Crown Prince Sado, Parts One and Two
This week I get properly into Crown Prince Sado's story. This story comes with a huge trigger warning, this is the ugly part of history. Despite this warning I hope you will join me for this. I am really happy to be doing episodes outside of Europe and I hope to do more in the future.
Transcript:
Before I start this episode I need to give a huge content warning. As always, the language will be appropriate, but the content is going to be shocking and disturbing. The subject of this episode is mentally unwell throughout a large part of his life and his actions are horrific. I don’t like to gloss over any parts of history, so I’m not going to hide anything. There will be some gore and I want you to be ready, and maybe don’t listen with children in the room.
Welcome to the first proper subject from outside of Europe. Hopefully there will be more soon, in fact, I have a few planned. I want to warn you in advance, this story will not have a happy ending, or middle. It is a pretty rough story that I’m about to cover. This won’t be the first Passed whose death was unnatural, of course, Thomas of Woodstock and Edward Prince of Wales were both pretty brutal. This is going to be a bit different though, this subject is a bit of Charles II of Navarre’s personality combined with the mental health issues of Charles VI of France. One note, the Memoirs of Lady Hyegyeong are not presented in purely chronological order, it’s four individual memoirs that are each chronological. If you’re reading it the first memoir, the Memoir of 1795, is less explicit than the Memoir of 1805, just a heads up. These two memoirs will be the main focus of these episodes. The other two memoirs focus on Lady Hyegyeong’s birth family and her son, respectively.
Crown Prince Sado was born on 13th of February 1735, he was the second son of King Yeongjo of Joseon and his Royal Noble Consort Yeong Bin (영빈), known as Lady Seonhui (선희). Neither of his parents were young, his mother was actually 39 at the time of his birth. She hadn’t even become a concubine until she was 31. Sado was also adopted by King Yeongjo’s queen, Jeongseong (정성). As I mentioned earlier, Yeongjo’s first son had died earlier, in 1728. While Korea had previously had queen regnants it had been more than a thousand years at this point. Not having an heir was a scary thing, especially considering the instability that had occurred when King Yeongjo came to power following the death of his brother, King Gyeongjong. But it appears that overall King Yeongjo’s reign was stable and Sado should have had an easy time. And it appears his early childhood was. Most of what we know about Sado comes from the writings of his wife, Lady Hyegyeong (혜경), and she didn’t come to the palace until 1744 when both she and Sado were nine. So, prior to her arrival we don’t have as much information as we do after her arrival.
What we do know is that the people, or at least the educated or those in court, hoped that the Sado would grow to be a thoughtful, intelligent man. They wanted him to be a great king, since at this point his father had become a stabilising influence on Korea. He was close to both his biological mother, Yeong Bin (영빈), and his adoptive mother, Jeongseong (정성) and his father’s adoptive mother, Queen Inwon (인원).
Sado was invested as crown prince when he was only a year old. King Yeongjo started visiting Sado less and less as he got older, this upset Sado greatly. Part of the reason his father didn’t visit is because of the ladies-in-waiting who cared for his sons. Ready for this? These ladies were rude to Sado’s mother. Yeah, the king just didn’t want to deal with rude ladies, so he visited his son less. Oddly, these ladies had also served Yeongjo’s half-brother and didn’t seem to like him much either. Remember that whole being accused of killing his brother in the introductory episode.
(If you hear this you are listening to an AI stolen copy of this Passed episode. Please visit passedpod.com for links to this show by it’s creator, Veronica Fortune)
A few of these ladies in waiting furthered Sado’s anxiety. One of the matrons got the young prince interested in martial games, this was not something that the royal family was meant to do. Sado worried his father would find out. In addition, these activities were blamed for his violent tendencies once he got into his twenties. Just so you know, Sado was only about six at the time. Once the king did find out he sent the matron away. He probably should have checked in on his son more, but you know one step at a time, right?
Not long before his wedding Sado had his capping ceremony. It’s similar to a formal matriculation ceremony for Sado beginning his formal education. This isn’t usually done so young though, but he was the Crown Prince, right?
