Lee Deok-il: Joseon History Through Factional Strife

The book A History of Joseon Read Through Factional Strife clearly explains and interprets how Joseon scholars fought over political power, from the rise of the Sarim to the politics of powerful in-law clans, and how Joseon history unfolded through those struggles. It briskly and thrillingly surveys Joseon political history, unfolding like an epic novel: the beginning of factional conflict; the stark realities of the Imjin War and the Second Manchu Invasion; Crown Prince Sohyeon’s sudden death; the Seoin faction’s conflict over King Hyojong’s northern campaign; disputes over royal legitimacy through the first and second Yesong debates during King Hyeonjong’s reign; the women’s power and dramatic political purges of King Sukjong’s era; and the killing of Crown Prince Sado and the confrontation between King Jeongjo and the Noron faction. This book is a revised edition of A History of Joseon Seen Through Factional Strife (1997), supplemented by the 2018 revised edition of The History of Factional Strife among Joseon Scholars. Historian Lee Deok-il draws on primary sources such as the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty, Danguitongryak, Jeonggyobongpo, and the Records of the Border Defense Council to shatter the stereotype forced into Koreans’ minds during Japanese colonial rule—that “Joseon fell because of factional strife”—and reinterpret Joseon history from the perspective that “Joseon’s political factions were a form of party politics.”

Korean title: 당쟁으로 읽는 조선 역사

Korean author: 이덕일

Korean publisher: 인문서원

ISBN-13: 9791186542675