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Jinseong of Silla

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Hangul
  
진성여왕

Hangul
  
김만, also 김원

Parents
  
Gyeongmun of Silla

Died
  
897 AD


Name
  
Jinseong Silla

Hanja
  
眞聖女王

Hanja
  
金曼, also 金垣

Nephews
  
Hyogong of Silla

Jinseong of Silla Jinseong of Silla Polyvore

Siblings
  
Heongang of Silla, Jeonggang of Silla

People also search for
  
Gyeongmun of Silla, Heongang of Silla

Revised Romanization
  
Jinseong yeowang

McCune–Reischauer
  
Chinsong yowang

Jinseong of Silla (c. 865–897) (r. 887–897) was the fifty-first ruler of the Korean kingdom, Silla. She was also Silla's third and last reigning queen (after Seondeok and Jindeok). Her reign saw the end of Unified Silla and the beginning of the Later Three Kingdoms period.

Jinseong was the daughter of King Gyeongmun and Queen Munui. The younger sister of Heongang and Jeonggang, she rose to the throne when both of her brothers died without issue. Though Seondeok and Jindeok's successful reigns were invoked to help Jinseong secure the throne, Silla's third queen regnant ultimately did not live up to the expectations of her predecessors.

Jinseong is noted in the Samguk Sagi for her immoral and licentious conduct, ranging from taking bribes to bringing attractive men into the palace and committing lewd acts with them. She also carried on an affair with the high commander (Gakgan) Wihong. The Samguk Sagi was written by Confucianists, who held a negative view of female rule, so the precise details therein should perhaps not be taken at face value.

In contrast, according to the records of Choe Chiwon, she was a good-hearted monarch with no greed.

During her reign, public order collapsed. Taxes could no longer be collected and the military conscription system failed. Taking advantage of this domestic disarray, Yang Gil in the northwest and Gyeon Hwon in the southwest rebelled and founded their own kingdoms.

In 895, Jinseong appointed Heongang's illegitimate son Kim Yo as Crown Prince. On July 4, 897, she abdicated the throne and later died on December 31, 897. She was buried to the north of Sajasa temple in Gyeongju.

She ordered the first compilation of hyangga works, Samdaemok, to be created.

References

Jinseong of Silla Wikipedia