Sado and Lady Hyegyeong were married in 1744, when they were nine, yes, it’s very similar to the betrothals we saw in earlier episodes. Just like those their relationship wasn’t consummated until they were 14 or so. This is common in many cultures around the world. Remember, until recently marriages were not for the joy of the couple, but for the joy of the family. They were alliances to help both parties secure property or funding, and most importantly to produce children to inherit all of the work the family had done. Sado and Lady Hyegyeong’s marriage was not made for love. The crown, via royal edict, had asked to court to present eligible women for the king to choose as his future daughter-in-law. Lady Hyegyeong’s mother hadn’t wanted to send her, but her father overruled his wife. Throughout these episodes if I refer to Sado’s wife I’m referring to Lady Hyegyeong.
The process of choosing a spouse for the children of the king was detailed. Candidates were pre-screened, can’t have a traitors child marrying into the royal family. The daughters of the educated and noble were pre-screened. Those who made it through the pre-screening were then brought to the palace to be, well, judged. The final three were then met by the king and queen, and chosen, in this case at least, due to both their own intelligence and Lady Hyegyeong’s father’s abilities. It didn’t hurt that Lady Hyegyeong’s family were members of the Noron faction. Her family, while not wealthy, were respected and full of scholars. Apparently, after she was chosen the king told his new daughter-in-law, ‘…allow me a word of advice. In serving the Crown Prince, please be gentle with him…If his eyes wander pretend you do not notice…It is improper for a woman to show her undergarments to her husband.’ Oh and be careful not getting your rouge on towels.
Now, I found this next little bit interesting, at least for me due to my background in Korea. While Lady Hyegyeong was awaiting her marriage she was moved to a special pavilion within the palace. This was a bit confusing for me, because this is not the way things are done in traditional Korean weddings. One important part is that the groom is to go to the bride’s parents house for the wedding ceremony and bring her to his house. There was feasting at both houses, but the ceremony at the bride’s house is important. While I was living in Korea, in addition to teaching English and working as a dive master on weekends, I also wrote for the local English news paper, Jeju weekly. There was a two-part story that I particularly enjoyed writing, the first part was about traditional Korean weddings, the second was about modern weddings. Thankfully, there was a note in the memoirs, to avoid this problem Lady Hyegyeong was housed in a special pavilion, which was deemed her temporary house. Her parents even stayed there with her, so tradition was maintained in a rather unique way. In case you’re curious I’ll include the link to my article on Jeju Weekly (http://www.jejuweekly.net/news/articleView.html?idxno=254).
I know this isn’t Lady Hyegyeong’s story (that’s coming up in a special episode for Patrons), but our best source is her story, so many things will be from her point of view. I find a few parts, especially in her and Sado’s childhood, particularly lovely. I don’t know how much my listeners know about Confucianism, remember, that what you’ve heard will often be the ‘perfect’ or ‘ideal’ version of Confucianism, so, the separation of a woman from her family when she married was often more an ideal that an actual practice (think about how Catholicism was practiced versus the ideal. This can be seen with Sado and Lady Hyegyeong. While she moved out of her parent’s house they were often at the palace with her. In fact, her father, Hong Bonghan, visited the palace regularly to tutor Sado. Her mother would also visit regularly. Sado was apparently a good student and intelligent. He was generous in his youth, which will make his adult behaviour all the more egregious.
Sado and his father seem to have had a difficult relationship, to the point where being around his father caused the prince to have anxiety. His father wasn’t the best dad. The king would regularly yell at this son in front of palace servants. Sado, though, deeply respected his father and wanted to please him, which probably didn’t help his anxiety. Sado was pleased when his father-in-law passed his palace exams. I’m not up for going through the entirety of the state testing system, but it’s a lot of work and passing this was a huge deal. Sado was a reserved, deliberate child. He worried he would say the wrong thing to his father when asked academic questions. Sado did well with his tutors, including his father-in-law, but really struggled in front of his father. This led to his father pulling away further. It became a vicious cycle. Sado didn’t even greet his father as a son, Lady Hyegyeong even wrote that he would prostrate himself in front of the king instead of sitting and talking with him.
