In 1392, Yi eliminated Chŏng Mong-ju, a highly respected leader of a group loyal to Goryeo dynasty, and dethroned King Gongyang, exiling him to Wonju, and he ascended the throne himself.

After numerous threats of mutiny from the drastically weakened but still influential Gwonmun nobles, who continued to swear allegiance to the remnants of the Goryeo and to the now-demoted Wang clan, the consensus in the reformed court was that a new dynastic title was needed to signify the change.

After much internal deliberation, as well as endorsement by the neighboring Ming dynasty's emperor, Taejo declared the name of the kingdom to be Joseon, a tribute to the ancient Korean state of Gojoseon.

His revocation of such rights to field independent forces effectively severed their ability to muster large-scale revolts, and drastically increased the number of men employed in the national military.

In May 1419, King Sejong, under the advice and guidance of his father Taejong, embarked upon the Gihae Eastern Expedition to remove the nuisance of waegu (coastal pirates) who had been operating out of Tsushima Island.

[28] Danjong's uncle, Grand Prince Suyang, gained control of the government and eventually deposed his nephew to become the seventh king of Joseon himself in 1455, taking the name Sejo.

Jungjong was a fundamentally weak king because of the circumstances that placed him on the throne, but his reign also saw a period of significant reforms led by his minister Jo Gwang-jo, the charismatic leader of sarim.

According to the Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty, it was said that no official dared to receive a bribe or exploit the populace during this time because as Inspector General, he applied the law strictly.

The middle Joseon period was marked by intense and bloody power struggles between political factions that weakened the country, and by large-scale invasions by Japan and Manchu which nearly toppled the kingdom.

[39] According to Youngmin Kim, " it held that the Joseon embodied Chineseness authentically while other neighboring countries failed to do so in the face of the barbarian domination of the center of the civilized world.

The early group of Silhak scholars advocated comprehensive reform of civil service examination, taxation, natural sciences and the improvement in agromanagerial and agricultural techniques.

[46][47] Yeongjo's grandson, the enlightened King Jeongjo enacted various reforms throughout his reign, notably establishing Kyujanggak, a royal library to improve the cultural and political position of Joseon and to recruit gifted officers to run the nation.

At that time, the group of Silhak scholars encouraged the individual to reflect on state traditions and lifestyle, initiating the studies of Korea that addressed its history, geography, epigraphy and language.

To get rid of the Andong Kim and Pungyang Jo clans, he promoted persons without making references to political party or family affiliations, and to reduce the burdens of the people and solidify the basis of the nation's economy, he reformed the tax system.

Japan, after the Meiji Restoration, acquired Western military technology, and forced Joseon to sign the Treaty of Ganghwa in 1876, opening three ports to trade and granting the Japanese extraterritoriality.

Empress Myeongseong (referred to as Queen Min)[52] had attempted to counter Japanese interference in Korea and was considering turning to the Russian Empire and to China for support.

The Joseon court, pressured by encroachment from larger powers, felt the need to reinforce national integrity and declared the Korean Empire, along with the Gwangmu Reform in 1897.

The eight provinces' boundaries remained unchanged for almost five centuries from 1413 to 1895, and formed a geographic paradigm that is still reflected today in the Korean Peninsula's administrative divisions, dialects, and regional distinctions.

[12] Joseon maintained the highest position among China's tributary states,[68][69] which also included countries such as Japan, Vietnam, Ryukyu, Burma, Thailand, Laos, Brunei,[70][71][72] and the Philippines, among others.

[73][74] In addition, Joseon received tribute from Jurchens and Sō clan of Tsushima until the 17th century,[75][76][77] and had a small enclave in the Ryukyu Kingdom that engaged in trade with Siam and Java.

"[1] This long-term, strategic policy contrasts with the gyorin (kyorin) (neighborly relations) diplomacy in dealings with Jurchens, Japan, Ryukyu Kingdom, Siam and Java.

By the end of the 18th century, the yangban had acquired most of the traits of a hereditary nobility except that the status was based on a unique mixture of family position, gwageo examinations for Confucian learning, and a civil service system.

Many of the remaining 40–50% of the population were surely farmers,[115] but recent work has raised important issues about the size of other groups: merchants and traders, local government or quasi-governmental clerks (Jungin), craftsmen and laborers, textile workers, etc.

To protect the family's honor, young girls would carry a small knife (paedo), and with this they were expected to take their own lives if they were raped or even rumored to be caught in an affair.

[119] During the Late Joseon, the Confucian ideals of propriety and "filial piety" gradually came to be equated with a strict observance to a complex social hierarchy, with many fine gradations.

[122] Precisely because of the tenets of the Confucian Classic of Filial Piety, the adult male practice of Joseon Korea prescribed to keep both hair and beard, in contrast to the Japanese Tokugawa period.

The upper classes wore hanbok of closely woven ramie cloth or other high-grade lightweight materials in warm weather and of plain and patterned silks the rest of the year.

Commoners were restricted by law to everyday clothes of white, but for special occasions they wore dull shades of pale pink, light green, gray, and charcoal.

While the birthplace of ceramics with copper red underglaze is widely disputed, these items originated during 12th century in Korea and became increasingly popular during the second half of the Joseon period.

The apex of astronomical and calendarial advances under King Sejong was the Chiljeongsan, which compiled computations of the courses of the seven heavenly objects (five visible planets, the sun, and moon), developed in 1442.