| Crown Prince Sohyeon | |
|---|---|
| Hangul | 소현세자 |
| Hanja | 昭顯世子 |
| Revised Romanization | Sohyeon Seja |
| McCune–Reischauer | Sohyŏn Secha |
Crown Prince Sohyeon (소현세자, 昭顯世子, 1612-1645) was the first son of King Injo of Joseon Dynasty.
Sohyeon was detained in Shenyang, by treaty of peace after War in 1636. He moved to Beijing in 1644, and communicated with Johann Adam Schall von Bell. However, he died not long after he returned to Korea, in 1645.[1]
Sohyeon was selected as the crown prince of the Joseon Dynasty in 1625 when his father King Injo became took throne through the Coup in 1623.
In 1627, he married with a daughter of Gang Seok-gi. During the Second Manchu invasion of Korea in 1636, Sohyeon fled to the Namhan Mountain Fortress with his father King Injo. But when Ganghwa Island was captured by Manchurian, King Injo surrendered to Hong Taiji. Sohyeon voluntarily gave himself up to be held captive at Shenyang, the capital of the Qing Dynasty. He stayed there together with his wife and several other Korean administers.
For a long term there Prince Sohyeon worked as a mediator between Joseon Korea and Qing China. He put much efforts into ensuring that Qing would not persecute his home country. He protected his people, such as Kim Sang-heon, who was tried in court for being an anti-Qing. Prince Sohyeon also learned Mongol language and helped in conquering the barbaric tribes of the Western border.
In 1644, Prince Sohyeon stayed 70 days in Beijing with Dorgon, who had set out to conquer the remaining Ming Dynasty. Then, Prince Sohyeon met Jesuit missionaries such as the German Johann Adam Schall von Bell, and through them he was introduced to Roman Catholicism and Western culture.
King Injo and his close administrators condemned this act of pro-Qing Chinese behavior, and even though Prince Sohyun returned to Korea in 1645, his father King Injo watched and persecuted him for attempting to improve Korea by bringing in Catholicism and Western science.
Prince Sohyeon suddenly died not long after he returned to Korea. Some historians suggest intoxication theory by the fact that after his death he had black spots all over his body and that his body rotted fast.
After Sohyeon’s death, King Injo greatly reduced the grandeur of the practice of crown prince's funeral. King Injo never visited his son's tomb until his death, and he ordered the execution of Crown Princess Minhoe for treason. Prince Sohyeon’s tomb is located in Goyang, Gyeonggi province.