Jo (; died 24 January 1652) of the , widely known as Jo, was a concubine of King

Injo of Joseon Injo of Joseon (7 December 1595 – 17 June 1649), born Yi Jong, was the sixteenth ruler of the Joseon Dynasty of Korea. He was the grandson of King Seonjo and son of Prince Jeongwon. He was the king during the Later Jin invasion of Joseon, in ...

. She is one of the best-known '' femme fatales'' in

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

history.

Biography

Early life

She was initially arranged to become the maid of a lord's daughter, but instead became a palace woman. She used to serve

Queen Inryeol Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mothe ...

's brother-in-law, and the Queen was the one who arranged for her to enter the palace.

Royal favorite

She caught

King Injo Injo of Joseon (7 December 1595 – 17 June 1649), born Yi Jong, was the sixteenth ruler of the Joseon Dynasty of Korea. He was the grandson of King Seonjo and son of Prince Jeongwon. He was the king during the Later Jin invasion of Joseon, ...

's eye, and became his favourite consort overnight; her

rank Rank is the relative position, value, worth, complexity, power, importance, authority, level, etc. of a person or object within a ranking, such as: Level or position in a hierarchical organization * Academic rank * Diplomatic rank * Hierarchy * H ...

also changed rapidly, from the lowest to , , , and was finally declared as a royal consort of the first junior rank, . No one could beat her in terms of receiving the King’s affection; both

Queen Jangryeol Queen Jangryeol (장렬왕후 조씨; 16 December 1624 – 20 September 1688), of the Yangju Jo clan, was a posthumous name bestowed to the wife and second queen consort of Yi Jong, King Injo, the 16th Joseon monarch. She was queen consort of J ...

of the Yangju Jo clan and Jang failed to receive Injo’s love. Her personality was described as that of a sensual but cunning woman, and those who were in her bad book would not be safe in front of the King. Because of this, people inside the palace were very afraid of her. It was rumored that Lady Jo disturbed the relationship between Injo and

, with the intention to tear them apart.

Feud with the crown princess

Lady Jo harbored hatred towards the family of Yi Wang, Crown Prince Sohyeon, particularly

Crown Princess Minhoe Crown Princess Minhoe of the Geumcheon Kang clan (Hangul: 민회빈 강씨, Hanja: 愍懷嬪姜氏; 8 April 1611 - 30 April 1646), also known as Crown Princess Consort Sohyeon (), was the wife of Crown Prince Sohyeon, the son of King Injo of Jose ...

. Since the day she reached the rank of , she would badmouth them in front of Injo and it became a common thing for her to slander them with false accusations. Although there was no record of her involvement with Crown Prince Sohyeon’s death, her slanders did not stop after the prince passed away. Because of that, Crown Princess Minhoe suspected Jo of poisoning her husband. Lady Jo accused the Crown Princess of attempting to poison Injo, leading to the princess’ execution. The acupuncturist who treated Prince Sohyeon before his death was Yi Hyeong-ik, who was rumored to be in a relationship with Lady Jo's mother. There was even a record about this.

Later life

After Injo's death, she was discovered to be involved in an attempt to put a curse on

and on the Queen's niece.

Kim Ja-jeom Kim Ja-jeom (; 1588 – January 27, 1652) was a Korean scholar-official of the Joseon dynasty period and Ming-Qing transition. He was one of the disciples of Seong Hon and came from the Andong Kim clan. He was Joseon's Chief State Councillor ...

was her accomplice and was executed. King Hyojong decided to spare the life of Princess Hyomyeong, his half-sister, since she was not involved in the incident. Lady Jo was sentenced to death by poisoning and her mother, who was also an accomplice, died before she could receive her punishment. There were officials suggesting for Jo to be stripped of her position as a royal consort but out of respect for his father, who treasured her, King Hyojong did not go through with the idea. She had a daughter and two sons with King Injo.

Family

*Father: Jo Gi (1574 – ?) (조기) *Mother: Han Ok, Lady Han of the

Cheongju Han clan The Cheongju Han clan (Hangul: 청주 한씨, Hanja: 淸州韓氏) is a Korean noble family. It is also called the House of Han or the Han clan of Cheongju. It is considered one of the most prominent clans since the Gojoseon period. In the Sil ...

