There’s a pretty good post on Myeongseong Hwanghu, a.k.a. Queen Min, over at Budaechigae - those unfamiliar with her might wish to check it out. Personally, I’m not a huge fan of Queen Min, partly because I consider her a prime example of everything that was wrong with late Chosun Dynasty politics, and partly because I have a strong pro-Andong Kim bias that is entirely due to personal reasons beyond the scope of rational academic discourse. Nevertheless, whether you consider her a patriotic martyr or Exhibit A as to why Korea became a Japanese colony, she’s a person with whom anyone with an interest in Korean history should be familiar.
Oh, and Kimchee GI’s got pics of her, too - not exactly Ham So-weon getting naked, but cool all the same.
One Comment
Thanks for the link.
The Andong Kims are very interesting too, seeing that they (and the pungyang Chos) succeeded in “sedo” or power politics for over 60 years. Some interpet the Hungsun Taewongun’s picking the Min family as a reaction to the sedo politics, stemming specificially from the Andong Kim faction. A side note to the Andong Kims is that my favorite pundit of korean society in the 19th Century, Kim SatKat was an Andong Kim…