Queen Sinhye of the Jeongju Ryu clan (Sometimes can be Queen Sinhye of the Jeongju Yu clan (신혜왕후 유씨, 神惠王后柳氏).) was the first

Goryeo Goryeo (; ) was a Korean kingdom founded in 918, during a time of national division called the Later Three Kingdoms period, that unified and ruled the Korean Peninsula until 1392. Goryeo achieved what has been called a "true national unificat ...

queen consort through her marriage as the first wife of

Wang Geon Taejo of Goryeo (31 January 877 – 4 July 943), also known as Taejo Wang Geon (; ), was the founder of the Goryeo dynasty, which ruled Korea from the 10th to the 14th century. Taejo ruled from 918 to 943, achieving unification of the Later Thre ...

, its founder. As the wife and mother of the new nation, she supported her husband's national affairs with a good plan and received great favor and preferential treatment from many people, also become his favourite wife.

Life

The future Queen Sinhye was born into a rich family in

Gyeonggi Province Gyeonggi-do (, ) is the most populous province in South Korea. Its name, ''Gyeonggi'', means "京 (the capital) and 畿 (the surrounding area)". Thus, ''Gyeonggi-do'' can be translated as "Seoul and the surrounding areas of Seoul". Seoul, the na ...

as the daughter of Ryu Cheon-gung, a village leader from the

Jeongju Ryu clan The Jeongju Ryu clan () is one of the Korean clans. Their Bon-gwan is in Kaepung, Kaesong. It was founded by Ryu Cheon-gung (류천궁) who was a nobleman from Jeongju and served as one of the Three Major Grand Masters (태위 삼중대광, ...

. According to legend,

, a general commander under

Gung Ye Gung Ye ( – 24 July 918, r. July 901 – 24 July 918) was the king of the short-lived state of Taebong (901–918), one of the Later Three Kingdoms of Korea. Although he was a member of the Silla royal family, he became a victim of the power s ...

passed through the land of

Jeongju Chŏngju (; also Jŏngju) is a ''si'', or city, in southern North P'yŏngan province, North Korea. Prior to 1994, it was designated as a ''kun'' or county. The terrain is mostly level, but mountainous in the north. To the south lies the Ch� ...

with his armies to invaded

Later Baekje Hubaekje or Later Baekje (, ) was one of the Later Three Kingdoms of Korea, along with Taebong and Silla. Later Baekje was a Korean dynastic kingdom founded by the disaffected Silla general Gyeon Hwon in 900, whom led the local gentry and popul ...

, then resting his horses and sat under an old willow tree for rested for a while. In there, he happened to see and met a young girl, who's standing by the brook of the road. While he seeing her virtuous face, he asked: :"Whose daughter are you?" ("누구의 딸이냐?") And that girl said: :"I am the daughter of the Lord in this village." ("이 고을의 장자長者집 딸입니다.") Wang immediately fell in love with her beautiful appearance and wisdom at first sight and stayed at her father's mansion that day where he prepared and served food to all the army members in a very prosperous manner. That girl's father, Lord Ryu ordered his daughter to slept with Wang. Not long after that, Wang immediately left for the battlefield and they lost contact each other, so she then shaved her hair to keep her chastity and became a nun. Meanwhile, Wang learned this belatedly and hurriedly found her, brought her and married her. At the end of the Taebong period, when

Sin Sung-gyeom Sin Sung-gyeom (; d. 927) was a Korean general during the turbulent Later Three Kingdoms period in the early 10th century. Born in Gwanghaeju (present-day Chuncheon), he became a general in the kingdom of Taebong. He was instrumental in helping ...

(신숭겸), Hong Yu (홍유),

Bae Hyeon-gyeong BAE Systems plc (BAE) is a British multinational arms, security, and aerospace company based in London, England. It is the largest defence contractor in Europe, and ranked the seventh-largest in the world based on applicable 2021 revenues. ...

(배현경), etc came to seek to drive out

in protest against his terror reign and wanted to appoint Wang as the new one, he stubbornly refused and didn't accept it, but hesitated at the same time. Knowing this, Lady Ryu then said: : "It has been done since ancient times to defeat greed with righteousness. Now that I have heard the stories of the generals, even women and children will be thrilled and exited. General, what more can I say?"
“의(義)로써 탐학함을 물리치는 것은 예로부터 해온 일입니다. 지금 여러 장군들의 이야기를 들으니 아녀자도 분발하겠거늘 하물며 대장부께서야 더 말해 무엇하겠습니까?” Also encouraged her husband to put on his own armor and participated in protest to start a revolution. In 918, her husband finally defeated

and established the new dynasty, she became the Queen consort. Assisted the national ambassador with good schemes and distinguished herself by assisting her husband with the establishment of important national policies, she received favor and preferential treatment. She also achieved integrity, docile and wise in serving her husband, that made her honoured as Lady of the Hadong County (하동군부인, 河東郡夫人). As such, the Queen received the utmost respect and admiration from many of her peoples, her husband for her contribution in helping the establishment of the Goryeo dynasty. Meanwhile, they were childless and didn't have any issue. Based o

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In popular culture

*Portrayed by Park Sang-ah in the 2000–2002

KBS1 The Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) () is the national broadcaster of South Korea. Founded in February 1927, it is one of the leading South Korean television and radio broadcasters. KBS operates seven radio networks, ten television channels, ...

TV Series '' Taejo Wang Geon''.

References

신혜왕후
on Doosan Encyclopedia . {{DEFAULTSORT:Sinhye, Queen Year of birth unknown 10th-century deaths Consorts of Taejo of Goryeo Korean queens consort