Myeongseong

Myeongseong Queen of the Joseon Dynasty wife of King Gojong
Illustration from 1898
Spelling of names
Hangeul	명성
Hanja	明 成
Revised Romanization	Myeongseong
McCune-Reischauer	Myŏngsŏng
Life dates
Born on the	October 19, 1851
place of birth	Neunghyeon-dong, Yeoju , Gyeonggi-do , Joseon
father	Min Chirok
mother	Yi Hanchang
Death dates
Died on	October 8, 1895
Place of death	Gyeongbokgung Palace, Hanseong
tomb	Hongneung, Hanseong
Spouses, mistresses, offspring
husband	King Gojong
Sons	Crown Prince Yi Cheok and three other sons, whose names are not known
Daughters	a daughter whose name is not known
Remarks
She was posthumously awarded the title of Empress of the Daehan Empire .

Myeongseong ( Korean : 명성 ) (born October 19, 1851 in Neunghyeon-dong, Yeoju , Gyeonggi-do , Joseon ; † October 8, 1895 in Gyeongbokgung Palace in Hanseong , Joseon) was queen and wife of the 26th King of the Joseon Dynasty ( 조선 왕조 ) (1392–1910), King Gojong ( 고종 ).

She was the last queen of the Joseon Dynasty and also known as Queen Min ( 민 ). She was posthumously awarded the title of Empress of the Daehan Empire and was called Myeongseong Hwanghu ( 명성 황후 ) ( 明成皇后 ).

Early life

Myeongseong was born on October 19, 1851 in Neunghyeon-dong ( 능현 동 ), Yeoju ( 여주 ), Gyeonggi-do ( 경기도 ), Joseon , where she lived until she was 8 years old. Her father was Min Chirok ( 민치 록 ), a former Prime Minister of the Joseon Empire. Her mother's name was Hanchang ( 한창 ) and came from the Yi clan. Her birth house was built in 1687 for King Gojong's father-in-law, Min Yu-joong ( 민유 조옹 ). After her parents died, she continued to grow up from the age of 8 in poor conditions, in that her family clan lived in his time. She was considered intelligent and read classical Chinese literature of the day. In some novels her maiden name is said to have been given as Cha Young , but there is no official confirmation of this.

Based on a recommendation from King Gojong's mother and orders from his father, Heungseon Daewongun ( 흥선 대원군 ), Myeongseong was finally chosen to be the wife of the king, who was 13 years old at the time and Myeongseong was just one more year at 14. Myeongseong was chosen because Heungseon Daewongun assumed that she and her family would have less influence over the royal court than when choosing other daughters from other family clans who were very powerful at the time. According to the lunar calendar, the couple's wedding took place on March 20, 1866 in Changdeokgung Palace ( 창덕궁 ) in Hanseong.

Influence as queen

Gojong's father's plan didn't work out. By 1873 at the latest, when King Gojong took power to rule from his father and ousted him, it was clear that Myeongseong as queen had more power and influence at court and over her husband than Heungseon Daewongun could endure. A deep mutual dislike for one another developed between the two of them. Myeongseong forged influential ties and support from her family clan and was able to form strong opposition to the supporters of Heungseon Daewongun. Since it was more pro - Russia , Heungseon Daewongun sought support in the Japanese Empire . Queen Myeongseong quickly rose to become the most influential queen the Joseon Dynasty had seen until then, and she dominated politics against the influence of the Japanese Empire on Joseon.

