Birth and early life Gwangjong was born in 925 as Wang So, fourth son of King
Taejo, who had founded Goryeo in 918. His mother was
Queen Sinmyeongsunseong of the Chungju Yu clan, who also gave birth to princes
Wang T'ae,
Wang Yo,
Wang Chŏng,
Jeungtong, as well as the princesses,
Princess Nakrang and
Princess Heungbang. Moreover, Gwangjong had twenty half-brothers and seven half-sisters from his father's other marriages. As he had three older brothers, Mu, T'ae and Yo, he was far from the succession to the throne; however, Wang T'ae died early, and
Wang Mu died in 945, three years after being crowned king, leaving the throne to Wang Yo, who ruled Goryeo for four years as
Jeongjong. Before dying, he decided to make Wang So his heir instead of his one and only son,
Prince Gyeongchunwon. According to his contemporary
Ch'oe Sŭng-no, Gwangjong "was careful and laconic, but bold if he had to seize an opportunity." He had excellent appearance and qualities, and he received a special love from his father. The second one was , a general who promoted the appointment of Hyejong to Crown Prince and continued to support him later, becoming a threat to Jeongjong's coronation. His first reform was the law of emancipation of slaves () in 956. The noble families had many slaves, mainly prisoners of war, who served as private soldiers; they numbered more than commoners and didn't pay taxes to the crown, but to the clan they worked for. By emancipating them, Gwangjong turned them into commoners, weakening the noble families' power, and gaining people who paid taxes to the king and could become part of his army. This reform won his government the support of the people, while nobles were against it; even queen Daemok tried to stop the king as the law affected her family, but to no avail. Regarding foreign policy, Gwangjong maintained the close connection between China and Goryeo which was made by
Taejo of Goryeo, focusing on the relationship with
Later Zhou and the
Song dynasty. Many diplomats were sent back and forth between the two countries, as well as many goods. Gwangjong also built diplomatic relationships with
Wuyue. with his advice, Gwangjong instituted the
national civil service examination in 958, with the goal to expel officials who gained court positions due to family influence or reputation rather than by merit. The examination, based on the
Tang's civil service exam and the Confucian classics, In 960, the king introduced different colours for court robes to distinguish officials of different ranks. During Gwangjong's reign, medical centers known as
taebiwŏn (), which provided free medicines to poor patients, were set up in Kaesong and Pyongyang, later expanding in the provinces as the ''hyemin'guk
(). Taejo had established regional granaries () to face the times of drought, and Gwangjong added chewibo
(), stores which charged interest on grain loans, which was then used for poor relief. These measures, even if in modified forms, kept on working for the next 900 years, parallel to better cultivation methods to keep up with the growth of population. and the Cheongpyeongsa Temple in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, in 973. The king also created an exam for Buddhist priests, called sŏnggwa'' (), to link the government and the church, and he attempted to make peace between the Zen and textual schools to unify them under a single order, but he didn't have much success. Gwangjong also mistrusted his eldest son Wang Ju, who was five years old at the time. while his
temple name Gwangjong means "shining emperor". His tomb, called Heolleung (), is located on the north side of
Songaksan, in
Kaepung County, North Korea. The site inspection in 1916 found a severely damaged tomb, but the stairway and the foundation stone are preserved. He was succeeded by his only son Wang Chu, who became the fifth king of Goryeo,
Gyeongjong. The reform policies to curb the power of the capital aristocracy were passed down to his successors, but they weren't able to pursue them; as a result, the bureaucracy turned from a meritorious aristocracy to a hereditary class. The law of emancipation of slaves was retracted during the sixth king's,
Seongjong's reign. ==Legacy==