The first event of any note in his life started when he was ten, he had some type of illness. It seems to have been rather severe, he lost conciseness, which would have been terrifying for everyone involved. This wouldn’t be the last illness in the royal court. One of Sado’s sisters, Princess Hwapyeong (화평), died in childbirth in 1748. He had been rather close to her and this loss saddened him.
Sado was given a second capping ceremony, his first had been at a rather young age. Because Sado and Lady Hyegyeong had been married so young they had a second ceremony when they were 14. This was when their marriage was consummated.
In 1750 Sado and Lady Hyegyeong welcomed their first child, a boy, in September. He was named Leejeong (이정). You will notice throughout this episode that the given names of each of Sado’s son’s start with Lee (이), this isn’t a surname first thing, this is the first syllable of their given name, it’s the male generational name for this family, Sado’s personal name was actually Lee Seon (이선). The names of his daughters all have Cheong (청). I know those of you who are good at math know this already, but both Sado and Lady Hyegyeong were both 15. Much like European royalty, those in the highest ranks of society often married young and had children young. Sadly, this first son only survived until he was one and a half. Lady Hyegyeong was pregnant when Eijeong died.
Around the time his son was born Sado was appointed regent by his father. Yes, he was only 15, and no, nothing was wrong with his dad. This was a way for the king to allow his son to learn how to rule. It’s not a bad idea, similar to sending your son to Wales to learn how to rule. The problem was nothing was wrong with King Yeongjo and he didn’t need a regent, in fact he wanted even more power. Despite elevating his son the king didn’t allow him to partake in normal customs that would have been expected. Visiting the family shrine and assisting with court ceremonies was expected of an heir and the king didn’t allow his son to join until he was well into his twenties.
Both before and while Sado was regent his father made him attend political trials. These included questioning and interrogation by the king or Sado. These were not comfortable experiences for Sado. Sado wasn’t prepared to be regent, and it looks as though his father didn’t do much to help him. Sado would receive letters from officials regarding complaints and basically hand them off to his father instead of trying to learn what he should be doing. Remember, at the start of his regency he was only 15, so this was a lot to expect of him. In addition his father would berate him about his failures. To make it worse his father would also get upset at Sado when he tried to sort things out himself. Sado was in a bit of a no-win situation. His father would regularly express his disappointment with his son, expressing that he thought the Prince-Regent had insufficient virtue. King Yeongjo threatened to abdicate to scare is son, the one who is only 15, into being better. This did not happen. I have some thoughts on Yeongjo in my concluding remarks, I have no doubt you can all guess them by now.
The October before the death of his first son Sado had woken from a dream of a dragon. He interpreted this dream that his next child would be a son. He wasn’t wrong, though to be fair, he had a 50/50 chance of getting that right. A year later, on the 28th of October 1752 Sado’s second son, Jeongjo(정조) was born. Jeongjo’s personal name was Lee San (이산). I’ll stick with Jeongjo, since he’ll be sticking around for a while and this is his ruling name (spoilers, oh, and he’s also known as Jeongjo the Great, more spoilers!).
While 1752 had something to celebrate it was actually a rather horrible year. A measles epidemic had started in late October 1750 and it hit the palace for a second time in November of 1752. Let me remind everyone listening that vaccines are amazing and measles is deadly. In fact, it killed one of Sado’s younger sisters, Princess Hwahyeop (화협), who was only 19. During this outbreak Sado and Jeongjo came down with measles. They had both originally been moved from the main rooms of the palace to try to protect them from the outbreak. Hyegyeong was not allowed to come with them, which means she was separated from her son when he was only a few days old. Traditionally Korean mothers and their children stay at home for the first 21 days after birth. So, this separation was highly unusual. Sadly, it didn’t protect either Sado nor his son. They both became ill. Lady Hyegyeong’s father actually looked after his son-in-law along with the help. Lady Hyegyeong also got well, thankfully all three recovered.
