The silent beauty of Daebinmyo, Jang’s tomb at Seooreung in April 2023, hides an ugly and dark past. Robert Neff Collection
In 1694, Huibin Jang was removed from power and relegated to an isolated part of the palace, but she was unwilling to quietly accept her plight; she was a master of Joseon’s Machiavellian politics and allegedly even willing to use her dead father as a tool.
According to accounts, a servant from the household of one of her opponents was wined and dined to the point he became so intoxicated that he did not realize his hopae (a wooden identification tag) had been stolen. Within a short period of time, the hopae was discovered at the tomb of Jang’s father. An examination revealed a magical talisman buried near the tomb — presumably in an attempt to supernaturally facilitate Jang’s continued downfall. There were suspicions. The hopae appeared to have been conspicuously placed so that the blame would fall upon Jang’s opponents. No one was fooled and the perpetrators of this supernatural false flag were later punished by the king.
For a period of time, a tenuous peace seemed to exist in the palace between Jang and the queen. In 1699, the crown prince was visited by “The Guest.” This was a polite way of referring to the malevolent spirit associated with smallpox, and its ravages was so severe that children were often not named until after they survived its visit. The Guest did not discriminate between a common laborer’s child and a crown prince.
A shaman was summoned to care for the pre-teen royal heir. His efforts were successful, but not without a price. The boy’s vision suffered and Jang was advised to continue making sacrificial offerings so that she didn’t inadvertently anger The Guest. But was the shaman’s presence needed only for the crown prince?
If the trees could talk, what tales would they whisper at Daebinmyo? Robert Neff Collection
In the spring of 1700, Queen Inhyeon’s health began to deteriorate rapidly. For nearly a year she suffered from swelling, infection and other maladies that robbed her of sleep and strength. In the late summer of 1701, she was plagued with boils and it was becoming clear to all that she would not live much longer. Some blamed her condition upon nefarious acts of magic or poison.
A brief examination of the Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty indicate that many strange events were occurring during that summer. Meteors and comets in the night sky were frequently mentioned as were strong rainstorms, hail, flooding and earthquakes. For the superstitious, it may have seemed that the supernatural was involved.
Sometime in the early hours of Sept. 16, 1701, Queen Inhyeon died at the age of 34 — just two days before the king’s birthday.
The celebrations of the monarch’s birthday were muted as the country went into mourning over the loss of their young good-hearted queen. It is interesting to note that an entry in the Veritable Records states that a strange single white cloud was observed rising from the south — what significance, if any, it holds is unclear, but it paled in comparison to the events that followed.
The king was restless and could find no peace, not even in his sleep. One night, he dreamed the queen appeared before him wearing bloody clothing and pointed towards Jang’s residence. Despite his entreaties for her to speak, she remained silent. Curious as to what this meant, he got up and quietly made his way to Jang’s residence where “his ears were greeted with the sound of laughter and merriment.” He crept up to the paper window and, wetting his finger with saliva, poked a small hole so that he could gaze within. He was shocked to see Jang and a number of shamans shooting arrows into the effigy of his queen and boasting how they had brought about the queen’s death by placing a fetish beneath her bed chambers. This dream seems to have been the catalyst for a witch hunt within the palace.
The information board at Daebinmyo provides a bland description of one of Joseon’s most notorious queens. Robert Neff Collection
There are, of course, alternative accounts as to how King Sukjong learned of Jang’s alleged supernatural murder of the queen. Another consort is said to have told the king, or it may have come from two of the late queen’s older brothers.
Regardless of how the king came by this knowledge, it became the catalyst for a witch hunt within the palace walls.
In the subsequent weeks, an intense investigation revealed Jang had used magic to kill the queen. Under intense questioning (torture), several of the palace women confessed that over the previous year, they had participated in dark rituals in which arrows were shot at the queen’s effigy under the supervision of Jang and a shaman. The shaman reportedly boasted that the queen would be dead by the end of the summer or early fall and Jang would be restored to power.
Many of these women readily confessed — possibly hoping to be executed quickly and escape prolonged interrogation by torture — and reading their confessions it is hard not to be reminded of the Salem witch trials in the United States. While the deaths of the palace women were relatively quick — decapitated in front of the gate a few days after their confessions — Jang was forced to wait as her supporters beseeched the king for mercy.
While the trials were going on, the night sky was lit by an unidentified comet. Despite my efforts, I have been unable to identify the comet. Is it possible that it was the Great Comet of 1702 (officially discovered by Maria Margaretha Kirch and Philippe de La Hire on April 20 in Europe) which was possibly visible in the latter part of 1701?
On Nov. 9, 1701, time ran out for Jang. A package arrived with the tool for her execution — poison. Just before she took it, Jang looked at her son, the crown prince, and, picking up a piece of sharpened wood, declared he would die with her. She then struck him “in a portion of the body that rendered it impossible for him to have an heir.” He survived her attack, went on to ascend the throne in 1720 as King Gyeongjong, and died four years later.
One can only imagine the agony she felt as the poison raced through her body. One source graphically claimed blood spewed from her mouth like a fountain. It must have been equally shocking for the young crown prince — to be attacked by his mother and then to watch her die in such an agonizing manner.
There were many deaths. According to Homer Hulbert, all of Jang’s “sorceress companions” as well as her political supporters were killed. “The almost incredible number of 1,700 people are said to have met their death as a result of this disturbance.”
The day following Jang’s execution, the records indicate the comet began to fade from the sky. Its relevance to her death is unlikely, but it adds to the mystery surrounding her life. Even years later, Jang’s malevolent presence lingered and may have played a part in the insanity of Crown Prince Sado — at least it did according to his wife. In her diary she complained, “It is really strange that His Majesty [King Yeongjo] placed the infant Prince, still in his cradle, in a desolate palace and turned the former residence of Lady [Jang] into the kitchen in which food for the prince was to be prepared.” Sado later died, locked in a rice chest, by the orders of his father, King Yeongjo — the son of King Sukjong.
Even now, Jang’s spirit is powerful — not within the palace, but at her latest final resting place. Desperate lonely women visit her tomb and offer prayers to her in hopes she will help them find boyfriends. When asked about it, my guide, a very knowledgeable middle-aged woman, merely shook her head and smiled with amusement and disbelief.
Jealous consorts, black magic used to murder queens and crown princes injured by their own mothers are infrequently mentioned in the annals of Joseon’s history. Regardless of whether or not you believe Jang committed all these acts she is accused of, she was an interesting figure in Korean history and justifiably remains a very popular subject for dramas.
Robert Neff has authored and co-authored several books, including Letters from Joseon, Korea Through Western Eyes and Brief Encounters.
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