Queen Jeonghyeon

Queen Jeonghyeon (30 July 1462 – 29 September 1530), of the Papyeong Yun clan, was a posthumous name bestowed to the wife and third queen consort of Yi Hyeol, King Seongjong and the mother of Yi Yeok, King Jungjong. She was queen consort of Joseon from 1479 until her husband's death in 1495, after she was then honoured as Queen Dowager Jasun during the reigns of her adoptive son, King Yeonsan from 1495 to 1506, and her son, King Jungjong from 1506 to 1530.

Queen Jeonghyeon came to wield considerable power and also influence a number of political decisions which secured her son's position on the throne, however, her excessive reliance on her kin and paternal clan paved way for the occurrence of the second and third literati purges.

Early life
Yun Chang-nyeon was born on 21 July 1462 into the Paepyeong Yun clan to Yun Ho and his wife, Lady Jeon of the Damyang Jeon clan as their eldest child and daughter within two sons.

On her father’s side, Queen Jeonghui, a Queen Consort of King Sejo, is her second cousin twice removed, and Queen Munjeong, the future Queen Consort of her son, King Jungjong, was her fourth cousin twice removed.

One of her 6th (older) cousins was Yun Pil-sang, Internal Prince Papyeong (파평부원군; 1427–1504). Yun Pil-sang’s cousin, Yun Sa-ro (윤사로; 1423–1463), married the fourth daughter of King Sejong, Princess Jeonghyeon. With their eldest son, he became the father-in-law of Han Myeong-hoe, and the brother-in-law to Queen Jangsun and Queen Gonghye. As well as their granddaughter who married Park Won-jong, the maternal uncle of Queen Janggyeong; who was also a 5th cousin once removed of the future Queen.

Through her father, Yun Kwan, a Goryeo general, was her 10th great-grandfather and Royal Consort Hui-bi, the Queen consort of King Chunghye of Goryeo, was her first cousin 5th times removed.

With her future husband and herself, they were fourth cousins as they shared Yun Cheok as their great-great-great-grandfather.

The Queen had a fairly good upbringing because of her background having been born to the privileged Yangban society and she received education in both Hangul and Hangja where she excelled with remarkable calligraphy skills, she was naturally a reserved woman who was known to be intelligent and smart, more courteous than many women of her era, she was beautiful and warm hearted to many.

As royal consort
The new king who had ascended the throne of Joseon in 1469 was still young and his infancy had paved way for the establishment of a regency which was headed by his grandmother Grand Queen Dowager Jaseong who was assisted by his mother Queen Insu.

Soon enough though, Grand Queen Dowager Jaseong's influence surpassed that of his own mother whose was strained because the former was her senior and she had barely received a title at that point, the intense strife between Seongjong's Grandmother and his mother for dominance had an effect on his marriage. Since it was natural for a King to take in concubines, both the Grand Queen Dowager and Queen Mother, in a thick contest of wills, presented a number of candidates from some of the wealthiest and noble families in the land. Initially with the intention of strengthening the young King's position since by this time, there were still a number of people that were opposed to King Sejo's line of succession. Yun Chang-nyeon, who was an excellent candidate, was elected deliberately because her father Yun Ho served in a high position in 1473 and moreso it was under the patronship of Grand Queen Dowager Jaseong. She was given the title of Suk-ui with second junior rank  having born King Seongjong a son, Grand Prince Jinseong, and three princesses; Princess Suksun, and two unnamed princesses who died prematurely.

In 1473, Han Song-yi, who was Seongjong's first queen consort, died and was posthumously honoured as Queen Gonghye and because she perished without a male issue, the King was urged by counselors to take a second Queen consort to secure the royal succession. Seongjeong had decided to elevate one of his concubines to the position and Royal Consort Suk-ui of the Haman Yun clan was chosen as the new Queen Consort for her beauty. Lady Yun was instated on 8 August 1476 at the age of 21 and several months later, she succeeded in giving birth to Yi Yung who later to become King Yeonsan.

The new Queen however proved to be temperamental and highly jealous of Seongjong's remaining concubines and Yun Chang-nyeon was not a exception, she'd even stooped to poisoning one of them in 1477. One night in 1479 during a heated argument with her husband and two of his Consorts, which was rumored to have supposedly been orchestrated by Yun Chang-nyeon, and the concubines who had now become afraid of the young Queen, she clawed the King, leaving visible scratch marks on his face.

The King who was perhaps lenient to her tried to conceal the injury, but remarkably, his mother, Queen Dowager Insu was somehow informed of the incident and upon unravelling the truth, concerted her power with Grand Queen Dowager Jaseong and ordered the Queen to be deposed and sent into exile.

Queen Yun was thus rebuked as a queen in 1479. It is argued that Yun Chang-nyeon had sufficiently helped to bring upon her demise along with her father, Yun Ho and her 6th cousin, Yun Pil-sang. But it is unknown how much Royal Consort Suk-ui, who was 17 years old at the time, was involved in the disposition of the now deposed Queen Yun.