The royal couple was rather proud and fond of their son. Jeongjo may have been brighter than your average baby, he did grow up to become a respected king, but I’m pretty sure this is the same as chroniclers bragging about how perfect the Black Prince was. Sadly, Sado was starting to show issues. His mother-in-law spent a great deal of time in the palace due to the measles and Jeongjo’s birth. During this time Sado would show some signs of mental illness, he’d get frustrated easily and his mother-in-law, of all people, was able to calm him. He had hallucinated while reading Taoist writings in 1752. This terrorised him, ’I see the thunder god.’ His mental illness became worse after this. The hallucination about the thunder god led to Sado being fearful of lightening and thunder, these are common weather events in Korea. A reminder that Sado was still in his teens.
The couple’s first daughter was born in 1754. This meant that his mother-in-law spent even more time at the palace and helped calm him more often. He wasn’t even 20 and already struggling deeply with his mental health.
While Sado’s primary wife was doing everything right the prince’s eyes were wandering. He took a concubine, Sukbin, sometime in 1753. He knew his father would be disappointed when this concubine fell pregnant. There’s not a note as to why in Hyegyeong’s memoirs, I imagine because the king was rather fond of his daughter-in-law, and she was, well, doing her job. Sado gave his consort medicine to try to cause an abortion, this failed and he was terrified of his father. His relationship with his in-laws came in handy here. Shockingly, his father-in-law of all people, was able to convince the king not to be angry at Sado. Yes, this is a rather different family relationship than we’re used to. Sado’s third son, Lee In, who would survive well until adulthood, was born on the 1st of February 1754. Sukbin had the couple’s second child, another son, Lee chan (이찬), in 1755. If you’re keeping count he now has one surviving son and daughter with his wife and two surviving sons with his consort. He actually had four children until the age of three, having had three under two I can tell you that’s a lot, it’s probably a good thing he was a prince and had a bit of help. Sado really didn’t know what to do about his son with his junior consort. His wife was actually reprimanded for not being jealous, in Confucianism being a jealous of your husband’s mistress is actually grounds for divorce. Lady Hyegyeong actually comments on how unfair and odd it was that she was treated this way in her memoirs. She couldn’t think of a reason she was treated this way. Sado’s parents basically ignored the new baby.
With that exciting and not even slightly touching family moment, I’ll take break for this week. Next week it only goes further down hill, spoilers, but I don’t want any of you to expect a happy ending.
Welcome back to part two. Last week ended on a poor note, as will this week. Sorry, history isn’t usually pretty. You’ll remember that we ended with Sado promising not to kill anyone else, which sounds great, until you learn that he lied. This week though starts out with a wedding, which could be happy news. As I discussed last week, King Yeongjo’s queen had died, after observing a proper mourning period it was time for him to find a new wife. Due to a complicate rule he couldn’t elevate any of his noble consorts to queen, so a new woman needed to be found.
Much like his son’s first marriage the court ordered eligible women to be presented. The king selected Jeongsun, who was 13. Yes, she was ten years younger than Sado. The couple wouldn’t have any children, it appears the very young queen might have been infertile, there are no records of any pregnancies between the couple. So, Sado has lost his adoptive mother and grandmother and his father has married a teenager, plus, his mental health is a mess.
Oddly, he didn’t have any problems with his father marrying again. He managed to perform his filial duties to both his father and new step-mother. He was also an attentive father, at least to his oldest surviving son, Jeongjo. I want to make sure to share that he wasn’t all bad, he was also close to his sisters. His wife wrote that even when he was incredibly unwell he was able to control his behaviour towards them most of the time.
Throughout this period Sado was also overspending. He exceeded his allowance regularly and basically stole funds from the palace’s general account. His reign as regent was not going to impress anyone. To be fair, part of the reason he was struggling with funds was his clothing phobia, he needed up to 30 outfits laid out for him each morning and still struggled to get dressed. And yes, he did kill people over his clothing issues.
