Wiki Out

This page is read only. You can view the source, but not change it. Ask your administrator if you think this is wrong.
# Passages on Seondeok from Women of Korea (1977)

  * Transcript of pp. 25, 26, 27, 42 from the book
    * The index entry for Queen Sŏndŏk references pp. 23, 24, 27, 42, but these are apparently mistakes as pp. 23-24 make no mention of Seondeok while pp.25-26 do.


## p. 25

3

THE ROYAL COURT

Women's roles in religious organizations were significant, but the public roles in which women wielded ritual or political power were generally not legitimate in the eyes of the state.
Women had few official roles in Korean politics before the twentieth century.
There were, however, some notable exceptions.
Queen mothers were allowed to be regents for their under-aged royal offspring, and three women rulers occupied the throne of Silla.
These women had legitimate political authority.
There were other women who exercised political influence "behind the screen."
Such women as royal consorts, secondary wives, and others with strategic positions were also involved in court politics and thus, in national concerns.

THE THREE QUEENS OF SILLA

The three women who occupied the throne of Silla were exceptions in Korean history.
Neither Koguryŏ nor Paekche had women rulers.
The same was true for Koryŏ and the Yi dynasty. 
Women came to the throne in Silla because of the relatively strong social position Silla women had retained since the time of primitive tribal leagues.
This was due in part to the aristocratic "bone rank" system. 
Only those who belonged to the sacred bone branch of the royal family were eligible to sit on the throne.
Thus, the first of the three queens, Sŏndŏk (r. 632-647), was chosen queen because the male line of the sacred bone branch had died out.<sup>1</sup>

---

1.For further description of the bone rank system, see p. 36.

## p. 26

There is no record of any objections raised in the selection of a woman as ruler.
The legend concerning three occasions where Queen Sŏndŏk displayed extraordinary ability in predicting events testifies to the high respect granted to the queen.<sup>2</sup>
Furthermore, the fact that Queen Sŏndŏk was succeeded by a woman, her cousin Chindŏk (r. 647-654), also indicates that there was no prejudice against having women rulers.
Apparently, whether the candidate for the throne belonged to the right bone rank or not mattered more than whether that person was male or female.
Quees Chinsŏng (r. 887-897) of later Silla came to the throne in accordance with the will of King Chŏnggang (r. 886-887) who had died without heirs.
Pointing to the examples provided by the previous queens, Sŏndŏk and Chindŏk, he recommended his intelligent sister as his successor.

Although Confucianism had started making inroads into Silla, its influence odes not seem to have penetrated deeply enough to implant the notion of basic inequality between men and women, which was characteristic of the Confucian teachings of a later period.
At no time were the queens criticized on the grounds of their sex.
Even their political opponents, the male members of the true bone branch who wanted to seize power, revolted against them not because they were women but because they were ineffectual rulers.

The two queens, Sŏndŏk and Chindŏk, ruled Silla at a time when the conflict between the three kingdoms, Silla, Koguryŏ, and Paekche, was at its height.
Koguryŏ was strong enough to repel the invasion of the T'ang forces.
Paekche, under King Ŭija (r. 641-660), was intent on destroying Silla, in alliance with Koguryŏ, by first blocking the access to the Yellow Sea that Silla had just won at a high price.
Isolated and pressed by her neighbors, the queen had to approach the T'ang dynasty for help. 
Through the mediation of the T'ang emperor, Taejo, Silla was able to establish temporary peace with Koguryŏ.
Queen Sŏndŏk was ably supported by men such as general Kim Yu-sin (595-673) in her fight with Paekche.

A story is told by the chronicler which marks Queen Sŏndŏk's

---

2.*Samguk yusa,* vol. 1. For example, Queen Sŏndŏk saw a horde of frogs gathering and predicted that the Paekche army was going to invade Silla soon.

## p. 27

wisdom. When she was a little girl, there came among other gifts from T'ang a peony seed and several beautiful paintings of this flower.
The paintings were greatly admired.
"But," said little Sŏndŏk, "they have no fragrance. What a pity!" 
"Why do you think that?" asked her father. 
"If they had fragrance," said she, "there would be bees and butterflies around them." 
The seed was planted and in due time flowers bloomed, but they had no fragrance.
"My wise little daughter!" said the king. "She shall reign when I am gone."<sup>3</sup>

Although beset with serious problems of defense and security, the queen did not neglect internal affairs.
She made efforts to improve the daily life of her people and sent students to receive higher education in China.
During her reign the Buddhist temples Punhwang-sa and Yŏngmyo-sa were finished, and the nine-tiered pagoda of Hwangyŏng-sa and the oldest observatory in the Orient, Ch'ŏmsŏng-dae, were completed.
Buddhism was also greatly revitalized thanks to the efforts of Chajang, who returned home after having made a serious study of the Buddhist scriptures in T'ang China.

Quees Sŏndŏk died in the sixteenth year of her reign after suppressing the rebellion of Pidam, which aimed at usurping the throne. [text omitted from here]

## p. 42

That day when Queen Sŏndŏk went up to South Mountain for a picnic she noticed flames and smoke rising to the sky.
Upon inquiring of her attendants, she learned that Yu-sin was about to burn his sister to death because an illicit love affair had resulted in her pregnancy.
The Queen looked around and noticed that Ch'un-ch'u was as pale as death.

"So it was you!" she said.
"Go quickly and save the girl!"
Ch'un-ch'u leaped on his horse and galloped quickly to Yu-sin's house, shouting, "Queen's order! Queen's order! Do not put her to death!"
And so Mun-hŭi was saved.

A few days later Ch'un-ch'u and Mun-hŭi were formally married.<sup>4</sup>

[main text omitted from here]

---

4.Ilyŏn, *Samguk Yusa: Legends and History of the Three Kingdoms of Ancient Korea,* tr. Ha Tae-hung and Grafton K. Mintz (Seoul, 1972), pp. 80-81.