Deposed Queen Yun

Deposed Queen Yun of the Haman Yun clan (15 July 1455 – 29 August 1482) was the second wife of Yi Hyeol, King Seongjong and the mother of Yi Yung, Prince Yeonsan. She was Queen of Joseon from 1476 until her deposition in 1479. She was an 11th generation descendant of General Yun Gwan (윤관).

Deposed Queen Yun
폐비윤씨
Queen consort of Joseon
Tenure8 August 1476 – 2 June 1479
PredecessorQueen Gonghye
SuccessorQueen Jeonghyeon
Royal Consort of Second Junior Rank
Tenure19 March 1473 – 8 August 1476
Born15 July 1455
Gyeonggi Province, Kingdom of Joseon
Died29 August 1482 (1482-08-30) (aged 27)
Kingdom of Joseon
Burial
Hoemyo Tomb, Deogyang District, Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea
SpouseSeongjong of Joseon
IssueYi Yung, King Yeonsan
HouseHaman Yun clan (by birth)
Jeonju Yi clan (by marriage)
DynastyHouse of Yi
FatherYun Ki-gyeon
MotherLady Shin of the Goryeong Shin clan
Korean name
Hangul
Hanja
Revised RomanizationPyebi Yunssi
McCune–ReischauerPyepi Yunssi
Former posthumous name
Hangul
Hanja
Revised RomanizationJeheon wanghu
McCune–ReischauerJehŏn wanghu

Originally a concubine of the King, she was elevated to queen rank after Han Song-yi's death. The ousting of the Queen in 1479, and her subsequent death by poison in 1482 became a source of recurrent political turmoil, culminating with the First literati purge organized in 1498 by Yeonsan in the 4th year of his reign.

Biography

Early life

Lady Yun was born on 15 July 1455 during King Danjong’s reign as the only daughter to Yun Gi-Gyeon of the Haman Yun clan and his second wife, Lady Shin of the Goryeong Shin clan. She had three older half-brothers and an older brother.

Through her brother, her grandniece married Yi Ryang; the maternal uncle of Queen Insun, the wife of King Myeongjong. Through her mother, Lady Yun is a first cousin once removed of Shin Suk-ju.

Palace life

In a first time, she was a concubine of Seongjong, granted the title Suk-ui (숙의, 淑儀), junior 2nd rank concubine of the King. In 1473, Han Song-yi who was Seongjong's first queen consort died and posthumously honoured as Queen Gonghye.

Because she died without issue, the King was urged by counselors to take a second queen consort to secure the royal succession. Royal Consort Suk-ui was chosen as new queen consort for her beauty,[1] and was instated in 8 August 1476 at the age of 21. Several months later, she gave birth to Yi Yung, later to become King Yeonsan.

The new queen proved to be temperamental and highly jealous of Seongjong's remaining concubines, even stooping to poisoning one of them in 1477.

When it comes to Queen Yun, the most famous story is that she "scarred King Seongjong's face with her fingernails," but in the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty, there is no record of it and since it is a rumor passed down only through private history, the possibility seems very slim given the circumstances and strong male dominant culture plus the fact that his husband was the King at the time.

After several rehabilitation attempts initiated by her party, influential government officials petitioned for her execution. Deposed Queen was sentenced to death by poisoning. She gave the cloth with her blood on it to her mother and asked for it to be given to her son.

She later became known as Deposed Queen Yun. The meaning of "Pyebi Yun-ssi" (폐비윤씨, 廢妃 尹氏), her current name in Korea,[2] is "deposed consort of the Haman Yun family". Western references are rather using Deposed Lady Yun as in.[3]

Aftermath

After her death, court officials urged to pick a wife from within King Seongjong’s concubines. One court official’s daughter, Royal Consort Suk-ui of the Paepyeong Yun clan, became Queen Consort.

It is argued that Queen Jeonghyeon helped to bring Queen Yun’s demise along with her father Yun Ho and her 6th cousin, Yun Pil-sang. But it is unknown how much Queen Jeonghyeon, who was 17 years old at the time, was involved in the abolition of the now deposed Queen Yun. It’s speculated that Queen Jeongsun was also behind it.

