| Queen Munjeong 문정왕후 | |
| Succession: | Grand queen dowager of Joseon |
| Reign: | 1545 – 5 May 1565 |
| Reign-Type: | Tenure |
| Predecessor: | |
| Successor: | Grand Queen Dowager Soseong |
| Succession1: | Queen regent of Joseon |
| Reign1: | 1545–1553 |
| Reign-Type1: | Regency |
| Predecessor1: | Queen Jeonghui (with Queen Sohye) |
| Successor1: | Queen Insun |
| Succession2: | Queen dowager of Joseon |
| Reign2: | 1544–1545 |
| Reign-Type2: | Tenure |
| Predecessor2: | Queen Dowager Jasun |
| Successor2: | Queen Dowager Gongui |
| Succession3: | Queen consort of Joseon |
| Reign-Type3: | Tenure |
| Reign3: | 1517–1544 |
| Predecessor3: | Queen Janggyeong |
| Successor3: | Queen Inseong |
| Father: | Yun Ji-im |
| Mother: | Internal Princess Consort Jeonseong of the Jeonui Lee clan |
| Spouse: | Yi Yeok, King Jungjong (m. 1517–d.1544) |
| Issue: |
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| Birth Date: | 12 December 1501 |
| Birth Place: | Joseon |
| Death Place: | Sodeokdang, Changdeok Palace, Joseon |
| Place Of Burial: | Nohae-myeon, Yangju County, Gyeonggi Province, Taereung |
| Posthumous Name: | 성렬인명문정왕후 聖烈仁明文定王后 |
| House: | Papyeong Yun |
Queen Munjeong (; 12 December 1501 – 15 May 1565[1]), of the Papyeong Yun clan, was a posthumous name bestowed to the third wife and queen consort of Yi Yeok, King Jungjong. She was queen consort of Joseon from 1517 until her husband's death in 1544, after which she was honoured as Queen Dowager Seongryeol during the reign of her step-son, Yi Ho, King Injong. She was honored as Grand Queen Dowager Seongryeol during the reign of her son, Yi Hwan, King Myeongjong.
Queen Munjeong acted as regent during the minority of her son between 1545 and 1553 when she stepped down from the position formally but retained enough power to become the de-facto ruler of the Joseon Empire for nearly 20 years She was an effective administrator and the most influential supporter of Buddhism during the early Joseon dynasty. She gave out the land to the common people that had been formerly owned by the nobility. During her regency, her brother, Yun Won-hyeong, wielded enormous power to wipe out their opposition and led the Fourth Literati Purge of 1545 as she also exercised enormous power to eventually become one of the most powerful Queens of the Joseon Dynasty.
The future queen was born on 12 December 1501 during the reign of King Yeonsan. Her father, Yun Ji-Im, was member of the Papyeong Yun clan. Her mother was member of the Jeonui Lee clan.
She was a 12th great-granddaughter of Yun Kwan, a Goryeo Dynasty general. Her nephew eventually married the daughter of Princess Hyohye who was also the granddaughter of Kim Ahn-ro. She was also a 5th cousin once removed of Queen Janggyeong, the second spouse of her future husband. As well as a 3rd great-grandniece of Queen Jeonghui, and a fourth cousin twice removed of Queen Jeonghyeon.
King Yeonsan was deposed in 1506 after a serious altercation with his Grandmother the Grand Queen Dowager Insu which resulted into her being pushed down the stairs of her residence and falling to her death, his half-brother, Jungjong, was placed on the throne as the eleventh king of Joseon by leaders of the Hungu factions, the established power elites that time who had led the coup. Jungjong's royal authority was limited due to powerful coup leaders who had put him on the throne.
