was an official title of the senior 5th rank (; ), the highest attainable for '' gungnyeo'', a

lady-in-waiting A lady-in-waiting or court lady is a female personal assistant at a court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman but of lower rank than the woman to whom sh ...

during the

Joseon Dynasty Joseon (; ; Middle Korean: 됴ᇢ〯션〮 Dyǒw syéon or 됴ᇢ〯션〯 Dyǒw syěon), officially the Great Joseon (; ), was the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, lasting just over 500 years. It was founded by Yi Seong-gye in July 1392 and r ...

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 ...

. Female officers with the title were assigned to govern the inner affairs of the palace. When a regular ''nain'' served for more than 15 years, she would be awarded with an ornamental hairpin for a . Therefore, a newly appointed was usually 35–45 years old. A court lady at the rank of was treated well enough to live in her own house with servants. The title first appears in

Goryeosa The ''Goryeosa'' (), or ''History of Goryeo'', is the main surviving historical record of Korea's Goryeo dynasty. It was composed nearly a century after the fall of Goryeo, during the reign of King Sejong, undergoing repeated revisions between ...

('History of Goryeo'), a compiled book about the

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 ...

period. In the chapter of the book titled (), regarding all official titles, there were posts named (, managing the palace), (, managing

bedding Bedding, also known as bedclothes or bed linen, is the materials laid above the mattress of a bed for hygiene, warmth, protection of the mattress, and decorative effect. Bedding is the removable and washable portion of a human sleeping environm ...

), ( managing food), and another (, managing sewing) during the reign of King Hyeonjong. The book also has another record that Lady Han was appointed as in March 1031, the 22nd year of the king's reign. These records prove that the system had existed since the Goryeo period. As a system on ''

naemyeongbu Naemyeongbu ( Hangul: 내명부, Hanja: 內命婦), literally Women of the Internal Court, was a category of rank in the royal court of the Joseon dynasty that referred to concubines and female officials living within the palaces. It was separa ...

'' () which refers to women at court with a rank including queen and lady-in-waiting was revised since the foundation of the

, female officers with the title, began to manage inner affairs of the court in general as the highest position of the (literally a palace officer). The was largely divided into (literally 'internal offices') and according to '' Gyeongguk daejeon''. The former refers to a king's concubines or a crown prince's consort while are female officers with a rank. The social status of generally belonged to the '' yangin'' (common people) class, distinguished from in policy.

Types of

* () – also called . They had the highest position among , and they were responsible for the management of properties. They served the king with many other ladies-in-waiting in his palace, received the king's orders and held political power. * () – also called (); they managed the properties in the warehouse of the palace. * () – also called (); they waited closely on the king. * () – literally 'a nurse '; they took care of the princes and princesses. * () – literally 'a maid-in-waiting '; they assisted with books and ceremony. * () – literally 'an inspector '; they inspected and gave out punishments to .

References

* * *{{cite book, title=Korean royal court cuisine (궁중음식) , author=Prof. Jo Mun-su (조문수교수) , url=http://e-foodservice.co.kr/food/main01-03.html , publisher=

Jeju University Jeju National University is one of ten Flagship Korean National Universities. founded in 1952 in Jeju City, the provincial capital of Jeju, South Korea. In 2008 Cheju National University and the Jeju National University of Education merged int ...

, language=Korean Korean women Women by social class Obsolete occupations Goryeo Joseon dynasty Korean ladies-in-waiting History of women in Korea

Types of

See also

References