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== When did she become queen? ==

The article points out on several occasions, that she did not have the title of Queen for years after her marriage, but it does not say when she received the title. I know that it is not the same thing as in Europe, when a woman automatically becomes queen when she marries a king. So, when during the marriage was she given the title? In the 1880s? --] (]) 22:19, 7 May 2010 (UTC)

Hi. Nice question.
Actually, at that time, when a Korean lady (15-16 years old) marries a King of Joseon, she automatically becomes his Queen Consort through a ceremony called "chaekbi" (冊妃 책비).
So, summary, Myeongseong became Gojong's "Queen Consort" (mind the actual title, since "Queen" can also be mistakenly & confusingly mean "Queen Regnant", as with Elzabeth II) when she got married.
I hope this satisfies you...
] (]) 08:13, 5 July 2010 (UTC)

:Thank you for the interesting information. It seems that at the time the question above was made, the article seemed to claim that she did not have the title of queen for some time, and that she was given it later during her marriage. But perhaps that was due to some misunderstanding, and it does seem as if that article has been corrected now. So it was similar to Europe in this case. Did the king have several wives, but only one queen? --] (]) 02:11, 25 July 2010 (UTC)

::Hi again. A Korean king (like any other kings of the world) can have several wives '''as concubines''', but can only have '''one primary & legal wife as Queen Consort'''.
::For some interesting information (on your part), concubines in the past (during the Joseon Dynasty) were sometimes given the special honor of being the King's primary wife (the Queen Consort; if the King wishes it so, and if he had a male son (in most cases the first-born) with her); there were 3 noted cases before 1700. The last one (died in 1701 by execution thru poisoning) was the worst case; so much, that in 1701, ] (the king at that time) decreed that no concubine should ever be a Queen Consort.
::Hope this satisfies you. ] (]) 15:53, 15 November 2010 (UTC)


== Eulmi Incident grammar and style issues == == Eulmi Incident grammar and style issues ==


There are numerous grammatical errors and style issues in the Eulmi Incident section. A bit of it will require familiarity with Misplaced Pages style standards, which I don't have. There are numerous grammatical errors and style issues in the Eulmi Incident section. A bit of it will require familiarity with Misplaced Pages style standards, which I don't have.

== Korea was unnamed in the small country. ==

The assassination of the Korean Empress ignited diplomatic protest abroad. To appease growing international criticism.

I think that this description is self-conceit. Other countries were not interested in Korea. ] (]) 19:34, 19 May 2011 (UTC)
:It's referenced. Please review ]] (]) 21:30, 19 May 2011 (UTC)

::Saying "self-conceit" and "not interested in Korea" is just typical IP bluster, but I checked the reference (a short column from ]) and it doesn't say anything about "diplomatic protest" and "growing international criticism" (or anything related to international opinion). Maybe the assassination of the Queen/Empress ''did'' ignite diplomatic protest (I don't know), but the criterion for inclusion in Misplaced Pages is "]," so we need to verify this claim with a ]. I tried to find a source, but I couldn't. Maybe someone else can find a supporting source, but if not, I propose we delete these phrases. Thanks! ] (]) 02:52, 6 September 2011 (UTC)

:::Ok, I found a reference. Case solved. ] (]) 03:26, 6 September 2011 (UTC)


== Change a subtitle? == == Change a subtitle? ==
Line 62: Line 35:


== Contemporary account of political shennanigans concerning Queen Min == == Contemporary account of political shennanigans concerning Queen Min ==




