Ch'oe Ch'ung-hŏn

Ch'oe Ch'ung-hŏn (1149 – 29 October 1219) was a military ruler of Korea during the Goryeo period.

Ch'oe's father was a Supreme General in the Goryeo military, hence precipitating his own entry into the military. Ch'oe witnessed military men become all-powerful in the quick succession of military leaders who deposed one another.

Ch'oe plotted against the long-standing Council of Generals (Jungbang), feigning fealty to the newly promoted supreme general and council head, a slave's son, Yi Ŭi-min. After many years of humiliation and hardship, Ch'oe and his subordinates launched a coup d'état while Yi was away. After destroying the Council of Generals and killing Yi, he became a prominent leader. Ch'oe established a new military-style regime that he did not have full power over but was eventually successful.

Although the coup was a success, Ch'oe did not take full power. Ch'oe became Prime Minister of the State and Royal Protector, seeing the abdication of 4 kings (asked for 2 of the 4), 3 rebellions, and numerous attempts on his life. Finally, during the early reign of King Gojong, Ch'oe retired, handing his position to his eldest son Ch'oe U (though not without bloodshed as his youngest attempted to take it for himself). Ch'oe Ch'ung-hŏn died of age at 71 in 1219.

Until the death of Ch'oe's grandsons, the Ch'oe family reigned supreme over the political and military landscape of Goryeo. Ch'oe U, Ch'oe Hang, and Ch'oe Ŭi passed the legacy of Ch'oe Ch'ung-hŏn for sixty years until the assassination of Ch'oe Ŭi.

Early life
Ch'oe Ch'ung-hŏn was born in 1149, the son of Supreme General Ch'oe Wŏn-ho and his wife, Lady Yu. He is thought to have been born in Gaeseong or Gyeongju. He was descended from the famous Confucian scholar Ch'oe Ch'i-wŏn, who lived in the North South States Period and was the ancestor of the Gyeongju Choe clan, but because Ch'oe Won-ho was given the bon-gwan of Ubong, his family split from the Gyeongju Ch'oe clan and became the Ubong Ch'oe clan. He married Lady Song, the daughter of general Song Ch'ŏng, and had two sons by her, Ch'oe U and Ch'oe Hyang.

Rise to power
Ch'oe entered the military, like his father, and was a colonel until he reached age 35, when he became a general. He joined the Council of Generals at age 40. Ch'oe served under the military dictators during the reign of King Myeongjong. During the rule of military dictator Yi Ui-min, Ch'oe and his brother Ch'oe Ch'ung-su became dissatisfied with his reign. One of Yi's sons, Yi Chi-yŏng, seized Ch'ung-su's chickens. When Ch'ung-su confronted the thief, he was tied up instead. The angered Ch'ung-su then plotted with his brother, Ch'oe Ch'ung-hŏn, to overthrow Yi Ui-min's regime. In 1196, Ch'ung-hŏn and his brother assassinated Yi while he was visiting a mountain pavilion. The brothers then raced for the capital and managed to convince General Paek Chon-yu, a military officer in the capital to support his cause. Ch'oe was also able to gain the approval of Myeongjong for his killing of Yi. With government forces, the Ch'oes were able to defeat the armies of the Yi loyalists. In 1197, Ch'oe then replaced the weak Myeongjong with King Sinjong, Myeongjong's younger brother.

Dictator
Ch'oe Ch'ung-hŏn started to reorganize the government, but Ch'ung-su unseated the Crown Princess and tried to marry his daughter to the Crown Prince. Ch'oe Ch'ung-hŏn immediately intervened and a bloody struggle between the Ch'oe brothers ensued. In the end, Chung-su lost and was beheaded by Ch'oe Ch'ung-hŏn's troops. Ch'oe Ch'ung-hŏn was said to have wept when he saw his brother's head and gave a proper burial.

Ch'oe established a government where he can work with both ministers and military officials to stabilize his regime. He also appointed several of his relatives to high government positions to slowly expand his power. King Sinjong fell ill in 1204 and secretly begged Ch'oe to preserve the kingdom and not overthrow it. Ch'oe respected this last request from the king and gave the throne to Sinjong's son who became King Huijong. Sinjong died of disease immediately thereafter.

Huijong was determined to retrieve all the former powers that military dictators and usurpers had taken from the kings, including by removing Ch'oe. Ch'oe had been given the ranks of Prime Minister of the State, and Royal Protector, with power equivalent to the kings.

Rebellions
Soon, two rebellions struck at once. One was led by Pak Chin-jae, Ch'oe's nephew, and the other was a movement to resurrect Silla. Both rebellions were destroyed by Ch'oe. This was followed by the Slave rebellion, led by one of Ch'oe's own slaves, Manjeok. The slaves killed their masters and gathered on a mountain, around 100 strong. This rebel army was easily terminated, and the bodies of the dead were thrown into a river, unburied. More rebellions occurred, including by Buddhist priests. Ch'oe was not able to completely silence the Buddhists, but he did capture the individual Buddhists that were behind a plot to assassinate him.

