House of Yi

House of Yi
File:Korea-arms2.gif
Parent house	Jeonju Yi
Country	Joseon, Korean Empire
Founded	1392
Founder	Taejo of Joseon
Current head	Prince Chung
Final ruler	Emperor Sunjong
Titles	King, Emperor
Estate(s)	of Korea
Dissolution	1910
Cadet branches	N/A

The House of Yi (李氏) consists of the descendants of the Joseon Dynasty and the royal family of the Korean Empire. All are members of the Jeonju Yi clan, and trace their descent from Taejo of Joseon.

After the annexation of the Korean Peninsula by Japan, some members were raised to the Korean royal family and the Korean peerage by the Japanese government until 1947, just before the Japanese Constitution was promulgated. Since then, their status as royalty has not been acknowledged by any country, however they continue to attract occasional media attention in South Korea. This happened most recently with the July 2005 funeral of Prince Gu, former head of the royal household.

At present, Prince Chung is the de jure geneaological heir to the heads of the imperial family, when male primogeniture is applied. However, he has not taken an active position on the debate between the leadership of the imperial family between his two relatives, Hereditary Prince Imperial Won (a first cousin and the son of the 9th son of Prince Ui) and Princess Haewon (aunt and second eldest daughter of Prince Ui).

History

In the 19th century tensions mounted between China and Japan, culminating in the First Sino-Japanese War. Much of this war was fought on the Korean peninsula. Japan, after the Meiji Restoration, acquired Western military technology, and had forced Joseon to sign the Kanghwa Treaty in 1876. Japan encroached upon Korean territory in search of fish, iron ore, and natural resources. It also established a strong economic presence on the peninsula, heralding the beginning of Japanese imperial expansion in East Asia. The Chinese defeat in the 1894 war led to the Treaty of Shimonoseki, which officially guaranteed Korea's independence from China. The treaty effectively granted Japan direct control over Korean politics. The Joseon court in 1894, pressured by encroachment from larger powers, felt the need to reinforce national integrity and declared the Korean Empire. King Gojong assumed the title of Emperor in order to assert Korea's independence by putting himself on the same level as the Chinese Emperors. In addition, other foreign powers were approached for military technology, especially Russia, in order to fend off the Japanese. Technically, 1894 marks the end of the Joseon period, as the official name of the state was changed; however, the Yi Dynasty would still reign, albeit perturbed by Japanese interventions. For example, the 1895 Japanese murder of Empress Myeongseong of Korea, apparently orchestrated by Miura Goro, because the Korean Empress was effective in keeping Japan at bay. In 1910, the Japanese annexation of the Korean peninsula effectively ended Yi Dynasty rule. The collapse of the Russian navy in the historic battle of Port Arthur (in which the Russian Imperial Navy was destroyed in a decisive surprise attack), led to a great weakening of Korea's umbrella of protection. The combined effect on China of the opium wars in the south and Japanese naval strikes in the north increasingly led the Japanese to see Korea as a strategic foothold leading into northern China, just as Macau and Hong Kong had been Portuguese and English trade enclaves, respectively, in southern China.

Korean Imperial Family (Emperor Kojong in the center)

Japanese Rule (1910-1945)

In a complicated series of manoeuvres and counter-manoeuvres, Japan pushed back the Russian fleet at the Battle of Port Arthur in 1905. Both the fleets of China and Russia had given Korea sufficient protection to prevent a direct invasion, but this ambuscade of the Russian fleet gave Japan free reign over north China, and Korea was left at the mercy of the new regional naval power: Japan. Korea became a protectorate of Japan in 1895 when Japan forced Emperor Gojong of Korea to abdicate his throne and assassinated his wife, Empress Myeongseong of Korea. Japan annexed the country in 1910 and Korea became a Japanese colony.

During the Japanese rule, the members of Yi family were raised to the royal family (Oukouzoku, 王公族), or Korean nobles (Chosen-kizoku, 朝鮮貴族).

Eunists

Emperor Gojong of Korea had nine princes and four princesses, but only three princes survived childhood: the second son, Crown Prince Cheok; the sixth son, Prince Gang and the seventh son, Prince Eun. The second son, Cheok became Emperor Sunjong of Korea, the last monarch of Korean Empire. As Emperor Sunjong died without issue, his younger brother, Prince Eun became the crown prince. His elder brother Prince Gang should have taken the position but was passed over because Eun's mother Princess Sunheon had a higher status in the court than Gang's mother Lady Chang.

After Emperor Sunjong died in 1926, Crown Prince Eun was called "King Lee of Korea" a nominal title because Joseon had already lost its sovereignty to Japan. Crown Prince Eun married Princess Masako Nashimoto (later, Crown Princess Bangja of Korea) of Japan, a member of Miyake family. Some Koreans accused Japan that Princess Bangja, once one of three candidates for then Japan's next empress, was instead designated as Eun's wife, as a medical test indicated she could be barren. Some media claimed that the arranged marriage was Japan's imperialist conspiracy to terminate the Korean imperial lineage. However, Princess Bangja gave birth to the eldest son, Prince Jin in 1921; the second son, Prince Gu in 1931.

