Gojong of the Korean Empire

Gojong was king of Joseon from 1864 and proclaimed himself emperor of Korea in 1897. His reign was shaped by court faction, reform, foreign intervention and growing Japanese control; he was forced to abdicate in 1907 after attempting to appeal internationally against the protectorate.

Gojong of the Korean Empire also held the offices or ranks of king of Joseon Dynasty. Gojong of the Korean Empire belonged to the House of Yi and operated within Joseon; Korean Empire; Korea. Gojong of the Korean Empire was born in Unhyeongung and died in Deoksugung.

Pearl S. Buck’s The Living Reed places Gojong at the centre of the Korean monarchy as foreign intervention and Japanese expansion erode the court’s ability to govern independently. The Kim family serves close enough to the palace for royal policy, reform disputes and factional intrigue to affect their private lives, while the assassination of Queen Min and the progressive weakening of Gojong’s authority mark the transformation of the kingdom into a state increasingly controlled from outside. As the novel moves toward annexation and resistance, Gojong’s court becomes a symbol of both Korea’s threatened sovereignty and the limits of a monarchy trying to survive between competing imperial powers.