Five centuries of Neo-Confucian rule, the yangban scholar-officials, and King Sejong's 1446 creation of Hangul, Korea's own alphabet.
In 1392 a general named Yi Seong-gye took power in a coup and founded the Joseon dynasty. It would rule for more than five centuries.
In 1393 the capital moved to Hanseong, which is modern Seoul. The state ran on Neo-Confucian ideas. Government jobs went to men who passed the gwageo (과거), exams on Confucian learning, and the educated elite who filled those jobs were called the yangban (양반). By 1800 the yangban may have made up as much as 30 percent of the population. Buddhism, which had thrived in Silla, was discouraged.
The most famous king, Sejong, oversaw the creation of Hangul (한글). Before it, writing meant Chinese characters, which took years to learn. Hangul was made to be learned quickly. It was promulgated on October 9, 1446, a date Koreans still celebrate as Hangul Day. But the scholarly elite rejected it at the time, and it took centuries to become the everyday script.
In 1897 the Korean Empire was proclaimed, which formally ended the Joseon period, although the dynasty continued to rule until Japan annexed Korea in 1910.
| Korean | Romanization | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 조선 | Joseon | the Joseon dynasty |
| 한글 | Hangul | the Korean alphabet |
| 궁 | gung | palace |
| 양반 | yangban | the educated noble class |
| 시험 | siheom | exam |
| 학자 | hakja | scholar |
Sources: Joseon.