Jinseong of Silla (c. 865–897) was the fifty-first ruler of the

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

n kingdom,

Silla Silla or Shilla (57 BCE – 935 CE) ( , Old Korean: Syera, Old Japanese: Siraki2) was a Korean kingdom located on the southern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula. Silla, along with Baekje and Goguryeo, formed the Three Kingdoms ...

in 887–897.Lee Bae-yong, Women in Korean History, Ewha Womans University Press, 2008, pp. 145-147, . She was also Silla's third and last reigning queen after Seondeok and Jindeok. Her reign saw the end of

Unified Silla Unified Silla, or Late Silla (, ), is the name often applied to the Korean kingdom of Silla, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, after 668 CE. In the 7th century, a Silla–Tang alliance conquered Baekje and the southern part of Goguryeo in the ...

and the beginning of the

Later Three Kingdoms The Later Three Kingdoms period (889-935 AD) of ancient Korea saw a partial revival of the old three kingdoms which had dominated the peninsula from the 1st century BC to the 7th century AD. After the Unified Silla kingdom had ruled Korea alone ...

period. According to her older brother Jeonggang, she was smart by nature and tall like a man.

Family

Parents * Father:

Gyeongmun of Silla Gyeongmun of Silla (846–875) (r. 861–875) was the 48th ruler of the Korean kingdom of Silla. He was the grandson of Huigang of Silla, King Huigang, and the son of the ''ichan'' Gim Gye-myeong. His mother was Lady Gwanghwa, the daughter ...

(841–875) ** Grandfather: Kim Gye–myeong (김계명) ** Grandmother: Madam Gwanghwa (광화부인) * Mother: Queen Munui of the Kim clan (문의왕후 김씨) **Maternal grandfather:

Heonan of Silla Heonan of Silla (died 861) (r. 857–861) was the 47th king of the Silla kingdom of Korea. He was the younger half-brother of King Sinmu. What little we know of his reign comes from the ''Samguk Sagi''. Following a famine in the year 859, he ...

(헌안왕) **Maternal grandmother: Unknown Consorts and their respective issue: * Kim Wi–Hong (김위홍), son of Kim Gye–myeong (김계명) **Stepson: Yang Jeong (양정)

Life

Jinseong was the daughter of King Gyeongmun and

Queen Munui 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 mother ...

. The younger sister of Heongang and Jeonggang, she rose to the throne when both of her brothers died without issue. When King Jeonggang was dying in 887, he appointed his sister Jinseong as his heir, justifying the choice of a female monarch by pointing at Seondeok's and Jindeok's successful reigns. Though Seondeok and Jindeok's successful reigns were invoked to help Jinseong secure the throne, Silla's third queen regnant ultimately did not live up to the expectations of her predecessors.

Reign

Accroding to ''

Samguk Sagi ''Samguk Sagi'' (, ''History of the Three Kingdoms'') is a historical record of the Three Kingdoms of Korea: Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla. The ''Samguk Sagi'' is written in Classical Chinese, the written language of the literati of ancient Korea, ...

'', Jinseong did licentious conduct that bringing attractive men into the palace and committing lewd acts with them. She also carried on an affair with the high commander ('' Gakgan'') Wihong. The ''Samguk Sagi'' was written by Confucianists, who held a negative view of female rule, so the precise details therein should perhaps not be taken at face value. In contrast, according to the records of

Choe Chiwon Choe Chiwon (; 857–10th century) was a Korean philosopher and poet of the late medieval Unified Silla period (668-935). He studied for many years in Tang China, passed the Tang imperial examination, and rose to the high office there before r ...

, she was a good-hearted monarch with no greed. During her reign, public order collapsed. Taxes could no longer be collected and the military conscription system failed. Taking advantage of this domestic disarray,

Yang Gil Yang Gil (hangul: 양길; hanja: 梁吉) was a head of rebel forces in Silla. Hugoguryeo King Gung Ye was once under his command. Historians are uncertain about his birth, death or family line. At the time, the monarch of Silla was Queen Jinseong ...

in the northwest and

Gyeon Hwon Gyeon Hwon (; 867 – 27 September 936, r. 892 – March 934) was the king and founder of Later Baekje, one of the Later Three Kingdoms of Korea, and reigned from 892 to 935. Some records render his name as "Jin Hwon" (진훤). He was also the prog ...

in the southwest rebelled and founded their own kingdoms. In 895, Jinseong appointed Heongang's illegitimate son Kim Yo as Crown Prince. On June, 897, she abdicated the throne and later died on December, 897. She was buried to the north of Sajasa temple in Gyeongju.

Legacy

She ordered the first compilation of

hyangga ''Hyangga'' () were poems written using Chinese characters in a system known as '' hyangchal'' during the Unified Silla and early Goryeo periods of Korean history. Only a few have survived: 14 in the ''Samguk yusa'' and 11 by the monk Kyunyeo. ...

works, '' Samdaemok'', to be created.

References

Sources