The History Of The Greatest Korean Princesses

Source: 해럴드경제

Today, we will tell you the stories of Korean princesses!

We wish we could tell you about all the princesses, but there are too many and some don't have accurate records, so we have selected some princesses with special stories.

Goguryeo Kingdom
고구려

Princess Pyeonggang (평강공주) (?-?)

Source: 오마이뉴스

According to the Tale of Ondal in the Samguksagi (History of the Three Kingdoms/삼국사기), the princess cried often when she was young, so the king often teased that he would marry her off to Ondal the fool. However, when the princess actually grew up, she visited Ondal and got married to him.

She cared for her blind mother-in-law well, and taught martial arts to her foolish husband Ondal. Thanks to the help and teachings of the princess, Ondal became an outstanding martial artist and was later appointed as a general of Goguryeo!

Source: 매일경제

KBS's River Where The Moon Rises, which aired in 2021, is a historical drama romance depicting the love story between General Ondal and Princess Pyeonggang, who dedicated her life to Goguryeo.

Baekje Kingdom
백제

Lady Sobi (소비 부여씨) (?-?)

Source: fmkorea

Lady Sobi, the daughter of King Seong, was the princess of Baekje and the queen of King Jinheung of Silla. Immediately after the area below the Han River was taken from the Baekje Kingdom by the Silla Kingdom, King Seong married his daughter Lady Sobi to King Jinheung in October 553 to form an alliance.

However, about a year after they were married, there was a battle over Gwansanseong Fortress between Baekje and Silla. Her father, King Seong, died during battle along with her husband, King Jinheung. The relationship between the two kingdoms, which were once allies, became difficult to mend.

Silla Dynasty
신라

Princess Seonhwa (선화공주) (?-?)

Source: 국민일보

Princess Seonhwa is the female protagonist of Baekje's "Seodongseolhwa" during the Three Kingdoms Period. According to Samguk Yusa, a collection of folk tales and fairytales, she was the third daughter of King Jinpyeong of Silla and was a beautiful woman.

Seodong of Baekje, who fell in love with her beauty, made the children sing a nursery rhyme that said Princess Seonhwa was secretly contacting him. Because of that, Princess Seonhwa was kicked out of the royal palace due to the king's anger and met Seodong!

Later, Seodong ascended to the throne of Baekje and became King Mu. The Mireuksa Temple Site Stone Pagoda in Iksan, built by the couple, is Korea's National Treasure No. 11 and is said to be the largest and oldest stone pagoda in Korea!

Source: 부산일보, 스타뉴스

Actress Lee Bo-young played the role of Princess Seonhwa in the SBS drama Seodongyo, which aired in 2005.

Princess Deokman (덕만공주) (?-647)

Source: 나무위키, 경북문화신문

Everyone, don't be surprised. Princess Deokman became Silla's first queen, Queen Seondeok. When King Jinpyeong died without a son, Princess Deokman ascended the throne, even though she was a woman.

She made great efforts to maintain the independence of the royal family, and the wooden pagoda at Hwangnyongsa Temple was built as a symbol of its authority.

It is also recorded that Cheomseongdae, the oldest astronomical observatory in the world, was built during the reign of Queen Seondeok.

Source: 오마이뉴스

The MBC drama Queen Seondeok, which aired in 2009, is a drama about the life of Queen Seondeok of Silla, the first queen of the Korean people. It was one of the most popular dramas at the time, recording a maximum viewer rating of 43.6%.

Goryeo Dynasty
고려

Hwangbo Yeowon (황보여원) (?-?)

Source: 시사뉴스

Hwangbo Yeowon is a princess of Goryeo and empress of King Gwangjong.

Ever since she was a princess, she was called a "beautiful dokcho" (아름다운 독초/poisonous plant), as she was a beautiful woman with outstanding wisdom and huge ambitions like those of her brothers.

She has been portrayed often in the media, and you can see her story on KBS's The Dawn of the Empire, Empress Cheonchu, MBC's Shine or Go Crazy, and SBS's Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo!