After Liberation

After Korea's liberation in 1945, President Syngman Rhee suppressed the imperial family in order to prevent the restoration of the monarchy as he feared that the imperial family's return would challenge his emerging authority as the new republic's founding father. Syngman Rhee seized and nationalized most of the family's properties. The imperial family also had to shoulder the psychological and historical burden of their ancestors' responsibility for the "collapse of the nation". Stripped of most of their wealth and authority, many members of the family secluded themselves from the merciless world, and even from other family members. Some flew to the USA or Latin America in a desperate effort to disown their ancestors.

It was only in 1963 that a new president, Park Chung-hee, allowed the imperial family, including Princess Dukhye, their long-sought return to Korea. However, they could only stay at a small residence called Nakseon Hall in a corner of Changdeok Palace, Seoul. Crown Prince Eun died seven years later after a long illness resulting from strokes. Prince Gu was also forced by other family members to divorce his American wife, Julia Mullock, against their will in 1982 due to her sterility. A series of business failures left him without support and he died alone at the Akasaka Prince Hotel in Tokyo on July 16 2005. The site of the hotel had been his birthplace 74 years prior.

Gangists

Emperor Gojong's sixth son, Prince Gang, gave birth to 13 sons and 9 daughters from 14 women. With an extremely wide range of historical evaluations over him - womanizer and behind the scene leader of the independent movement - the Japanese authorities tied the hands of the prince throughout the occupation. Unlike Crown Prince Eun, who spent most of his life in Japan and the United States, President Syngman Rhee's seizure of the imperial properties deprived Prince Gang of most of his wealth. Afterwards, many of the family members had to swallow the disgrace of working for a living. According to the prince's 11th son, Prince Seok, his mother Hong Chong-sun had to sell noodles as a street vendor. However, despite their suffering, most family members have not been able to adapt themselves to the new fast-changing capitalistic Korea. To make matters worse, many people swindled them.

In 1998, it was reported that Prince Gang's eighth son died alone in a social center in eastern Seoul, and the eleventh son Prince Seok works as a lecturer at the University of Jeonju as of 2005.

Among Prince Gang's surviving four sons and seven daughters, four have lost touch with the family after they left for the United States. The other family members hold an ancestral ritual two times a year for Prince Gang, but usually only two or three of the 11 surviving siblings attend the ceremonies.

Known Descendants Today

Yi Chung (1936-), is a member of the former Imperial Family of Korea and the genealogical male-line heir of Emperor Gojong. He is the eldest son of Prince Wu of Korea who inherited the title of Prince Heung with the 4th head of Unhyun Palace and his wife Princess Chanju, a granddaughter of Marquis Park Yeonghyo who was a son-in-law of King Cheoljong of Joseon.

At the age of nine, he inherited Unhyun Palace, where Emperor Gojong was born, after his father died in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. In 1947, his father's elder brother, Prince Gun (Momoyama Ken'ichi), acquired Japanese citizenship, thereby renouncing his Korean legacy. This made Prince Chung the direct heir of his grandfather, Prince Imperial Ui, who died in 1955. On 1991, Prince Chung returned to his ancestral home of Unhyun Palace to Seoul city government on the death of his mother.

At present, he is de jure geneaological heir to the headship of the Imperial family when male primogeniture is applied. However, he has not taken an active position on the debate between leadership of Imperial family between his two relatives, Hereditary Prince Imperial Won (a first cousin and the son of the 9th son of Prince Ui) and Princess Haewon (aunt and second eldest daughter of Prince Ui).

Today, many tombs of the descendants still exist on top of the mountain in Yangju. According to the pedigree written on the tombstone, it is believed that these descendants are from the great king of Joseon, Seongjeong(The 9th ruler of Joseon Dynasty). It was discovered that this mountain belongs to the member of the royal family named Yi Won.

Yi Won was born in 1958 with two older brothers and three older sisters. He was born to a landlord named Yi Neung Wu. Yi Neung Wu had many territories in Korea, but lost most of them because of the wars and revolutions. He was known as the creator of Party, "Han Nara" and the creator of a city called Yangju in South Korea. [There aren't any furthermore informations about Yi Neung Wu until his death, which was reported in August 2005.]

Yi Won is temporally living in Korea taking care of his father's properties. His second older brother is believed to be living in Australia with his family after failing business and his oldest brother is believed to be living in U.S.A. "relaxing..." Yi Won has a family living in California. He has a daughter and a son. His daughter is a college student in University of Berkeley and his son is a high school student in Irvine High. [2007]

Yi Haewŏn (born 1919) is the second daughter of Prince Imperial Ui of Korea, a fifth son of Emperor Gojong of Korea and his concubine, Lady Sudeokdang. Princess Yi Haewŏn is currently a disputed contender to the position of head of the Korean Imperial Household with her nephew Hereditary Prince Imperial Won. She is the eldest of the surviving daughters of Prince Imperial Ui.

Pretenders to the Korean throne since 1910

• Emperor Sunjong (1910 - 1926)
• Prince Euimin (1926 - 1970)
• Prince Hoeun (1970 - 2005)
• Prince Chung (2005 - Present)
• Prince Won (2005 - Present)
• Princess Haewon (2005 - Present)

See also

• List of Korea-related topics
• History of Korea