Queen Inmok

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Queen Inmok 인목왕후
Grand Queen dowager of Joseon
Tenure	1624 – 1632
Predecessor	Grand Queen Dowager Seongryeol
Successor	Grand Queen Dowager Jaui
Queen dowager of Joseon
Tenure	1608 – 1618 1623 – 1624
Predecessor	Queen Dowager Gongui Queen Dowager Uiseong
Successor	Queen Dowager Jaui
Queen consort of Joseon
Tenure	1602 – 1608
Predecessor	Queen Uiin
Successor	Queen Hyejang
Born	15 December 1584 Bansongbang District, Hanseong, Kingdom of Joseon
Died	13 August 1632 (1632-08-14) (aged 47) Heummyeong Hall, Ingyeong Palace, Kingdom of Joseon
Burial	Mokneung
Spouse	Yi Yeon, King Seonjo ​ ​ (m. 1602⁠–⁠1608)​
Issue	Princess Jeongmyeong Unnamed daughter Yi Ui, Grand Prince Yeongchang
Posthumous name 소성정의명렬광숙장정정숙인목왕후
House	Yeonan Kim
Father	Kim Je-Nam
Mother	Internal Princess Consort Gwangsan of the Gwangju No clan

Queen Inmok (인목왕후, 仁穆王后) (15 December 1584 – 13 August 1632), of the Yeonan Kim clan, was a posthumous name bestowed to the wife and second queen consort of Yi Yeon, King Seonjo, the 14th Joseon monarch. She was Queen consort of Joseon from 1602 until her husband's death in 1608, after which she was honoured as Queen Dowager Soseong (소성왕대비) during the reign of her step-son Yi Hon, King Gwanghae and as Grand Queen Dowager Myeongryeol (명렬대왕대비) during the reign of her step-grandson Yi Jong, King Injo.

Biography[]

Early life[]

The future queen was born on 15 December 1584, Hansongbang, Hanseong, during the reign of King Seonjo. Her father, Kim Je-nam, was member of the Yeonan Kim clan. Her mother was member of the Gwangju No clan. Through her father, Lady Kim is a distant first cousin of Kim Ahn-ro and became the 8th great-aunt of Kim Su-deok, Prince Kang’s wife.

Life as the new Queen Consort[]

She became queen consort in 1602 at age of 19. Her father was given the title Internal Prince Yeonheung (연흥부원군, Yeonheung Buwongun) and her mother was given the royal title of Princess Consort Gwangsan (광산부부인, Gwangsan Bubuin)

When she became queen, her husband already appointed Prince Gwanghae as an heir. Gwanghae was second son of Seonjo, born to Kim Gongbin, senior 1st rank the King's concubine. Gwanghae acted as the de facto ruler of the Joseon Dynasty during Japanese invasions of Korea in 1592 until 1598. In other hand, Seonjo's first queen consort, Queen Uiin, died without issue.

In 1603, the Queen gave birth to Princess Jeongmyeong. She birthed another princess but she died in infancy in 1604. In 1606, the Queen gave birth to a son, Yi Ui, later honoured as Grand Prince Yeongchang. According to Gyechuk Ilgi, Gwanghae and his in-laws are greatly agitated because they believe Gwanghae's position as heir to the throne is threatened, because according to the law, queen's son had higher rank and higher claim to the succession than a concubine's son.

Gwanghaegun’s reign[]

After Seonjo died in 1608, Gwanghae ascended to the throne as the fifteenth Joseon king and the Queen honoured as Queen Dowager Soseong. During his reign, Gwanghae persecuted Soseong and Yeongchang relentlessly. Soseong resisted the King's insistent demands that she turn over Yeongchang to him. But eventually, she had to give him up. Yeongchang was exiled to Ganghwa Island and Kim Je-nam, her father, as well her brothers and brother-in-law were investigated. Later, the King sentenced them to death in 1613, and her son in 1614. Soseong herself was deposed and confined to Gyeongun Palace with Princess Jeongmyeong. Her attendants diminish year by year through betrayal, desertion and death.

Later life[]

Her confinement ended when Gwanghae was deposed in 1623 and replaced by her step-grandson and Gwanghae's nephew, King Injo. She and her daughter were also granted permission to live within Changdeok Palace with their titles and positions being reinstated; herself later honoured as Grand Queen Dowager Myeongryeol in 1624.