During this time, various northern tribes, including the Khitans, were being driven from their homelands by the Mongols. Many escaped to Goryeo, and violence flared along the northern border. Ch'oe's sons, U and Hyang, led separate campaigns in response. Hyang defeated the minor tribal armies to the east, and U defeated those in the west with the help of General Kim Ch'wi-ryŏ. These victories were aided by small contingents of the Mongols.

Succession
Ch'oe had witnessed the downfall of Chŏng Chung-bu's regime, which was caused partially by the lack of a strong legitimate heir. Ch'oe's first son, Ch'oe U, was an effective strategist, soldier, and leader. The second son, Ch'oe Hyang, was an exceptional soldier, but not a very good negotiator or statesman.

Knowing a succession fight would ensue, Ch'oe he forbade U to enter the house. Hyang attempted to kill his brother to cement his position as a successor. U and Hyang fought a sword battle, which U won. U did not kill his brother as his father had done to Ch'ung-su. Instead, he left the fate of his younger brother in the hands of his father.

Ch'oe Ch'ung-hŏn was pleased by U's decision and sent his younger son into exile. Ch'oe announced that he would be succeeded by his son, Woo and that he would retire. He was around 65 years old when he made this announcement, and U was probably in his mid-thirties.

Death
Ch'oe lived peacefully for the remaining seven years of his life, and even got to see his grandson Hang, son of U. Ch'oe survived several attempts on his life. He suffered a stroke, and lived for one more year before he died at the age of 71, on 29 October 1219. It is recorded that his funeral was like that of a king's.

Legacy
Ch'oe Ch'ung-hŏn was the first of the Ch'oe dictators, and he set up the system of rule that the later Ch'oe dictators would use. After Ch'oe Ch'ung-hŏn was his first son Ch'oe U, who directly led the armies of Goryeo to fight the Mongol armies. After Ch'oe U came his first son Ch'oe Hang, who forced the king to reject all offers of surrender that the Mongols offered. When Ch'oe Hang died, his only son Ch'oe Ŭi came to power.

Ch'oe Ŭi was described as cowardly and obese. The Ch'oe regime ended when Ch'oe Ŭi was assassinated by one of his lieutenants. Other accounts claim that some troops were trying to push the heavy tyrant over the wall, but were killed before they could do so because he was so fat. Ch'oe Ch'ung-hŏn, Ch'oe U, and Ch'oe Hang were all trained in martial arts, but Ch'oe Ŭi was not. This is probably because by then, the Ch'oe family was very wealthy, and no fighting on the battlefields was necessary.

The Ch'oe regime lasted 60 years, during which Goryeo was able to resist the Mongol invasions. After the fall of the Ch'oe military regime, the Sambyeolcho, which was the private army of the Ch'oe family, separated from the Goryeo government and attempted to start its own nation, but this rebellion was defeated by a Mongol-Goryeo army.

Approximately 845 Koreans today are members of the Ubong Ch'oe clan.

Family

 * Father: Ch'oe Won-ho
 * Mother: Lady Yu
 * Brother: Ch'oe Ch'ung-su (1151–1197)
 * Sister: Lady Ch'oe
 * Nephew: Park Jin-jae (1165–1207)
 * Wives and their issue(s):
 * Lady Song ; daughter of Song Ch'ŏng
 * Ch'oe U (1166 – 10 December 1249), first son
 * Ch'oe Hyang (1167–1230), second son
 * Lady Ch'oe, first daughter
 * Princess Jeonghwa of the Kaesong Wang clan, daughter of King Gangjong of Goryeo.
 * Ch'oe Ku, third son
 * Mr. Ch'oe, fourth son
 * Princess Suseong of the Jangheung Im clan ; daughter of Im Pu.
 * Ch'oe Seong, fifth son
 * Ja Un-seon

Title

 * Early title: 別抄都令 -> 攝將軍
 * 1196: The title of 左承宣 御史臺知事 was added.
 * 1197: The title of 靖國功臣 三韓大匡大中大夫 上將軍柱國 was added.
 * 1204: The title of 壁上三韓三重大匡 開府儀同三司守太師 門下侍郞同中書門下平章事 上將軍上柱國 兵部御史臺判事 太子太師 was added. Just few days later 晋康郡候 門下侍中 was additionally added.
 * 1212: The title of 晋康府候 文經武緯嚮理措安功臣 was added.

Popular culture

 * Portrayed by Kim Kap-soo and Ryu Deok-hwan in the 2003–2004 KBS1 TV series Age of Warriors.
 * Portrayed by Joo Hyun in the 2012 MBC TV series God of War.