조선시대 공민왕 인식의 변화 과정

Abstract

The Joseon government considered King Gongmin-wang (“Gongmin” from now on) of Goryeo (r.1352~1374) as the de-facto “last” leader of the late Goryeo government, and recorded the history of Goryeo - Joseon’s predecessor - with roughly the same sentiment.BR King Gongmin’s governance had a huge influence upon a group of Goryeo politicians who were instrumental in founding the Joseon dynasty later. One may say his reign inspired those officials’ reform policies in the 1380s and the ’90s. Even during the early years of Joseon people thought very highly of King Gongmin for several reasons, that he was well aware of [Joseon founder king Taejo] Yi Seong-gye’s abilities, appointed him to important seats in the government, and ‘served China well.’ Early Joseon kings even considered Gongmin’s reign as a model, and used to compare theirs with his.BR Yet such high evaluation of King Gongmin apparently began to change during the reigns of both Sejong and Sejo, and negative perception of Gongmin’s reign continued to increase during Seongjong and Jungjong’s reign as well, to the point of criticizing him as ‘king of a fallen dynasty.’ This change in Gongmin’s image was not only triggered by the passage of time. It was also being linked with the issue of ‘clarifying [rectifying] the founder king’s lineage[heritage].’ In order to resolve this issue, the Joseon government came to describe Gongmin more and more negatively. During King Hyeonjong’s reign, Gongmin even came to be compared with Gwang’hae-gun, who was an example of a dethroned king.