Crown Princess Sun of the Haeum Bong clan (

Hangul The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The let ...

: 순빈 봉씨,

Hanja Hanja (Hangul: ; Hanja: , ), alternatively known as Hancha, are Chinese characters () used in the writing of Korean. Hanja was used as early as the Gojoseon period, the first ever Korean kingdom. (, ) refers to Sino-Korean vocabulary, wh ...

: 純嬪奉氏; 1414 – ?) was the second wife

Munjong of Joseon Munjong of Joseon (15 November 1414 – 10 June 1452), personal name Yi Hyang (Korean language, Korean: 이향; Hanja: 李珦), was the fifth ruler of the Joseon, Joseon dynasty of Korea. As the eldest son of Sejong the Great, King Sejong th ...

. Before her husband's accession to the throne, she was banished after it was discovered that she was sleeping with one of her handmaids.

Biography

Lady Bong became the Crown Princess (

: 純嬪;

: 순빈) in 1429, a few months after her predecessor, Crown Princess Hwi, was thrown out of the palace for witchcraft. Apparently, Crown Prince Yi Hyang did not favor her, which made her incredibly angry.Sejong Sillok, vol.75 She reportedly took her husband's clothing and female clothing from the palace to send to her natal home, which breached etiquette. When Consort Gwon became pregnant, Crown Princess Sun apparently complained to the palace women that she would be dismissed in favor of Lady Gwon, and she frequently cried. Her complaints became known throughout the palace and

King Sejong Sejong of Joseon (15 May 1397 – 8 April 1450), personal name Yi Do (Korean: 이도; Hanja: 李祹), widely known as Sejong the Great (Korean: 세종대왕; Hanja: 世宗大王), was the fourth ruler of the Joseon dynasty of Korea. Initial ...

scolded her that she should be happy that another concubine was pregnant when she was not. Sejong also scolded the Crown Prince that his concubine was pregnant but his official wife had no children, after which he spent more time with her. Later, Crown Princess Sun reportedly became pregnant, but miscarried and buried the remains. However, when servants were sent to retrieve the child's remains, they found only empty burial clothes.

Demotion

The court records of 1436 note that Crown Princess Sun apparently also sent surplus food from palace meals to her natal home, spied on people outside of her palace through a gap in the wall of the servants' toilet, and received a visit from her aunt's husband after her father's death without notifying the

Crown Prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title is crown princess, which may refer either to an heiress apparent or, especially in earlier times, to the wif ...

, which, they said, showed a lack of regard for the general good. She was also accused of being over intimate with So-ssang (소쌍), one of her maids and a member of the slave class. The two were described as inseparable and So-ssang reportedly slept with her mistress. When Crown Prince Hyang questioned why her maid slept with her, the consort responded that she loved him, but he didn't love her. So-ssang later told the court how the Crown Princess had invited her to lie down with her, whilst the other maids slept outside. Though So-ssang initially declined, the consort insisted, and So-ssang eventually undressed and went behind the screen where her mistress took off her remaining clothes and forced her to lie next to her 'as if with a man'.嬪盡奪餘衣, 强使入臥相戲, 有如男子交合狀。 Crown Princess Sun then told the court that she was intimate with So-ssang night and day, as well as with another servant called Dan-ji (단지), because it solved the fact that she slept alone. Upon hearing that his daughter-in-law had been intimate with a member of the nobi class,

consulted with various officials on demoting another of the Crown Prince's wives. The officials supported the motion to depose her, and Crown Princess Sun was demoted to

commoner A commoner, also known as the ''common man'', ''commoners'', the ''common people'' or the ''masses'', was in earlier use an ordinary person in a community or nation who did not have any significant social status, especially a member of neither ...

and banished. The decree for her dismissal, however, excluded any mention of her sleeping with her maid and focused instead on her sending palace supplies to her natal home and receiving visitors without her husband's knowledge.

Family

* Grandfather ** Bong Yu-rye (봉유례, 奉由禮) * Father ** Bong Ryeo (봉려, 奉礪) (1375 - 1436) * Siblings ** Younger brother – Bong Guk-hwa (봉극화, 奉克和) ** Younger brother – Bong Guk-yu (봉극유, 奉克柔) * Husband ** Yi Hyang, King Munjong (왕세자 향) (15 November 1414 - 1 June 1452) — No issue. *** Father-in-law – Yi Do, King Sejong the Great (조선 세종) (7 May 1397 - 30 March 1450) *** Mother-in-law – Queen Soheon of the Cheongsong Sim clan (소헌왕후 심씨) (12 October 1395 - 19 April 1446)

Popular culture

* Portrayed by Yeo Min-joo in the 2008

KBS2 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, a ...

TV series ''

The Great King, Sejong ''The Great King, Sejong'' () is a 2008 South Korean historical television series depicting the life of the fourth monarch of Joseon, Sejong the Great (played by Kim Sang-kyung). Considered one of the greatest kings in Korean history, Sejong c ...

'' * Portrayed By Jung Daeun (정다은) in the KBS 2021 Drama Special- Episode 3: The Palace.

References

Notes

Works cited

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bong, Sun-bin 15th-century Korean people 1414 births Year of death unknown Royal consorts of the Joseon dynasty Medieval LGBT people LGBT royalty LGBT nobility LGBT people from Korea 15th-century Korean women