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

lady-in-waiting A lady-in-waiting (alternatively written lady in waiting) or court lady is a female personal assistant at a Royal court, court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking nobility, noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was o ...

during the

Joseon Dynasty Joseon ( ; ; also romanized as ''Chosun''), officially Great Joseon (), was a dynastic kingdom of Korea that existed for 505 years. It was founded by Taejo of Joseon in July 1392 and replaced by the Korean Empire in October 1897. The kingdom w ...

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

. 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 ''Goryeosa'' (), or ''History of Goryeo'', is an extensive historical record of the Goryeo dynasty, compiled by the officials of Goryeo's successor state, Joseon. Its compilation started during the reign of Taejo of Joseon, Taejo (the founding ...

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

Goryeo Goryeo (; ) was a Korean state founded in 918, during a time of national division called the Later Three Kingdoms period, that unified and ruled the Korea, Korean Peninsula until the establishment of Joseon in 1392. Goryeo achieved what has b ...

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

bedding Bedding, also called 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 environment ...

), ( 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'' () 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 , language=Korean , access-date=2009-05-16 , archive-date=2001-11-15 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011115092712/http://e-foodservice.co.kr/food/main01-03.html , url-status=dead Women's social titles Obsolete occupations Society of Goryeo Society of Joseon Korean ladies-in-waiting History of women in Korea

Types of

See also

References