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109-507: Empress Myeongseong ( Korean :  명성황후 ; Hanja :  明成皇后 ; 17 November 1851 – 8 October 1895) was the official wife of Gojong , the 26th king of Joseon and the first emperor of the Korean Empire . During her lifetime, she was known by the name Queen Min ( 민비 ; 閔妃 ). After the founding of the Korean Empire, she was posthumously given the title of Myeongseong,

218-625: A foreign language ) is also generated by longstanding alliances, military involvement, and diplomacy, such as between South Korea–United States and China–North Korea since the end of World War II and the Korean War . Along with other languages such as Chinese and Arabic , Korean is ranked at the top difficulty level for English speakers by the United States Department of Defense . Modern Korean descends from Middle Korean , which in turn descends from Old Korean , which descends from

327-537: A Chinese commander, General Yuan Shih-kai , take control of the new military units and that a German adviser, Paul Georg von Möllendorff , head the Maritime Customs Service. The Chinese desired further trade treaties so as to deflect a Japanese monopoly. Treaties were later signed with the United States (1882) and France (1886). In July 1883 the queen consort sent a special mission to the United States. It

436-484: A Korean influence on Khitan. The hypothesis that Korean could be related to Japanese has had some supporters due to some overlap in vocabulary and similar grammatical features that have been elaborated upon by such researchers as Samuel E. Martin and Roy Andrew Miller . Sergei Starostin (1991) found about 25% of potential cognates in the Japanese–Korean 100-word Swadesh list . Some linguists concerned with

545-431: A complete cessation of ties with Qing China. With the queen consort possibly unaware of their anti-Chinese sentiments, they were granted frequent royal audiences and meetings to discuss progressivism and nationalism. They advocated for educational and social reforms, including the equality of the sexes by granting women full rights. The queen consort was convinced at first, but she did not support their anti-Chinese stance. In

654-477: A core vowel. The IPA symbol ⟨ ◌͈ ⟩ ( U+0348 ◌͈ COMBINING DOUBLE VERTICAL LINE BELOW ) is used to denote the tensed consonants /p͈/, /t͈/, /k͈/, /t͡ɕ͈/, /s͈/ . Its official use in the extensions to the IPA is for "strong" articulation, but is used in the literature for faucalized voice . The Korean consonants also have elements of stiff voice , but it is not yet known how typical this

763-417: A father or brother. He did not suspect Lady Min herself as politically ambitious, and he was satisfied with the interview. It was only later he observed that she "...was a woman of great determination and poise“ but that he nevertheless allowed her to marry his son. In doing so, he raised to the throne a woman who by 1895 had proven herself to be "his chief foil and implacable enemy." Lady Min, aged 16, married

872-599: A firmer stand against Japanese influence after Daewongun's failed rebellions that were intended to remove her from the political arena. Miura Gorō , Japanese Minister to Korea, backed the faction headed by Daewongun and directly ordered the assassination. On 8 October 1895, the Hullyeondae Regiment loyal to the Daewongun attacked the Gyeongbokgung Palace and overpowered its Royal Guards. The intruders then allowed

981-428: A group of ronin , specifically recruited for this purpose, to assassinate the queen consort. Her assassination sparked international outrage. The Japanese-backed cabinet in the winter of 1895–1896 ordered Korean men to cut off their top-knot of hair. This caused uproar, because this style of hair was considered a badge of Korean identity. This topknot edict and the assassination provoked nationwide protests. Gojong and

1090-516: A healthy body, and an ordinary level of education. This possible bride underwent a strict selection process, culminating in a meeting with the Daewongun on 6 March, and a marriage ceremony on 20 March 1866. The Daewongun, likely fearing that the Andong Kim clan and the Pyungyang Jo clan, who were political rivalries for the future, may have been influenced favourably towards Lady Min due to her lack of

1199-541: A later founder effect diminished the internal variety of both language families. Since the establishment of two independent governments, North–South differences have developed in standard Korean, including variations in pronunciation and vocabulary chosen. However, these minor differences can be found in any of the Korean dialects , which are still largely mutually intelligible . The Chinese language , written with Chinese characters and read with Sino-Xenic pronunciations ,

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1308-585: A legitimate reign to take place and aristocratic recognition to be received — effectively giving her absolute power to select the successor to the throne. By the time Cheoljong's death had become a known fact, the Andong Kim clan was powerless according to Royal law as the seal lay in the hands of the Grand Royal Dowager Queen Sinjeong. When the Grand Queen Dowager stepped down from regency, Grand Internal Prince Heungseon had driven out

1417-437: A means of preserving independence. She, by contrast, was a believer in gradual modernisation using Western and Chinese help. From 1873 to her assassination in 1895 she oversaw economic, military and governmental modernisation. In the 1880s and 1890s the relationship between Joseon and neighbouring Japan deteriorated. The queen consort was considered an obstacle by the government of Meiji Japan to its overseas expansion. She took

1526-513: A number of legation guards. Following the opening of all Korean ports to the Japanese and Western merchants in 1888, contact and involvement with outsiders increased foreign trade rapidly. In 1883, the Maritime Customs Service was established under the patronage of the queen consort and the supervision of Sir Robert Hart, 1st Baronet of the United Kingdom. The Maritime Customs Service administered

