Queen Jeongsun (Danjong)

Early life

The future Queen Jeongsun was born during the reign of King Sejong, as the eldest child among one son and two daughters. Her father was Song Hyeon-su and her mother was a lady from the Yeoheung Min clan. During childhood, Lady Song moved to Hanseong with her family.

Her paternal grandfather's sister, Princess Consort Yeoseong (여성군부인), was the wife of Prince Sudo (수도군), King Jeongjong's seventh son.

Her father's younger sister, Grand Princess Consort Daebang (대방부부인), was the wife of Grand Prince Yeongeung (영응대군), King Sejong's 15th son. Their daughter, County Princess Gilan (길안현주), eventually became a great-great-grandmother of Queen Inheon.

Through her maternal line, Lady Song was a second cousin of Queen Jangsun and Queen Gonghye.

Marriage

In 1453, around the age of 13, Lady Song enter Changdeokgung alongside Lady Kim and Lady Gwon (later known as Sugui Gwon) for the consort selection process.^[1] She was chosen to become queen, while the two other girls were appointed as royal consorts.

On 19 February 1454, she married the 12-year-old King Danjong. Danjong was too young to rule and had lost both parents, so his elder sister, Princess Gyeonghye, acted as his guardian. Because the princess sided with Hwangbo In and Kim Jeong-seo, all political authority was in their hands.

As Kim Jeong-seo and his faction used the opportunity to curb the power of many members of the royal family, the tension with Grand Prince Suyang (the second son of King Sejong and King Danjong's uncle) greatly increased; not only Suyang himself, but his younger brother, Grand Prince Anpyeong, also sought a chance to gain control of the government.

Husband's abdication and aftermath

In 1455, Grand Prince Suyang forced his powerless nephew to abdicate and declared himself king (posthumously King Sejo). As wife of the previous king, Lady Song became queen dowager.^[2]

The following year, six officials attempted to restore Danjong to power, but their plot was discovered and they were later executed. Danjong was then demoted to Prince Nosan (노산군) and exiled to Yeongwol County. Lady Song also lost her status as queen dowager, was demoted to princess consort rank, and banished from the palace.^[2] Yeongdo Bridge (영도교) over Cheonggyecheon is said to be the place where Danjong and Lady Song met for the last time.

In 1457, Lady Song's father, Song Hyeon-su, and Lady Gwon's father, Gwon Wan (권완), were executed for showing support for Danjong's restoration. This led to Lady Kim living a prosperous life by comparison, as her father, Kim Sa-u (김사우), supported King Sejo and continued to serve in various government posts until his death in 1464.

The whereabouts of Lady Song's mother after the sudden banishment of her daughter and the death of her husband are unknown, but records state that she died in 1498.

With even her own family in ruins, she built a thatched hut near Cheongnyongsa Temple (청룡사), outside Dongdaemun, and lived there with her maids. She had a difficult life, surviving on alms begged by her maids and engaging in the dyeing business. When King Sejo learned of this, he offered her a house and supplies, but she refused to accept them. Meanwhile, the women of the neighborhood, feeling pity for her, secretly delivered food to her house.^[3]

Perceiving that Danjong would present a continuing threat to his rule, King Sejo accepted the advice of the court and ordered that his nephew be disposed of. In November 1457, he was put to death in his place of exile, less than four months after leaving the capital.

Upon hearing of her husband's death, Lady Song climbed a large rock every morning and evening to weep toward Yeongwol in the east, praying for Danjong's soul. King Yeongjo personally named the site Dongmangbong (동망봉; lit. ''Gazing East Peak'') and had the characters engraved on the rock. During the Japanese colonial period, the nearby area was used as a quarry, and the rock was broken away. As of 2011, a pavilion called Dongmangjeong (동망정) stands on the southern side of Dongmangbong, near Naksan, Jongno District, Seoul.

According to writer and historian Kim Taek-yeong (김택영; 1850–1927), Shin Suk-ju tried to take Lady Song as his slave, but the veridicity of this claim is uncertain. Nevertheless, King Sejo later issued an edict stating, "Although she is of slave status, ensure she cannot be forced to perform slave labor," and to guarantee she remained untouched, Lady Song was sent to Jeongeopwon (정업원; lit. ''Clean Fate Courtyard''), a religious establishment near Changdeokgung that housed noblewomen who had become nuns, including former royal consorts, but also served as a place of banishment for disgraced women from powerful families.^[4]

Death and posthumous rehabilitation

Lady Song died at the age of 81, having survived her husband by 64 years, and was buried in present-day Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province. Her funeral was conducted according to the rites for a grand princess consort. She lived through the reigns of eight kings — Sejong, Munjong, Danjong, Sejo, Yejong, Seongjong, Yeonsangun and Jungjong — becoming the longest-lived queen in the history of Joseon.^[b]

In the early years of King Jungjong's reign, the Sarim faction, including Jo Gwang-jo, attempted to have Danjong and Lady Song reinstated, but the king rejected the proposal. Subsequently, starting from King Hyeonjong's reign, figures such as Song Si-yeol and Kim Su-hang (김수항) repeatedly proposed their reinstatement, arguing that Sejo had been swayed by the misguided advice of his close associates and that Danjong's execution hadn't been his true intention.

It wasn't until 1698, during King Sukjong's reign, that Lady Song was given the posthumous name Jeongsun (정순; lit. ''fixing the order'') and her husband received his temple name. After her spirit tablet was enshrined in Jongmyo, Lady Song's tomb was also renamed Sareung (사릉).^[2]