death_place death_date title birth_date spouse article_title name
ihyeon palace , south korea 9 april 1718 royal noble consort december 17 , 1670 king sukjong of joseon suk-bin choe
 lady choe sukbin
suk-bin choe

royal noble consort suk of the haeju choe clan -lrb- -rrb- -lrb- 17 december 1670 - 9 april 1718 -rrb- was one of the best known royal concubines of king sukjong of joseon .
the future royal noble consort suk was born in 1670 on the sixth day of the eleventh lunar month in the eleventh year of the reign of hyeonjong of joseon .
she was the younger daughter of choe hyo-won and lady hong of namyang -lrb- 1639 -- 1673 -rrb- .
-lrb- ; 1638 -- 1672 -rrb- she had one older brother , choe dong-hu -lrb- -rrb- , who married lady an of sunheung , and one older sister who married seo jeon -lrb- -rrb- .
she entered the palace at the age of 7 .
she belonged to the `` cheonmin '' class which was the lowest class during the joseon dynasty .
how she and the king had their first encounter is unknown .
the most accepted version is that she was a `` musuri '' , i.e. a water maid , in the palace , i.e. a palace slave , during the time when queen inhyeon was deposed and exiled , and the concubine , jang hui-bin , had acquired the status of queen .
one night , choi suk bin was praying for queen inhyeon 's well being when king sukjong of joseon , who was returning to the palace from a trip , overheard her and was moved by her words .
the book 수문록 authored by yi mun jeong -lrb- 1656-1726 -rrb- describes the events that led to the execution of jang hui-bin .
the author who lived during sukjong 's time , recorded the encounter as follows : '' `` one night , the king could n't sleep , and suffering from insomnia decided to go out .
when returning to the palace and passing by the servants ' chambers , he suddenly heard sobbing coming from a small room .
out of curiosity , he took a peep into the room , then to his surprise in this neat and tidy room , he saw there was a setup of an offering for a banquet .
he then saw a young palace musuri dressed in her official uniform , weeping bitterly in front of the table set for a memorial ritual .
the memorial tablet was set for the former queen inhyeon .
the king was surprised , since queen inhyeon had been deposed .
the musuri had placed the memorial tablet because the deposed queen inhyeon had sacrificed herself for the king 's sake .
but fearing queen jang hui bin 's influence , no one dared to commemorate the deposed queen inhyeon , as no one wanted to be accused and executed .
the king was surprised that even under these perilous circumstances someone dared to risk death to honor and pray for queen inhyeon 's well being , and he spoke to her .
the musuri -lrb- later to become choi suk bin -rrb- heard his voice , and turning around , was stunned to see the king .
recognizing him , she knelt before him and he asked her for an explanation .
the musuri answered with a trembling voice , `` chon na , i used to serve under queen inhyeon when she was queen .
today is her birthday , i can not forget the kindness that queen inhyeon rendered to me when i served under her , thus privately i set a memorial for her .
please punish me with death . ''
hearing such an extreme plea , the king was taken aback and was astonished .
others in her situation would have played safe and not put themselves at risk , but this musuri risked death to honor her former queen .
commendable and virtuous indeed was she and the king , finding himself witnessing this , was moved .
he then brought the young musuri to his bed chambers .
his feelings turned from sympathy into fondness and then into love , and he spent many nights with her .
over time , this musuri came to be known as choe suk bin '' . ''
favored by the king , in the fourth lunar month of the nineteenth year of king sukjong 's reign -lrb- 1693 -rrb- , she became sukjong 's concubine with the rank of `` suk-won '' , after giving birth to a prince who died young .
in 1694 , during the twentieth year of sukjong 's reign , she was elevated to the rank of `` suk-ui '' -lrb- royal noble consort , rank 2 -rrb- after giving birth to a son , prince yeoning .
in 1695 , she was again elevated to the rank of `` gwi-in '' .
in 1698 , she gave birth to another prince who died in childbirth .
in 1699 , she was again promoted to the rank of `` bin '' -lrb- rank 1 of royal noble consorts -rrb- , with the adjective `` suk '' , meaning -lrb- 淑 -rrb- `` pure . ''
lady choe openly supported queen inhyeon and was against jang hui-bin , who history remembers as an evil and cruel woman .
