King Taejong as a Stateman: From Power to Authority

The purpose of this paper is to reconstruct the career of the third king ofthe Joseon dynasty, Taejong, as a successful statesman. Studies of Tae-jong have mostly been conducted by academic historians, with a focuson political history and institutional history. As a result, two differentimages of Taejong have been produced: one that describes him as theembodiment of power and the other as a Confucian king. I proposethat these two contrasting images of Taejong reflect his distinctivenessas compared to other kings, and that neither image can exclude orabsorb the other. Hence, in order to explain this ambivalence in the twocharacterizations of the same person, I refocus the concept of embodi-ment of power as politics of tact and the concept of Confucian kingas gongnon politics by examining Taejong from a statesmans pointof view and attempting a structural analysis and historical periodiza-tion. Through this analysis, I attempt to reveal the dynamics of a suc-cessful leader, from the long process of Taejongs usurpation of powerto his creation of authority.

keywords: Taejong, Hanfeizi, politics of tact, gongnon politics, authority same person, I propose a new viewpoint. In this paper, by analyzingTaejong as a statesman, I use structural analysis to unveil the distinc-tive nature of Taejongs rule. That is, I analyz, Taejong, Hanfeizi, politics of tact, gongnon politics, authority same person, I propose a new viewpoint. In this paper, by analyzingTaejong as a statesman, I use structural analysis to unveil the distinc-tive nature of Taejongs rule. That is, I analyz

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Article Contents

Vol.46 No.4

King Taejong as a Stateman: From Power to Authority

Abstract

Reference

Korea Journal