Glossary

reign years (Korea)

재위 연도

Term · calendar

Korean sources of the Joseon period date years by the reigning king: 1446 is Sejong 28 (세종 28년), 1749 Yeongjo 25. Under the Joseon dynasty (1392–1897) Korean documents date a year by the reigning king: “Sejong 28” (世宗 28年, 세종 28년) is 1446 — the year the Korean alphabet was proclaimed. Official documents for China used the Chinese emperors’ era names (nianhao) beside it, and the year’s name in the sixty-year cycle (sexagenary cycle) is often given too. A king’s first year is the year after his accession (踰年稱元): the rest of the year in which he came to the throne still counts for his predecessor. Kings who replaced a deposed or abdicating king by force — Sejo, Jungjong, Injo — and the founder Taejo count from the accession year itself. With the solar calendar Korea adopted era names of its own: Geonyang (1896), Gwangmu (1897) and Yunghui (1907), until the annexation by Japan in 1910. On this site a Korean date is also given in these reign years, counted in lunar years until 1895.