by 1693 , the king was growing disillusioned by jang hui-bin and the southerner faction .
in 1694 , king sukjong brought back queen inhyeon and demoted jang to hui-bin .
in 1701 , queen inhyeon died of unknown causes ; some historiographers believe she was poisoned , but this is unconfirmed .
according to one version , sukjong found jang hui-bin in her room with a korean shaman , making merry over having caused the queen 's death through black magic .
another interpretation based on a vague passage of the annals of the joseon dynasty states that it was choe suk-bin who told the king that sorcery had been used to try to bring harm to the queen .
under the title , queen 's will , it is written : `` oegan -lrb- 外间 -rrb- quote -- `` choe suk-bin with her usual grace gives tribute to the queen -lrb- inhyeon -rrb- -lrb- 追慕 -rrb- , and weeping -lrb- 痛哭 -rrb- for the one that could not win the heart of the king , she informed the king of the secret . ''
this could mean that choe was merely delivering the queen 's last words .
yet , rumor in the palace was that jang hui-bin had been using a shaman to curse queen inhyeon .
according to min chin-won , queen inhyeon came to know about these rumors , and in the annals of joseon recorded in 1701 , min chin-won and min chin-hu informed king sukjong of jang hui-bin 's sorcery claiming that in doing so they were in compliance with queen inhyeon 's last request to them before dying .
however , regardless how the king came to know about this , he decided to look into the matter and discovered the truth behind the rumors that jang hui-bin had built a shamanist altar between her quarters , where effigies with the name of inhyeon were found .
later , her ladies-in - waiting declared that she had ordered them to shoot arrows at a portrait of queen inhyeon three times at day , and had buried dead animals under the queen 's garden palace .
despite the many pleas of the southerner party to pardon her , king sukjong felt her conduct was so wicked , and in 1701 ordered that she and all the others involved should die by poison .
after sentencing her , king sukjong passed a law forbidding a concubine with the rank of `` bin '' to become queen .
a misunderstanding exists that choi suk-bin was the next on line to become queen , but this had no bases .
the next to become queen was royal noble consort yeong of the kim clan -lrb- 영빈 김씨 -rrb- .
in addition other concubine , royal noble consort myeong of the miryang park clan -lrb- 명빈 박씨 -rrb- , daughter of the yangban class , gave birth to a prince in 1699 and was probably more suited for the title of queen after royal noble consort yeong of kim clan , choe suk-bin 's lower class status as a musuri was an impediment to her in becoming a queen as the confucian society was ruled by a class system .
we can clearly see this on the life of king yeongjo -lrb- son of choe suk-bin -rrb- who was threatened in the beginning of his rule partially because of his mother 's class .
later when his rulership was firmly established , he considered it a personal insult if his mother 's background as a slave was mentioned .
her only surviving son was prince yeoning -lrb- yi geum , later king yeongjo of joseon -rrb- , who was known to be a child prodigy and became one of the greatest kings in joseon .
king sukjong was very proud of his son with lady choe and his treatment of him tended towards the lavish .
but because yeongo had been born from a low-born concubine , all the officials who were born in noble houses and had noble wives maintained a condescending view of the prince and his mother , and were quick to lecture sukjong on frugality and modesty ; however , the king ignored them .
in 1704 , the king celebrated the wedding of prince yeoning with a grand and lavish party , but again , the ministries complained about the excessive favoritism the king showed to the prince .
later the same year , the king gave his winter house , ihyeon palace -lrb- where sukjong had spent the days of his youth -rrb- , as a gift to choe suk-bin .
although yeongjo in his adulthood was very sensible about the origins of his mother , one can not deny the deep love he had for his birth mother , choe suk-bin .
his reverence for his mother had no limit .
he wrote her many poems and said in one of them , `` my father begot me , my mother fed me , led me , bred me , brought me up , reared me , kept her eye on me , tended me , at every turn aided me .
their goods deeds i would requite '' .
yeongjo fought at court to have his mother choe suk-bin recognized as a public mother , but she was like other concubines -- mothers of kings but regarded as a `` private mother of the king '' .
but yeongjo wanted to change that and have her as his `` public mother '' ; however , the officials were opposed to making her a public parent as this meant the ministers would have to honor her and gave the king the right to visit her tomb often as a part of his royal ceremonies .