1635-557: A plot was uncovered to overthrow the queen consort's faction, depose the King, and place Heungseon Daewongun's illegitimate (third) son, Yi Jae-seon (known posthumously as Prince Imperial Waneun ) on the throne. The plot was frustrated by informants to and spies of the queen consort. Heungseon Daewongun (whose involvement was not proved) was unharmed. However, the attempted coup resulted in Yi Jae-seon's death in late October 1881. In October 1881,

1744-562: A possible relationship.) Hudson & Robbeets (2020) suggested that there are traces of a pre- Nivkh substratum in Korean. According to the hypothesis, ancestral varieties of Nivkh (also known as Amuric ) were once distributed on the Korean Peninsula before the arrival of Koreanic speakers. Korean syllable structure is (C)(G)V(C), consisting of an optional onset consonant, glide /j, w, ɰ/ and final coda /p, t, k, m, n, ŋ, l/ surrounding

1853-451: A protection against Russia. He considered it wise to open trade relations with Western nations and to adopt Western technology, arguing that their interest in Korea was trade rather than occupation. The modernisation of Japan through Western contact was pointed to as a promising precedent for study. Kim returned from Japan in late 1880. By early 1881 the paper had made a considerable impression on

1962-569: A royal request that the Americans send an adviser to Korea to the office of foreign affairs, and instructors for the army. An order for arms was placed with a US firm based in Yokohama. A complement of three military instructors arrived in April 1888. The Progressives were founded during the late 1870s by a group of yangban who supported westernisation of Joseon. They wanted immediate westernisation, including

2071-621: Is also spoken by Sakhalin Koreans in parts of Sakhalin , the Russian island just north of Japan, and by the Koryo-saram in parts of Central Asia . The language has a few extinct relatives which—along with the Jeju language (Jejuan) of Jeju Island and Korean itself—form the compact Koreanic language family . Even so, Jejuan and Korean are not mutually intelligible . The linguistic homeland of Korean

2180-656: Is an agglutinative language . The Korean language is traditionally considered to have nine parts of speech . Modifiers generally precede the modified words, and in the case of verb modifiers, can be serially appended. The sentence structure or basic form of a Korean sentence is subject–object–verb (SOV), but the verb is the only required and immovable element and word order is highly flexible, as in many other agglutinative languages. Question 가게에 gage-e store- LOC 가셨어요? ga-syeo-sseo-yo go- HON . PAST - CONJ - POL 가게에 가셨어요? gage-e ga-syeo-sseo-yo store-LOC go-HON.PAST-CONJ-POL 'Did [you] go to

2289-511: Is closer to a near-open central vowel ( [ɐ] ), though ⟨a⟩ is still used for tradition. Grammatical morphemes may change shape depending on the preceding sounds. Examples include -eun/-neun ( -은/-는 ) and -i/-ga ( -이/-가 ). Sometimes sounds may be inserted instead. Examples include -eul/-reul ( -을/-를 ), -euro/-ro ( -으로/-로 ), -eseo/-seo ( -에서/-서 ), -ideunji/-deunji ( -이든지/-든지 ) and -iya/-ya ( -이야/-야 ). Some verbs may also change shape morphophonemically. Korean

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2398-399: Is mainly reserved for specific circumstances such as newspapers, scholarly papers and disambiguation. Today Hanja is largely unused in everyday life but is still important for historical and linguistic studies. The Korean names for the language are based on the names for Korea used in both South Korea and North Korea. The English word "Korean" is derived from Goryeo , which is thought to be

2507-399: Is of faucalized consonants. They are produced with a partially constricted glottis and additional subglottal pressure in addition to tense vocal tract walls, laryngeal lowering, or other expansion of the larynx. /s/ is aspirated [sʰ] and becomes an alveolo-palatal [ɕʰ] before [j] or [i] for most speakers (but see North–South differences in the Korean language ). This occurs with

2616-532: Is suggested to be somewhere in contemporary Manchuria . The hierarchy of the society from which the language originates deeply influences the language, leading to a system of speech levels and honorifics indicative of the formality of any given situation. Modern Korean is written in the Korean script ( 한글 ; Hangeul in South Korea, 조선글 ; Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea), a system developed during

2725-716: Is well attested in Western Old Japanese and Northern Ryukyuan languages , in Eastern Old Japanese it only occurs in compounds, and it is only present in three dialects of the Southern Ryukyuan language group . Also, the doublet wo meaning "hemp" is attested in Western Old Japanese and Southern Ryukyuan languages. It is thus plausible to assume a borrowed term. (See Classification of the Japonic languages or Comparison of Japanese and Korean for further details on

2834-523: The yangban aristocracy, who looked down upon it too easy to learn. However, it gained widespread use among the common class and was widely used to print popular novels which were enjoyed by the common class. Since few people could understand official documents written in classical Chinese, Korean kings sometimes released public notices entirely written in Hangul as early as the 16th century for all Korean classes, including uneducated peasants and slaves. By

2943-570: The Proto-Koreanic language , which is generally suggested to have its linguistic homeland somewhere in Manchuria . Whitman (2012) suggests that the proto-Koreans, already present in northern Korea, expanded into the southern part of the Korean Peninsula at around 300 BC and coexisted with the descendants of the Japonic Mumun cultivators (or assimilated them). Both had influence on each other and

3052-557: The Three Kingdoms of Korea (not the ancient confederacies in the southern Korean Peninsula), while " -eo " and " -mal " mean "language" and "speech", respectively. Korean is also simply referred to as guk-eo , literally "national language". This name is based on the same Han characters ( 國語 "nation" + "language") that are also used in Taiwan and Japan to refer to their respective national languages. In North Korea and China ,