MURDER OF THE COREAN QUEEN. (From The Times.) Our Tokio correspondent, writing on October 18, says that the coup d'Etat of October 8 in Seoul was an indirect out- come of the long struggle between the Min faction, headed by the Queen, and the faction under the leadership of the King's father, the Tai Won-kun, and a direct result of the Queen's attempts to restore her own party to power and to reintroduce all the abuses of pre-reform days. The fortunes of both of these factions were recently at the lowest ebb. The Tai Wen-kun, while at the head of the Government, where he had been placed by Japanese influence, was convicted of hav- ing conspired with the Chinese generals. He has since remained in seclusion at his country residence some miles from Seoul. Meanwhile, the Japanese programme of reform was pur- sued steadily, and the Queen submitted with what grace she could command to changes that effaced the old order more and more completely, and put an end to abuses by which her kith and kin had largely profited. All the principal offices of state came into the occupation of Inde- pendents—that is to say, Liberals ; the Court was excluded from any share in the administration ; the finances were organized so as to check wholesale mis- appropriation of state funds, and two battalions of troops, drilled and equipped in foreign style, were placed beyond the reach of the Queen's orders. Such was the state of affairs at the end of September, on the eve of Count Inouye's withdrawal from Seoul and re- placement by a new Japanese representa- tive, Lieutenant-General Viscount Miura. Japan has been attempting to direct Corean affairs without authoritatively in- terfering in them. The slightest exercise of control involved imminent risk of international complications, in view of Russia's attitude and her support by Germany and France. The Queen per- ceived this; and between the Russian Legation and the Palace the wife of the Russian Charge d'Affaires constituted a unique channel of communication. Count Inouye possesses the rare faculty of exercising authority without openly wielding it. But on his withdrawal the Queen flouted the authority of the Min- isters, made appointments and removals without reference to the Cabinet, the personnel of the household was raised from 600 to over 2000, and the new fin- ance system was dislocated to provide funds for this crowd of Min partisans. The sale of official ranks was recom- menced. Class distinctions were restored. The King once more began to exercise his puppet authority at the bidding of his clever wife. Two of the Ministers found themselves compelled to resign, and even the Premier, despite a promise given to Count Inouye that he should never quit office except under irresistable pressure, showed plain signs of yielding. The Independents in their extremity formed a coalition with Tai Wen-kun, and the immediate instrument employed was a battalion of the newly-organised troops. These it had always been the Queen's wish to disband, and when the time seemed favourable collisions were contrived between them and the Palace Guards, a pretext being thus furnished to charge the troops with insubordination and dis- loyalty. Their disbandment and the punishment of their officers would have speedily followed, but intelligence of the peril having been conveyed to them, they were easily persuaded to avert it by recourse to violence. The Palace Guards offered a de- sultory resistance, but dispersed after one or two casualties. The Tai Wen-kun obtained audience of the King, and the coup d'Etat was an accomplished fact. Then ensued an incident that is still wrapped in some obscurity. Three ladies, one of them apparently the Queen, were dragged from their chambers, their throats cut, and corpses carried out and burned. The perpetrators of this atrocity are strongly suspected to have been Japanese. They wore foreign costume and wielded Japanese swords. Many of the Soshi class, the curse of modern Japan, have flocked to Corea in search of adventure, and are prepared to use their swords in any cause that seems to make for their country's benefit. The Tai Wen-kun may have employed a band of them—for they are mercenaries as well as cut-throats; the official con- spirators may have employed them; or they may have acted solely on their own impulse, believing the Queen to be a fatal obstacle in the path of Corea's progress. At all events, the evidence now available goes to show that the assassination of the Queen was perpetrated by Japanese Soshi, acting in collusion with the Corean soldiers. The King immediately on the outbreak of the emeute sent word to the Japanese Legation, and Viscount Miura, the new Japanese representative, hastened to the Palace escorted by a small force. Order was speedily restored. There remained nothing to fight about. The Queen had disappeared ; the persons of the King and the Crown Prince were in the hands of the conspirators; the Min faction were utterly broken; the Tai Wen-kun and the Independents remained absolute masters of the situation. Three days later the King issued an edict that takes rank as one of the most extraordinary state docu- ments on record. It ran thus :— Our reign has already lasted 32 years, and yet it grieves us to think that the country has not been sufficiently benefited under our sway. Our Queen, of the Min family, collecting around our throne a large number of her relations and par- tisans, has obscured our intelligence, robbed the people, confused our orders, bartered official rank, and practised all sorts of extortion in the provincial localties. Bands of lawless robbers roamed in all parts of the country, and the dynasty was placed in a perilous situation. That we have not punished her, though knowing her wickedness, may perhaps be ascribed to our lack of wisdom, but it is principally owing to the fact that she surrounded us with her partisans. In order to impose restraints upon the evil, we made a vow to the spirits of our ancestors in December last, to the effect that the Queen and all her blood relations should henceforth be pro- hibited from meddling with state affairs. It was our hope that the Queen would MURDER OF THE COREAN QUEEN. (From The Times.) Our Tokio correspondent, writing on October 18, says that the coup d'Etat of October 8 in Seoul was an indirect out- come of the long struggle between the Min faction, headed by the Queen, and the faction under the leadership of the King's father, the Tai Won-kun, and a direct result of the Queen's attempts to restore her own party to power and to reintroduce all the abuses of pre-reform days. The fortunes of both of these factions were recently at the lowest ebb. The Tai Wen-kun, while at the head of the Government, where he had been placed by Japanese influence, was convicted of hav- ing conspired with the Chinese generals. He has since remained in seclusion at his country residence some miles from Seoul. Meanwhile, the Japanese programme of reform was pur- sued steadily, and the Queen submitted with what grace she could command to changes that effaced the old order more and more completely, and put an end to abuses by which her kith and kin had largely profited. All the principal offices of state came into the occupation of Inde- pendents—that is to say, Liberals ; the Court was excluded from any share in the administration ; the finances were organized so as to check wholesale mis- appropriation of state funds, and two battalions of troops, drilled and equipped in foreign style, were placed beyond the reach of the Queen's orders. Such was the state of affairs at the end of September, on the eve of Count Inouye's withdrawal from Seoul and re- placement by a new Japanese representa- tive, Lieutenant-General Viscount Miura. Japan has been attempting to direct Corean affairs without authoritatively in- terfering in them. The slightest exercise of control involved imminent risk of international complications, in view of Russia's attitude and her support by Germany and France. The Queen per- ceived this; and between the Russian Legation and the Palace the wife of the Russian Charge d'Affaires constituted a unique channel of communication. Count Inouye possesses the rare faculty of exercising authority without openly wielding it. But on his withdrawal the Queen flouted the authority of the Min- isters, made appointments and removals without reference to the Cabinet, the personnel of the household was raised from 600 to over 2000, and the new fin- ance system was dislocated to provide funds for this crowd of Min partisans. The sale of official ranks was recom- menced. Class distinctions were restored. The King once more began to exercise his puppet authority at the bidding of his clever wife. Two of the Ministers found themselves compelled to resign, and even the Premier, despite a promise given to Count Inouye that he should never quit office except under irresistable pressure, showed plain signs of yielding. The Independents in their extremity formed a coalition with Tai Wen-kun, and the immediate instrument employed was a battalion of the newly-organised troops. These it had always been the Queen's wish to disband, and when the time seemed favourable collisions were contrived between them and the Palace Guards, a pretext being thus furnished to charge the troops with insubordination and dis- loyalty. Their disbandment and the punishment of their officers would have speedily followed, but intelligence of the peril having been conveyed to them, they were easily persuaded to avert it by recourse to violence. The Palace Guards offered a de- sultory resistance, but dispersed after one or two casualties. The Tai Wen-kun obtained audience of the King, and the coup d'Etat was an accomplished fact. Then ensued an incident that is still wrapped in some obscurity. Three ladies, one of them apparently the Queen, were dragged from their chambers, their throats cut, and corpses carried out and burned. The perpetrators of this atrocity are strongly suspected to have been Japanese. They wore foreign costume and wielded Japanese swords. Many of the Soshi class, the curse of modern Japan, have flocked to Corea in search of adventure, and are prepared to use their swords in any cause that seems to make for their country's benefit. The Tai Wen-kun may have employed a band of them—for they are mercenaries as well as cut-throats; the official con- spirators may have employed them; or they may have acted solely on their own impulse, believing the Queen to be a fatal obstacle in the path of Corea's progress. At all events, the evidence now available goes to show that the assassination of the Queen was perpetrated by Japanese Soshi, acting in collusion with the Corean soldiers. The King immediately on the outbreak of the emeute sent word to the Japanese Legation, and Viscount Miura, the new Japanese representative, hastened to the Palace escorted by a small force. Order was speedily restored. There remained nothing to fight about. The Queen had disappeared ; the persons of the King and the Crown Prince were in the hands of the conspirators; the Min faction were utterly broken; the Tai Wen-kun and the Independents remained absolute masters of the situation. Three days later the King issued an edict that takes rank as one of the most extraordinary state docu- ments on record. It ran thus :— Our reign has already lasted 32 years, and yet it grieves us to think that the country has not been sufficiently benefited under our sway. Our Queen, of the Min family, collecting around our throne a large number of her relations and par- tisans, has obscured our intelligence, robbed the people, confused our orders, bartered official rank, and practised all sorts of extortion in the provincial localties. Bands of lawless robbers roamed in all parts of the country, and the dynasty was placed in a perilous situation. That we have not punished her, though knowing her wickedness, may perhaps be ascribed to our lack of wisdom, but it is principally owing to the fact that she surrounded us with her partisans. In order to impose restraints upon the evil, we made a vow to the spirits of our ancestors in December last, to the effect that the Queen and all her blood relations should henceforth be pro- hibited from meddling with state affairs. It was our hope that the Queen would