Yun Myung-hye of the Papyeong Yun clan who was Jungjong's second queen consort died in 1515 after shortly giving birth to the Crown Prince Yi Ho and was posthumously honoured as Queen Janggyeong. Two officials from Sarim faction which was more lenient to empowering the King had petitioned the him to restore status of the Deposed Queen Sin, Jungjong's first queen consort, who was deposed by Hungu faction in 1506. The officials who belonged to the Hungu faction were against the idea and retaliated by causing the two officials to be exiled. Queen Dowager Jasun who was Jungjong's mother as the Elder of the Palace decided to exercise her Royal prerogative, largely influenced by her political allies most of which were led by Yun Im and picked a new queen consort from her own clan, Papyeong Yun.[2] This decision was supported by Yun Im, brother of Queen Janggyeong and uncle of her son, the Crown Prince. The Queen from the Papyeong Yun clan was expected to be the Crown Prince's protectress and secondly, the Queen Dowager was cautious as the elevation of one of Jungjong's three Royal Noble Consorts whose father's were the leaders of the Hungu faction to the position of Queen would have severely curtailed Royal power. So after mourning for two years, Yun Ji-Im's daughter was selected to became the new queen consort when she was 17-years-old and married the 29-year-old King Jungjong in 1517.[3]
After Jo Gwangjo's death (he having been the most powerful leader of the Sarim faction), dozens of Sarim scholars were exiled during the literati purge in 1520, leading to Jungjong's royal authority being diminished and his being no longer able to rule on his own again after he had made earlier successful progress under Jo Gwangjo's protection. His reign was marked by a tumultuous struggle among various conservative factions, each of them backed by one of the King's consorts. Nam Gon and Shim Jung's faction and Kim Ahn-ro's faction vied for power after Kim Ahn-ro's son married Jungjong's eldest daughter and in the most dramatic way the Hungu faction split up into three distinct centres of political power. Nam Gon and Shim Jung connived with one another and ousted Kim Ahn-ro from the political arena for abusing power resulting in his exile.
Although the young Queen Yun was technically the king's Principal Consort by official amendment, Jungjong's concubines were older than her and some of them had more power as princes' mothers which surpassed her own, for instance Park Gyeong-bin who was Prince Bokseong's mother and Hong Hui-bin who was Prince Geumwon's mother. Park Gyeong-bin was also the adoptive daughter of Park Won-jong, the maternal uncle of Queen Janggyeong. Park was also the younger brother of Grand Internal Princess Consort Seungpyeong, the wife of Grand Prince Wolsan and daughter-in-law of Queen Insu.
Hong Hui-bin was the daughter of Hong Gyeong-ju, one of the Hungu faction leaders. Hong Gyeong-ju, Nam Gon and Shim Jung were collectively called "Evil Three of Gimyo" because of their role in the literati purge. Park Gyeong-bin and Hong Hui-bin were supporters of the faction.
It was in this tough position that Queen Yun realized that she barely remained her position by protecting the Crown Prince against these ambitious concubines and only by playing officials with the intention of protecting the young Heir to the throne for Alliances, she started to involve herself in the affairs of State passively as early as 18years old.
During her early years as the Queen, she had a bad relationship with Park Gyeong-bin who devised a plan to place Bokseong in line to the throne by having the Crown Prince deposed and the Queen opposed it. Park Gyeong-bin was also plotting all sorts of conspiracy to monopolize Jungjong's love which dramatically estranged her relationship with her husband to the point that he barely paid any attention to her and frequented Park Gyeong-bin's residence which scarred her own prestige and the Queen.[4] On the other hand, the Queen herself gave birth to three daughters and had no son for 17 years despite Jungjong's expectation to have a prince which only intensified the arrogance of the three Consorts.
Queen Yun as a result decided to retaliate first by manipulating the protection of her mother-in-law the Royal Queen Dowager Jasun who dared to stand up against the three Royal Noble Consorts. It is to be considered that Joseon having been a strongly confucian state that emphasized filial piety and the strict ranking system, the Consorts went to great lengths to refrain from annoying the Queen Dowager who was more strict on affairs of the Internal Court. After her father's death in 1522 Hong Hui-bin herself lost her prominence, a background upon which the young Queen succeeded in having her ousted from Royal precincts on charges of misusing Royal Authority and disrespecting the Queen who was the head of the Naemyeongbu.