during the time he was fighting this , there are two interesting accounts of his feelings about this situation .
in 1739 , the day before the scheduled visit to choe suk-bin 's tomb , dissatisfied with the protocols that the board of rites had drawn up , he censured two officials who were directly responsible for them .
the sillok explains the measure , `` the king respectfully served his private parent suk-bin , but he suspected that the officials were unwilling to comply with his desire .
thus , on each occasion sudden clashes erupted , inevitably followed by a distressing royal declamation . ''
on another occasion , the king was leaving her tomb for the palace .
about to mount the palanquin , he instead summoned the minister of military affairs , kim songung .
breaking into sobs , he said , '' since 1737 , this was the first time i came to pay respect to my mother .
for those years , my heart has been filled with sadness .
when children fall down , they automatically call out for their mother .
this is human nature .
at the time of divination , if there is no person offering earth , how can there be a divination ?
i have sent down orders make his birth mother a public or legal mother , but the bureaus in charge have ignored them .
true , the ruler is not allowed to have private concerns , but it is wrong to lose trust his officials .
the elite scholars of today are just too cold-hearted .
those elite scholar must also have parents .
they could not have fallen from heaven or sprung from earth . ''
in the end , he got what he wanted and choe suk-bin was made yeongjo 's public mother .
in 1699-1702 , royal noble consort suk-bin of choe clan was the principal benefactor of the gakhwangjeon hall in hwaeomsa temple .
in 1703 , queen inwon adopted prince yeoning geum , who was known to be her favorite and who she regarded as her own son .
in 1704 , the annals of joseon stated that for yeoning geum 's marriage , the king order a very expensive wedding .
the nobles complain about the expensive cost of the wedding -lrb- since he was not even the crown prince , but the son of a concubine -rrb- in 1704 , the annals of the joseon dynasty state that sukjong bestowed choi suk-bin inhyeon palace , which she later conferred to his son to consummate his marriage in 1711 .
it is said it was a large and spacious building located in seoul .
in 1711 , when queen inwon came down with smallpox , choe ordered the gungnyeo to go out of the palace and look for remedies among the commoners to save the queen , who in the end survived .
in 1716 , choe suk-bin was taken out of the palace while ill .
later that same year , sukjong received a message from yeoning geum informing him that his mother 's health had worsened and asking for more medical help .
in 1717 , sukjong retired from politics and allowed his son , the crown prince , to take care over most of the affairs of the government .
in 1718 , the royal noble consort choe suk-bin died at the age of 49 in inhyeon palace .
that same year , sukjong declared the crown prince gyeongjong as regent , who ruled in his stead .
in her memorial tablet -lrb- which is in soryeongwon , her royal tomb -rrb- , under the description of her character it is written : `` her disposition and her status was absolutely indivisible .
she did not scruple on people .
she was respectful and always waited on queen inhyeon and later on queen inwon .
her wisdom and intelligence shined on her interaction with others .
she kept to her duty and protocol .
she never entered in palace disputes .
she spend her days in peace and harmony . ''
she is buried in soryeongwon -lrb- 昭寧園 -rrb- in paju , designated as historical site no. 358 -lrb- address : 267 yeongjang-ri , gwangtan-myeon , paju , gyeonggi province -rrb- .
sukjong died in 1720 , supposedly after telling yi yi-myoung to name prince yeoning as gyeongjong 's heir .
when her son became king , yeongjo set up a jesil to grieve over her death near her grave as a display of his deep filial piety .
in addition to building tablet houses on the four spots around her grave , he also erected gravestones , the contents of which were written by him in her memory .
her memorial tablet was enshrined in the sukbinmyo , later called yuksangmyo -lrb- `` shrine '' -rrb- , and chilgung -lrb- historical site no. 149 -rrb- , the place which houses the ancestral tablets of seven royal concubines , all of whom were birth mothers of kings that never achieved the status of a queen .
choe was given the posthumous title `` lady hwagyeong , royal noble consort suk of the choe clan '' -lrb- -rrb- .
she was raised to the posthumous titles of hwa-gyong -lrb- `` harmonious reverence '' -rrb- in 1753 , and was again elevated to hwi-dok -lrb- `` magnificent virtue '' -rrb- and an-sun -lrb- `` tranquil purity '' -rrb- .
