Sukjong of Joseon

Yi Gwang took the throne of Joseon on 7 October 1661, twelve years old and freshly orphaned by his father Hyeonjong's death. The scholar-officials who had long steered the court expected pliability. They got the opposite. He changed his name to Yi Sun and spent his reign mastering a trick that would define 59 years of rule: rotating his favor among the Namin, Seoin, Soron, and Noron factions in careful sequence, never allowing one block to consolidate enough power to dilute the crown. The constant churn kept the bureaucrats off-balance and the king's hand free. By the time he died on 12 July 1…