3161-483: The 15-year-old king and was invested in a ceremony ( 책비 , chaekbi ) as the Queen Consort of Joseon. Two places assert claims as the location of the marriage and accession. These are Injeongjeon Hall ( 인정전 ) at Changdeokgung and Norakdang Hall ( 노락당 ) at Unhyeongung . The headdress typically worn by brides at royal weddings was so heavy for the bride that a tall court lady was specially assigned to support it from

3270-473: The 15th century for that purpose, although it did not become the primary script until the 20th century. The script uses 24 basic letters ( jamo ) and 27 complex letters formed from the basic ones. When first recorded in historical texts, Korean was only a spoken language . Since the turn of the 21st century, aspects of Korean culture have spread to other countries through globalization and cultural exports . As such, interest in Korean language acquisition (as

3379-814: The 17th century, the yangban had exchanged Hangul letters with slaves, which suggests a high literacy rate of Hangul during the Joseon era. In the context of growing Korean nationalism in the 19th century, the Gabo Reform of 1894 abolished the Confucian examinations and decreed that government documents would be issued in Hangul instead of literary Chinese. Some newspapers were published entirely in Hangul, but other publications used Korean mixed script , with Hanja for Sino-Korean vocabulary and Hangul for other elements. North Korea abolished Hanja in writing in 1949, but continues to teach them in schools. Their usage in South Korea

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3488-601: The Bay of Yeongheung, ostensibly surveying sea routes. On 20 September 1875 in a move seen by the Koreans as provocative, the Unyō ,ventured into restricted waters off Ganghwa Island . Korean shore batteries then opened fire. Thus arose a violent confrontation between the Japanese and the Koreans known as the Ganghwa Island incident . Following this incident, six naval vessels and an imperial Japanese envoy were sent to Ganghwa Island to enforce

3597-491: The Crown Prince (later Emperor Sunjong of Korea ) accepted refuge in the Russian legation in 1896. The anti-Japanese backlash led to the repeal of the Gabo Reform , which had introduced other measures increasing Japanese influence. In October 1897, Gojong returned to Gyeongungung (modern-day Deoksugung ). Whilst there, he proclaimed the founding of the Korean Empire and raised the status of his deceased wife to Empress. As

3706-563: The Great ) and, secondly, Queen Inhyeon (second wife of Sukjong of Joseon ). When her father Min Chi-rok was young, he studied under scholar Oh Hui-sang ( 오희상 ; 吳熙常 ), and eventually married the scholar's daughter. She became Min Chi-rok's first wife, Lady Oh of the Haeju Oh clan . In 1833 Lady Oh died childless at the age of 36. After three years' mourning, Min Chi-rok in 1836 married Lady Yi of

3815-528: The Great Empress ( 명성태황후 ; 明成太皇后 ). The later Empress was of aristocratic background and in 1866 was chosen by the de facto Regent Heungseon Daewongun to marry his son, the future King Gojong. Seven years later his daughter-in-law and her Min clan forced him out of office. Daewongun was a conservative Confucian later implicated in unsuccessful rebellion against his daughter-in-law's faction. He believed in isolation of Joseon from all foreign contact as

3924-569: The Hansan Yi clan (later known as Internal Princess Consort Hanchang ). She was the daughter of Yi Gyu-nyeon. The future Empress was the fourth and only surviving child of Lady Yi. Before her marriage, the later empress was known as the daughter of Min Chi-rok, Lady Min, or Min Ja-yeong ( 민자영 ; 閔玆暎 ). At age seven, she lost her father to an illness on 17 September 1858 while he was in Sado city . Lady Min

4033-512: The Japanese required Joseon to pay a "moderate" indemnity for damages inflicted: 40 Japanese were killed during the coup and the Japanese legation was burned to the ground. In addition, the Koreans agreed to rebuild the Japanese Legation plus some barracks for their troops. Lastly, those guilty of murdering a Japanese officer were to be punished. On 18 April, the Convention of Tientsin (1885)

4142-567: The Koreans to pay 550,000 yen damages in respect of Japanese lives and property lost during the insurrection. This agreement also permitted Japanese troops to guard the Japanese embassy in Seoul. The queen consort proposed to China a new trade agreement granting the Chinese special privileges and rights to ports inaccessible to the Japanese. Public order was enforced by Wu Chang-ching and his detachment of 3,000 Chinese troops. She also successfully requested that

4251-637: The Min corruption whereby the soldiers got rotten rice in payment of wages. These soldiers then fled to the protection of Daewongun, who publicly rebuked but privately encouraged them. Daewongun took control of the old units. He ordered an attack on the administrative district of Seoul that housed the Gyeongbokgung , the diplomatic quarter, military centers, and science institutions. These soldiers attacked police stations to free comrades who had been arrested and ransacked private estates and mansions belonging to relatives of

4360-570: The Royal Council of Administration, arguing that the 22 year old Gojong should now rule in his own right. In 1873, with the approval of Gojong and the Royal Council, the Heungseon Daewongun was forced to retire to Unhyeongung , his estate at Yangju. The queen consort then banished the royal concubine along with her child to a village outside the capital. The child was stripped of royal titles and died on 12 January 1880. After these expulsions,

