Queen Woo： Ancient Korea’s Most Powerful Woman (Korean History)

Queen Wu, Wanghu Wuxi, was the wife of Gonamu, later remembered as King Gogukcheon of the Kingdom of Goguryeo. She subsequently became the wife of his younger brother, Goyeonu, who became known as King Sansang. She is remembered in Korean history as being an ambitious woman with a strong sense of authority. After Gogukcheon's passing, she married his younger brother, Yeonu. This is known as a leveret marriage and it is believed to have been practiced in Goguryeo because of the many wars fought and the abundance of fatherless families that ensued. Information about Queen Wu's life is sparse. Most of it is found in the Samguk Sagi, a historical record written in 1145 during the Goryeo dynasty. It chronicled the three kingdoms of Korea, Baekje, Silla, and Goguryeo, as well as the smaller Gaya confederacy. Queen Wu's birthplace is uncertain. It is said that she was born in the Jeolnobu or Sunobu tribe. The core federation of Goguryeo was formed originally by five tribes. The tribes would eventually become administrative districts in the kingdom. The Sunobu tribe was believed to produce kings and the Jeolnobu tribe, queens. Queen Wu's father was named Wu So. Her birth name was never recorded, like most of the women throughout Korean history. King Gogukcheon was the ninth king of Goguryeo, a dynasty founded in 37 BC by King Dongmyong, also known as Jumong. When Gogukcheon's father passed away, King Shinde, his older brother Balgi didn't ascend the throne because he was thought of as incapable. In the year 184, Gogukcheon fought against Chinese Han dynasty forces sent from the Liaodong Peninsula. The king sent his brother Gesu to drive the enemy out, but he failed, so the king went out and led his troops to victory. In the year 190, aristocratic relatives of Queen Wu were seizing land from commoners. Gogukcheon wasn't pleased and wanted to punish them, so the aristocrats rebelled. A certain Joagaryo led the rebellion and attacked the capital with his followers. The king's army crushed them and this allowed Gogukcheon to create a stronger central government. In Goguryeo, there were many rival clans and factions constantly vying for power. Gogukcheon found many talented people by adapting a meritocratic system to select officials for his government. Because of this, he found a man named Eulpaso who became prime minister in the year 191. Eulpaso was said to be wise and always had to fight off jealous nobles. It is said that his clear and just management of national affairs made the lives of people more comfortable and the country peaceful. Eulpaso died in 203 during the reign of King Sansang, Gogukcheon's brother and successor. In 194, Gogukcheon went hunting and met starving villagers. He gave them clothes and food and from that day on made it his utmost duty to improve commoners' lives. He instituted a grain loan system where people could borrow grain from March to July and pay it back after harvests in October. This was called the Jindae law and is the ancestor of the Hwangok system found during the Joseon dynasty. Gogukcheon died in the year 197. He didn't have any kids with Queen U. At the time when a king died, it was said that he ascended to heaven. Queen U wasn't ready to relinquish her power. She had to make sure the next king would work to her advantage. Queen U met with Gogukcheon's brother Prince Balgi who would be next in line for the throne. Apparently, she didn't like his manners and ambitions. Balgi must have wondered how it was possible for this woman, former queen or not, to talk about succession plans when it would be obvious to all that he would be the next king. Queen U met Prince Yeonu right after leaving Balgi. There's a passage in the Samguksagi that mentions that Prince Yeonu injured himself while cutting meat which is highly unusual because that would be a servant's job. Queen U used fabric from her skirt to cover the knife wound and they were then seen holding hands while returning to the palace. Once there, she forged the will of King Gogukcheon and ordered officials to declare Yeonu as the new king. This angered Prince Balgi. His dream of being king was quickly vanishing. He tried to storm the palace by force but couldn't. He also felt that the people didn't support his claim to the throne. Balgi fled to the Liaodong peninsula and surrendered to Gongsun Do, a powerful warlord. Gongsun Do heard Balgi's plea and lent Balgi 30,000 soldiers to invade Goguryeo. No doubt, Han China had something to gain from weakening Goguryeo. Gongsun Do was a powerful general and had previously successfully conquered parts of Goguryeo for the Han dynasty. Prince Yeonu sent his younger brother Prince Gyesu to deal with their older brother Prince Balgi. Prince Gyesu was probably conflicted because it should have been his brother Balgi the next in line for the throne but also and more importantly Prince Balgi associating with a foreign power was unacceptable. Gyesu met his brother on the battlefield and won. Prince Balgi lost everything and he took his own life out of shame and the realization that he had divided his homeland. This ensured Prince Yeonu's ascension to the throne now remembered as King Sansang. He made Queen Wu his queen consort. They couldn't have children together though. According to the Samguk Sagi, Sansang went to the mountains at night and prayed for a son. He fell asleep and had a dream where a spirit ordered him to tell his second consort to give him a son. The thing is the king didn't have a second consort so he asked Ulpaso for advice. Ulpaso told the king that one cannot predict the will of heaven thus one should wait and see what happens. Ulpaso died shortly thereafter. The country was in mourning. In the year 208, Sansang and some of his ministers were preparing a ritual sacrifice of a pig. The pig escaped and was captured by a woman that lived nearby. His ministers kept talking about her beauty. The king was intrigued and tracked that woman which he found Thus started a romantic relationship between king and commoner. Queen Wu heard about this and asked her loyal guards to find and execute this woman. They found her but quickly realized that she was pregnant. They couldn't go on with execution because her baby was most probably a future prince. Sansang heard of this and he made her a royal concubine. She's as the woman from Jutong village, the second consort of king Sansang. In 209, Uwigo was born and eventually named crown prince. He would later become known as King Dongchun. Queen Wu continued to plot against Uwigo for the rest of her life. It really feels like she was a classical wicked stepmother. According to the Samguk Sagi, Queen Wu ordered servants to spill soup on King Dongchun's clothes. She also had a man cut the mane of the king's horse. This should have made Dongchun angry but it didn't. In the year 228, he invested Queen Wu with the title of Queen Dowager. Queen Wu died in the year 234. She asked to be buried next to King Sansang's tomb. A shaman at the time said that Goguchun was ashamed in the afterlife because his wife married his brother. Goguchun's spirit asked for his tomb to be covered. King Dongchun thus decided to plant seven rows of pine trees around the tomb of Goguchun. Queen Wu is one of the only queens in Korean history to have maintained power for two generations. She's also one of the few women from early Korean history whose story survived to this day. During Joseon, she was seen as a villain who followed her desires and created succession problems that led to a civil war in Goguryeo following her support of Prince Yeonu and not Prince Balgi. Joseon was a Neo-Confucian society and it's not a surprise that she would be remembered in this way. Queen Wu has been portrayed in an eponymous TV drama. In it, many liberties were taken but cannot be faulted too much because historical records of this time period is sparse at best. If you enjoyed this video, please leave a like, comment and subscribe. I will see you again very soon. Thank you for watching!