Lady Daemyeong

Not to be confused with Daemyeong, Daemyeong Station, or Kim Dae-myung.
Lady Daemyeong
SpouseGyeongjong of Goryeo
House
FatherPrince Wonjang[1]
MotherPrincess Heungbang
Korean name
Hangul
대명궁부인
Hanja
Revised RomanizationDaemyeonggung-buin
McCune–ReischauerTaemy'ŏngkung-pu'in

Lady Daemyeong of the Chŏngju Yu clan (Korean: 대명궁부인 유씨; Hanja: 大明宮夫人 柳氏; lit. 'Lady Yu of the Daemyeong Palace') was a member of the Goryeo royal family. She was the paternal and maternal granddaughter of King Taejo, via Prince Wonjang and Princess Heungbang who were both half-siblings.[2] She became the fifth wife of King Gyeongjong.[3][4] She married her first cousin and thus followed her grandmother's clan, the Chŏngju Yu. She had a brother about whom detailed records were not kept.[5]

The Goryeo History does not provide much detail about her life. However, it is known that King Gyeongjong built a palace for her and named it Daemyeonggung (大明宮). Although Gyeongjong's first four consorts were posthumously honoured as queens, she was the only one not to receive the posthumous rank of queen. Some modern scholars have speculated that Princess Heungbang, despite being a royal princess, did not receive the title of queen and remained only the fifth concubine. They believe that she married King Gyeongjong, the latest among all his wives and that her political status was not very high. This is based on the fact that she was not given the title of queen, even though she was of royal descent.[6][7]

  1. ^ "고려시대 史料 Database". db.history.go.kr (in Korean). Retrieved May 2, 2021.
  2. ^ 고려시대사람들은어떻게살았을까: 정치・경제생활이야기 (in Korean). 청년사. 1997. ISBN 978-89-7278-322-0.
  3. ^ 한국사 를 바꾼 여인들 (in Korean). 책 이 있는 마을. 2002. ISBN 978-89-5639-014-7.
  4. ^ Goryeosa vol. 88 – "Lady Daemyeonggung Yussi".
  5. ^ 왕비들의 전쟁: 삼국, 고려, 조선 왕비들의 권력 투쟁 이야기 (in Korean). 옥당북스. 15 April 2021. ISBN 979-11-89936-35-8.
  6. ^ 북타임스 고려왕비열전 12. 경종과 헌애 왕후 황보 씨 (in Korean). 금성출판사. 1 October 2016. ISBN 978-89-07-90203-0.
  7. ^ 韓國女性關係資料集: 中世篇(中) (in Korean). Ewha Womans University Press. 1 March 1985. ISBN 978-89-7300-043-2.