4469-574: The Silla army in the battle of Yeonghae (now Yeongdeok , North Gyeongsang Province ), the unanimous answer was to borrow the wisdom of the Bawoo, who lived hiding in Pungyang-hyeon. When Wang Geon found him, he was 70 years old at the time. From this time on, as he climbed the road to conquer Silla and achieved the unification of the three kingdoms with great ingenuity and bravery, Wang Geon, now King Taejo, gave

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4578-483: The Yi family. Grand Queen Dowager Hyoyu saw an opportunity to advance the cause of her Pungyang Jo clan , the only true rival of the Andong Kim clan in Korean politics. As King Cheoljong was dying, she was approached by Yi Ha-eung, a distant descendant of King Injo (r.1623–1649), whose father was made an adoptive son of Prince Eunsin , a nephew of King Yeongjo (r.1724–1776). The branch that Yi Ha-eung's family belonged to

4687-571: The administration, the Progressives were crushed by Chinese troops under Yuan Shikai 's command. These were sent following a secret request by the queen consort to the Chinese Resident. A handful of Progressive leaders were killed, others escaping to Japan. The Japanese troops were only 130 in all and were easily overwhelmed. Japanese deaths and property damage followed. The Treaty of Hanseong (8 January 1885) negotiated by Count Inouye on behalf of

4796-432: The back. Directly following the wedding was the three-day ceremony for reverencing of ancestors. When Lady Min became Queen Consort, her mother was given the royal title of "Internal Princess Consort Hanchang" ( 한창부부인 ; 韓昌府夫人 ). Her father was given the royal title of "Internal Prince Yeoseong" ( 여성부원군 ; 驪城府院君 ), and was posthumously appointed as Yeonguijeong after his death. Her father's first wife also given

4905-455: The beginnings of words. /l/ becomes alveolar flap [ɾ] between vowels, and [l] or [ɭ] at the end of a syllable or next to another /l/ . A written syllable-final ' ㄹ ', when followed by a vowel or a glide ( i.e. , when the next character starts with ' ㅇ '), migrates to the next syllable and thus becomes [ɾ] . Traditionally, /l/ was disallowed at the beginning of a word. It disappeared before [j] , and otherwise became /n/ . However,

5014-498: The business of foreign trade and collection of tariffs. Korean language Korean ( South Korean : 한국어 , Hanguk-eo ; North Korean : 조선어 , Chosŏnŏ ) is the native language for about 81 million people, mostly of Korean descent. It is the national language of both North Korea and South Korea . Beyond Korea, the language is recognized as a minority language in parts of China , namely Jilin , and specifically Yanbian Prefecture , and Changbai County . It

5123-467: The country to the West. Choi Ik-hyun , who had helped with the impeachment of Heungseon Daewongun, sided with the isolationists. He maintained that the Japanese were just like the "Western barbarians" and would spread subversive notions, just as previous Western contact had brought Roman Catholicism . That had been a major issue during Daewongun's regency and Catholicism was crushed by widespread persecution. To

5232-643: The country's decline in the 19th century. The future queen consort was born into the aristocratic Yeoheung Min clan on 17 November 1851 within the House of Gamgodang  [ ko ] in Seomrak Village, Geundong-myeon, Yeoheung (now Yeoju ), Gyeonggi Province , where the clan originated. The Yeoheung Mins were a noble clan boasting many high-ranking bureaucrats in its illustrious past, princess consorts, and two queen consorts. These were firstly, Queen Wongyeong (wife of Taejong of Joseon and mother of Sejong

5341-448: The court when King Heonjeong blamed the Kim clan for being soft on Catholics and launched a persecution, killing hundreds of Catholics, including three French missionary priests. Queen Sinjeong eventually took power as regent when her son Heonjong became king following the untimely death of Crown Prince Hyomyeong . The Pungyang Jo clan saw that Yi Myeong-bok (later Emperor Gojong )

5450-431: The escape. The truth may lie in the detailed account recorded by Homer Hulbert. One rumour was that Grand Internal Princess Consort Sunmok had entered the palace, and hidden her daughter-in-law, the queen consort, in a wooden litter that the older woman was riding on. Allegedly a court officer saw this and informed the soldiers invading the palace. Princess Sunmok did try to persuade her husband Heungseon Daewongun to stop

5559-399: The first Korean dynasty known to Western nations. Korean people in the former USSR refer to themselves as Koryo-saram or Koryo-in (literally, " Koryo/Goryeo persons"), and call the language Koryo-mal' . Some older English sources also use the spelling "Corea" to refer to the nation, and its inflected form for the language, culture and people, "Korea" becoming more popular in

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5668-450: The growing threat of the Japanese and the possibility of U.S. investment in Korea. The Korean visit lasted three months, returning via San Francisco. At the end of September, Min Yeong-ik travelled to Seoul and reported to the queen consort. She at once established English language schools with U.S. instructors. Min Yeong-ik's report had been optimistic: I was born in the dark. I went out into

5777-416: The hunt for the queen consort. This seemed so suspicious that later he kept her away from his affairs. When Daewongun could not find the queen consort, he likely assumed she was dead (according to Hulbert). He announced, "the queen is dead". Numerous supporters of the queen consort were executed once Daewongun took control of Gyeongbokgung Palace. He immediately dismantled the recent reform measures and relieved

5886-428: The immediate opening of Busan (1876) and later other major ports, Wonsan (1880) and Incheon (1883) to Japanese merchants. For the first few years, Japan enjoyed a near total monopoly of trade. Japanese cotton goods were imported to Korea, which was unindustrialised and still dominantly dependent on limited modes of agricultural production. Rice and cereals became the main export to Japan, whose merchants came to inhabit

