Queen Ŭihye


Queen Ŭihye of the Yeongheung Ch'oe clan was the wife of Yi Chach'un and mother of Yi Sŏng-gye, Joseon's founder. She was posthumously honoured as Ŭibi at first.

Biography

Early life

The future Queen Ŭihye was born in 1304 into the Yeongheung Ch'oe clan as the youngest daughter of the Korean chiliarch of the Yuan dynasty called Ch'oe Han-gi, who was later posthumously honoured as the Duke Jeonghyo and Internal Prince Yeongheung and Grand Lady Yi of Joseon State.
Her father's family name was Cho but was later changed to Ch'oe in order to receive complete blessings for her later marriage. Her family long resided in today's Anbyon County, Kangwon Province, North Korea, which was once called Deungju during the Goryeo period. Having become very wealthy by saving a lot of money, her family were known to be rich amongst the local population.

Youth life

It was said that from young, Lady Ch'oe was intelligent and had many unusual things. When her parents reached the age of poverty, they wanted her to marry the son of Kim Rin, but when she did not listen, they offered to divide the household goods in half. Knowing this, Ch'oe cried sadly and said, "How can someone unexpectedly marry Kim Rin's son when they are born into this world and have a great relationship? A matchmaker will come soon.".

Marriage and death

Then, Yi Chach'un went to Cho'e Han-gi's house on business, when she had a good dream that two dragons came down from the sky, one went into her stomach and the other into her womb. Since they meet each other in there, Yi then proposed Lady Choe and they were married. During her lifetime after married, Lady Choe more commonly called as Grand Lady of the Three Han State. She then bore Yi 1 son and 1 daughter. However, she died before Joseon was established.
After Yi Sŏng-gye founded the new Joseon Dynasty, she was posthumously honoured as Consort Ui by him. In the following year, by the order her grandson, King Taejong, she was posthumously honoured as Queen Consort Ŭihye.

Tomb and funeral

The Queen was buried in Hwareung Tomb, Dongheung-ri, Hamheung-si, South Hamgyong Province, adjacent from her husband in Jeongneung Tomb.
In 1471, her funeral was held in Yeongnyeong Hall and in 1795, her veneration was held again in Yeongheung Palace.

Family