Kim Ahn-ro soon returned from exile after Nam Gon's death. After receiving a special pardon from Jungjong, whose realization had led him to believe that the latter's presence was necessary to restrain resistance from Nam Gon's extremist supporters and as he was desperate to settle the scores, his first action was to accuse Shim Jung for accepting bribes from Park Gyeong-bin to help her put Prince Bokseong in line for the throne. Kim went ahead to fabricate evidence framing Shim Jung and Gyeong-bin on the charge of cursing the Crown Prince using witchcraft after voodoo objects were unearthed in the young prince’s Palace, an act which was strongly condemned and punishable by death. Jungjong eager but cunning and wise enough to not show it acquiesced to grant a Kim Ahn-ro a Royal sanction with ease that permitted Shim Jung, Park Gyeong-bin and Prince Bokseong's execution in cold blood in 1533 immediately.
In the least expected manner, the Queen's temporary political alliances had efficiently helped her ensure the vacation of two of the most ambitious Royal Consorts from her own sphere which secured her position in the Palace and even with the death of the Royal Queen Dowager Jasun who had been her protectress in 1530. She was now the most influential elder in the Palace by official rank and seemed confident that she could protect herself.
The political scene however having appeared temporarily relaxed was finally tempered in 1534. Queen Yun herself after much longing and frustration finally gave birth to a son, Yi Hwan, who was honoured as Grand Prince Gyeongwon, an event which became the most significant turning point in her political career. The birth of the Grand Prince though well received by the Royal Family, especially by Jungjong, aroused what was not only Kim Ahn-ro's concern, but that of many of his supporters who had gained political momentum in the Royal Court.
Kim Ahn-ro, who had started becoming cautious of the Queen earlier on, was even rumoured to fathom having one of his relatives be elevated to the Queen's position, something that the mature Queen Yun had perhaps foreseen. Once word reached her ears, she acted out immediately by gathering her own circle of political sympathizers especially those from her own clan. Kim Ahn-ro, in the name of protecting the Crown Prince as his excuse, influenced a number of high ranking officials who submitted petitions in an attempt to depose the Queen because her son was considered a threat for the Crown Prince's position.
Queen Yun who had noticed the plot beforehand had, through her infant son, won over the affection of her husband and in turn persuaded the King to get rid of him instead assuring him of the support of her clan which would strengthen his Royal Authority. Jungjong on the other hand had seemingly grown concerned with Kim Ahn-ro's political influence as the Queen had made it seem that the high ranking officials were loyal to him and not the King of the country. Kim Ahn-ro had more than once influenced a series of discreet political decisions and kept some affairs secret from the King, the Queen triumphed in creating an irreparable rift between her husband and Kim.
In the most dramatic network, Queen Yun leagued herself with high and low ranking officials, and Kim Ahn-ro was accused of misusing Royal Authority, disregarding the Queen, corruption and selling of official positions while manipulating Royal favor with the King which ended with his execution in 1537. The incident had the unfortunate consequence of isolating the Queen, whose intervention in the political strife having been publicized, ended the alliance system she had forged in her favor. For the embattled woman who had been liable to falling victim to a fatal political machination which would have cost her her life, and those of her kin, she realized that it was useless to be in a high position without wielding tremendous power.
After Kim Ahn-ro's death, Yun Im as the Crown Prince's Chief protector and the Queen's brothers, Yun Won-ro and Yun Won-hyeong filled the power vacuum. Ultimately, many officials gathered around the two new centers of power which eventually developed from the political conflagration that split the Hungu faction into two separate political factions. Yun Im's faction became known as 'Greater Yun', itself consisting of the majority whose hopes were the exploits of future power upon the ascension of the Crown Prince and the Yun brothers' faction as 'Lesser Yun.'
Yun Im who had realised the dangerous political arena was committed to reconciling himself with the Sarim faction. Which many Sarim scholars joined the Greater Yun since they had great hopes for the Crown Prince, who studied under Jo Gwang-jo and Yi Hwang. Additionally, none had appeared to foresee the possibility that the Queen would be a more reliable protector, since to them, she was no different from a naive woman. But with this misunderstanding, they were to later regret succumbing to.
Although the Crown Prince was the Queen's political protector for a long time, he turned into a political enemy that she should get rid of for the future of her own son which farther estranged their relationship. The Annals of the Joseon Dynasty tells the story of the Queen who threatened the Crown Prince to not to kill her brothers and her own son. Her hostility was not only because her ambition, but also from Yun Im's and late Kim An-ro's manipulation to get rid of the Queen.
