No One Was Safe With This Prince Around
Of all the strange stories to come out of royal families, perhaps the most bizarre is the story of Crown Prince Sado of Korea. Sure, this prince had a mean father, but what he turned into was something much, much worse. No one was safe with this prince around, and all his different phobias and strange beliefs just made him more dangerous.
When dad had had enough, he thought up a punishment for his son right out of a horror movie.
1. He Was Born To Fill A Vacancy
Crown Prince Sado of Korea was born on February 13, 1735. His father was King Yeongjo. Before Sado’s birth, his older brother Hyojang had already been chosen as the next king. But tragedy struck when Crown Prince Hyojang passed at the age of nine. Making matters worse was that the king’s concubine was only producing daughters. This meant there was no one to fill the shoes of the king.
As such, people were starting to get nervous about the future of the monarchy.
Screenshot from The Throne, Showbox (2015)
2. He Was A Godsend
When the King’s concubine gave birth to Prince Sado, it caused "the entire nation to rejoice with delight." They waited 100 days and then heaped their affection on the new crown prince. They gave him a governess, eunuchs, and maids. The queen—not his concubine mother—and a team of servants would raise him far away from his parents.
But even with the distance between them, Sado’s father was no fan of his son.
Screenshot from The Throne, Showbox (2015)
3. His Dad Wasn’t Happy
Sado’s father, King Yeongjo, had a terrible temper, and he soon found that his son did nothing but disappoint him. Sado worshipped his father, but it seemed that he couldn’t do anything to make him happy. This caused Sado to act timidly, and his behavior only angered his father even more.
He didn't even have a mother he could turn to.
4. He Lived By Her Rules
The thing was, Sado’s new mother was also living under the rule of a tyrannical monarch. She believed toughening up her son offered his best chance at survival. This meant that she created a long list of stringent rules for her son. Within these rules, there was no room for a warm relationship with Sado.
She also prepared him for a life as a married man.
Screenshot from The Throne, Showbox (2015)
5. He Was A Child Groom
Every monarch is very interested in who their children will marry. After all, when a prince marries, everyone expects his wife to represent the family to the citizens. Sado’s parents were not exactly going to leave anything to chance. On April 27, 1744, eight-year-old Sado married another eight-year-old, Lady Hyegyeong.
So what kind of husband would an eight-year-old make?
Screenshot from The Throne, Showbox (2015)
6. He Wasn't Really A Husband
Of course, no one expected eight-year-old Prince Sado to act in any way as a husband. They actually introduced him to his wife as another child to play with. And obviously, they did not live together. But still, having your wife chosen for you at such a young age would certainly have an effect on a growing young boy.
It may have even affected his health.
Screenshot from The Throne, Showbox (2015)
7. His Health Suffered
To make matters worse, Sado had troubles with his health. He had such severe problems that he would sometimes completely lose consciousness. Instead of being comforted by his father, Sado’s illness made Dad even more angry.
Screenshot from The Throne, Showbox (2015)
8. He Learned Some Skills
Due to his illness, Sado’s mother moved him close to her mansion. Here, Sado had a chance to learn how to shoot arrows, use a sword, and he also studied mythology. But Sado and his child wife lived under strict rules. They had to give morning greetings to the Sado’s parents—the king and queen—and to the varous other members of the royal court.
Sado never felt comfortable and came across as very stiff. This made his father dislike him even more.
Screenshot from The Throne, Showbox (2015)
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9. He Couldn’t Make Him Happy
However, Sado’s father did give him some opportunities. When Prince Sado was 15, Dad put him in a position to make some administrative decisions. King Yeongjo thought that this would prepare his son for being king. But Sado still could not please his father. Every decision he made was a disappointment, and their relationship deteriorated even further.
With a father like this, you had to wonder what kind of a dad Sado himself would be.
Screenshot from The Throne, Showbox (2015)
10. He Had Children At A Young Age
Crown Prince Sado had married at the age of eight, and by 14, the court thought he was old enough to be a father. His first child was a son named Uiso. Sadly, he didn't live long enough to see his second birthday. Their second child was Jeongjo, and things were looking good for him.
