Queen Insu


Queen Sohye, of the Cheongju Han clan, was the only wife of Crown Prince Uigyeong. She never was the consort of a reigning king. Nevertheless, she was honored as Queen Insu and later as Queen Dowager Insu during the reign of her son Yi Hyeol, King Seongjong. Moreover, she was later honored as Grand Queen Dowager Insu during the reign of her grandson Yi Yung, Prince Yeonsan. After her death, she was posthumously honored with the title Queen Sohye.
She is mostly known for her proficiency in Chinese Classics, Confucianism and Buddhism as well, and for her involvement in the political affairs of her time, from the accession of Grand Prince Suyang to the throne to the reign of Yeonsangun. She authored the Naehun in 1475.

Lady Han, the Crown Princess

Born as Han Tosan or Han Sukdŏk, the future Queen Insu was born as a member of the Cheongju Han clan, a powerful yangban family with a long tradition of providing high-ranking officers and royal consorts as well. She was given a high education in Confucian values and the Chinese classics.
Lady Han married Yi Chang, Prince Towon in 1450, during the reign of Munjong, and was given the royal title of Princess Consort Towon with the Senior 2nd rank.
Their families decided this union when Han Hwak, her father, was 4th Councilor and Yi Yu, Prince Towon's father, was a Grand Prince among the others. After the 1453 coup, also known as Kyeyu chŏngnan, Grand Prince Suyang became Chief State Councilor and Minister of Personnel as well. In the same move, Han Hwak became Third State Councilor.
Moreover, Han Myŏnghoe, the organizer of the plot, was an older second cousin of Lady Han, while Han Myŏngjin, another cousin, was also enlisted as 3,17 in the reward list for the coup. This started the network of her political influence.
In the second step, the 1455 coup deprived Danjong, the child King, of any power and instated Suyang to the throne, later honored with temple name Sejo. As a result, Towon was elevated to the Crown Prince status as Crown Prince Ŭigyŏng and Lady Han was elevated and firstly honored as Crown Princess Consort Chŏng on 26 July 1455, lunar calendar. But she was later honored a different title, Crown Princess Consort Su, as to not confuse her with Queen Wongyeong’s previous title.

Insu, the Queen Mother

In 1454, the Crown Princess bore Yi Chŏng, her first child, had a daughter the next year and gave birth to Yi Hyŏl in 1457. The same year, Prince Ŭigyŏng died on 2 September, lunar calendar. In the royal palace, the Crown Princess became known for her scholarly interest in Confucian education and she devoted herself to the education of the royal grandsons. She had a good relationship to King Sejo, who referred to her as a good daughter-in-law. At the death of Sejo, the second son of the late King accessed to the throne and the influence of Lady Han waned. But the reign of Yejong only lasted 14 months. And then, Chasan, the second son of Lady Han accessed to the throne in 1469.
At this date, the status of Lady Han was not so clear, since Prince Ŭigyŏng never became king. In a first step in 1470, Ŭigyŏng was elevated and honored posthumously as king without a temple name, so he was addressed as King Ŭigyŏng, and Lady Han received the ambiguous title of Queen Insu. The next year, several of Insu's direct relatives were enlisted as meritorious subjects: Han Ch'i-hyŏng as 3.17, together with her brothers Han Ch'i-in, Han Chi-ui and Han Chirye as 4.17, 4.23 and 4.26. Han Myŏnghoe himself was enlisted as 1.02.
In any case, the regency was exerted by Grand Queen Dowager Jaseong, the mother-in-law of Insu, so that Insu's political influence was constrained to the point of not receiving a title acknowledging her as the mother of the reigning king. After some time, Insu's title still became matter of debate because queen consort title was reserved for primary consort of the reigning king, while Insu herself was the King's mother. But, in order to honour Insu as queen dowager, there was a need to determine the rank between her and Queen Dowager Inhye. Jaseong, as grand queen dowager and the most senior elder in the royal family, solved this problem with her statement that Insu had been entrusted with the task of protecting Yejong by the late King Sejo, implying her seniority above both the late Yejong and Queen Dowager Inhye. Thus, it was more appropriate to place Insu above Inhye. So Insu was honored as queen dowager in 1474 and had higher rank than Inhye, and her late husband received temple name Deokjong, acknowledging them as Seongjong's formally recognized parents.
The young Queen Consort of the King died in 1474 at the age 17 and was posthumously honored as Queen Gonghye. The Ksitigarbha Pranidahana Sutra was commissioned by the three queens dowager through the Royal Treasury Agency. This Sutra is now considered an important artifact for the study of printing and Buddhism during the Joseon Dynasty.
Grand Queen Dowager Jaseong died in 1483 and was posthumously honored as Queen Jeonghui and Insu became the most influent elder in the palace, exerting a large part of the royal power. With the death of Seongjong and the accession of her grandson Yeonsangun, she became the Grand Queen Dowager Insu and gathered even more power. At the end, this led to a brutal clash and she died in 1504 after an altercation with Yeonsangun who found out about the cause of his birth mother’s death.
After her death, she was granted the posthumous name Queen Sohye. Her tomb is at Gyeongneung Royal Tomb in Goyang, just beside Dowon's tomb. The latter is a very simple one, since Dowon was only a Crown Prince at his death in 1457. On the other hand, Sohye's tomb was built in full regalia, and placed at the left of the Dowon's tomb since, in 1504, Sohye was deceased with the status of Grand Queen Dowager.

Authorship

Queen Insu authored the Naehun in 1475. This books appears as a Confucian morality guidebook for women, describing appropriate behavior in accordance with Confucian ideals. It can also be read as a manifesto describing self-cultivation as the most appropriate behavior for a women, endorsing the political activities of the author.
With the exception of a few poems, this book is the first known book written by a woman in Korea.

Family

Drama

  • Portrayed by Hwang Jeong-sun in the 1972 TBC TV series Song of a Parental Love
  • Portrayed by Go Do-sim in the 1984–1985 MBC TV series 500 Years of Joseon: The Ume Tree in the Midst of the Snow
  • Portrayed by Kim Yeong-ran in the 1994 KBS TV series Han Myeong-hoe
  • Portrayed by Ban Hyo-jung in the 1995 KBS TV series Jang Noksu
  • Portrayed by Chae Shi-ra in 1998–2000 KBS1 TV series The King and the Queen.
  • Portrayed by Jeon In-hwa in the 2007–2008 SBS TV series The King and I.
  • Portrayed by Chae Shi-ra and Hahm Eun-jung in the 2011–2012 JTBC TV series Insu, The Queen Mother.
  • Portrayed by Moon Sook in the 2017 MBC TV series The Rebel.
  • Inspired a fictionalized queen dowager portrayed by Seo Yi-sook in 2025 in the tvN TV series Bon Appétit, Your Majesty.

    Film

  • Portrayed by Jeon Ok in the 1962 film Prince Yeonsan
  • Portrayed by Jeong Hye-seon in the 1987 film Prince Yeonsan
  • Portrayed by Han Eun-jin in the 1988 film Diary of King Yeonsan.
  • Portrayed by Yun So-jeong in the 2005 film The King and the Clown.
  • Portrayed by Jang Yeong-nam in the 2017 film ''The King’s Case Note''

    Novels

  • Queen Dowager Insu by Shin Bong-seung, 1999, ISBN 89-88086-36-8
  • Queen Dowager Insu by Yi Su-gwang, 2011, ISBN 978-89-962724-8-9
  • The Woman Who Made the King, Shin Bong-seung, 2012, ISBN 978-89-6370-791-4