The Queen had consequently become a calculative woman who was perceptive of State affairs and acted with great caution in all matters. As Yun Im finally felt that her alliance was irrelevant often times, he was bent on ousting her two brothers who were also ultimately her most powerful protectors from the political arena which poisoned her relationship with him and intensified her resistance.
Jungjong after sitting on the throne for nearly 40 years fell ill in 1544 and tension in the Royal Court increased. The Queen's insecurity peaked as she started to strengthen her own power by arranging the Royal marriages of her daughters that she started to become actively involved in politics of the country; influencing her husband's decision to raise her brothers' positions and appoint officials from her clan.
When Jungjong's health intensely declined, he eventually succumbed in the same year and the Crown Prince ascended to the throne as 12th king of Joseon in front of his coffin (temple name: Injong). Queen Yun was honoured as Queen Dowager Seongryeol and she vacated the Queen's residence moving to the Queen Dowager's.
Injong as the new monarch wasn't bent on abandoning his father's political mechanics but unlike Jungjong who relied on juggling Royal in laws in the bid to safeguard his position and rule them in their division, Injong acted with some bit of self restrain with the intention of balancing Royal power between Royal in laws and the Royal House. In the early months of his reign, Injong promoted his maternal relatives to high position and demoted the Queen Dowager's allies to lesser offices, Yun Im was the mastermind behind the design of the new political layout in the Court and Injong who was himself lenient probably out of guilt for old times sake preferred to keep Queen Dowager Seongryeol in check rather than expel her from the Inner Court.
Yun Im soon started exploiting his connection to the young king to censure the Queen Dowager and even push for Grand Prince Gyeongwon to be demoted to the rank of commoner despite his infancy and his political detachment. He pressured Injong's Queen Consort to stand up to her legal mother in law and Seongryeol expressed her intense dissatisfaction in many aspects, but Injong either ignored her formal beseech or postponed matters regarding to her well being. He punished those who spoke up against Yun Im hoping to pacify him in exchange for Queen Dowager Seongryeol's life while the Queen Dowager couldn't directly confront Yun Im who was exercising immense power at the time.
The rift between the Queen Dowager and the young King who constantly protected her biggest political rival deepened when Injong pressured by the Greater Yun faction was unable to keep up his charade and dismissed Yun Won-hyeong and Yun Won-ro from their positions after they were impeached by them, a move that was intended to politically weaken the Queen. Numerous attempts were made by Yun Im to wipe out the opposition of the Greater Yun faction completely but it was in vain since the Queen Dowager Seongryeol protected the Lesser Yun faction and other opposition officials in return for her own political safety and as a way of retaliating, she devised the ultimate plan to change the King.
Discussions sparked off by Yun Im advocating for the Queen Dowager's vacation of Gyeongbok Palace intensified and Queen Dowager Seongryeol along with her supporters acted before Injong's decision was finalised. Many in the Sarim faction believed that Injong was in fact poisoned by Seongryeol since records of his death were unclear defining his cause of death to have been natural yet he was healthy, but there is no evidence that this was the case. According to unofficial chronicles, there is a tale of Seongryeol finally showing love and understanding for her "adoptive" son Injong, after decades of polite indifference (in reality behind-the-scenes hatred).
As Injong went to pay his morning respects, Munjeong’s face started radiating with a smile only a mother could give to her child. Injong took it as a sign that the Queen dowager was finally acknowledging him as the king, and in particular as her own son. He ate the ddeok that his step-mother gave him, not knowing that it would be the beginning of the end. He fell ill slowly, not enough to create any suspicion, but quickly enough that historians would later pick up on the event. Three days passed before Injong mysteriously died (after only 9 months of rule).
The chronicles also tell that Seongryeol was frequently visited by spirits at night after Injong's death. So disturbed was she that she moved her residence from Gyeongbok Palace to Changdeok Palace.
