QUEEN JINDEOK : A DEBATABLE HISTORY OF SHILLA'S SECOND REIGNING QUEEN (THREE KINGDOMS PERIOD IN KOREA)

 THE GLORIAN POST (TGP)

ARTICLE SECTION : WOMEN AND POWER

CHAPTER TWO: SHILLA DYNASTY (ONE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS OF KOREA.

QUEEN JINDEOK OF SHILLA

DEBATABLE HISTORY AND WHAT WAS SHE?

Note: 

       The purpose of this article isn't to criticize but to rather explore an imagination and redeem while comparing historical facts with my fiction.

THE GREAT QUEEN JINDEOK

Jindeok of Shilla

Jindeok of Shilla (? – 654), reigned as Queen of Silla, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, from 647 to 654. She was the kingdom's 28th ruler, and its second reigning queen following her predecessor Queen Seondeok. During her reign, Shilla jockeyed with Baekje for favor in the Chinese Tang court. She is also known for writing a poem of the Young Emperor Gaozong of Tang.

Tomb of Queen Jindeok in Gyeongju, Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea

Queen of Shilla

Reign: 647 – 654

Coronation:647

Predecessor: Queen Seondeok of Shilla Successor: Muyeol of Shilla

Died: 654 in Shilla 

Burial: Gyeongju

Father: Galmunwang Gukban

Mother: Lady Wolmyeong of the Park clan

Jindeok of Shilla 

Hangul진덕여왕

Hanja眞德女王

Revised Romanization Jindeok Yeowang

McCune–Reischauer Chindŏk Yŏwang.

   

SHILLA'S SECOND REIGNING QUEEN JINDEOK

Queen Jindeok is best known in Shilla to have been its second reigning Queen but there is little that is known about her to this very day that as someone that takes a very keen interest in studying History I was forced to wonder what Queen Jindeok really was.

   

    My Curiosity had the best of me and I took a step forward and Earlier on about two months ago I decided that why shouldn't I write my own story about Queen Jindeok?

In writing this novel I figured out that there could be very many questions about this very debatable reigning Queen of Shilla.

    

Firstly why isn't much known about her?

    I asked myself this question over and over again and perhaps there is a reason that I can confidently spell out, Queen Seondeok who proceeded her was perhaps the greatest given that she was the first reigning Queen of Shilla and some of the artefacts from her reign are still found in South Korea today.

   additionally when Queen Seondeok became the second female monarch in South Eastern Asia and the first most effective one on the mainland, her reign sent shockwaves that were felt throughtout the continent and perhaps the number one instigator in what would be a centurial era of female Sovereigns.

    Considering the fact that Jindeok firstly came immediately after Queen Seondeok and she was the fourth female Sovereign in Asia, in the History of Korea she fell into her predeccessor's Shadow which is why she isn't that famous and not much I known about her except that she existed.

   Secondly, Queen Jindeok took the throne as a cousin to Queen Seondeok but there is more to that as we are going to see.

    Thirdly, there are not so many artefacts that exist as reminders to her reign.

    Forthly, Except for the fact that she reigned, her term as a monarch was about half the regime of Queen Seondeok which was seven years and a couple of months in between no one even really knows the cause of her death even up to today except that it was in a way untimely.

    Lastly Perhaps, At the time that the unification wars took place after her death, the short instability that followed could have led scholars to ignore much more information or record it about her.

WHO WAS QUEEN JINDEOK OF SHILLA?

   Kim Seungman was the name that she possessed before she ascended the throne in her own right but as not much is known about her we can at least try and paint a picture of the type of person that she really was in her time.

   At the time of the Shilla Dynasty from 57BC - 654, In this particular period the Shilla social caste that was eligible for the Crown or the Royalty and aristocracy was divided into two the Seonggol (Sacred bone) caste and the Jingol (True bone) caste In 654 the Seonggol caste that was the most eligible for the Crown became extinct whereas the Jingol caste that only existed as a privileged aristocracy gained the opportunity to install it's dynasty of rulers as well as anyone that had Royal blood in them gained strong legitimacy to the throne Kim Chunchu took over as the first direct descendant and grandson to two Kings King Jinji and King Jinpyeong.

    For someone to be a Seonggol their status depended on that of their parents both of which had to be Seonggols who were direct descendants of the King that's a likely situation in which royal cousins married one another and they still possesed the Sacred bone.

    To be Jingol, one's parents either had to be both true bones or one exception had to be a Seonggol in some cases as it was for Kim Alcheon who at one point after Queen Jindeok's death was too eligible for the Shilla Crown as his Seonggol father had deliberately married a Jingol woman to alter his chances of fighting for the throne.

