
Joseon, also known as Choson, was the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, lasting from 5 August 1392 to 13 October 1897. In July 1392, Yi Seong-gye overthrew the Mongol vassal kingdom of Goryeo, and he moved the capital from Kaesong to Seoul. The Joseon established the Yalu River as their northernmost border after subduing the Jurchens, and Korea adopted Neo-Confucianism as the Joseon state's ideology, entrenching Confucian ideals and doctrines and discouraging Buddhism. During the 1590s, the kingdom was weakened by Japanese invasions during the Imjin War, and Joseon was vassalized by the Later Jin in 1627 and by the Qing Chinese in 1636-1637. Joseon proceeded to enter a period of isolationism and acquire the nickname, "The Hermit Kingdom", for refusing to trade with outsiders, including their Japanese neighbors. The kingdom experienced a cultural renaissance within its borders until the onset of the 19th century, which brought with it several peasant rebellions due to widespread poverty and starvation. During the 1860s and 1870s, France, the United States, and Japan each launched punitive expeditions against isolationist Korea, eventually forcing Korea to open up to foreign trade in 1876. Under Japanese influence, Korea rapidly modernized, and its Gabo Reform in 1895 abolished slavery, nepotism, the civil service examination, and other antiquated practices, while codifying Joseon's modernization. The kingdom was transformed into a battleground for foreign powers as Emperor Gojong of Korea found himself a helpless bystander as Japan, Russia, and China battled for influence over Korea and Korean nationalists rebelled against the foreigners and the Joseon regime in the Donghak Peasant Revolution and the Righteous Armies Wars. In 1897, two years following Qing China's expulsion from Korea in the First Sino-Japanese War, Gojong was emboldened to formally end Korea's subservience to Qing China and proclaim himself the first Emperor of the "Korean Empire".