5995-479: The inflow of western loanwords changed the trend, and now word-initial /l/ (mostly from English loanwords) are pronounced as a free variation of either [ɾ] or [l] . All obstruents (plosives, affricates, fricatives) at the end of a word are pronounced with no audible release , [p̚, t̚, k̚] . Plosive sounds /p, t, k/ become nasals [m, n, ŋ] before nasal sounds. Hangul spelling does not reflect these assimilatory pronunciation rules, but rather maintains

6104-408: The issue between Japanese and Korean, including Alexander Vovin, have argued that the indicated similarities are not due to any genetic relationship , but rather to a sprachbund effect and heavy borrowing, especially from Ancient Korean into Western Old Japanese . A good example might be Middle Korean sàm and Japanese asá , meaning " hemp ". This word seems to be a cognate, but although it

6213-443: The king and the queen consort. Copies were commissioned to be sent out to all ministers. She had hoped to win yangban (aristocratic) approval to invite Western nations into Korea, and to open up trade so as to keep Japan in check. She wanted to first allow Japan to help in the modernisation process but after completion of certain projects, have them be driven out by Western powers. However, the yangban aristocracy opposed any opening of

6322-563: The language is most often called Joseon-mal , or more formally, Joseon-o . This is taken from the North Korean name for Korea (Joseon), a name retained from the Joseon dynasty until the proclamation of the Korean Empire , which in turn was annexed by the Empire of Japan . In mainland China , following the establishment of diplomatic relations with South Korea in 1992, the term Cháoxiǎnyǔ or

6431-451: The late 1800s. In South Korea the Korean language is referred to by many names including hanguk-eo ("Korean language"), hanguk-mal ("Korean speech") and uri-mal ("our language"); " hanguk " is taken from the name of the Korean Empire ( 대한제국 ; 大韓帝國 ; Daehan Jeguk ). The " han " ( 韓 ) in Hanguk and Daehan Jeguk is derived from Samhan , in reference to

6540-511: The law codes along with the household laws of the royal court and the rules of court ritual, and heavily reformed the military techniques of the royal armies. Within a few years, he was able to secure complete control of the court, and eventually receive the submission of the Pungyang Jos while successfully disposing of the last of the Andong Kims, whose corruption, he believed, was responsible for

6649-484: The light, and, your Majesty, it is my displeasure to inform you that I have returned to the dark. I envision a Seoul of towering buildings filled with Western establishments that will place herself back above the Japanese barbarians. Great things lie ahead for this Kingdom, great things. We must take action, your Majesty, without hesitation, to further modernize this still ancient kingdom. Matters culminated in October 1883 with

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6758-679: The major ports. By 1894 Busan gave every appearance, according to doctor-missionary Isabella Bird , of being a town in Japan. She reports the fact that the customs were levied by the Chinese Imperial Maritime Customs officers on behalf of the Korean Crown. At least one of these officers was English. In 1880, a mission headed by Kim Gi-su (Kim Hong-Jip) was commissioned by Gojong and the Min clan to study Japanese westernisation and its intentions for Korea. The immediate diplomatic objective

6867-497: The military was met with opposition. In June 1882, members of the old military became resentful of the special treatment of the new units. They destroyed the house of Min Gyeom-ho and killed him. He was Gojong's maternal uncle, being his mother's younger brother, and was the administrative head of the training units and in charge of the treasury. Yi Choi-eung and Kim Bo-hyun, a magistrate, were also killed. These had been associated with

6976-671: The name Jo Maeng to Bawoo. Jo Maeng was then given the position of Munhashijung (문하시중, 門下侍中)(a position similar to Yeonguijeong in the Joseon Dynasty and Prime Minister in current times) in Pyeongjangsa (평장사, 平章事). It is said that the cave in Mt. Cheonmasan in which he lived in is said to where he had met Wang Geon, and Hyeonseongam was built to protect him. Jo Maeng eventually had descendants: Jo Ji-rin (조지린, 趙之藺), Jo Shin-hyeok (조신혁, 趙臣赫), and Jo Bo (조보, 趙寶). His three descendants eventually made him

7085-630: The new units of duty. Foreign policy reverted to isolationism. Both Chinese and Japanese representatives were forced to leave the capital. Li Hongzhang , with the consent of Korean envoys in Beijing, sent 4,500 Chinese troops to restore order and secure Chinese interests in Korea. His troops arrested Daewongun, who was then taken to Paoting in China where he remained under house arrest. The royal couple returned and overturned all of Daewongun's actions. The Japan-Korea Treaty of 1882 , signed on 10 August 1882 required

7194-414: The number of envoys exchanged, ships engaged in trade and articles of trade be strictly limited, and further that all foreign books in Korea should be destroyed. Two thousand (out of office) scholars gathered at Cho-rio, planning to march on Seoul and overwhelm the serving Ministers. The gathering was met at Cho-rio by royal envoys who promised to stop the mission to Japan, to which the protesters objected. It

7303-555: The opening of the new Korean postal service. The Progressives killed numerous high-ranking Sadaes and secured key government positions vacated by Sadaes who had fled the capital or had been killed. This new administration began to issue edicts in both the King and queen consort's names. The King and the queen consort had been kidnapped and were held prisoner by armed Japanese guards. The new cabinet did not secure popular support despite their agenda of modernisation and planned political, economic, social, and cultural reforms. The queen consort

