Empress Myeongseong – the Last Empress of Korea
The determination of one person can change the course of a nation, and if anyone is an example
of that, it is the Great Empress Myeongseong of Korea (Queen Min). She lived during a time
where Korea had been isolated from the world and was slowly losing strength. The empress rose
to power to improve her country. She rose up from a noble family, marrying the young king and
quickly establishing herself for her intelligence and determination.
Early Life
The Great Empress was born as the child of Min Chi-rok, leading to her nickname, Queen Min,
on October 19th, 1851 in Gyeonggi Province. She was born to the illustrious and noble Yeoheung
Min clan, who boasted the lineage of past Korea queens. The young girl would not spend much of
her life in this home, however, for her parents died when she was only 8 years old, leading her
away from her old home. Most of her early childhood is unfortunately unknown.
Becoming Queen
As the queen-to-be was in her teens, the equally young king was searching for his queen. The
search was extensive and the requirements many, but it soon became apparent that she fit the bill.
The girl fit all of the requirements, primarily by being of noble lineage and having no close
relatives or immediate family, so that the young king could easily justify his claim to the throne
and not be threatened by the new queen's clan. Therefore, she married and became Queen Min at
16, while her new husband was only 15 himself.
When Queen Min came to the royal life, she was expected to be the perfect feminine figure in the
royal family: docile, quiet, and beautiful. However, she quickly disproved these traditions. She
disregarded the typical queenly interest in lavish parties, instead choosing to devote her time to
studies normally reserved for men. The court had picked her expecting a perfect little queen, but
they would soon discover that they were gravely mistaken.
Establishing Power
Queen Min immediately busied herself with studies of politics, science, religion, philosophy, and
other topics. As she grew more educated, she became more opinionated, choosing to voice her
thoughts and aggressively expand her opinions into the royal court. Of course, she did not do this
without criticism; many officials believed that she had no place to be giving her opinions on
anything, as they expected her to remain the calm feminine figure of the court. As time went on,
the Daewongun, the king's father and the ruler in his young son's place, opposed her like no other.
The Beginning is the End
Unfortunately, all things must come to an end eventually, and Queen Min was no different. On
October 8, 1895, Japanese agents stormed Gyeongbok Palace, demanding that people tell them
where the queen was. When they found her, they forced her out of her chamber and she was
assassinated. After the successful assassination of Korea's empress, the 56 men responsible for
her death were charged with murder in Japan. However, they were all acquitted because of the
lack of evidence. Furthermore, some of these men received high spots as the emperor's advisers
after the Japanese annexation of Korea, just a few years later. In response to the killing of his
queen, King Gojong sought refuge in the Russian legation building in the year 1896, not returning
to Gyeongbok Palace until the next year.
Biography:
Important Life Events