There were many rumors about Queen Myeongseong's character, some of which were also spread abroad. In an article dated November 10, 1895, a month after Myeongseong's murder, the New York Times wrote that she must have had no happy life because she was said to have been afraid of being murdered for allegedly treating her servants badly . Among other things, she is said to have owned several bedrooms, which she randomly used alternately in order to be able to avoid a planned attack and to have hidden doors set up as an escape route in her apartments. It was also said that she would control her husband, King Gojong, with an iron hand and thus influence the government. Indeed, she was a powerful influence over her husband, and she had powerful enemies, but these were more likely due to her anti-Japanese stance.

assassination

On the morning of October 8, 1895, Japanese soldiers and Korean collaborators broke into Gyeongbokgung Palace and killed Queen Myeongseong. The killers poured gasoline on her corpse and burned her remains. King Gojong and his son were captured and detained in the palace. A new prime minister was installed by the Japanese occupiers, who then gradually formed a pro-Japanese cabinet. It has been suggested that the Japanese Plenipotentiary Minister in Korea Miura Gorō and the father of her husband Heungseon Daewongun initiated the murder of Queen Myeongseong.

Myeongseong was first buried as empress in the Hongneung ( 홍릉 ) tomb in Hanseong . After King Gojong died, she and him found their final resting place in the Yureung ( ung ) tomb .

Posthumously awarded title

The posthumously bestowed title read in its full length: Hyoja Weonseong Jonghwa Hapcheon Myeongseong Taehwanghu ( 효자 원성 정화 합천 홍공 성덕제 휘열 목명 성태 황후 , 孝慈 元 聖 正 化合 天 洪功誠 德 齊 徽 烈穆明 成 太 皇后 ).

literature

• Tatiana M. Simbirtseva: Queen Min of Korea: Coming to Power . In: Royal Asiatic Society, Korea Branch (Ed.): Transactions . Volume 71 . Seoul 1996, p. 41–54 (English, online [PDF; 28.2 MB ; accessed on April 8, 2019]).
• DK Schneidewind: The Historical Development of Korea . In: Economic Miracle Market South Korea . Springer Science + Business Media , Singapore 2016, ISBN 978-981-10-0613-5 , 2.9 The Arrival of Aliens , p. 15–52 , doi : 10.1007 / 978-981-10-0615-9_2 (English, online [PDF; 262 kB ; accessed on April 8, 2019]).

Web links

Commons : Myeongseong  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Birthplace of Empress Myeongseong ( Queen Min ) ( 명성 황후 생가 ). In: Visit Korea . Korea Tourism Oranization,accessed April 8, 2019. 

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Simbirtseva: Queen Min of Korea: Coming to Power . 1996, p. 41 .
2. ^ ^{A b c d} Janet Shin : The life of Empress Myeongseong . In: The Korea Times . August 5, 2010, accessed April 8, 2019 .  
3. ^ The Birth Home of Empress Myeongseong . Yeoju City , 2015, accessed April 8, 2019 .  
4. ↑ Simbirtseva: Queen Min of Korea: Coming to Power . 1996, p. 44 .
5. ↑ Simbirtseva: Queen Min of Korea: Coming to Power . 1996, p. 47 .
6. ^ Moon Son : Modern Korea and Her Structural Violence in the Transformative Perspective of Religious Education . The Last Queen of Korea: Empress Myeongseong (1851-1895) . Religious Education Association , 2014, p. 3 , accessed April 8, 2019 ( REA Annual Meeting in Chicago ).  
7. ^ Schneidewind: The Historical Development of Korea . In: Economic Miracle Market South Korea . 2016, p. 30 .
8. ↑ Kim Jin : Japan's shameful failure to apologize . In: Korea Joongang Daily . October 6, 2009, accessed April 8, 2019 .  
9. ↑ Hongneung / Yureung (aka, Hongyureung) (UNESCO World Heritage) ( 남양주 홍릉 과 유릉 (유네스코 세계 문화 유산)) 明成皇后 誕 降 舊 里 碑 . In: Visit Korea . Korea Tourism Organization , accessed April 8, 2019 (Korean).  
10. ↑ 김영화, 김다혜 : 경기도 문화재: 육구 삼 + 명성 황후 탄강 구리 비 明成皇后 誕 降 舊 里 碑 . GyeongGi Cultural Foundation , accessed April 8, 2019 (Korean).