Queen Ansun (Korean: 안순왕후; Hanja: 安順王后; 27 April 1445 – 12 February 1499) of the Cheongju Han clan, was the second wife and queen consort of King Yejong, the 8th Joseon monarch.[2] She was queen consort from 1468, until her husband's death in 1469, after which she was honoured as Queen Dowager Inhye (인혜왕대비) during her adoptive son, King Seongjong's reign, and later as Grand Queen Dowager Inhye (인혜대왕대비) during her grandnephew, King Yeonsangun's reign.
Biography
The future Queen Ansan was born on 18 April 1445 into the Cheongju Han clan, as the second child and eldest daughter of Han Baek-ryun and his second wife, Lady Im of the Pungcheon Im clan.[3]
On her paternal side, Lady Han was a fifth cousin to Queen Jangsun and Queen Gonghye as they shared Han Ak as their ancestor. She was also a fourth cousin once removed to Queen Sohye, as they also shared Han Ak as their ancestor.
In 1462, Crown Princess Han, the Crown Princess Consort of the then Crown Prince Yi Hwang, died. As Lady Han was born in the same year as Ansun, she was chosen as a concubine of Crown Prince Yi Hwang in 1463 and received the title of So-hun (junior 5th rank);[4] thereafter she was known as Royal Consort So-hun of the Cheongju Han clan and lived temporarily within the residence of Dong Palace. Although she was not a primary consort, she received the treatment of one.[5]
Royal Consort So-hun gave birth to two daughters and two sons, including Yi Hyeon, Grand Prince Jean and Princess Hyeonsuk, however only one prince and one princess survived through childhood.
In 1468, the Crown Prince took over the throne and became the 8th Joseon King, after Sejo abdicated due to illness. Consort So-hun was the one nominated by the former King to become the new Queen Consort. Since she was nearly due to give birth at that time, guards were sent to her maternal home to guide the future Queen.
Her time as Queen Consort was short, as her husband died only 13 months after his ascension and, to make the situation worse, her son, Grand Prince Jean, was deemed too young to be invested as the new King. Hence, her mother-in-law, Queen Dowager Jaseong and Han Myeong-hoe, the Chief State Councillor at that time, chose Prince Jasan, Han Myeong-hoe's son-in-law and Yejong's nephew, to become the successor. Since the Queen was the former King's wife, she was legally the mother of the new monarch, Yi Hyeol, King Seongjong, and was honored as Queen Dowager Inhye (인혜왕대비).[6]
Conflicts happened when the King's deceased father, Crown Prince Uigyeong, was posthumously declared as King, which made his widow, Crown Princess Consort Su (Seongjong's mother), a Queen Dowager (with the honorary name Insu). Because there was a need to determine the seniority between Inhye and Insu, Grand Queen Dowager Jaseong, as the eldest member of the Royal Family, solved the problem by declaring that Insu was entrusted with the task of protecting Yejong by the late Sejo of Joseon, implying her seniority above both King Yejong and Queen Dowager Inhye.
Seongjong's wife died in 1474, at the age 17, and was posthumously honoured as Queen Gonghye. The Ksitigarbha Pranidahana Sutra (The Great Vows of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva) was commissioned by the three Queens Dowager through the Royal Treasury Agency. This Sutra is now considered an important artifact for the study of printing and Buddhism during the Joseon Dynasty.[2]
Grand Queen Dowager Jaseong died in 1483, and was posthumously honoured as Queen Jeonghui. Her death made Inhye the most senior member of the royal family after Queen Insu.
After Seongjong's death, in 1494, Inhye was honoured as Grand Queen Dowager Inhye.
She died at the age of 53, during the reign of her grandnephew, Yeonsangun, and was posthumously known as Queen Ansun (안순왕후).
