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Home›Korean history

Joseon dynasty

Five centuries of Korean history in eight units: the founding in 1392, the capital Hanyang and Gyeongbokgung, King Sejong and the Korean alphabet, exams and social status, the Imjin War, the practical learning scholars, the opening of the ports in 1876 and the Korean Empire of 1897. Each unit has a timeline, flashcards and practice questions; dates follow the National Institute of Korean History.

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About this course

The new dynasty was founded in 1392, and the court proposed two names: Joseon, the name of the ancient kingdom known today as Gojoseon, and Hwaryeong, the old name of Taejo's birthplace. The Ming emperor chose Joseon, calling it beautiful and long established, and the new name came into use early in 1393. This course covers five centuries in eight units, with a timeline, flashcards and practice questions in each. Dates follow the National Institute of Korean History.

The units run from the founding of Joseon in 1392 to Hanyang and Gyeongbokgung Palace, King Sejong and Hunminjeongeum, civil service exams and social status, the Imjin War of 1592, Silhak the practical learning, the opening of the ports in 1876, and the Korean Empire of 1897. For the palace, Jeong Do-jeon recited a line from the Chinese Book of Songs and took gyeongbok, great blessings, from the last words. The regular exam, the singnyeonsi, was held every three years, and by the 1500s special exams were frequent. In the first round of the civil exam, provincial tests in the eight provinces chose 150 candidates, the capital chose 40 and the national academy, Seonggyungwan, chose 50. For two centuries after its founding, Joseon fought only border skirmishes. Then in 1592 Toyotomi Hideyoshi sent a huge army across the strait, and the war lasted seven years.

The last units turn to the end of the dynasty. After the American fleet left in 1871, Heungseon Daewongun had stone markers called cheokhwabi set up across the country warning against treaties with the West. In 1895 Queen Min was murdered by Japanese agents, and Gojong secretly moved to the Russian legation on 11 February 1896 and ruled from there for about a year.

Before you start

Joseon begins where Goryeo dynasty ends, with Yi Seong-gye's retreat from Wihwa Island, so that course is the best lead-in. If you have studied Korean Hangul: letters and sounds, the unit on King Sejong and Hunminjeongeum will connect directly to letters you already read.

When you finish

You will be able to explain how Joseon was founded in 1392 and why the capital moved to Hanyang, describe Gyeongbokgung, and say when Sejong created 28 letters. You can explain the civil exam that passed 33 people, how Yi Sun-sin won at Myeongnyang with 13 ships, what silhak scholars proposed, and what the 1876 Treaty of Ganghwa and the 1897 Korean Empire changed.

  1. 1The founding of Joseon in 1392Yi Seong-gye was crowned in Suchanggung Palace in Gaegyeong in the seventh month of 1392, yet for several months his country was still called Goryeo.
  2. 2Hanyang and Gyeongbokgung PalaceGyeongbokgung opened in 1395 with about 390 kan (bays between pillars), and its name comes from a line of the Book of Songs wishing the king "great blessings".
  3. 3King Sejong and HunminjeongeumKing Sejong created 28 letters in the winter of 1443, and the book explaining them came out three years later, in the ninth lunar month of 1446.
  4. 4Civil service exams and social statusThe regular civil exam was held every three years and passed exactly 33 people, a number said to come from the 33 heavens of Buddhist cosmology.
  5. 5The Imjin War of 1592At the Battle of Myeongnyang in 1597, Yi Sun-sin had 13 warships against 133 Japanese ships in a narrow tidal strait.
  6. 6Silhak, the practical learningJeong Yak-yong wrote that with one pulley, 50 geun of effort lifts 100 geun, and with two, only 25 geun; his lifting device helped build Hwaseong Fortress in under three years.
  7. 7The opening of the ports in 1876The Treaty of Ganghwa was signed in 1876 after about 20 days of talks in a drill hall on Ganghwa Island, with Japanese warships waiting offshore.
  8. 8The Korean Empire of 1897On 12 October 1897 King Gojong performed a rite to heaven at the newly built Hwangudan altar and became emperor; the next day he named the country Daehan.

Related courses

  • Prehistory and Gojoseon
    From the first people on the Korean peninsula about 700,000 years ago to the Iron Age states that came after Gojoseon, in six units. A 3D timeline lays the ages and states of Korea beside events in the wider world, with a Real length switch that shows how long the Stone Age really was. Dates follow the National Institute of Korean History, and where sources disagree the units say so.
  • Three Kingdoms of Korea
    Goguryeo, Baekje, Silla and the Gaya states in eight units: how each began, how Buddhism arrived, what the Gwanggaeto Stele says, the wars with Sui and Tang, Silla’s victory over Tang in 676 and the founding of Balhae. Each unit has a timeline, flashcards, a simplified map or diagram and practice questions. Dates follow the National Institute of Korean History; founding dates before about 300 CE come from the Samguk sagi and Samguk yusa and are debated.
  • Goryeo dynasty
    The 474 years of Goryeo, from Wang Geon's founding in 918 to the end of the dynasty in 1392, in seven units: reunification, building the state, wars with the Khitan and Jurchen, military rule, the Mongol wars, celadon and printing, and the fall. A 3D timeline sets Goryeo's periods beside the Liao, Song, Mongol and Ming empires. Dates follow the National Institute of Korean History, and where sources disagree the units say so.
  • Continents and oceans · World geography
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Sources for this course (9)
  • 국사편찬위원회 우리역사넷 (contents.history.go.kr): 한국사 연대기 조선·근대 (한양 천도, 경복궁, 한양도성, 훈민정음, 자격루, 임진왜란, 한산도 해전, 명량해전, 이순신, 실학, 북학의, 정약용, 척화비, 강화도 조약, 환구단)
  • 신편 한국사 22·23권 (태조 즉위의 승인과 국호개정, 문과·무과·잡과)
  • 우리역사넷 용어 (과거 제도, 상민, 목민심서)
  • 고종과 대한제국의 개혁과 좌절, 사료로 본 한국사 (정약용의 거중기, 강화도 조약)
  • 한국민족문화대백과사전 (encykorea.aks.ac.kr): 노량해전, 명량대첩, 대동여지도, 열하일기, 박지원, 균전론
  • 국가유산청 국가유산 디지털 서비스 (digital.khs.go.kr): 경복궁, 수원 화성
  • 국가유산청 한국의 세계기록유산 (heritage.go.kr): 훈민정음 해례본
  • 국립중앙박물관 대동여지도 전시 안내 (2026)
  • Lunar-calendar dates are given as recorded in the Annals.

Checked: 2026-10-17