Injong after battling with his health finally died in 1545, having an insignificant 11th year reign. Young as he was, he had not fathered a son with his Queen consort or any of his concubines. The closest person in the line of succession was Grand Prince Gyeongwon, the Queen Dowager Seongryeol's biological son, and he ascended to the throne as 13th king of Joseon (temple name: Myeongjong) at only 9 years of age marking the beginning of renaissance period in Joseon whose early years were those of unrelieved horror.
A lot of controversy arose in regard of the Queen Dowager's position as the mother of the King which was solved by the fact that since Injong had died as a king, his wife was elevated to the rank of Queen Dowager which positioned Queen Yun to relinquish and rise to the next highest position a Royal Queen would attain thereby honouring herself as Grand Queen Dowager Seongryeol.
As the young King's mother and grand queen dowager, Seongryeol was empowered by officials of the Lesser Yun faction and upon their forced invitation acted as regent behind the silk and bamboo screen, the second woman in the History of the Joseon Dynasty to officially take on the role after Queen Jeonghui, who was her mother-in-law and a first cousin four times removed.
The infant King presented the Royal Seal to His Mother in front of her residence along with Senior officials as a form of pageantry that was supposed to legitimise her new official position. The Queen Mother's first action was to have her brothers Yun Won-hyeong and Yun Won-ro reinstated on that very day. They were summoned from their exile and specially received in the Palace without Yun Im's knowledge where they came to wield enormous power. Unlike Queen Jeonghui who in her regency had relied on both able officials and her relatives, the Queen Mother solely relied on her relatives and her regency was characterized by three distinct instruments, purges, political populism, and nepotism.
Yun Won-hyeong immediately accused Yun Im and his supporters of plotting to put another prince instead of Myeongjong on the throne after Injong's death only days after his reinstatement. These accusations and rumors of Yun Im's treason sparked off the Fourth Literati Purge of 1545 in which Yun Im, and nine of his supporters, including Sarim scholars, were executed. After this initial purge, Yun Won-hyeong continued to purge the Queen's rivals and Sarim scholars over next five years until the total death toll surpassed one hundred thus becoming the most intense of the literati purges in Joseon's history.
Yun Won-ro, who was more sympathetic to the Sarim faction, censured his brother whose actions he believed had gone too far that the Queen Mother allied herself with Yun Won-hyeong, and had him impeached and finally executed a few days later along with his followers in 1546 in return. The blood shed by Queen Munjeong's brother resulted into Myeongjong's political influence being curtailed as Grand Queen Dowager Seongryeol centralized all political, social and economic power to herself. She was the final Court of Appeal, arbitrator of bureaucratic disputes, High governess of the Royal Court and Supreme Head of the Royal House.
Deficient of opposition from the government, Yun Won-hyeong became Minister of Personnel in 1548, Left State Councilor in 1551 and ultimately Chief State Councilor in 1563 which further strengthened the Queen Mother's position as she survived public criticism by letting her brother do all the dirty work for her. Despite Yun Won-hyeong's violent rule, Grand Queen Dowager Seongryeol as an effective administrator, who was admired by the people many of whom believed her to be the Maitreya, having been a staunch supporter of Buddhism to the point that even though not being recognized as the State religion for the neo-Confucian Joseon State, it nonetheless functioned as one.
In 1553 after ruling behind the bamboo Silk screen for 8 years, acting through the office of the Royal Censors, Myeongjong finally gathered the courage to make his first independent decision to ask his mother to step down from her regency. Grand Queen Dowager Seongryeol, unwilling to stir public fury and cautious of political criticism, gave in to the demand but nonetheless retained all her political power to the fullest unlike Queen Jeonghui who had preceded her. The Queen Mother efficiently continued to rule even after her son reached the age of majority, issuing Royal Edicts and not the humbler directives and even receiving officials in her residence. Everyday she received petitions and even envoys from the Ming Dynasty with the King; even going the extra mile to perform duties that were initially reserved for the Monarch. Such as troop inspections and leading Royal Rituals despite the continued censure from the Sarim minorities that for most, there was a feeling that there were two Kings in the country referring to the King as one and herself as the other.