   The other way was that one or both of your Seonggol parents were declined from that honour as a punishment which was the case for Kim Chunchu who being born a Seonggol lost that right after his grandfather King Jinji after his death was declared to have usurped power and his male line of succession lost the privilege to humble them and perhaps protect them from being tempted to rebel against their cousin King Jinpyeong in the near future.

   Because of this caste system, Queen Seondeok was able to reign and precede Queen Jindeok as well but to be a Seonggol wasn't all that it took for you to inherit the Crown and now let's take a closer look at what Kim Seungman (Queen Jindeok) would have been to have even possesed it for herself.

    At the time in Shilla for King Jinpyeong to rule as a Sovereign and consolidate his power, his two brothers Kim Baekban and Kim Gukban were given the title of Galmunwang and with time they built their own influence in the Royal Court.

    In my Web novel QUEEN JINDEOK, Galmunwang Baekban is depicted as the primary villain of the story as it is that a Galmunwang in Shilla could have been the Kochuga  for Gorguryeo and King Jinpyeong to have relied on his brothers at some point to strengthen his power as the King implies that his brothers must have been very powerful men in the Royal Court and one being his left and the other his right at all times he must have fought to maintain the equilibrium of the powers of the two I can assert that to some extent it's likely Galmunwang Baekban could have been tempted to become a rebel especially at the thought of declaring Princess Deokman as his brother's successor but perhaps he was redeemed and escaped it in the pages of history to me it can only be alleged.

    When I tried to find out more very little is known about both the King's brothers but for Galmunwang Gukban's daughter to ascend the throne then it must have been attributed to his influence in politics for her to be considered in the line of succession as fit to reign over the realm after her cousin.

    No one really knows the truth behind the instigated Chilsuk and Seokpum Rang's Rebellion but for it to have tried to cause an impact on the succession of Shilla it must have had someone to justify it and sitting down I found Galmunwang Baekban to be the best candidate while he also would have been responsible for Bidam's rebel activities prior to the end of Queen Seondeok's reign which is a very debatable topic as well to this day but as it is evident, some times, no one is satisfied with what they have until they own everything which could have been the case for Sangdaedeung Bidam who perhaps not a Seonggol but a Jingol could have had a claim for the throne.

    

    Back to our Primary concern, All in all at that time in Shilla, Kim Seungman must have played an active role in politics to have herself considered as one of the people fit to sit on the throne despite being a woman and as Queen Seondeok was known mostly for having been a very intelligent woman and perhaps a genius in politics at her time, given that she crushed Chilsuk and Seokpum Rang's Rebellion in the first place and there were Courtiers that followed her and it is very much affirmed that she was qualified to reign over the realm in her own right but what about Seungman? The mere fact that Yushin Rang and Alcheon crushed Bidam's rebellion prior to her reign and possesed the Highest offices in it means that she was just another calculative woman. How?

The likely explanations (Facts & Theories)

     

    The Hallowed bone; Considering that both her parents were Seonggols then compared to her other relatives Kim Alcheon and Kim Yongsu, Kim Chunchu and Kim Chunchu who were notably all men she had a primary chance to fight for the throne but acquiring it was a totally different thing. Nevertheless, such a foundation to her must have been what she needed best as a qualification for the job that was fit for a man.

     

    Her Father being a Galmunwang; It suggested that perhaps he was very powerful and some of that power could have been virtually passed down to her as it is not known whether he had other surviving Children especially sons while in ancient Shilla women in the privileged castes would inherit property and lands which were all symbols of power. Seungman couldn't be an exception when it comes to such a benefit she must have used that background to gain an influence in politics and considering that Queen Seondeok even had her in mind as a Successor, it implies that she didn't want to just justify her reign but at her time, Swung might have been introduced to the political circle.

   

     Her Political Prowess; As Queen Seondeok was smart but considering the fact that Jindeok ascended the throne she must have been a political genius as well and this is best known when she expanded the Pumju tax collection system and she also wrote a poem to Emperor Gaozong of Tang which further suggests that she could have received perhaps some of the best education in philosophy and may be history she was skilled with the pen and she also could have been a fluent linguist given that she wrote it it was most likely in the native language of Tang and not in the one of Shilla. Not to be mean but looking closely Princess Cheonmyeong who was a daughter of King Jinpyeong, a sister of Queen Seondeok through Queen Maya which made her a Seonggol she'd outlived both women but she didn't become Queen Regnant as they were speaks to us so much more we can tell that unlike the others, Perhaps because she didn't boast a significant political acumen as the two fellows it implies that for Seungman her cousin to take power and reign she possesed much more than the that Hallowed bone she too had.

