Heungseon Daewongun

Common card · No. 282788

Heungseon Daewongun (Korean: 흥선대원군; Hanja: 興宣大院君; 24 January 1821 – 22 February 1898) was the title of Yi Ha-eung, the regent of Joseon during the minority of Emperor Gojong in the 1860s. Until his death, he was a key political figure of late Joseon Korea. He was known simply as the Daewongun (대원군; 大院君; lit. ''Grand Prince Regent''; though referred as 'Grand Internal Prince', due to his regency, Grand Prince Regent is more appropriate), Guktaegong (국태공; 國太公; lit. ''The Great Archduke''), or later Grand Internal Prince Imperial Heonui (헌의대원왕; 獻懿大院王); he was also known to contemporary western diplomats as Prince Gung. Daewongun literally translates as "grand prince of the court", a title customarily granted to the father of the reigning monarch when that father did not reign himself (usually because his son had been adopted as heir of a relative who did reign). While there had been three other daewonguns during the Joseon period, none were as dominant as Yi Ha-eung, so the term usually refers...

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