Essay_Matthew

= Integrated Project Essay =

There are many factors that can lead to the downfall of a civilization. There is inner turmoil, unacceptance of others and the arrogance and pride of a nation. Apart, many of these things would just lead to rough times for a nation but together they bring an end to a golden age. For Korea this meant the end of the Joseon Dynasty. Luckily, none of these things have happened to us (although some may be happening). But if we are not careful we might fall into the same pitfall that Korea did. The Joseon dynasty lasted 682 years while America and Canada have been around much less. This is why __modern society has many lessons to learn from the fall of Ancient Korea.__ Even from early on the Joseon dynasty had a lot of inner turmoil that led to an unstable inner base. The first sons of King Taejo killed each other for the right to inherit the throne. They each had bises against each other that made them think that they were more suited for ruling the country then the other brother. Two brothers (Yi Band-won and Jeong do-jeong) were both planning on killing each other but in the end Yi Band-won succeeded. Disgusted that his sons were willing to kill each other for the crown he named one of the sons that was not involved in the fighting the heir. Not only is this a personal parable (don’t fight) it also shows that fighting amongst each other does nothing for the country and only leads to unhappiness in the government.

The unacceptance of others was a major contributor to the final decline of the Joseon dynasty. Throughout the whole of Korean history there had been many wars between Japan and Korea. Both of them had hatreds that had gone back a millennia. This led to a sometimes irrational hatred of the Japanese and the inability to trade, talk or negotiate with them. Japan had been trying to gain control of Korea by assassinating Empress Myeongseong and to enter the government. In response Korea created the “Korean Empire” which was meant to unite the country, create national independence and to reinforce the integrity of Korea. This angered the Japanese so that after the war between Japan and Russia Korea became a protectorate of Japan.

The thing that really sealed the fate of Korea was the arrogance and pride of the nation. Korea in the middle of the dynasty was very isolated and tried to have little to no contact with other countries. This weakened the country and allowed the Manchus to invade Korea and succeed forcing Korea to pay tribute to the new Qing dynasty in China. This weakened the country considerably and humiliated the populace. Then, by creating the Korean Empire this made Korea seemed ungrateful compared to their larger and stronger neighbors (Japan and China). This is why if you are NOT the strongest (or even the strongest and not have many allies) and you try to be self-sustained you will be crushed.

These lessons are important to any country no matter what their strength or their class. We are lucky and able to learn from the mistakes of others from our standpoint. But if we do not heed these lessons we will be crushed beneath the wheel of history and the weight of progress. Canada is a very young country so it still has many years and troubles ahead. But if we are able to avoid at least some of these troubles Canada might last as long as the Joseon dynasty if not (hopefully) longer. There are many lessons to be learned from the fall of Ancient Korea and these are just a few.