---
node: joseon
type: period
slug: joseon_dynasty
title: "Joseon dynasty"
lead: "The Joseon dynasty ruled Korea as a Neo-Confucian monarchy for five centuries from 1392. King Sejong created the Hangul alphabet, and the state weathered Japanese and Manchu invasions before the Korean Empire was proclaimed in 1897."
published: 2026-07-09
updated: 2026-07-09
---

## Overview

Joseon governed for five centuries as a Neo-Confucian monarchy from its new capital Hanyang, today's Seoul. Society was ordered around the yangban scholar-elite and the gwageo state examinations.

## Key developments

King Sejong's reign (1418–1450) was the golden age, producing the Hangul alphabet (1443/1446), scientific instruments, and agricultural handbooks. Catastrophes followed: Hideyoshi's invasions from Japan (the Imjin War, 1592–1598) were repelled with Ming help and Yi Sun-sin's navy, and Manchu invasions in 1627 and 1636–37 forced tributary ties to the Qing.

Long stability and relative seclusion followed; 19th-century Westerners called Joseon the "hermit kingdom."

## End and transition

Late crisis came with the Donghak peasant rising of 1894, the Sino-Japanese War fought over Korea, the Gabo reforms, and the assassination of Queen Min in 1895. King Gojong proclaimed the Korean Empire in 1897.