Hui-bin Jang


Royal Noble Consort Hui of the Indong Jang clan, also known as Jang Ok-jeong, is one of the best known royal concubines of Joseon. She was the mother of King Gyeongjong of Joseon.

Biography

Early life

Her personal name was Jang Ok-jeong. She was the daughter of Jang Hyeong and his second wife Lady Yoon of the Papyeong Yun clan. She is widely thought to be one of the most beautiful women in Joseon, and her charm was mentioned in the Annals. She belonged to the chungin class or middle class and came from a long line of interpreters. Ok-jeong became a lady-in-waiting to Grand Queen Dowager Jaui at the recommendation of Prince Dongpyeong.

As royal concubine

Visiting his step-great-grandmother, King Sukjong met Jang and became infatuated with her beauty. He gave her the rank of favored sang-gung, which indicated that she was favored by the king.
The king's mother, Queen Mother Hyeonryeol, belonged to the Noron faction, and she feared that Jang would influence the king to favor her native Soron faction. She expelled Jang from the palace. In 1683, the Queen Mother died and Queen Inhyeon allowed Jang to return to court.
In 1686, she became Sukjong's concubine with the title of Suk-won.
In 1688, she was elevated to So-eui after giving birth to the king's first son. The Soron faction pushed for the king to acknowledge his son by Jang as his heir apparent, but the Noron faction insisted that Queen Inhyeon was still young and could bear a son, who should be heir.
The king pushed for a compromise in which Queen Inheyon would adopt Gyeongjong as her son. However, Queen Inhyeon refused to adopt do so. This split in the court created a bloody dispute and upheaval known as the Gisa Hwanguk. The Soron faction seized power, and they exiled Queen Inheyon, her father, and the leaders of the Noron faction.
In 1688, she was elevated to the rank of Bin, with the prefix "Hui", which means "beautiful".

As queen consort

In 1688, Queen Inhyeon was exiled from the palace, and Jang was elevated to the position of Queen.
In 1694, Jang Hui-bin lost the favor of the King. The King grew disgusted by the greed of the Soron faction and the ever-powerful Jang family. He began favoring Lady Choi, who openly supported the deposed Queen Inhyeon and encouraged him to reinstate her to her original position as Queen.

Later years

The King banished Jang's older brother and the leaders of the Soron party. He officially demoted Jang to the rank of Hue-Bin, and he reinstated Queen Inhyeon as his Queen and brought her back into the palace.
In 1701, Queen Inhyeon died of an unknown disease. Allegedly, Sukjong discovered Jang Hui-bin conspiring with a shaman priestess to curse the Queen with black magic and gloating over her death. The Soron faction pleaded with the King to show mercy and pointed out that she was the mother of the Crown Prince.
Unmoved, the King sentenced Jang, her brother, her brother, and all of her companions to death. He also killed the leaders of Soron in response; 1700 people died as result of the incident. He exiled the courtiers who had asked him not to execute Jang.
On the 7th day of the 10th month in the 27th year of his reign, Sukjong passed a decree prohibiting concubines from becoming Queens Consort. On 9 November 1701, Jang was executed by poison at Chwi Seon Dang, her royal residence inside Changdeok Palace. She was 42 years old.
Jang Hui-bin was known for her greed for power and the position of Queen. Some argue that she was a victim of the political struggles of the time. As a member of the losing Soron party, she may be portrayed in a deliberately negative light. For example, some claim that she severely wounded her son, making it impossible for him to produce an heir. In fact, she would have desperately wanted her son to be able to sire heirs and become king, so she probably wouldn't have attacked her son in such a manner.
She was buried in Daebinmyo tomb in Seooreung. Originally entombed in Munhyeong-ri Opo-myeon Gwangju-gun Gyeonggi-do, she was moved to Daebinmyo in June 1969. Her memorial tablet was enshrined in Daebingung at Chilgung or "Palace of 7 Royal Concubine".
As the mother of the Crown Prince, she was given the posthumous title "Lady Oksan, Great Concubine of the Palace; Prefectural Great Concubine of the Indong Jang clan".

Jang's Tomb: Daebinmyo

Daebinmyo is a myo type tomb. She was originally entombed in Munhyeong-ri Opo-myeon Gwangju-gun Gyeonggi-do but was moved to its current location in June 1969, because the government was trying to expand the city and her tomb was in the way. Jang Hui-bin's tomb, Daebinmyo, was relocated at Seooreung tombs where Myeongreung is and contains the tombs of King Sukjong, Queen Inhyeon, and Queen Inwon. Behind the tomb is a large rock and a pine tree has broken through the rock to grow. There is speculation that this reveals that Jang Hui-bin's ki was, and still is, very strong. Some Korean websites report that because Jang Hui-bin was such a strong woman there is a belief that if young single women who want a boyfriend visit Jang Hui-bin's tomb and pay a tribute, they will soon find love.

Ancestry

Family

In popular culture