7412-514: The opportunity to blame the Min clan for their weakness in contrast to his own previous isolationist, anti-foreign policies. After numerous meetings, the Ganghwa Treaty was signed on 26 February 1876, thus opening Korea to Japan and the world. The treaty was modeled after treaties imposed on Japan by the United States. Various ports were forced to open to Japanese trade, and Japanese now had rights to buy land in designated areas. The treaty permitted

7521-411: The palace, the hereditary royal seal required for the selection of a new monarch was taken to or by Grand Queen Dowager Hyoyu. She already was strictly entitled to make the appointment. She thereupon chose her great-grandson, Yi Myeong-bok. The Andong Kim clan was powerless to act because the formalities had been observed. In the autumn of 1864, Yi Myeong-bok was renamed as Yi Hui ( 이희 ; 李㷩 ) and

7630-411: The population was illiterate. In the 15th century King Sejong the Great personally developed an alphabetic featural writing system , known today as Hangul , to promote literacy among the common people. Introduced in the document Hunminjeongeum , it was called eonmun ('colloquial script') and quickly spread nationwide to increase literacy in Korea. The Korean alphabet was denounced by

7739-525: The possibility of trouble breaking out caused by the Progressives. This rumour reached the British who put out feelers to their various other contacts. All this found its way back to the chief Progressive conspirators, who, fearing their dangerous game was almost up, decided to act immediately. They staged a bloody palace coup on 4 December 1884 (the Gapsin Coup) on the occasion of a diplomatic dinner celebrating

7848-540: The progenitor of the Pungyang Jo clan. The Pungyang Jo clan, along with the (new) Andong Kim clan and the Yeoheung Min clan , are one of the three families that brought their influence towards the end of the Joseon Dynasty. The clan was a prominent yangban family during Korea's late Joseon dynasty . Five Jongmyo scholars, and 2 Prime Ministers , Jo Hyeon-myeong and Jo In-yeong, were produced. A Crown Princess who

7957-502: The proposed constitution. On the basis of these reports, the queen consort began reorganisation of the government. Twelve new bureaus were established to deal with foreign relations with the West, China, and Japan. Other bureaus were established to supervise commerce. A bureau of the military was created, tasked to modernize weapons and techniques. Civilian departments were established to import Western technology. Meanwhile in September 1881,

8066-483: The queen consort arranged for 60 top Korean military students to be sent to Tientsin in Qing China where they were to study arms manufacturing and deployment. The Japanese volunteered to supply military students with rifles and train a unit of the Korean army to use them. She agreed but reminded the Japanese that students would still be sent to China for further education on Western military technologies. The modernisation of

8175-417: The queen consort because that was her title during life at the beginning of her political activity, and was her functioning position. For convenience the description queen regent is not separately used. In 1864, at the age of 32, Cheoljong of Joseon died suddenly under ambiguous causes . Cheoljong was childless and had not appointed an heir. The Andong Kim clan had risen to power through intermarriage with

8284-533: The queen consort had control over the court, where her own clan family members received high office. As queen consort she ruled along with her husband but was recognized as being more politically active than him. After Korean refusal to receive Japanese envoys announcing the Meiji Restoration , some Japanese aristocrats favored an immediate invasion of Korea. Upon the return of the Iwakura Mission , this idea

8393-457: The queen consort secretly formed a powerful faction against the Heungseon Daewongun. With the backing of high officials, scholars, and members of her clan, she desired to remove Daewongun from power. Min Seung-ho  [ ko ] , the queen consort's adoptive older brother, along with court scholar Choe Ik-hyeon , devised a formal impeachment of Daewongun. The impeachment was to be presented to

8502-477: The queen consort was not accorded respect or honour as before. Discord between the queen consort and Daewongun became public when her infant son died in late 1871 four days after birth. Daewongun publicly accused her of being unable to bear a healthy male child. She suspected her father-in-law of foul play through the ginseng emetic treatment he had brought her. It seems likely the queen consort's intense distrust of her father-in-law dates from this time. Meanwhile

8611-530: The queen consort. These units stole rifles and killed Japanese training officers. They narrowly missed murdering the Japanese ambassador to Seoul, who escaped to Incheon, and thence to Japan where he was interviewed at court for an account of events. The military rebellion then headed towards the palace but both queen consort and the King escaped in disguise. They fled to her relative's villa in Cheongju , where they remained in hiding. Rumour supplied differing accounts of

8720-499: The queen rejected this role. Instead, she spent her time reading books written using Chinese characters, whose use in Korea was usually reserved for aristocratic men. Spring and Autumn Annals and its accompanying Zuo Zhuan are examples. She furthered her own education in history, science, politics, philosophy, and religion. By the age of twenty, the queen consort had begun to leave the total seclusion of her apartments at Changgyeonggung and to play an active part in politics. This

8829-544: The result, she became a proponent of the Sadae faction which was pro-China and in favour of gradual westernisation. In 1884, the conflict between the Progressives and the Sadaes intensified. The Progressives, frustrated by the Sadaes and the growing influence of the Chinese, successfully conspired to secure the aid of Japanese Legation staff and troops. American Legation officials, in particular Naval Attaché George C. Foulk , heard about