     At the time that Queen Seondeok had perished, her likely contender for the throne was Kim Chunchu who was said to be exceptionally smart in his ways and had on a number of occasions represented Shilla as a diplomat in other countries, however given that she took up the throne much earlier and he was foregone in that succession at that moment being a Jingol it implies that her Political talents were very remarkable as well.

   

    It's likely that she was a warrior; Because throughout Her reign she was able to fortify Shilla's defences and they become further impenetrable to Paekche while she additionally must have played a big role in weakening it, with her also focused on Shilla's Foreign policy it was primarily one overwhelmed by both war and bloodshed, at her time it was also plausible for women to be warriors though after the Wonhwa was banned Mishil who died in 612 having been one suggests that female warriors could have perhaps persisted that compelled me to make it a primary character that my web novel tries to paint about the woman that Kim Seungman really was.

  

     She was smart and intelligent; Eventhough not like her predeccessor Queen Seondeok but considering the fact that in 887, King Jeonggang had to name his sister Jinseong as the third female King of Shilla it implies that Queen Jindeok led a luminous legacy like her predeccessor before her to consider herself as having been a competent ruler.

    Her reign though not boasting any significant resistances even with the neighbouring kingdoms of Paekche and Gorguryeo or between factions within her Court it could have been considered a fluorishing and peaceful regime which must be attributed to the fact that she in deed possessed significant political skills.

    it is to be noted that under her the Shilla-Tang bonds were strengthened like they had never been before upon which the Unification of the Three Korean Kingdoms was achieved about seventeen years after her death when Emperor Taizong Of Tang had threatened them earlier on following Queen Seondeok's ascension Emperor Gaozong (r649-683) was more open to accepting her legitimacy afterwards.

    As a result of the many things that could be conjured it is likely that Queen Jindeok though being one of the least known Queens in Korean history she was perhaps one of the greatest that ever ruled the Nation because as the success of the unification wars after her death was unprecedented she must have built a very strong foundation in agriculture and also reforming the military and preparing it which task wasn't as easy as one would have thought.

    Additionally, it is to be noted that at the time that King Uija a primary warlord in Paekche ceased his extravagant military policies during her reign implies that she was capable as a monarch in every way just like her predeccessor before her which brings me to a conclusion that my novel in trying to create a deeper character of the type of person Queen Jindeok really was, writing it made me understand the Great Woman she might have been.

ACHIEVEMENTS DURING HER REIGN

*She strengthened Shilla-Tang bonds.

*Expanded the Pumju tax collection system.

*Shilla was most peaceful from foreign attacks.

*Trade and Commerce fluorished.

*The Army was reinforced.

*The Monarch's power had grown.

*The Aristocratic factions' powers declined.

*Buddhism spread.

*Shilla had a great foreign policy.

*Agriculture persisted.

*Queen Jinseong about a century later succeeded her which verified that a woman too was competent to rule the country.

Death

     Queen Jindeok died in the year 654 of an unknown cause and she was the last Monarch of the rank Seonggol to master dominion over the realm of Shilla as she was immediately succeeded by Kim Chunchu (Taejong Muyeol of Shilla) who was the first Jingol King in the History of Shilla, she was buried at Saryanbu according to the Samguk Sagi which is contrary to what is believed to be her present day tomb. As it was that she being an ambitious woman might have had favourites or not she chose to never marry so that she would never share her power with anyone else.

FINALLY

    Queen Jindeok is in deed an inspiration character and one of the best references in the world today that even some women could succeed as rulers throughout both the Republican and Monarchical spheres of influence.

    The reason that I choose to write down her story of all the stories in the world was that after keen consideration and not much is really known about her, considering that her short reign ushered in the most significant time of the Three Kingdoms period in Korea which was the unification it implies that regardless of what we couldn't have read, seen or heard, whatever it was that she possesed in her own likeness made her great like some men who preceded her and perhaps even much better.

     However I wish to leave you all with a personal opinion and that is 'regardless of the fact that there is too little or barely nothing much to be known about Queen Jindeok, the fact that she reigned in her own right and another female monarch was justified much later implies that she was an exceptional woman in intelligence and wit and she was just not faulty for the sex she possesed she had the belly and the mind of a Great King.

FOR THOSE OF YOU INTERESTED IN KNOWING MUCH MORE YOU CAN CHECK OUT MY WEBNOVEL 'QUEEN JINDEOK'

IT IS AVAILABLE ON THE WEBNOVEL APP.

QUEEN JINDEOK OF SHILLA

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THE GLORIAN POST