Empress Myeongseong

I asked Mom for another new figure that might hit upon her.

But I still worried she might feel burdened. Shortly afterward, a message came from her. ‘Shall we do at this time with Empress Myeongseong?’ Since it is a too famous figure in modern history, I got startled but still amused with mom’s unpredictable thinking. While guessing there must be something that she thought of, she gave me a call right at that moment. Like the childhood of Empress Myeongseong, the then widespread spoiled bureaucratic system - paying for the civil position, the Im-O Military Revolt, Joseon’s opening the door for foreign countries, Empress’ going around for mountains to pray for Sun Jong Emperor’s having a son, the Sino-Japanese War and etc., I heard about indexless Joseon’s modern history for thirty minutes. Hmm, there seems to be no particular point in her telling that story. I told her that it was too massive a subject that could hardly be treated in a blog that usually handled not serious but light-hearted one. Then, she tried even harder to impress me, telling me about her grandfather’s being a general of the voluntary army – I asked her on what background was his being a voluntary army general and she answered she didn’t know -, his running away and being chased by Donghak Movement Army, even including her desperate guarding the picture of Emperor Ko Jong’s family from her brother.

Not far away from where I live, there is an importantly regarded temple, called Shinwon-Sa. Thanks to non-refurbishment in a modern way, it well preserves the ancient mood of a traditional temple. In the temple, there is a shrine for mountain-god, called Jungak-Dan. Since it was rebuilt by Empress Myeongseong, it was enlisted as one of the public treasures. Although the paint-works got worn so it reveals the frame of hardwood, it makes the building even more elegant and antique, which holds people’s attention. So I have a clear memory of it. The Jungak-Dan rebuilt by the Empress Myeongseong is the place where she prayed for the birth of son who would inherit the lineage of Joseon Dynasty and the preservation of its dynasty. For the praise of this memory, the temple has held Cheondo-ritual for Emperor Ko Jong and Empress Myeongseong since 1989. Seen from a near distance, even a historical figure is not that different from an ordinary person. A figure in an ancient time could be considered a hero or a villain according to the veiling of imagination and judgment from the later generations for him, but a person like Empress Myeongseong for whom even the minute and miscellaneous records are available let alone the ones of importance is just another ordinary person who lived her life in her time. This is why mom talked more about the situations of her belonged period rather than the Empress herself, though the story started with the Empress.

In the distance, it was the chaotic and devastating situation of Joseon, and close to it, it was a memory of the people in history who made up mom herself, including her maternal grandfather, maternal uncle, and father. The stories of their lives hold mom’s view of affection, pride, and curiosity towards them. To cast off fatigue from her burdened life, she gossiped about their stories often and whenever she found the time to her children who never asked for it; I heard at least two or three times of their each respective stories. The picture of the last Emperor’s family must remind her more of the episode with her brother than the people inside the picture frame. Likewise, even the Empress Myeongseong means more of a curiosity-instigating piece of her own history than as a historical figure.