She continued distributing to the common people land formerly owned by the nobility and astonishingly, she was also the most influential supporter of Buddhism during the early dynasty. Throughout the Joseon period, Buddhism had been actively discouraged and suppressed by the Neo-Confucianist government. Buddhist monks were treated as thought they were on the same social level as slaves, and were not allowed to enter the gates of the capital city however during her regime though being violent, she lifted the official ban on Buddhist worship and employed Court painters to draw numerous Buddhist paintings thus instigating an impressive revival of Buddhism that had declined during the Goryeo Dynasty.
The Queen Mother herself took part in many Buddhist rituals and ceremonies and commissioned a number of Buddhist paintings and Sutras more than any member of the Royal family before and after her, much of her personal wealth was dedicated to refurbishing and constructing Buddhist Temples all over Joseon.
She commissioned 400 Buddhist artworks and the aim of the commission was to commemorate the opening of Hoeam Temple. The project was started in 1563 and was completed two years later.
The massive commission involved 100 scrolls on each of 4 triads:
In each set of 100-50 were executed in colors and gold, the other 50 in gold only.
As of 2009,[5] only 6 of the commissioned 400 are still extant.
Buddhist temples served as another proof of Seongryeol's zealous aim of the revival of Buddhism. The cornerstone of the revival of Buddhism is the Bongeun-sa Temple (a major center of Zen Buddhism).
Bongeun-sa was established in 794 by Ven. Yeon-hoe, and was originally called Gyeonseong-sa. It was rebuilt in 1498 (by Queen Jeonghyeon's patronage) and renamed Bongeun-sa; in 1562 it was moved about 1 km to its current location and rebuilt. Its fate was destruction by fire (1592 and 1637) and repetitive rebuilding and renovations (1637, 1692, 1912, 1941, and 1981). A three-story stone stupa enshrines the Sari of Sakyamuni Buddha, brought from Sri Lanka in 1975.
The temple fell into decline during the late Goryeo era, but was reconstructed in 1498. Before the reconstruction, Buddhism fell under severe state-imposed oppression as the government maintained Neo-Confucianism as the sole state ideal. With Seongryeol's strong support for the re-awakening of Buddhism, she reconstructed Bongeun-sa and it was to become a cornerstone for early-Joseon Buddhist revival.
Ven. Bo-woo played a key role at this critical period, having been assigned as the Chief Monk of Bongeun-sa in 1548. He revived an official system of training and selecting monks in both the Seon (meditation) and Gyo (doctrinal, scholastic) sects of Korean Buddhism. In 1551, Bongeun-sa became the main temple of the Jogye Seon Order, then soon became the main base for the overall restoration of Korean Buddhism. This revived training system produced such illustrious monks as Ven. Seo-san, Ven. Sa-myeong, and Ven. Byeok-am. However, after Seongryeol died, Ven. Bo-woo was killed by anti-Buddhist officials.
Grand Queen Dowager Seongryeol died on 15 May 1565 during the 20th year of the reign of her son and was posthumously honoured as Queen Munjeong, the Great Queen. She had wanted to be buried at Jeongneung along with her husband, but the land around Jeongneung was low and prone to flooding and she was buried instead in the Taeneung Royal Tomb.
After her death, Myeongjong, who intended to finally exercise his royal power independently, was empowered by the Sarim who exploited the Queen Mother's absence to impeach Yun Won-hyeong who was thereby dismissed from office and thus lost all his political power and wealth. He was exiled from the capital and unable to make a political comeback, he and his second wife, Jeong Nan-jeong, committed suicide by poison as Myeongjong readmitted the Sarim into the Royal Court.
Upon her death, the Queen had been the direct de-facto ruler of the Joseon Dynasty for over twenty years, much longer than any other woman of her era. Unlike most Joseon queens who preceded and succeeded her, none acted as brazen as she was and none was more headstrong, arrogant, resilient and firm in execution of royal power and authority. The Papyeong Yun clan lost its political prominence and she was its last Joseon queen descended from it.
It's said that among the queens who were actively involved in Joseon Dynasty politics and greatly manipulated them to even rival the king's own power, Queen Munjeong, along with Queen Wongyeong, Queen Jeonghui, Queen Myeongseong, and Empress Myeongseong, were considered the most politically apt, bold, and broad-minded queens of their time.
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