(? – 1652) (한옥, 청주 한씨) *Husband: Yi Jong, King Injo of Joseon (7 December 1595 – 17 June 1649) (이종 조선 인조) **Father-in-law: Grand Internal Prince Jeongwon (2 August 1580 – 29 December 1619) (정원 대원군) **Mother-in-law: Queen Inheon of the Neungseong Gu clan (17 April 1578 – 14 January 1626) (인헌왕후 능성 구씨) * Daughter: Princess Hyomyeong (1637 – 1700) (효명옹주) ** Son-in-law: Kim Se-ryong, Prince Consort Nakseong (? – 1651) (김세룡 낙성위) * Son: Yi Jing, Prince Sungseon (17 October 1639 – 6 January 1690) (이징 숭선군) ** Daughter-in-law: Princess Consort Yeongpung of the

Pyeongsan Shin clan The Pyeongsan Sin clan or Pyeongsan Shin clan () is one of the great aristocratic houses which originated from Korea. The clan was key in the foundation of the Goryeo dynasty and gained its power during this time. However, it became less promi ...

(1639 – 1692) (영풍군부인 평산 신씨) *** Granddaughter: Lady Yi (이씨) *** Granddaughter: Lady Yi (이씨) *** Granddaughter: Lady Yi (이씨) *** Granddaughter: Lady Yi (이씨) *** Grandson: Yi Hang, Prince Dongpyeong (동평군 항) (1660 - 1701) *** Grandson: Yi Kang (동성정 강) *Son: Yi Suk, Prince Nakseon (9 December 1641 – 26 April 1695) (이숙 낙석군) ** Daughter-in-law: Princess Consort Dongwon of the Gangneung Kim clan (동원군부인 강릉 김씨) (? - 1722) *** Adoptive grandson: Yi Hwan, Prince Imyang (임양군 이환) (1656 - 1715)

In popular culture

* Portrayed by

Seo Hyun-jin Seo Hyun-jin (born February 27, 1985) is a South Korean actress and singer. Seo debuted as the main vocalist of South Korean girl group M.I.L.K. in 2001 and continued until the group disbanded in 2003. She contributed songs as a solo artist af ...

in the 2012 MBC TV series ''

Horse Doctor ''The King's Doctor'' (; lit. ''Horse Doctor'') is a 2012 South Korean television series depicting Baek Gwang-hyeon (1625–1697), Joseon Dynasty veterinarian, starring Cho Seung-woo and Lee Yo-won. It aired on MBC from October 1, 2012 to Mar ...

''. * Portrayed by

Kim Hyun-joo Kim Hyun-joo ( ko, 김현주; born 24 April 1977) is a South Korean actress. She is best known for her leading roles in television dramas ''Glass Slippers'' (2002), ''Toji, the Land'' (2004), '' Twinkle Twinkle'' (2011), ''What Happens to My Fa ...

Lee Chae-mi Lee Chae-Mi (born June 23, 2006) is a South Korean child actress. She is best known for playing the daughter in need of a bone marrow transplant Hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT) is the transplantation of multipotent hematopoi ...

and

Heo Jung-eun Heo Jung-eun (; born September 14, 2007) is a South Korean actress. She first drew public attention with her performances in hit dramas, '' My Lawyer, Mr. Jo'' (2016) and ''Love in the Moonlight'' (2016). At age nine, she took on her first leadin ...

in the 2013

JTBC JTBC (shortened from ''Joongang Tongyang Broadcasting Company'' (; stylized as jtbc) is a South Korean nationwide pay television network. Its primary shareholder is JoongAng Holdings, with a 25% stake. It was launched on 1 December 2011. JTBC ...

TV series '' Blooded Palace: The War of Flowers''. * Portrayed by

Kim Min-seo Kim Min-seo ( ko, 김민서, ; born March 16, 1984) is a South Korean actress. She debuted as Kim Se-ha in the short-lived K-pop three-member girl group Mint, which was active from 1999–2000. When Mint disbanded, she turned to acting. Kim is ...

in the 2015 MBC TV series ''

Splendid Politics ''Splendid Politics'' () is a 2015 South Korean television series starring Cha Seung-won, Lee Yeon-hee, Kim Jaewon, Seo Kang-joon, Han Joo-wan and Jo Sung-ha. It aired on MBC from April 13 to September 29, 2015 on Mondays and Tuesdays at 22:00 ...

''. * Portrayed by Ahn Eun-jin in the 2022 film '' The Night Owl''.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jo, Gwiin 1652 deaths Royal consorts of the Joseon dynasty Executed Korean women 1617 births