Yi Chach'un (Korean: 이자춘; Hanja: 李子春; 20 January 1315 – 3 June 1361) or known by his Mongolian nameUlus Bukha (Korean: 울루스부카; Hanja: 吾魯思不花), was a minor military officer of the Yuan Empire who later transferred his allegiance to Goryeo and became the father of Yi Sŏng-gye, founder of the Joseon Dynasty.
Biography
Yi Chach'un was a chiliarch of a Yuan Dynasty mingghan in Ssangseong Prefecture (present-day Kŭmya County, South Hamgyŏng Province, North Korea - former Goryeo territory annexed by Mongol Empire). After Ssangseong was reconquered by Goryeo under King Gongmin, he migrated to Hamju and got promoted to manho (the equivalent of the Mongolian myriarch of a tümen, lit. ten thousand or chief of ten thousand). He married a Goryeo-Korean lady from Anbyeon, who became Queen Uihye, the mother of Yi Sŏng-gye. He died in Hamgyong in 1361.
Since he was glamorized by his descendants, descriptions of Yi Chach'un's life tend to be contradictory to each other. For example, he is said to have risen to the rank of scholar-official. However, when he died, the king at the time expressed condolences for Chach'un as if for scholar-officials, implying that Yi Chach'un was not a scholar-official.[citation needed]
# denotes that the king was deposed and never received a temple name.
^Those who were listed were not reigning monarchs but posthumously recognized; the year following means the year of recognition.
^Only the crown princes that did not become the king were listed; the former year indicates when one officially became the heir and the latter one is that when one died/deposed. Those who ascended to the throne were excluded in the list for simplification.
^The title given to the biological father, who never reigned, of the kings who were adopted as the heir to a precedent king.
^The de jure monarch of Korea during the era was the Emperor of Japan, while the former Korean emperors were given nobility title "King Yi" instead.
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