Yi Seong-gye Overthrows Goryeo and Founds Joseon
A general ordered to invade Ming China turns his army around and takes the throne instead
Quick facts
- Founder
- Yi Seong-gye (King Taejo)
- Founded
- 1392 CE
- New capital
- Hanyang (modern Seoul)
- Dynasty name origin
- Revived from ancient Gojoseon
What happened
In the last years of Goryeo, King U ordered general Yi Seong-gye to invade Ming Chinese territory in present-day Liaoning. Yi had opposed the invasion from the start; on reaching the Yalu River border, he turned his army around and staged a coup, overthrowing King U and his successor King Chang. Yi's supporters killed King Chang and installed a puppet, King Gongyang, whom Yi ruled through until 1392, when he exiled Gongyang and took the throne himself. He named his new dynasty Joseon, reviving the name of the ancient Gojoseon state, and adopted the title King Taejo. One of his first acts was to move the capital from Kaesong to Hanyang, present-day Seoul, a relocation that became traditional at the start of each new Korean dynasty.
Why it matters
Joseon would rule Korea for the next 500 years, longer than almost any other dynasty in world history, and Yi Seong-gye's choice of the ancient name Joseon linked his new government to a two-thousand-year-old Korean political identity rather than to the Goryeo dynasty he had just overthrown.
How we know
Yi Seong-gye's coup and the founding of Joseon are documented in the Joseon Wangjo Sillok, the meticulously kept official annals of the dynasty, one of the most extensive continuous government record sets surviving from any pre-modern state.
Sources
- World History Encyclopedia. Early Joseon Period · Reputable sourceworldhistory.org · The domain "worldhistory.org" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
- Columbia University, Weatherhead East Asian Institute. 1450-1750 (Asia for Educators) · Reputable sourceafe.easia.columbia.edu · The domain "afe.easia.columbia.edu" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
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