Her son, Prince Yeonsan, grew up thinking Queen Jeonghyeon was his birth mother. But in 1494, the young king eventually learned of what had happened to his biological mother and attempted to posthumously restore her titles and position. Because of officials standing in his way, the manner and matter of her death became a pretext for her son to purge the court and government of opponents and critics of his rule.

During Yeonsan's reign, he honored his mother with the posthumous title "Queen Jeheon" (제헌왕후, 齊獻王后).

Family

Parent

  • Father − Yun Gi-gyeon (윤기견)[4]
    • a) Grandfather − Yun Eung (윤응)
      • b) Great-Grandfather − Yun Deuk-ryong (윤득룡, 尹得龍)
        • c) Great-Great-Grandfather - Yun Hui (윤희, 尹禧)
      • b) Great-Grandmother − Lady Min of the Yeoheung Min clan (정부인 여흥 민씨, 貞夫人 驪興 閔氏)
    • a) Grandmother − Lady Kwon of the Andong Kwon clan (안동 권씨); daughter of Kwon So (권소)
  • Aunt − Lady Yun of the Haman Yun clan. Husband: Choi Cheom-ro (최첨로, 崔添老)
    • Cousin − Choi Mun-sun (최문손, 崔文孫)
    • Cousin − Choi Hyo-sun (최효손, 崔孝孫)
  • Mother − Lady Shin of the Goryeong Shin clan (증 부부인 고령 신씨 (贈 府夫人 高靈 申氏) (? - 1504);[5][6] Yun Gi-gyeon's second wife
    • a) Grandfather − Shin Pyeong (신평, 申枰) (1390–1455)[7]
    • a) Grandmother − Lady Ma of the Jangheung Ma clan (정부인 장흥 마씨, 貞夫人 長興 馬氏);[8] Shin Pang's second wife
  • Stepmother − Lady Yi of the Yangseong Yi clan (증 부부인 양성 이씨, 贈 府夫人 陽城 李氏)

Sibling

  • Older half-brother − Yun Woo (윤우, 尹遇)
    • Half-niece − Lady Yun of the Haman Yun clan (윤씨, 尹氏). Husband: Jeong Jin (정진, 鄭秦)
  • Older half-brother − Yun Hae (윤해, 尹邂)
  • Older half-brother − Yun Hu (윤후, 尹逅)
  • Older brother − Yun Gu (윤구, 尹遘) (? – 1513). Wife: Lady Kwon of the Andong Kwon clan (정부인 안동 권씨, 貞夫人 安東 權氏)
    • Nephew − Yun Ji-im (윤지임, 尹之任)
      • Grandnephew − Yun Woon (윤운, 尹雲)
      • Grandnephew − Yun Je (윤제, 尹霽); became the adoptive son of Yun Ji-hwa
    • Nephew − Yun Ji-hwa (윤지화, 尹之和) (1476–1558)
    • Nephew − Yun Ji-cheong (윤지청, 尹之淸)
      • Grandnephew − Yun Rim (윤림, 尹霖)
      • Grandniece − Lady Yun of the Haman Yun clan. Husband: Grandnephew-in-law: Yi Ryang (이량, 李樑) (17 November 1519 – 8 March 1563)[9]

Husband

Issue

Media depictions

Novels

See also

References
  1. Such was her beauty that it was said to resemble Princess Noguk's face. From the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty, entry dated 1497, during the 3rd year of her son's rule.
  2. Doosan Encyclopedia, https://terms.naver.com/entry.nhn?docId=2082317&cid=40942&categoryId=33383
  3. Oh, Young Kyun (24 May 2013). Engraving Virtue: The Printing History of a Premodern Korean Moral Primer. BRILL. ISBN 978-9004251960.
  4. Was originally given the royal title of Internal Prince Haman (함안부원군, 咸安府院君)
  5. Paternal cousin of Shin Suk-ju.
  6. Originally given the royal title of Internal Princess Consort Jangheung (장흥부부인, 長興府夫人)
  7. Uncle of Shin Suk-ju
  8. The only daughter of Ma Cheon-mok (마천목, 馬天牧) (1358 – 14 March 1431), and Lady Yi of the Gyeongju Yi clan (경주 이씨, 慶州 李氏)
  9. The maternal uncle of Queen Insun
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