ABSTRACT
In the mid-nineteenth century Korea was in the fifth century of its last great dynastic system. Founded in 1392 the Chosǒn (Yi) Dynasty represented a political and social system of extraordinary stability and balance. The system had survived the Japanese invasions of 1592 and 1597, the Manchu incursions of 1627 and 1636, economic downturns, peasant rebellions, and recurrent, serious internal political disputes. In the nineteenth century it faced its most serious challenges in the form of the changed international environment in East Asia, economic difficulties, and profound weakness within its own central government. In spite of these difficulties, the Chosǒn system continued into the twentieth century, only to be destroyed in the wake of Japanese colonization in 1910.