Princess Supreme Noguk (노국대장공주) (?-1365)

Source: 매일경제

The love story of Princess Noguk and King Gongmin are taught at least once in Korean history class. At that time, Goryeo had to marry a princess from the Yuan Dynasty, but only King Gongmin and Princess Noguk were on good terms!

Even though she was a woman of the imperial family of the Yuan Dynasty, she actively sponsored the politics of King Gongmin and protected the king from outside forces until the end.

Unfortunately, after the death of Princess Noguk, King Gongmin forgot the purpose of politics and made a mess of the country.

Source: 연예톡톡

The 2005 MBC drama Sin Don, depicts a showdown between monk Sindon and King Gongmin at the end of the Goryeo Dynasty, and actress Seo Ji-hye played the role of Princess Noguk.

Joseon Dynasty
조선

Princess Uisun (의순공주) (1635-1662)

Source: 한국강사신문

She was a princess with an unlucky fate. She was sent to the Qing Dynasty due to pressure from the prince of the Qing Dynasty to marry a Joseon princess.

After the Byeongjahoran (병자호란), or Qing Invasion of Joseon in 1636, the Qing Dynasty troops withdrew from Joseon and she was able to return. It's said she was called "hwanhyangnyeo" (환향녀), meaning "the woman who returned to her hometown."

But later, people looked down on her as a woman who'd lost her virtue, and she had to deal with this disgrace until she died.

Source: 경기일보

The unfortunate life of Princess Uisun has been depicted in various genres, such as the movie The Magician, the musical Princess Uisun, and novels Land of Pity (애숙의 나라), and Princess Uisun.

Princess Sookmyung (숙명공주) (1640-1699)

Source: 한국일보

Everyone, do you like cats? This Joseon princess was also known as a cat lover!

The letters she exchanged with her family (Sookmyung Shinhanchup/숙명신한첩) are designated as Treasure No. 1947.

The contents of the letters include being nagged by Princess Sookmyung's parents, King Hyojong and Empress Inseon, because she didn't care about the marriage that was important to the princess at the time and only liked cats.

Princess Sukseon (숙선옹주) (1793-1836)

Source: 전북도민일보

Daughters born by the king's royal queen were called princesses, but Princess Sukseon was a princess born by King Jeongjo and his concubine.

Although she's not technically a princess, there's an interesting story about Princess Sukseon, who was known for her cooking, so we wanted to introduce her to you!

In the Joseon Yorihak (조선요리학), a book about Korean cuisine, Princess Sukseon's dishes made by cutting radish were highly praised by the king, and are said to be the beginning of kkakdugi, a type of kimchi.

Princess Deokon (덕온공주) (1822-1844)

Source: 인사이트

Princess Deokon, the third daughter of Sunjo, is the last princess of Joseon. She liked to read and write ever since she was young, so she left behind a lot of elegant Hangul court materials like the picture above!

Among them, Princess Deokon translated the Jagyeongjeongi (자경전기), records of construction of Jagyeongjeon Hall, from Chinese into Korean.

The above materials are of high historical value since you can see how Hangul was written in the courts at that time.

Korean Empire
대한제국

Princess Deokhye (덕혜옹주) (1912-1989)

Source: 나무위키, 위키백과

Princess Deokhye was the last princess of the Korean Empire. As the youngest daughter of King Gojong, she spent her childhood surrounded with great affection.

Unfortunately, after being forcibly sent to Japan to study, she developed mental health issues. She was able to finally return home to Korea in 1962 and in 1989 she passed away at Changdeok Palace.

Source: 서울경제

People became very interested in her story when the movie The Last Princess, which depicts her life story, was released in Korea in 2016.

Today, we've gone over some of Korea's greatest princesses.

Although it's a bit of a heavy topic to see the dark or difficult lives of the princesses, it's always good to learn about history.

Let us know if there's a Korean princess you have been or became interested in!