계해정변(인조반정)의 명분과 그 인식의 변화

Abstract

With emphasis on the original causes for the Palace Coup of 1623, promulgated one day after the coup, this paper looks at the situation in which the causes for the coup were inevitably adjusted and the legacy of such adjustment in Korean history. According to the royal message promulgated in the name of the Queen Dowager immediately following the coup, the causes for the coup could be divided into four categories: the deposed king's betrayal of the Ming to the 'barbaric' Manchus (43%), the confinement of the queen dowager and the murder of princes (31%), the monopoly of power and unfair personnel management (14%), and excessive palace construction (10%). The later sources, however, tend not to cite the betrayal of Ming China, but excessively emphasize the confinement of the queen dowager and the monopoly of power by the Northerner Faction. Why was the issue of foreign policy struck off the official causes for the coup? During the Manchu invasion of Korea (1636-1637), King Injo (r. 1623-1649) eventually surrendered to the Manchu emperor, making three bows and nine kowtows, with the result that one of the primary causes for the coup was now lost. In order to maintain his legitimacy and offset the lost cause with the other one, Injo and his officials had little option but to lay utmost emphasis on the confinement of the queen dowager and the murder of her son. Interestingly, the former Northerners who had joined the rallies held in the palace yard to appeal to the throne for the punishment of the queen dowager tended to place more emphasis on the monopoly of power than the persecution of the queen dowager for the purpose of protecting themselves from expected political accusations. In short, although all agreed that the Coup of 1623 was a righteous restoration, they did not share their views of what was righteous and what was evil. The adjustment of the causes for the Coup of 1623 thus sheds light on the nature of Chosŏn society, which could not have been freed easily from the original causes for the Coup, after its compromise with the Manchus.