And then measles struck the palace.
Screenshot from The Throne, Showbox (2015)
11. There Was An Epidemic
When measles hit the palace, Sado’s son was only a few weeks old. There was a panic, and Sado and his son moved into a different part of the palace. They thought they would be safe there. By that very evening, Sado and the court maids had come down with the measles. Sado’s mother, came to take care of little Jeongjo.
It wasn’t looking good.
Screenshot from The Throne, Showbox (2015)
12. He Lost His Favorite
Surprisingly, everyone recovered from the measles except for one family member. This was Sado’s sister. Because Sado couldn’t connect emotionally with either his mother or his father, Sado had bonded with his sister. The prince continued to send servants to check on her. To Sado’s horror, she eventually died. As a result, he was left mourning for the only family member who seemed to care about him.
From there, Sado’s sadness was only going to continue.
Screenshot from The Throne, Showbox (2015)
13. The Apple Didn’t Fall Far From The Tree
Sado’s father, King Yeongjo, had a few eccentricities of his own. If he heard any ominous words, he would take soap and wash his ears out. When he spoke to Sado, he’d immediately rinse his mouth out and put on a clean robe. And then there were the doors. The king had doors he used for pleasant tasks, and other doors for unpleasant ones.
Dad sometimes saw his Sado as the source of his irrational fears.
Screenshot from The Throne, Showbox (2015)
14. He Blamed Him For the Weather
When the king invited Sado to visit a royal tomb, it looked like the father and son might have a pleasant outing together. When the weather turned for the worse, the king had a strange reaction. It was suddenly raining hard, and the king thought that “heaven was showing its displeasure”. He sent a humiliated Prince Sado home.
Sometimes the King’s phobias even did serious damage to poor Sado.
Screenshot from The Throne, Showbox (2015)
15. He Sent His Son To Do His Dirty Work
One of the unpleasant tasks that the king liked to avoid was witnessing the extreme punishments given to lawbreakers. Someone from the royal family had to preside over these horrific rituals, and the king heartlessly sent Sado in his place. Watching as the accused suffered intolerable pain must have had a devastating effect on young Sado.
Life was hard on Sado, and he turned to familiar vice.
Screenshot from The Throne, Showbox (2015)
16. He Hit The Bottle
At this time, Crown Prince Sado started drinking. While this doesn’t sound so unusual, at this time in Korea, it was a very big no-no for the royal family. His drinking then led to womanizing. He started throwing wild parties late at night, where there were no rules about intimacy. It was a debauched lifestyle Sado was living.
Then it just got worse.
Screenshot from The Throne, Showbox (2015)
17. He Went Even Further
Having crazy parties wasn’t enough for Sado. His drinking led him to worse acts. He regularly took his ladies-in-waiting by force. Then he turned to his younger sister, looking for intimacy within his own family. Somehow, she managed to avoid his ungodly advances to her.
But dad was not always a great example to his son.
Screenshot from The Throne, Showbox (2015)
18. There Was A Double Standard
In 1753, Crown Prince Sado had a secret affair with a courtier and got her pregnant. Sado feared his father’s anger and tried to find a way to end the pregnancy. He failed, and Dad did indeed get angry. Strangely, that same year, the king also got a lady courtier pregnant, and there were no repercussions.
Sado’s father even tried to keep Sado away from his mother.
Screenshot from The Throne, Showbox (2015)
19. He Jumped Out The Window
In 1755, Crown Prince Sado’s mother fell ill, and of course, Sado wanted to pay her a visit. When this happened, the king lost it and told Sado to “go back immediately”. Sado was so terrified of his father’s rage that he found the closest window and jumped. After this incident, Sado’s speech suffered. He began to stammer.
Screenshot from The Throne, Showbox (2015)
20. He Lost Two More
While it seemed that Sado’s life had no purpose or meaning, there were two women who always supported him. These were his adoptive mother and another wife of his father. But nothing seemed to ever go Sado’s way. In 1757, both women passed within a month of each other.