8938-478: The royal House of Yi . Queen Cheorin , Cheoljong's consort and a member of the Andong Kim clan, claimed the right to choose the next king. Traditionally, the most senior Queen Dowager had the official authority to select the new king. Cheoljong's cousin, Grand Royal Dowager Hyoyu (once known as Queen Sinjeong) , was the most senior Dowager. She was of the Pungyang Jo clan and the widow of Heonjong of Joseon 's father. She had risen to prominence by intermarriage with

9047-565: The royal family. In 1834, the Jo clan seized control over the royal court from the Andong Kim clan . The clan rose to prominence, pushing out the Andong Kim clan that had wielded power since the King Sunjo regime. However, with the death of the clan leader Jo Man-yeong in 1846, control of the kingdom once again fell into the hands of the Andong Kim clan. Anti-Catholic in nature, the Jo clan dominated

9156-454: The royal title of "Internal Princess Consort Haeryeong" ( 해령부부인 ; 海寧府夫人 ). On the day of their marriage ceremony, Gojong did not go to his wife's quarters to consummate the marriage, but to the quarters of concubine Royal Consort Yi Gwi-in of the Gyeongju Yi clan. This preference would later be approved by the Heungseon Daewongun. The first impression of the queen consort at the palace

9265-660: The short form Cháoyǔ has normally been used to refer to the standard language of North Korea and Yanbian , whereas Hánguóyǔ or the short form Hányǔ is used to refer to the standard language of South Korea. Korean is a member of the Koreanic family along with the Jeju language . Some linguists have included it in the Altaic family, but the core Altaic proposal itself has lost most of its prior support. The Khitan language has several vocabulary items similar to Korean that are not found in other Mongolian or Tungusic languages, suggesting

9374-415: The socially conservative yangban, the queen consort's plan meant the end of social order. Accordingly, the response to the distribution of Korean Strategy was a joint memorandum to the throne from scholars in every province of the kingdom. They stated that the ideas in the book were impractical theories, and that the adoption of Western technology was not the only way to enrich the country. They demanded that

9483-413: The store?' Response 예/네. ye/ne AFF Pungyang Jo clan Jo Maeng (조맹, 趙孟), who was also known by the name of Ba-woo or Bau (바우, 岩), was born and raised in Pungyang-hyeon (currently Songneung-ri, Jingeon-eup, Namyangju , Gyeonggi Province ) and lived in seclusion in a rock cave at the foot of Mt. Cheonmasan . When Wang Geon , who was conquesting Silla at that time, was defeated by

9592-441: The tense fricative and all the affricates as well. At the end of a syllable, /s/ changes to /t/ (example: beoseot ( 버섯 ) 'mushroom'). /h/ may become a bilabial [ɸ] before [o] or [u] , a palatal [ç] before [j] or [i] , a velar [x] before [ɯ] , a voiced [ɦ] between voiced sounds, and a [h] elsewhere. /p, t, t͡ɕ, k/ become voiced [b, d, d͡ʑ, ɡ] between voiced sounds. /m, n/ frequently denasalize at

9701-469: The throne. The Pungyang Jo clan saw that Yi Myeong-bok, was only 12 years old and would not be able to rule in his own name until he came of age. They hoped to influence Yi Ha-eung, who would be acting as de facto regent for his son. (Technically Grand Queen Dowager Hyoyu would be regent but in fact she did not intend to play an active role in the regency). As soon as news of King Cheoljong's death reached Yi Ha-eung through his intricate network of spies in

9810-464: The underlying, partly historical morphology . Given this, it is sometimes hard to tell which actual phonemes are present in a certain word. The traditional prohibition of word-initial /ɾ/ became a morphological rule called "initial law" ( 두음법칙 ) in the pronunciation standards of South Korea, which pertains to Sino-Korean vocabulary. Such words retain their word-initial /ɾ/ in the pronunciation standards of North Korea. For example, ^NOTE ㅏ

9919-422: The wishes of the Japanese government, which was then in a position to insist on Korea opening to trade generally. There was precedent for this line of action in the behaviour of European powers and their extraction of the so-called Unequal Treaties . Whilst a majority of the royal Korean court favored absolute isolationism, Japan had demonstrated its willingness and capacity to use force. The deposed Daewongun took

10028-415: Was a distant line of descendants of the Yi clan. They survived the often deadly political intrigue that frequently embroiled the Joseon court by forming no affiliation with any factions. Yi Ha-eung himself was not eligible for the throne due to a law that dictated that a successor had to be part of the generation after the most recent monarch. Yi Ha-eung's second son, Yi Myeong-bok, was a possible candidate for

10137-410: Was crowned as Gojong King of Joseon , with his father as Regent titled as Grand Internal Prince Heungseon. He is referred to in this article henceforth as Heungseon Daewongun or Daewongun. The strongly Confucian Daewongun proved to be a decisive leader in the early years of Gojong's reign. He abolished the old government institutions that had become corrupt under the rule of various clans, revised

10246-487: Was first introduced to Korea in the 1st century BC, and remained the medium of formal writing and government until the late 19th century. Korean scholars adapted Chinese characters (known in Korean as Hanja ) to write their own language, creating scripts known as idu , hyangchal , gugyeol , and gakpil. These systems were cumbersome, due to the fundamental disparities between the Korean and Chinese languages, and accessible only to those educated in classical Chinese. Most of

10355-545: Was headed by Min Yeong-ik , her adoptive nephew. The mission arrived at San Francisco on 2 September 1883 carrying the newly created Korean national flag . It visited U.S. historical sites, heard lectures on U.S. history, and attended a gala event in their honor given by the mayor of San Francisco and other U.S. officials. The mission dined in New York at the Fifth Avenue Hotel with President Chester A. Arthur , and discussed