Since the position of the Queen couldn't be left vacant still, Seongjong was urged by the Royal Court, and both his Grandmother and mother, to choose a new mother for the nation. Instead of bringing in another woman from outside the Palace, he exploited his Royal prerogative to elevate one of his Royal Concubines to the position and even though, to the opposition of many who still held her accountable for Queen Yun's demise, Yun Chang-nyeon was nonetheless selected as the third queen consort of Seongjong on 8 November 1480 and was officially Crowned.

As queen consort
Seongjong's first wife, Queen Gonghye of the Cheongju Han clan, and Yejong’s first wife, Queen Jangsun of the Cheongju Han clan, were also first cousins thrice removed of Queen Jeonghyeon. Queen Jeonghyeon's great-grandmother, Lady Han of the Cheongju Han clan, is the daughter of Han Sang-jil, and a paternal aunt of one of King Sejo's close associates, Han Myeong-hoe; making them first cousins twice removed.

The New Queen Yun Chang-nyeon having ascended the throne had her position far from secure and as it so happened that her instatement itself sparked off a number of tumultuous affairs in the Royal Court, under the Aegis of the three Queens Dowager: Jaseong, Inhye, and Insu, the Deposed Queen Yun became a political rival that she needed to get rid of for her own safety.

Two years after her instatement in 1482, the Queen supposedly influencing the ladies of the Inner Court, pushed for the execution of the Deposed Queen. It worked out with ease seeing that the Inner Court was run by only Royal women of the Palace and male officials barely had any influence within that sphere and on top of that, the Deposed Queen lacked sympathizers because of her ill and cruel treatment towards the Court ladies and Eunuchs by which the situation was worsened by the fact that the King's own power in the Inner Court was no match for the Queen's. The Deposed Queen Yun, having resided outside the Palace for three years, eventually met the fate that she'd helped mete out of so many people when a Royal Edict was issued sentencing her to commit suicide by swallowing poison.

After the Deposed Queen's demise, Queen Yun Chang-nyeon went to all possible lengths to erase the memory of the Deposed Queen Yun from the Palace to the point that she even went an extra step to show her affections towards her son, the Crown Prince Yeonsan. She also adopted the young boy officially a year later and showered him with love as though he were her own, ordering all ladies of the palace and Eunuchs to keep their mouths shut about his maternity with the resuscitation of Queen Yun. Prince Yeonsan grew up knowing Queen Jeonghyeon as his birth mother instead as his adoptive mother all the way into adulthood.

In 1483, Grand Queen Dowager Jaseong died and was posthumously honoured as Queen Jeonghui. Hereafter, her mother-in-law came to wield enormous Royal Power as the most affluent elder of the Palace, but this will later backfire. Without her greatest patron, Queen Jeonghyeon's own influence in the Inner Court was severely curtailed but even if her later years as the Queen were peaceful, there was bound to be conflagration.

Queen dowager
In 1493, after roughly twenty five years on the throne, Seongjong eventually fell ill and passed on. The succession came up to his eldest son and the Crown Prince Yeonsan finally ascended the throne as the tenth King of Joseon. The Queen Consort was elevated to the rank of Royal Queen Dowager and granted the honorary name when writing the tombstone of Seongjong. Someone within the court learned of Yun's private affairs and provided the cause of the massacre of the Sarim faction through sudden death. But in 1494, the young king eventually learned of what had happened to his biological mother and attempted to posthumously restore her titles and position.

In 1497, during Yeosangun’s third year of reign, she received the honor of Jasun (慈順) and Hwahye (和惠) in 1504 for her posthumous title.

Because Queen Dowager Insu held enormous influence over the court due to her father and clan alliances, this brought indifferences between her and her grandson’s rule as king. These inconsolable differences soon led to a brutal clash; leaving the Queen Dowager to die in 1504 after King Yeonsan pushed her in an altercation when he found out his grandmother was behind the cause of his birth mother’s death.

After finding out more information on his biological mother with the help of Im Sa-hong, King Yeonsangun caused a purge in connection with the death of his mother, Queen Jeheon, and executed the ministers and members of the royal family that were involved. No one from the palace involved was safe; the King ordered to beat to death, or some say that they were dismembered to pieces, two of his father's concubines, Royal Consort Gwi-in of the Chogye Jeong clan and Royal Consort Gwi-in of the Yeongwol Eom clan, for their part in his mother's death.

It was said that the King even went as far as to ordering to open the grave of Han Myeong-hoe, the father of Queen Jangsun and Queen Gonghye, to be opened and have the head to be cut off the corpse posthumously. This punishment was considered the most severe, but he didn’t stop and continued to punish officials who were simply present at the royal court at that time; for the crime of not preventing the actions of those who abused his mother.

At some point after the bloody confrontations, the King finally went to his adoptive mother’s, Queen Dowager Jasun, quarters and ordered the Queen Dowager to come out of her living quarters. When doing so, this caused the Queen Dowager to be held at sword point, but because the current Queen consort, Queen Jeinwondeok, was around when the chaos started, she was able to intervene to protect her legal mother-in-law from her husband.