Sado had lost anyone who cared about him. His mental health was in very serious jeopardy.
Screenshot from The Throne, Showbox (2015)
21. He Started Hallucinating
With his sister and mother figures gone, Sado’s mental health began to deteriorate. One day, he was reading Okchugyeong, a Taoist text. While he was reading, he began to see things that weren’t there. He said he saw the Leigong, a mythical Thunder God. But then things got really weird.
Screenshot from The Throne, Showbox (2015)
22. He Had Strange Phobias
After that experience, Crown Prince Sado developed a phobia. The sound of thunder horrified him. If there was a thunderstorm, particularly in winter, Sado would believe that his father would put the blame on his shoulders. But then it got worse. He began to be afraid even of the sky and then just the characters that spelled "thunder" and “thunderclap” terrified him.
And a surprise visit from dear old dad did more than hurt Sado. It actually damaged the palace.
Screenshot from The Throne, Showbox (2015)
23. He Made A Surprise Visit
When King Yeongjo paid a surprise visit to Prince Sado, he found him in one of his strange mental states. Instead of seeing that his son was not well, the king assumed he’d had too much to drink. This was a taboo, and the king went ballistic on his son. When the king left a terrified Sado alone, the real trouble began.
Screenshot from The Throne, Showbox (2015)
24. He Started A Fire
After his angry dad left, Sado had a meltdown. He was chasing his servants around in a fit of violent rage. Somehow, he ended up igniting a fire in the palace. Suddenly, the whole place was suddenly engulfed in flames. Everyone was in danger, including Sado’s pregnant wife and his child. They all just barely escaped with their lives.
This should have been a wake-up call for Sado. Sadly, things just got worse.
Screenshot from The Throne, Showbox (2015)
25. He Went From Bad To Worse
There are stories that Prince Sado took out his anger on the eunuchs in the palace. This tragically took the form of beatings. But then it got worse, much worse. When the second of the two women who served as his mother figures passed, he did something extremely macabre. He savagely removed the head of a eunuch and carried it around with him.
And this was just the beginning.
Screenshot from The Throne, Showbox (2015)
26. He Went Over The Top
Sado’s horrible behavior continued. Even small things would upset him enough to get violent. It wasn’t just the eunuchs; he also gruesomely ended the lives of servants as well. One story says that multiple bodies were piled up inside his palace every day. As the cadavers piled up, his wife became deeply concerned.
Then Sado did something even more taboo.
Screenshot from The Throne, Showbox (2015)
27. He Broke A Taboo
Near the end of 1757, Crown Prince Sado was in the market for a secondary consort. He came across Park Bing-ae. Now there was an immediate problem. You see, Park Bing-ae had been his grandmother’s lady-in-waiting. The court at the time considered this to be a terrible taboo. When Sado’s father found out, there was a huge scene.
Sado’s reaction was horrifying.
Screenshot from The Throne, Showbox (2015)
28. He Tried To End It
Many children have stories of being scared of punishments from their parents. Of course, Sado’s stories were more extreme. After his father gave him a good old-fashioned tongue lashing, Prince Sado ran to a well and jumped in. His plan was to end his life by drowning. Luckily, a guard was on hand to save Sado’s life.
Sado survived the well, but his mental state kept spiraling ever further down.
Screenshot from The Throne, Showbox (2015)
29. He Had A Fear Of Clothes
When Prince Sado was in his 20s, he began to suffer from vestiphobia—a fear of clothing. Because of this, his wife followed a ritual to help him get dressed. She said that she had to lay out multiple sets of clothes, sometimes 10, sometimes as many as 30. Sado would then burn some of them, as he thought he had to at the demand of a ghost.
Once he chose his clothes, the situation became even stranger and more dangerous.
