Yi Seong-gye founds the Joseon dynasty

Yi Seong-gye came from the north-east, which the Yuan had held until his family went over to Goryeo in 1356. He rose by fighting the Red Turbans — he helped to retake Kaegyeong from them in 1362 — the Mongol commander Naghachu and the Japanese pirates who raided Korea’s coasts, and he allied himself with reformist Neo-Confucian scholar-officials. In 1388 the Ming claimed Goryeo’s northern lands, and King U and the general Choe Yeong ordered an attack on Liaodong. Yi, who had argued against the campaign, halted at Wihwa Island on the Yalu and, after his pleas to withdraw were refused, turned the army back on 26 June 1388; on 4 July he reached Kaegyeong, and soon Choe Yeong was banished, later to be executed, and King U was deposed.

Yi then ruled through puppet kings, from 1389 through King Gongyang, while his allies Jo Jun and Jeong Do-jeon reformed the landholding system. The leading defender of the old dynasty, Jeong Mong-ju, was murdered on the Seonjuk Bridge on 26 April 1392 by men of Yi’s son Yi Bang-won. According to the Veritable Records, on 31 July the queen dowager deposed Gongyang, who left for Wonju; on 4 August officials led by Bae Geuk-ryeom, Jo Jun and Jeong Do-jeon came to Yi’s residence with the royal seal, and on 5 August he ascended the throne at Suchang Palace.

At first the state kept the name Goryeo; on 27 March 1393 it became Joseon, a name recalling the ancient state of Gojoseon, chosen with the endorsement of the Ming emperor, although the Hongwu Emperor recognised Yi only as acting administrator of the country. In 1394 the capital moved to Hanyang, laid out under Jeong Do-jeon’s direction, and surviving members of the Wang royal clan were killed. In 1398 Yi Bang-won rose against Jeong Do-jeon and his half-brothers, and Yi Seong-gye abdicated.