King Yeongjo fell ill at the start of 1759. While he was unwell he was afraid for what would happen if he died. It was was very clear that Sado was in no position to rule due to his mental illness. Yeongjo did recover, but his illness showed him how bad things were.
After his recovery, in late March 1759, Yeongjo appointed Jeongjo the Grand Heir. Grand Heir is the designation for the son of the Crown Prince if the Crown Prince in the son of the king. In Korea a Crown Prince can be someone who isn’t the son of the king. Prince Sado was proud of his son’s appointment.
In 1760 Sado’s symptoms became worse. He was more violent and his clothing phobia wasn’t getting better. He was also hallucinating regularly. Yeongjo criticised his son more harshly as his illness became worse. The king called Sado’s tutors to a formal audience on the prince’s birthday to dress down his son, what a great birthday present. Sado had a particularly violent outburst in response. He yelled at his own children, who were all under ten, and kicked them out of his rooms. This was also the first time his biological mother saw his illness in person, she had heard rumours. She was appalled.
The same year he threatened his sister, Princess Hwawan, with a sword. Sado had always expected Hwawan to help him with his father, but this year he became more demanding. He resented her because she was their father’s favourite. In addition to threatening her he tried to ban her from returning to her own residence. The sword incident occurred after he got her to convince their father to move. Sado wanted Yeongjo gone so he could play more war games, she managed it and he still raised a sword to her. Sado was given permission, by his father, to travel. His sister helped with this after the sword incident. Around this time he assaulted his wife, throwing a game board at her. She actually hid from court while the injury healed.
Sado’s trip went better than expected. At the palace it was calm and Sado was a bit bored on his trip. When he retuned though he wanted to leave again. His father and wife were able to convince him not to. He was angered though because his father was spending quality time with his son. Sado had always wanted his father’s affection and seeing his father be so kind to his son hurt him.
Sado was spending his free time playing war games and riding his horse. Remember, he was meant to be regent, he needed to actually pay attention to ruling. When he grew bored of this he left that palace and, well, attacked people. During a moment of anger while he was in the palace he beat his second junior consort to death. The pair had two young children. After this act Sado left the palace, Hyegyeong even had to arrange the young woman’s funeral. Sado didn’t even respond when he returned. Not long after he snuck out to travel to Pyongyang (평양). His wife and his servants had hid his trip from everyone else in the palace. His earlier trips hadn’t helped, but his Pyongyang trip seemed to have calmed him. He was able to visit his father a month later without incident. Sadly it wouldn’t last.
Sado became unwell in late March 1761. His wife actually writes in her memoirs that she wish he would have died of this illness. It took him five months to recover. Around this time his father found out about his trip to Pyongyang and got upset at his son. The king managed not to yell at is son about this.
When Jeongjo got sick with smallpox Sado was able to control his emotions. But at the final selection of his son’s bride Sado struggled getting ready for the day. His father was judgemental towards his choices, but managed to avoid saying anything. Both father and son though managed to control themselves.
Sado’s health was bad, but in 1761 he helped select his oldest son’s future wife. The future Queen Hyoui (효의), was only nine, Jeongjo was nine as well, so much like Sado and Hyegyeong, a rather young couple. Sado, despite his health, was kind and supportive of his new daughter-in-law. The feeling was apparently mutual, and Hyoui was a dutiful daughter-in-law. Not long after the young woman was selected they both came down with smallpox. Yet, again, let me mention how amazing vaccines are. Thankfully the young soon to be newly weds recovered. His son’s recovery seemed to help Sado’s mental health, even if momentarily. The couple were married in early March 1762.
In addition to the king’s distress over his son’s illness his father-in-law and his wife were greatly distressed. It’s important to remember that Prince Jeongjo needed to be protected if he were to ever have a chance to rule. A child can be judged by their parent’s behaviours and downfall and Sado was having a lot of behaviours and about to have a horrible downfall. In early 1762 Sado’s symptoms flared up. He ordered his servants to do things that upset his wife so much that she didn’t write it down. Apparently his servants actually yelled at him. With this Sado started drinking. He started holding parties, and reading between the lines I do not think these were the parties most of us would want to go to. It seemed as though while partying he was also preparing to die. He had placed funeral items around his rooms. People who were at his parties often slept on the floor after the parties were over, it was a bad look. He invited fortune tellers to his rooms and when they told him things he didn’t like he killed them. He was also still killing his servants and even his doctors.