During Kim Injo’s enthronement, her 21 year-old daughter, Princess Jeongmyeong, was considered too old to marry. So the Princess was to quickly be married off to someone who was younger than her rather than them being older or of similar age. There isn’t a explanation as to why the marriage selection of Princess Jeongmyeong was delayed, but it was said that it might have been the fear and worry the Grand Queen Dowager held towards her daughter living outside of the palace during Gwanghaegun’s reign.

Her daughter later married Hong Ju-won in 1623, who was 3 years his senior, and eventually had 7 sons and 1 daughter during their marriage. One of her grandsons became the great-great-grandfather of Lady Hyegyeong; the future wife of her step great-great-great-great-great-grandson, Crown Prince Sado.

The Grand Queen Dowager died during King Injo’s 9th year of reign at the age of 47 on 13 August 1632, and is buried in Mokneung, Guri, Gyeonggi, with her husband and his first queen consort, Queen Uiin. She was posthumously honoured as Queen Inmok.

Prior to her death, Queen Inmok had made and given a note to her family regarding the life of a royal. She stated and pleaded to not have family relatives from her clan to marry within the royal family as she suffered from carrying the burden as one. This note would eventually pass down to her 8th great-grandniece, Kim Su-deok, who would also suffer an unhappy arranged marriage.^[1]

Gyechuk Ilgi[]

Gyechuk Ilgi (Diary of the Year Gyechuk, 1613) was diary supposedly composed by unnamed court lady intimate with and devoted to Queen Inmok and written from Queen Inmok's perspective, though its diary format accords it the appearance of documentary objectivity. In the Yujeomsa Temple on Mountain Geumgang, a part of Bomungyeong written by Queen Inmok remains.

Kim Yongsuk, one of the best informed scholars on premodern Korean women and women writers, after carefully sifting the pertinent historical records, concludes that the picture of Gwanghae given in Gyechuk Ilgi deviates markedly from the account of him in contemporary historical records. Gwanghae, writes Professor Kim, was in fact "a wise and good king." Despite his best efforts, he couldn't save his own elder brother or his half-brother or finally himself from the political factionalism that raged during his reign.

She suggests several reasons for the gross distortions in the diary. First, it was composed after Gwanghae was overthrown. Second, it was probably the work of a court lady loyal to Queen Inmok. Third, following the pattern of extreme opposition between good and evil already established in traditional fiction of the Joseon period, the work distorts, simplifies, and exaggerates more complex situations involving Gwanghae, his brother and half-brother, and Queen Inmok.

Titles[]

• 15 December 1584 - 1602: Lady Kim, daughter of Kim Je-nam
• 1602 - 1608: The Queen Consort
• 1608 - 1618: Queen Dowager Soseong (소성왕대비, Soseong-Wangdaebi)
• 1624 - 1632: Grand Queen Dowager Myeongryeol (명렬대왕대비, Myeongryeol-Daewangdaebi)
• Posthumous title: Queen Inmok (인목왕후 仁穆王后)

Family[]

Parent

• Father − Kim Je-Nam (1562 – 1 June 1613) (김제남, 金悌男)
  • 1) Grandfather − Kim Oh (1526 – 1570) (김오, 金祦)
    • 2) Great-Grandfather − Kim An-do (김안도, 金安道)^[2][3]
      • 3) Great-Great-Grandfather - Kim Jeon (김전, 金詮) (1458 - 1523)^[4]
        • 4) Great-Great-Great-Grandfather - Kim Woo-shin (김우신, 金友臣)^[5]
        • 4) Great-Great-Great-Grandmother - Lady Lee of the Incheon Lee clan (이천 이씨)
      • 3) Great-Great-Grandmother - Lady Song of the Jincheon Song clan (진천 송씨)
    • 2) Great-Grandmother − Lady Kang (강씨, 姜氏)
  • 1) Grandmother − Lady Kwon of the Andong Kwon clan (본관: 안동 권씨)
• Mother − Internal Princess Consort Gwangsan of the Gwangju No clan (1557 – 1637) (광산부부인 노씨, 光山府夫人 盧氏)
  • 1) Grandfather − No Ge (1534 – 1569) (노게)
  • 1) Grandmother − Lady Han of the Cheongju Han clan (본관: 청주 한씨)