Screenshot from The Throne, Showbox (2015)
30. He Couldn’t Tolerate Any Mistakes
Choosing what he would wear was only half the battle for Sado. Of course, he had attendants to dress him. If these attendants made even the smallest mistake while helping him dress, Sado would refuse to put on the garments. Sometimes the mistakes would lead to extreme aggression and even the loss of life.
But all his strange behavior came to a head on Sado's birthday.
Screenshot from The Throne, Showbox (2015)
31. He Had A Birthday Party Tantrum
In 1760, Crown Prince Sado was turning 25, and his birthday was not a happy affair. For some reason, Sado lost it on many of his family members. He told off his parents, his own son and daughters. Later, he had a demand for his younger sister Princess Hwawan. He knew his father liked her, so he wanted her to help him influence their father, the king.
Sado was not about to take no for an answer.
Screenshot from The Throne, Showbox (2015)
32. He Wielded A Sword
Prince Sado wanted his sister, Hwanwan, to help him convince their dad to move palaces. If she didn't comply, Sado had a way to make sure she did. He took out his sword and said he would cut her if she didn’t do what he wanted. But this wasn’t the only woman he was aggressive toward.
Screenshot from The Throne, Showbox (2015)
33. He Threw Things
When he wasn’t wielding a sword at his sister, Sado was giving his wife a hard time. He once
threw a game board made of stone at her. It hit her in the face, and she had to cover her bruises so the court would not see what his aggressive behavior had done to her. But it was Sado’s consort who truly suffered at the hands of this maniac.
Screenshot from The Throne, Showbox (2015)
34. He Beat His Consort
Remember, Prince Sado had a consort who was one of his grandmother’s ladies-in-waiting. Her name was Bing-ae, and she was the mother of some of his children. One day, Sado’s anger suddenly flared toward her. Sado did not like the way his consort was dressing him, so he flew into a rage. In his anger, he beat Bing-ae, and she lay on the floor severely injured. Instead of helping her, Sado heartlessly left her on the floor.
But these were not normal injuries.
Screenshot from The Throne, Showbox (2015)
35. He Had No Feelings
Sadly, because Sado left her on the floor, Bing-ae passed due to the beating she received from the prince. While Sado’s wife was dealing with Bing-ae’s body, Sado walked into the room. Apparently, he acted as if nothing was strange at all. As it turned out, no one was safe in the palace. Not with Sado around.
Screenshot from The Throne, Showbox (2015)
36. He Wanted Revenge
In 1762, Crown Prince Sado had a disagreement with one of the officials at court. Of course, getting into a disagreement with Sado could prove to be lethal. So, when Sado said he would end the life of the official’s son, people took it seriously. But Sado had no way to get to the son’s living quarters.
Then he came up with a plan.
Screenshot from The Throne, Showbox (2015)
37. He Went To Extreme Measures
Prince Sado was so intent on finding this official's son that he actually traveled through a “water passage” to get to the right building. I don’t know about you, but to me, a “water passage” sounds a lot like a sewer pipe. Anyway, Sado made it to the boy’s room and was ready to take his life in revenge.
But there was a flaw to his plan.
Screenshot from The Throne, Showbox (2015)
38. He Took His Stuff
The problem was that the boy that Sado was looking for was not there. After searching for him, Sado had to satisfy his hunger for revenge by taking personal items like clothing. At least he would have some feeling of vengeance. But this silly need for revenge was going to get Sado into some serious trouble.
Screenshot from The Throne, Showbox (2015)
39. They Misunderstood His Actions
The thing was, when Prince Sado went looking for the son of the official, some people thought he was looking for someone else. They believed that he was looking for King Yeongjo, and his macabre plan was to end the life of the king, who, don’t forget, was also his own father. This was much more serious than beating servants and eunuchs.
They had to do something about Sado.
Screenshot from The Throne, Showbox (2015)
40. He Had Protection
No one really felt safe with Sado around, so his biological mother, Concubine Yeong, went to the king and pleaded for him to do something about the raging prince. The thing was, because he was a member of the royal family, he had certain protections. They couldn’t defile his body in any way. This meant that any form of capital punishment was out of the question.