While even his wife doesn’t think Sado’s end was brought about as a conspiracy there were a few people involved outside of the royal family. The incident is a bit complicated. One of the king’s ministers, Sin Man, returned to the palace. Sin Man and the king, well, gossiped about Sado. This led to Sado’s mental health declining further. With is anger turned up a palace official, Na Kyeongon, encouraged by his brother Na Sangon, sent a list of charges that Sado was guilty of to his father. Sado then brought Na Kyeongon into the courtyard to interrogate him. Na Kyeongon was executed by the king and Sado also interrogated Na Sangon. Sado then threatened to kill Sin Man’s son, who was actually his own brother-in-law.
Sado expected to be punished, but still was able to do things around the palace. His mother, though, had noticed his actions. This is when Sado’s behaviour became, somehow, more problematic. He attempted to sneak into the area of the palace where his father lived. With this his mother approached his father to properly deal with their son.
Sado’s behaviour was out of control. His wife actually considered taking her own life due to how much of a struggle it was. She wrote in her memoirs that the only thing that stoped her was her son. His own mother, the biological one who was still alive, being unable to help him and seeing how poorly things were going may have encouraged King Yeongjo to find a way to execute Sado. Lady Hygyeong and her son, Jeongjo actually overheard the request for a rice box, the method of execution Yeongjo had settled on. Jeongjo, who wasn’t even ten, begged for his father’s life. This is also when Lady Hyegyeong tried to kill herself, but was stopped by those present. On the 3rd or 4th of July 1762 Crown Prince Sado was ordered into a rice box. Now this is the part of the story you may have heard of before this episode. What you may not know is that his wife actually tried to kill herself on this day. She was only stopped because there were people around her who took the knife out of her hand. Sado wasn’t as lucky. His father knew what he was doing. King Yeongjo couldn’t just command the execution of his son. Had he commanded the execution of his son he would have been required to order the execution of his daughter-in-law, grandson, the Grand Heir Jeongjo, and his granddaughters.
I can tell you July in Korea is rather humid and hot, being stuck in a small box would be torture and that might have been part of the goal. Yeongjo didn’t expect his son to survive this trial. Sado was placed in the box to die. This doesn’t mean that Sado just gave up. He was recorded begging for his life. This was obviously a disaster for Sado, since he was dying in a box, but it was rather bad for his wife, consorts, and sons especially his oldest son, Jeongjo. While King Yeongjo didn’t execute his son, legally, but he did have him stripped of his royal title. This meant that his wife and children (and consorts) were stripped of their titles and forced to leave the palace grounds. Lady Hyegyeong and her children returned to her father’s house. Eight days later, on the 12th of July 1762 Sado died. That same day he was re-elevated to Crown Prince and his family returned to the palace, since they were again royalty.
(If you hear this you are listening to an AI stolen copy of this Passed episode. Please visit passedpod.com for links to this show by it’s creator, Veronica Fortune)
Being the son of a person who was seen as, and probably was, insane would shadow his reign. There was one thing his grandfather could do to help his grandson, and now heir. Jeongjo was adopted by his uncle. Wait, you say, Sado was King Yeongjo’s only surviving son. True, you’re right, Yeongjo’s first son, his only other son, Lee Haeng (이행), had died in December of 1728, almost 34 years earlier. So, the very deceased Lee Haeng (이행) posthumously adopted his nephew, Jeongjo. This is is like Roman practice on steroids. By removing Sado as Jeongjo’s legal father the king was hoping to protect his heir. There is a bit more to this story, and patrons will hear all about it.