Siblings

• Older brother − Kim Nae (김내, 金琜) (1576 - 1613)^[6]
  • Sister-in-law − Lady Jeong (정씨)
    • Nephew − Kim Cheon-seok (김천석, 金天錫)
    • Niece − Lady Kim of the Yeonan Kim clan
    • Niece − Lady Kim of the Yeonan Kim clan
    • Niece - Lady Kim of the Yeonan Kim clan
• Older sister − Lady Kim of the Yeonan Kim clan
  • Brother-in-law − Sim Jeong-se (심정세, 沈挺世) (1579 - 1613)^[7]
• Younger brother − Kim Gyu (김규, 金珪) (1596 - 1613)^[8]
  • Sister-in-law − Seo Mi-saeng (서미생, 徐楣生), Lady Seo of the Daegu Seo clan (본관: 대구 서씨) (1597 - 1666)^[9]
    • Nephew − Kim Hong-seok (김홍석, 金弘錫)
• Younger brother − Kim Seon (김선, 金瑄) (1599 - 1613)
  • Nephew − Kim Gun-seok (김군석, 金君錫); son of Kim Nae (김내)

Consort

• Yi Yeon, King Seonjo (26 November 1552 – 16 March 1608) (조선 선조)
  • Mother-in-law - Grand Internal Princess Consort Hadong of the Hadong Jeong clan (23 September 1522 – 24 June 1567) (하동부대부인 정씨)
    • Legal mother-in-law - Queen Insun of the Cheongsong Sim clan (인순왕후 심씨) (27 June 1532 - 12 February 1575)
  • Father-in-law - Yi Cho, Grand Internal Prince Deokheung (2 April 1530 – 14 June 1559) (이초 덕흥대원군)
    • Legal father-in-law - Yi Hwan, King Myeongjong (조선 명종) (3 July 1534 - 2 August 1567)

Issue

• Daughter − Princess Jeongmyeong (정명공주) (27 June 1603 – 8 September 1685)^[10]
• Son-in-law − Hong Ju-Won (홍주원) (1606 – 1672)
  • Grandson − Hong Man-yong (홍만용, 洪萬容) (1631 - 1692)^[11]
    • • • Great-Great-Great-Granddaughter − Lady Hyegyeong (1735 - 1816)
• Unnamed daughter (1604); died prematurely
• Son − Yi Ui, Grand Prince Yeongchang (이의 영창대군) (12 April 1606 – 19 March 1614)
  • Adoptive grandson − Prince Changseong (창성군 필, 昌城君 佖) (1627 - 1689)^[12]

Popular culture[]

• Portrayed by Lee Bo-hee in the 1995 KBS TV series West Palace.
• Portrayed by Hong Eun-hee in the 1999-2000 MBC TV series Hur Jun.
• Portrayed by Hong Soo-hyun in the 2003-2004 SBS TV series King's Woman.
• Portrayed by Choi Soo-ji in the 2008 KBS2 TV series Hong Gil-dong.
• Portrayed by Seo Yi-ahn in the 2013 MBC TV series Hur Jun, The Original Story.
• Portrayed by Ko Won-hee in the 2014 KBS2 TV series The King's Face.
• Portrayed by Shin Eun-jung in the 2015 MBC TV series Splendid Politics.
• Portrayed by Jang Young-nam in the 2019 tvN TV series The Crowned Clown.
• Portrayed by Oh Ha-nee the 2019 KBS2 TV series The Tale of Nokdu.

References[]

• 인목왕후 (in Korean). Doosan Encyclopedia.
• Kim Kichung (16 September 2016). An Introduction to Classical Korean Literature: From Hyangga to P'ansori. ISBN 9781315285153.

Notes[]

Queen Inmok Yeonan Kim clan
Royal titles
Preceded by Queen Uiin of the Bannam Park clan	Queen consort of Joseon 1602 – 1608	Succeeded by Queen Yu of the Munhwa Yu clan
Preceded by Queen Dowager Gongui (Inseong) of the Bannam Park clan −−−−−−− Queen Dowager Uiseong (Insun) of the Cheongsong Shim clan	Queen dowager of Joseon 1608 – 1618 1623 – 1624	Succeeded by Queen Dowager Jaui (Jangnyeol) of the Yangju Jo clan
Preceded by Grand Queen Dowager Seongryeol (Munjeong) of the Papyeong Yun clan	Grand Queen dowager of Joseon 1624 – 1632	Succeeded by Grand Queen Dowager Jaui (Jangnyeol) of the Yangju Jo clan