10464-477: Was horrified by the violence of the Progressives. They effected seven murders of high-ranking Koreans. Clan leaders summoned to the palace by letters purporting to come from the King were beheaded on stepping out of their sedan chairs. Following suppression of the coup, the queen consort no longer trusted the Japanese. She refused to support the actions of the Progressives, declaring any documents signed in her name to be null and void. After only two days of control over

10573-470: Was made in Tianjin, China, between the Japanese and the Chinese. In it, they both agreed to pull troops out of Joseon. Each party agreed it would send troops only if their property was endangered; each would inform the other before doing so. Both nations also agreed to pull out their military instructors so as to allow the newly arrived Americans to perform that task. The Japanese withdrew troops from Korea, leaving

10682-470: Was not at the invitation of Heungseon Daewongun and his high officials. Daewongun directed his son to conceive through the concubine Yi Gwi-in from the Yeongbo Hall ( 영보당귀인 이씨 ). On 16 April 1868, the concubine gave birth to Prince Wanhwa ( 완화군 ), to whom Daewongun gave the title of crown prince. It was said that Daewongun was overwhelmed with joy at the arrival of Gojong's first born son, and that afterwards

10791-454: Was of noble lineage. After rejecting numerous candidates, the Daewongun's wife, Grand Internal Princess Consort Sunmok (known at the time as Grand Internal Princess Consort Yeoheung; Yeoheung Budaebuin ; 여흥부대부인 ; 驪興府大夫人 ) and his mother, Princess Consort Min, proposed a bride from their own clan, the Yeoheung Min. The girl's father was dead. She was said to possess beautiful features,

10900-412: Was only twelve years old and would not be able to rule in his own name until he came of age, and that they could easily influence Yi Ha-eung , who would be acting as regent for the future king. As soon as news of Cheoljong 's death reached Yi Ha-eung through his intricate network of spies in the palace, he and the Pungyang Jo clan took the hereditary royal seal — an object that was considered necessary for

11009-484: Was posthumously honored as Queen, Queen Hyosun (the wife of Crown Prince Hyojang ) and another Crown Princess who was posthumously honored as Queen Dowager, Queen Sinjeong (the wife of Crown Prince Hyomyeong ). Princess Consort Uichun (Prince Bongan's wife) and Princess Consort Muncheon (Prince Yangwon's wife), as well as two Royal Consorts, Royal Consort Gwi-in (a concubine of King Yeongjo ) and Royal Consort Gwi-in (a concubine of King Cheoljong ) were members of

11118-410: Was presented to, the visiting Koreans, the purpose of which was to change their whole approach towards modernisation through external contact. This paper, whose text survives in five differing forms, was written by Huang. It was entitled Korean Strategy and examined the strategic position of Korea in the context of its need for strength in the international situation of the day. The essence of its thesis

11227-450: Was quickly dropped because the new Japanese government was neither politically nor fiscally stable enough to start a war. When Heungseon Daewongun was ousted from politics, Japan renewed efforts to establish ties with Korea, but the Imperial envoy arriving at Dongnae in 1873 was turned away. In 1875 the Japanese gunboat Unyō was dispatched towards Busan and a second warship was sent to

11336-483: Was raised by her mother and Min relatives for eight years until she moved to the palace and became queen. Lady Min assisted her mother for three years while in living in Gamgodang. In 1861 it was decided that Min Seung-ho, would become her father's heir. When Gojong reached the age of 15, his father began to seek a bride for his son. Ideally the choice would be a person without politically ambitious relatives and someone who

11445-457: Was that Russia was land-hungry and represented the primary threat to Korea. The Chinese, it argued, should be regarded as natural close allies from whom full independence was undesirable. Huang advised that Korea should adopt a pro-Chinese policy, while retaining close ties with Japan for the time being. He also advised an alliance with the United States in particular because it did not occupy the countries with which it traded, and because it would be

11554-529: Was that she was dutiful and docile. Over time, Daewongun changed his view of her. Officials noticed that the new queen consort differed from previous queens before her in her choices and determination. She did not participate in lavish parties, rarely commissioned extravagant fashions from the royal ateliers, and almost never hosted afternoon tea parties with the various princesses of the royal family or powerful aristocratic ladies unless politics required her to do so. Expected to act as an icon for Korea's high society,

11663-401: Was the custom in late Joseon society, the woman who came to be Empress Myeongseong never had a personal name. "Min" is the name of her clan. "Empress" was a title conferred after her assassination. Changes in her marital status or the status of her husband are reflected in her own title. In Western terms, she was nameless throughout her life. For the most part, the narrative below refers to her as

11772-415: Was to persuade the Japanese that there was no need to open a Legation in Seoul and that the port of Incheon should not be opened. It arrived on 11 August 1880. While in Japan, Kim visited the Chinese embassy in Japan no less than six times. He met with the Chinese first envoy to Japan, He Ru-zhang, and his staff adviser, Huang Zunxian . In September 1880, a prepared paper was written for the benefit of, and

11881-469: Was too late, however, and the Korean mission by then had landed in Nagasaki in Japan. Thus in 1881, a large fact-finding mission was sent to Japan under Kim Hongjip . It stayed for seventy days observing Japanese government offices, factories, military and police organizations, and business practices. The visitors obtained information about innovations in the Japanese government copied from the West, especially

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