This was known as the Second Literati purge to which brought Im Sa-hong and his allies be promoted while receiving many important offices and other rewards.

In 1506, a Grand Prince concluded that the reign of his older half-brother King Yeonsan needed to be stopped as the nation was to be in shambles and needed a reliable strong ruler, not a violent tyrant. So during a revolt, the leading forces of the anti-government advocated the establishment of Grand Prince Jinseong (later King Jungjong) on the throne and consented.

Thus a coup insinuated against the king and eventually bringing the grand prince to demote the royal couple, as Prince Yeonsan and Princess Consort Geochang, to Ganghwa Island. The now King Jungjong wanted to spare their children, but because the court officials didn’t want to risk another uprising, they pushed the remaining two sons of the royal couple to be sentenced to death by poisoning right after the coup, despite that the new king was reluctant to enforce such punishment.

This left Princess Hwishin to be spared as she was already married, but her royal titles and the house given by her father were eventually taken back. But with the opinions of Yun Sun and other court officials, the king gave her titles and house back in 1508. This followed with a visit from the king as well to see how his half-niece was doing after the ordeal.

The Queen Dowager lived a quiet life after the succession of her son, and eventually died on 13 December 1530 at the age of 68 within Gyeongbok Palace’s Dong Palace. Her son made a statement highlighting her virtues, “The Queen Mother was benevolent and harmonious with her family and did not seek a government post for her maternal relatives”.

For her posthumous title, “Jeong” was for the achievement of great thoughts, and “Hyeon”  was for the appearance of conduct outside the court; becoming Queen Jeonghyeon.

She is buried in Seonreung (Gangnam, Seoul, South Korea) with her husband and his first wife, Queen Gonghye.

Family
Sibling(s) Consort Children
 * Father − Yun Ho, Internal Prince Yeongwon (1424 – 9 April 1496)
 * Mother − Internal Princess Consort Yeonan of the Damyang Jeon clan (1421 – 27 October 1500)
 * Younger brother − Yun Eun-ro (1464–1530)
 * Younger brother − Yun Tang-ro (1466 – 5 June 1508)
 * Yi Hyeol, King Seongjong (28 August 1457 – 29 January 1495)
 * Father-in-law − King Deokjong (3 October 1438 – 20 September 1457)
 * Legal father-in-law - Yi Hwang, King Yejong (14 January 1450 – 31 December 1469)
 * Mother-in-law − Queen Sohye of the Cheongju Han clan (7 October 1437 – 11 May 1504)
 * Legal mother-in-law - Queen Jangsun of the Cheongju Han clan (2 February 1445 – 5 January 1462)
 * Adoptive son − Yi Yung, King Yeonsan (23 November 1476 – 20 November 1506)
 * Daughter − Princess Sunsuk (1478 – 20 August 1488)
 * Daughter - Princess Shinsuk (1481–1486)
 * Son − Yi Yeok, King Jungjong (16 April 1488 – 29 November 1544)
 * Daughter-in-law - Queen Dangyeong of the Geochang Shin clan (7 February 1487 – 27 December 1557) — No issue.
 * Daughter-in-law - Queen Janggyeong of the Paepyeong Yun clan (10 August 1491 – 16 March 1515)
 * Granddaughter - Yi Ok-ha, Princess Hyohye (13 June 1511 – 6 May 1531)
 * Grandson - Yi Ho, King Injong (20 March 1515 – 17 August 1545)
 * Daughter-in-law - Queen Munjeong of the Paepyeong Yun clan (2 December 1501 – 5 May 1565)
 * Granddaughter - Yi Ok-hye, Princess Uihye (1521–1564)
 * Granddaughter - Yi Ok-rin, Princess Hyosun (1522–1538)
 * Granddaughter - Yi Ok-hyeon, Princess Gyeonghyeon (1530–1584)
 * Grandson - Yi Hwan, King Myeongjong (3 July 1534 – 2 August 1567)
 * Granddaughter - Princess Insun (1542–1545)
 * Son - Yi Byeon, Prince Jeonseong (1490–1505)
 * Son - Yi Yeon, Prince Euncheon (1490–1524)

In popular culture

 * Portrayed by Ban Hyo-jung in the 1988 film Diary of King Yeonsan.
 * Portrayed by Park Young-gwi in the 1995 KBS TV series Jang Nok-su.
 * Portrayed by Kim Ja-ok in the 1996 KBS TV series Jo Gwang-jo.
 * Portrayed by Yoon Ji-sook in the 1998–2000 KBS TV series The King and the Queen.
 * Portrayed by Lee Bo-hee in the 2001–2000 SBS TV series Ladies in the Palace.
 * Portrayed by Eom Yoo-shin in the 2003–2004 MBC TV series Dae Jang Geum.
 * Portrayed by Lee Jin in the 2007–2008 SBS TV series The King and I.
 * Portrayed by Do Ji-won in the 2017 KBS2 TV series Queen for Seven Days.