewongun's family, but suffered from a chronic disease and had no male heir. In 1868, there was an order requiring all descendants of Deokheung Daewongun, one of the closest relatives to the Royal Family, to rename, based on a unified sequence of generation name used in the said cadet branch; therefore, Prince Yeongpyeong was renamed again to Yi Gyeong-eung.
He also hosted two royal weddings: firstly, for Princess Yeonghye, in 1872, and secondly, for Yi Kang, Prince Uihwa, in 1893.
Yi Jae-sun, Prince Yeongpyeong's adopted son, was childless as well, so he adopted Yi Han-yong as his heir, but the later died young, in 1890.
In 1897, Prince Yeongpyeong chose a distant relative, Yi In-bong to be the heir to his late grandson; the request was approved by Gojong, who declared himself to be the Emperor of the Korean Empire in the same year. Due to the frequent adoptions within the clan, Yi Hae-seung was by birth registered as a descendant of Deokheung Daewongun, but his actual ancestry could be traced back to Grand Prince Wolsan, making him a 13th cousin three times removed to Prince Yeongpyeong.
In 1899, as Crown Prince Sado was elevated to "Emperor Jangjo", Yi Jae-sun received the royal title "Prince Cheongan".
Prince Yeongpyeong died on February 1, 1902, age 73. Prince Cheongan died in 1904, and Yi Hae-seung received the title "Prince Cheongpung" in 1910.

Family

  • Spouses and their respective issue:
  1. Lady Shin of the Pyeongsan Shin clan, daughter of Shin Jae-jun. She was also a grandniece of Shin Gwang-su, Prince Consort Yeongseong. She had no issue.
  2. Lady Kim of the Cheongdo Kim clan, the second daughter of Kim Jae-won. She had a daughter.
  3. *Daughter: Lady Yi of the Jeonju Yi clan
  4. *Son-in-law: Hwang Yeon-su of the Changwon Hwang clan. Through his great-grandmother, a 9th-great-granddaughter of Deokheung Daewongun, he was a third cousin of Gojong and Min Young-hwan.
  5. **Granddaughter: Lady Hwang of the Changwon Hwang clan. She married Shim Seung-taek of the Cheongsong Shim clan, having two sons and three daughters.
  6. **Grandson: Hwang Gyu-seong. He had three sons.
  7. **Granddaughter: Lady Hwang of the Changwon Hwang clan. She married Min Hong-sik of the Yeoheung Min clan, second son of Min Yeong-chan, as his first wife; she had no issue.
  8. **Granddaughter: Lady Hwang of the Changwon Hwang clan. She married Yun Seol of the Namwon Yun clan and had issue.
  9. *Adopted son: Yi Jae-sun, Prince Cheongan. By birth the son of Yi Hwi-eung, who was a descendant of King Seonjo and 9th cousin of Prince Yeongpyeong.
  10. *Adopted daughter-in-law: Lady Hong of the Pungsan Hong clan, the third daughter of Hong Gyeong-mo, a 4th-great-grandson of Princess Jeongmyeong. She was also a grandaunt of Empress Sunjeong.
  11. **Adopted grandson: Yi Han-yong. By birth a descendant of Crown Prince Sohyeon and died young; posthumously honoured as "Prince Pungseon" in 1907.
  12. **Adopted granddaughter-in-law: Lady Hong of the Namyang Hong clan, daughter of Hong Sun-guan.
  13. ***Adopted great-grandson: Yi Hae-seung, Prince Cheongpung. By birth a descendant of Grand Prince Wolsan. During the Japanese rule he accepted the title of "Marquis"; he was later captured by Korean People's Army during the Korean War in 1950 and was presumed dead as of 1959.

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