Queen Myeongui of the Chŏngju Yu clan (; d. 8 August 1112) was a Korean queen consort as the first and primary wife of

King Sukjong of Goryeo Sukjong (2 September 1054 – 10 November 1105), personal name Wang Ong, was the 15th king of the Goryeo dynasty of Korea. Sukjong rose to the throne in 1095 upon the abdication of his young nephew, King Heonjong. He oversaw various internal i ...

and the mother of most of his children.

Biography

Marriage and palace life

She married

Sukjong Sukjong () is the temple name of several Korean kings. It can refer to: * Sukjong of Goryeo (1095-1105) * Sukjong of Joseon Sukjong (; 7 October 1661 – 12 July 1720), personal name Yi Sun (), was the 19th monarch of the Joseon dynasty of Ko ...

when he was still known as Duke Gyerim (). Before 1079, she was given royal title as Princess Myeongbok () while live in Myeongbok Palace and later changed into Princess Yeondeok () when she moved to Yeondeok Palace. Her mother, Lady Kim was formally called as "Grand Lady of the Nakrang State" (). Then, following her husband who ascended the throne as a King, she become a Queen Consort in 1099. But, in the

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 ...

, there was some misunderstood because her name after become a queen consort, her clan name was written as ''Yi clan'' () which this wasn't her clan. However, on 10 November 1105, her husband passed away and their oldest son, Wang U ascended the throne as

Yejong of Goryeo Yejong (11 February 1079 – 15 May 1122), personal name Wang U, was the 16th king of the Korean Goryeo dynasty. He was the eldest son of King Sukjong and Queen Myeongui, and succeeded to the throne upon his father's death. His reign is usu ...

those making Yu honoured both of ''Queen Mother'' () and ''Grand Queen Mother'' () in 1105. Beside Yejong, she bore Sukjong 6 other sons and 4 daughters. After that, she was given Sungmyeong Mansion () in Cheonhwa Hall () as her residence and affiliated institution. As a queen mother, her birthday was also specially celebrated.

Later life

Death

On 8 August 1112, the queen mother caught an illness and died suddenly after went to recuperation outside the palace at her old age in Sinbak Temple. On 8th month (

Lunar calendar A lunar calendar is a calendar based on the monthly cycles of the Moon's phases ( synodic months, lunations), in contrast to solar calendars, whose annual cycles are based on the solar year, and lunisolar calendars, whose lunar months are br ...

) in the same year, she was buried in Sungneung Tomb () and received her

posthumous name A posthumous name is an honorary Personal name, name given mainly to revered dead people in East Asian cultural sphere, East Asian culture. It is predominantly used in Asian countries such as China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, Malaysia and Thailand. ...

Funeral

During her funeral, the Liao dynasty sent their envoys to mourn. But, seeing this, the internal court said: ("임금님, 쟤네들이 태후님 제사 지내러 온 건 이번이 처음 아닌가요? 인국(隣國)이 이런 예우(禮)를 보여준걸 축하드립니다!").

Posthumous name

*In 1140 (18th year reign of King Injong), name Yu-ga () was added. *In October 1253 (40th year reign of King Gojong), name Gwang-hye () was added to her

too.

References

External links

Queen Myeongui
on the ''

Encyclopedia of Korean Culture The ''Encyclopedia of Korean Culture'' () is a Korean-language encyclopedia published by the Academy of Korean Studies and DongBang Media Co. It was originally published as physical books from 1991 to 2001. There is now an online version of the ...

'' .
Queen Myeongui
on ''

'' .
명의왕후
on ''

Doosan Encyclopedia ''Doosan Encyclopedia'' () is a Korean-language encyclopedia published by Doosan Donga (). The encyclopedia is based on the ''Dong-A Color Encyclopedia'' (), which comprises 30 volumes and began to be published in 1982 by Dong-A Publishing (). ...

'' . {{DEFAULTSORT:Myeongui, Queen Royal consorts of Goryeo Queens consort of Korea 1112 deaths 12th-century Korean women 12th-century Korean people Year of birth unknown Chŏngju Yu clan Mothers of Korean monarchs