53 Facts About Empress Myeongseong

Empress Myeongseong was the official wife of Gojong, the 26th king of Joseon and the first emperor of the Korean Empire.

The later Empress was of aristocratic background and in 1866 was chosen by the de facto Regent Heungseon Daewongun to marry his son, the future King Gojong.

Empress Myeongseong believed in isolation of Joseon from all foreign contact as a means of preserving independence.

Empress Myeongseong took a firmer stand against Japanese influence after Daewongun's failed rebellions that were intended to remove her from the political arena.

Empress Myeongseong was of the Pungyang Jo clan and the widow of Heonjong of Joseon's father.

Empress Myeongseong had risen to prominence by intermarriage with the Yi family.

Empress Myeongseong already was strictly entitled to make the appointment.

Empress Myeongseong is referred to in this article henceforth as Heungseon Daewongun or Daewongun.

Empress Myeongseong abolished the old government institutions that had become corrupt under the rule of various clans, revised the law codes along with the household laws of the royal court and the rules of court ritual, and heavily reformed the military techniques of the royal armies.

Empress Myeongseong became Min Chi-rok's first wife, Lady Oh of the Haeju Oh clan.

The future Empress Myeongseong was the fourth and only surviving child of Lady Yi.

Empress Myeongseong was said to possess beautiful features, a healthy body, and an ordinary level of education.

Empress Myeongseong did not suspect Lady Min herself as politically ambitious, and he was satisfied with the interview.

Empress Myeongseong's father was given the royal title of "Internal Prince Yeoseong", and was posthumously appointed as Yeonguijeong after his death.

Empress Myeongseong did not participate in lavish parties, rarely commissioned extravagant fashions from the royal ateliers, and almost never hosted afternoon tea parties with the various princesses of the royal family or powerful aristocratic ladies unless politics required her to do so.

Empress Myeongseong furthered her own education in history, science, politics, philosophy, and religion.

Empress Myeongseong suspected her father-in-law of foul play through the ginseng emetic treatment he had brought her.

Empress Myeongseong met with the Chinese first envoy to Japan, Empress Myeongseong Ru-zhang, and his staff adviser, Huang Zunxian.

Empress Myeongseong advised an alliance with the United States in particular because it did not occupy the countries with which it traded, and because it would be a protection against Russia.

Empress Myeongseong considered it wise to open trade relations with Western nations and to adopt Western technology, arguing that their interest in Korea was trade rather than occupation.

Empress Myeongseong had hoped to win yangban approval to invite Western nations into Korea, and to open up trade so as to keep Japan in check.

Empress Myeongseong wanted to first allow Japan to help in the modernisation process but after completion of certain projects, have them be driven out by Western powers.

Empress Myeongseong maintained that the Japanese were just like the "Western barbarians" and would spread subversive notions, just as previous Western contact had brought Roman Catholicism.

Empress Myeongseong agreed but reminded the Japanese that students would still be sent to China for further education on Western military technologies.

Empress Myeongseong was Gojong's maternal uncle, being his mother's younger brother, and was the administrative head of the training units and in charge of the treasury.

Empress Myeongseong ordered an attack on the administrative district of Seoul that housed the Gyeongbokgung, the diplomatic quarter, military centers, and science institutions.

Empress Myeongseong immediately dismantled the recent reform measures and relieved the new units of duty.

Empress Myeongseong's troops arrested Daewongun, who was then taken to Paoting in China where he remained under house arrest.

Empress Myeongseong successfully requested that a Chinese commander, General Yuan Shih-kai, take control of the new military units and that a German adviser, Paul Georg von Mollendorff, head the Maritime Customs Service.

Empress Myeongseong refused to support the actions of the Progressives, declaring any documents signed in her name to be null and void.

Empress Myeongseong collaborated with Methodist missionary and teacher Henry Gerhardt Appenzeller, who worked in Korea from 1885 to his death in June 1902.

Empress Myeongseong was able, with the queen consort's permission and official sanction, to arrange for the appointment of other missionaries as government employees.

Empress Myeongseong introduced modern medicine in Korea by establishing the first western Royal Medical Clinic of Gwanghyewon in February 1885.

Empress Myeongseong valued their knowledge of Western history, science, and mathematics.

Empress Myeongseong was said to have had a soft face with strong features.

Empress Myeongseong wore her hair like all Korean ladies, parted in the center, drawn tightly and very smoothly away from the face and knotted rather low at the back of the head.

Empress Myeongseong's majesty seemed to care little for ornaments, and wore very few.

Empress Myeongseong must have had many rings, but I never saw her wear more than one or two of European manufacture.

Empress Myeongseong's Majesty, who was then past forty, was a very nice-looking slender woman, with glossy raven-black hair and a very pale skin, the pallor enhanced by the use of pearl powder.

Empress Myeongseong wore a very handsome, very full, and very long skirt of mazarine blue brocade, heavily pleated, with the waist under the arms, and a full sleeved bodice of crimson and blue brocade, clasped at the throat by a coral rosette, and girdled by six crimson and blue cords, each one clasped with a coral rosette, with a crimson silk tassel hanging from it.

Empress Myeongseong's headdress was a crownless black silk cap edged with fur, pointed over the brow, with a coral rose and full red tassel in front, and jewelled aigrettes on either side.

Empress Myeongseong's shoes were of the same brocade of her dress.

Empress Myeongseong was surrounded by enemies, chief among them being Tai-Won-Gun, the King's father, all embittered against her because by her talent and force she had succeeded in placing members of her family in nearly all the chief offices of State.

Empress Myeongseong fought with all her charm, shrewdness, and sagacity for power, for the dignity and safety of her husband and son, and for the downfall of Tai-Won-Gun.

Empress Myeongseong was a politician and diplomat who overtaken the times, striving for the independence of Joseon, possessing outstanding academics, strong intellectual personality, and unbending willpower.

Empress Myeongseong preferred to stay in her chambers studying, while he enjoyed spending his days and nights drinking, attending banquets and enjoying royal parties.

Empress Myeongseong lost all her children apart from Yi Cheok, born when she was 24.

Empress Myeongseong's older sister was born when the queen consort was 23, but died and with a birth of two sons followed Yi Cheok's birth.

Empress Myeongseong's mother was assassinated in 1874 in a bombing incident, along with her adoptive older brother, Min Seung-ho.

The Empress Myeongseong cared personally for the Crown Prince and sought help from shamans and monks.

Empress Myeongseong erected a spirit shrine to her in the inner palace enclosure.

Empress Myeongseong was perceived by the Japanese as an important hostile target.

Empress Myeongseong's assassination took place in the early hours on 8 October 1895 within the king's private quarters, in an attack known in Korea as the Eulmi Incident.