I communicated this to His Majesty the next morning through the foreign
office, and received a prompt reply expressive of His Majesty’s deep
gratitude for this act of sympathy and regard, as well as of the marked
courtesy indicated in the use of his new title “His Imperial
Majesty.”
It is needless to say that this wording of your message gives me great
satisfaction, and relieves me greatly in regard to the matter of the
Imperial title.
I hand inclosed extract from yesterday’s Seoul Independent relating to
the deceased Tai Won Kun.
[Inclosure.]
[The Independent, Saturday, February 26,
1898.]
brief sketch of prince tai won’s life.
Prince Ye Haeung Taiwon Kun was born in Seoul on January 22, 1811,
and was 88 years and 1 month old when he died. He was the fourth son
of a prince who died
[Page 488]
at
the close of the last century. The family belongs to the royal clan,
the members being the direct descendent of King Yunjong.
The Korean royal relations are treated differently than those of
other countries. They are practically excluded from holding any
important office in the Government and their emolmuent is very poor.
Therefore many of them decline the title of prince and enter the
civil or military services like any other person, as the old Korean
law prohibits any prince from holding important offices in the
Government.
Taiwon Kun’s family was very poor and had no influence in the court
so he and his three brothers accepted the title of prince when they
were young, and lived quietly and frugally in their humble homes.
The fourth prince was the brightest and most energetic in the
family, and was very desirous of having his sons become officials in
the Government. He had two sons and two daughters legitimately, and
one son and a daughter from his concubine. Through his diplomacy he
secured a civil office for his oldest son, Ye Chaimen, and he would
have done the same for his second had he not allowed the son (His
Majesty, the present Emperor) to be adopted by Queen Dowager Cho as
the heir to the throne of King Ikjong.
After the death of the last king, Chuljong, in 1863, Taiwon Kun
exerted his energy and tact and secured the throne for his second
son and made himself regent. From 1863 to 1872 Taiwon was the
practical ruler of the country, during which period Korea underwent
many notable internal changes and many foreign complications
occurred.
Some of the leading features of internal administration were the
rebuilding of the Kyengbok palace at a tremendous cost; construction
of the Government buildings in the front of the same palace, now
used by the various departments; widening of the streets in the
city; repairing of the city gates and walls; establishment of
arsenals in live different localities; organization of war junks in
Kangwha and Tongyung districts; minting high-denominationed cash and
manufacturing the old-fashioned cannons for the army. Besides these
improvements, he also inaugurated some of the most corruptible
practices among the officials and cruelest punishments for the
people. He commenced the practice of selling offices, especially the
provincial offices, to the highest bidders, and instituted the
custom of borrowing money from the well to do classes without the
least intention of paying it back. One of his most cruel acts was
the wholesale massacre and persecution of the native Christians. It
is said that he had some 10,000 innocent men, women, and children
killed because they were supposed to be believers in Christianity.
In this connection we might mention that many brave souls suffered
martyrs’ deaths with Christian fortitude and unswerving faith. This
massacre may be an indelible stain upon the character of the Prince,
but the heroic deaths of so many faithful followers of the Cross
will go down in the history of the Korean Church as a glorious
demonstration of the firmness of faith which the native Christians
possessed. We must not criticise the Prince too severely for the
cruelty ho practiced because he thought such was his duty. In recent
years he realized his mistake, and, to some extent, he confessed his
barbarity.
The unfortunate and unnecessary bloodshed at Kangwha between the crew
of an American war ship and the soldiers in the Korean forts took
place two years after the beginning of the Taiwon Kun’s régime. This
unpleasant affair could have been avoided if each side had
understood the motives of the other.
For nearly ten years the Prince was known among the people as a
tiger. His name was reverenced in all parts of the country and his
orders were obeyed from the highest to the lowest. However, he was
more feared than loved by the masses In 1872 his power was
curtailed, and he had no longer any voice in the Government. In 1882
he regained his power for a few weeks, after the breaking out of
mutiny among the Korean soldiers. But he was soon carried away by a
Chinese war ship to Tientsin through the deceptive plot of a Chinese
general. He spent three lonely years in China as a captive, but he
was permitted to return after the Tientsin convention between
Marquis Ito and Earl Li Hung-chang in 1885.
After his return from China he was watched and guarded by his
political enemies, and his position was not unlike a prisoner in his
own castle. For nearly ten years his name was scarcely mentioned
anywhere, and his former followers had been either killed or
banished. But after the commencement of the Japan-China war he
became again active in politics and recovered much of his former
influence in the Government. In the spring of 1895 he was for the
third time compelled to retire to his Uhen home, and spent the
summer days in enforced idleness. After the death of the late
empress he emerged from his compulsory retirement once more and took
up his abode in the palace, but was not allowed to interfere freely
with Government affairs.
From February 11, 1896, he was compelled to take up his residence in
his own palatial home in Kiodong, and since then he has led the life
of a hermit even to his last hour. His last appearance outside of
his compound was some time during last summer, when he made a sudden
visit to the police department for the purpose of rescuing one or
two of his followers who had been imprisoned there for a long time.
[Page 489]
On this occasion he
scolded the chief commissioner of police for the unjust imprisonment
of these men, and demanded an immediate trial of their charges by
the court. On his way home he paid a short visit to the palace, and
it turned out to be the last meeting between his Imperial son and
himself.
We do not pretend to be biographers, therefore we simply chronicle a
few simple facts of His Imperial Highnesses life and leave the
privilege of commenting upon them to future historians. However, we
might say that he was a strong character, and has been one of the
most prominent actors in the Korean political drama of recent
years.
