Fall
There was a growing feeling in Kaesŏng that Goryeo needed to take some kind of pre-emptive action against China, and advisors to King U eventually goaded him into attacking the powerful Ming armies. Against universal opposition, and in violation of the long-standing Goryeo practice of not invading its neighbors, King U went one step further and insisted on attacking China proper. In 1388, General Yi Seonggye was ordered to use his armies to push the Ming armies out of the Korean peninsula. The general realised the strength of the Ming forces when he came into contact with them at the Amrok River, and made a momentous decision that would alter the course of Korean history. Knowing of the support he enjoyed both from high-ranking government officials and the populace, he decided to return to the capital and take control of the government instead of possibly destroying his army attacking the Chinese.
He returned to Kaesŏng and, after overpowering the royal court's defenders and removing (then killing) General Choe Yeong, Yi Seonggye usurped the throne from Goryeo's Dynasty and took control of the government. King U was deposed and replaced with his son King Chang, but only one year later both of them were poisoned, and replaced with prince Gongyang.
U became the only king in Korea's long history never to have had a posthumous title for his reign.
Read more about this topic: U Of Goryeo
Famous quotes containing the word fall:
“Mark the babe
Not long accustomed to this breathing world;
One that hath barely learned to shape a smile,
Though yet irrational of soul, to grasp
With tiny finger—to let fall a tear;
And, as the heavy cloud of sleep dissolves,
To stretch his limbs, bemocking, as might seem,
The outward functions of intelligent man.”
—William Wordsworth (1770–1850)
“Let me have
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That the life-weary taker may fall dead,
And that the trunk may be discharged of breath
As violently as hasty powder fired
Doth hurry from the fatal cannon’s womb.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“We had heard of a Grand Fall on this stream, and thought that each fall we came to must be it, but after christening several in succession with this name, we gave up the search. There were more Grand or Petty Falls than I can remember.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)