But Sado wasn’t totally safe. His father had an evil plan.
Screenshot from The Throne, Showbox (2015)
41. He Got Into A Barrel
The king thought that yes, it would be a mistake to execute his son…but what if his son passed in a more natural way? To cover his bases, he first declared that Prince Sado be deposed. It was a hot day in July when King Yeongjo then asked Sado to get into a small rice chest made of wood. Sado, who had spent his entire life terrified of his father’s punishments, saw that this would not end well, and began to plead with his father to let him live.
But Dad was ruthless.
Screenshot from The Throne, Showbox (2015)
42. He Wanted Out
King Yeongjo was not about to let Sado get away with all his aggressive behavior and insisted that his son get in the barrel. Sado obeyed his father and got in. Just as quickly, he tried to get out again. The king insisted, and Sado reluctantly entered the small space. With any luck, it would be just a short punishment.
But there was nothing brief about this gruesome punishment.
Screenshot from The Throne, Showbox (2015)
43. He Hid Him Away
After Sado had spent two days in the barrel, the king wanted to be sure that this was his final resting place. To make sure Sado couldn't get out, he heartlessly tied a rope around the barrel. He then disguised the barrel with grass and placed it in the upper palace. No one would know that it contained Sado, and that he was slowly dying.
It looked like Sado would reach an untimely end.
Screenshot from The Throne, Showbox (2015)
44. He Left Him Locked Up
During the next seven days, the king could hear his son making noises inside the barrel. He heartlessly did nothing to save him. On the eighth day, the barrel was silent. They opened the chest and found Sado’s lifeless body inside. Sado was no more.
But this story wasn't over yet.
Screenshot from The Throne, Showbox (2015)
45. He Rid The Palace Of All Things Sado
With the tragic and gruesome passing of Prince Sado, the king had to rid the palace of any memory of his son. To do this, he had anyone connected to Sado—including eunuchs, workmen, and court guards—executed. The king then turned to Sado’s wife. Her future was in his cruel hands.
Screenshot from The Throne, Showbox (2015)
46. He Dealt With His Wife
Of course, the king had to do something with Sado’s wife. First, he also gave her a demotion. She was now a commoner again, and then the king sent her back to her simple home. Of course, from there she had no contact with her own son. Because of this she became depressed and often suffered from illness.
But this tragic story of Prince Sado isn’t over yet.
Screenshot from The Throne, Showbox (2015)
47. He Was Prince Beyond The Grave
Yes, the king had ended the life of his own son, but he still felt something. You see, before he put Sado into the barrel, he’d removed Sado’s princely title. Even though he was no longer alive, the king made the gruesome decision to make Sado prince once again.
It seemed that the king had a new respect for Sado, but that wasn't the truth at all.
Unknown authorUnknown author, Wikimedia Commons
48. They Couldn’t Say His Name
Sure, the king had made Sado prince again—perhaps to soften his involvement in his son’s execution, or cover it up. However, Yeongjo also declared that he did not want to hear his son’s name as long as he was king. As such, no one could even mention that he had a son who perished locked in a rice barrel.
But there was someone who would remember him.
Screenshot from The Throne, Showbox (2015)
49. His Son Became King
Despite Sado’s rather shaky reputation, his son Jeongjo was still in line to become king. He had been just 11 years old when his father passed in that rice barrel. Then, on March 10, 1776, Jeongjo finally had his coronation. He was king. He immediately reminded the officials that their new king was the son of Crown Prince Sado.
By then, it was a name that no one had heard in a long time.
Screenshot from The Throne, Showbox (2015)
50. He Wanted To Honor His Parents
One of his first actions as king was to move his father’s body. He wanted Sado close by. He also built the Hwaseong Fortress near his father’s burial place. This was to honor his father and to guard his tomb. The fortress is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Despite his horrifying history, Sado had gone from a feared prince to a revered member of the royal family.
Craig Wyzik, Wikimedia Commons
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