Person1337 – 1392

Jeong Mong-ju

Leader of the moderate Confucian reformers, killed at Seonjuk Bridge by Yi Bang-won’s men for staying loyal to Goryeo

A student of Yi Saek, he taught Neo-Confucianism at the Seonggyungwan and promoted ancestral shrines and rites according to Zhu Xi’s Family Rituals. He served as envoy to Ming and Japan. He worked with Yi Seong-gye’s faction on reform but opposed replacing the dynasty. He is said to have answered Yi Bang-won’s poem "Hayeoga" with "Dansimga" ("Though I die and die again, a hundred times over…"). He was killed at Seonjukgyo in 1392.

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1 related event

  1. 1
    1392Killing of Jeong Mong-jurelated figure

    Jeong Mong-ju, leader of the moderate scholar-officials who defended Goryeo against a change of dynasty, was killed at Seonjuk Bridge in Gaegyeong by Yi Bang-won’s men; three months later Yi Seong-gye took the throne.

Related works

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People who appear alongside

  • Taejong (Yi Bang-won)1367 – 1422

    Third king of Joseon, who seized power in the Strifes of Princes and strengthened royal authority

  • Taejo (Yi Seong-gye)1335 – 1408

    Founder and first king of Joseon, formerly a general who fought Japanese pirates and the Red Turbans

  • King Gongyang1345 – 1394

    Last king of Goryeo, placed on the throne by Yi Seong-gye’s faction; the Gwajeon Law was enacted in his reign

Themes this person appears in

  • GaeseongAD 901 – 2003

    From Wang Geon, lord of Songak, to the Kaesong Industrial Complex — Gaegyeong, Goryeo’s capital for five centuries, and home of the Song merchants