While it sounds like King Yeongjo was a horrible father, okay, honestly, he probably was, he did grieve greatly for his son. He was heartbroken with what he had to do. He took in his grandson, and moved him to the main palace, after ‘asking’ his daughter-in-law for permission. Do remember, at this point Jeongjo wasn’t a baby, he was almost ten, but it still upset mother and son. Yeongjo, upon posthumously restoring his son, gave him the title Sado, the name we’ve used throughout this episode. It means thinking of with great sorrow.
Sado’s story, of course, doesn’t end with his death. In 1776 Jeongjo requested his grandfather, king Yeongjo, erase the official records of Sado’s death and the circumstances surrounding it. The king agreed. Due to time and the records being erased newer members of the court and various members of factions began spreading rumours that Sado hadn’t been insane and that his father had been tricked. These rumours were likely started to destabilise the transition from Yeongjo to Jeongjo, Jeongjo became king on the 23rd of April 1776, when his grandfather died, but he had been crowned on the 10th of March 1776. When Jeongjo became king he was aware of the actual reasons for his father’s execution. He wasn’t an idiot. Despite this he declared, once he was king, that Sado was his father. He also changed Sado’s posthumous name
Jeongjo reign did start out a bit messy. Once he became king had one of his step-grandmothers, Sugwi, also known and Lady Mun, executed. In his defence she had tried getting him removed from the succession.
Sado had other children, six others who survived him. I can’t find details about all of them, of course, who writes about daughters anyway, at least after the first. His oldest daughter, Princess Cheongyeon lived well into her sixties and had three surviving children, sadly she had six children die in infancy. His second daughter lived into her forties, but I can’t find much else about her. Sado’s next son, Lee In, was exiled to Ganghwa Island by Yeongjo. He did marry though and had multiple children. He was executed due to his conversion to Catholicism. Prince Lee Jin was exiled to Jeju, which is an amazing place to live when you chose to, but might not be nice to be exiled to. He was also exiled by his grandfather. Lee Jin died young, at only 17. Sado’s youngest daughter was the longest lived of all his children, at 77. Sado’s youngest son, Prince Lee Chan was executed at 26 for treason.
The final chapter of Sado’s life happened in 1899, 137 years after his death. Prince Sado and Lady Hyegyeong were, posthumously elevated to emperor as Emperor Yangjo and Empress Heonyeong.
Analysis:
I do get the feeling, from reading The Memoirs of Lady Hyegyeong, that King Yeongjo may have been a super bad father but she was trying to avoid saying so. She wanted to be a filial daughter-in-law, but he really sounds like a mean dad. He was rather rough on his son. He might have been a really great king, but he was a rubbish father. Yeongjo even suggested that his son was responsible for droughts, storms, and just in general for things going wrong. None of this is to suggest that he is culpable for what his son did. Parents can contribute to mental health issues, but Sado’s were likely something clinical. Lady Hyegyeong does blame the king for Sado’s issues, even though she tries not to. In her own writing she states that Sado had been showing symptoms since he was nine. So, while his dad was a pretty bad dad, Sado’s illness was likely something he was born with.
I guess the important question is, well, would Sado have been a better king that the king who ruled instead of him? I think we all know the answer, no, he wouldn’t have. His mental health was not well and he would have been a cruel and despotic king. This was darker than anything Henry VI did or even Charles VI.
Something you may not know about Korean history, many younger sons of kings or heirs were sent to islands in exile. The problem with doing this with Sado is that he was violent, and banishing him meant banishing his family. By choosing the rice box as Sado’s execution Yeongjo was able to protect Sado’s family, and Sado’s sons were the only heirs.
Quick shout out, as always, to Phil. In addition to editing my scripts and listening to all episodes after I’ve edited them he also leaves me funny little notes in the margins. For these episodes his notes were ‘bad dad’ throughout, and I can’t disagree with him.
After these last few really tough episodes I’m looking forward to doing episodes about people who just happened to die before a distant cousin. Patrons, your special episode will be out on Sunday. To everyone else, I’ll see you next week where you will learn a bit about the cadet branches of the Valois family tree before going all the way back to the Capetians.