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Eulmi Incident grammar and style issues

There are numerous grammatical errors and style issues in the Eulmi Incident section. A bit of it will require familiarity with Misplaced Pages style standards, which I don't have.

Change a subtitle?

Hi everybody. Would anyone object to changing the subtitle "Eulmi Incident" to "Assassination"? Reason: a reader who looks at the table of contents wouldn't know that the Queen/Empress was assassinated or that there is a section about her death. The retitled section would start like this: "The assassination of Empress Myeongseong, which in Korea is known as the Eulmi Incident (을미사변, 乙未事變), occurred in the early hours of 8 October 1895..." Comments? Madalibi (talk) 07:18, 9 October 2011 (UTC)

WP: Women's History Assessment Commentary

The article was assessed C-class, for insufficient number of in-line citations. Boneyard90 (talk) 16:33, 18 February 2012 (UTC)

Contemporary account of political shennanigans concerning Queen Min

MURDER OF THE COREAN QUEEN. (From The Times.) Our Tokio correspondent, writing on October 18, says that the coup d'Etat of October 8 in Seoul was an indirect out- come of the long struggle between the Min faction, headed by the Queen, and the faction under the leadership of the King's father, the Tai Won-kun, and a direct result of the Queen's attempts to restore her own party to power and to reintroduce all the abuses of pre-reform days. The fortunes of both of these factions were recently at the lowest ebb. The Tai Wen-kun, while at the head of the Government, where he had been placed by Japanese influence, was convicted of hav- ing conspired with the Chinese generals. He has since remained in seclusion at his country residence some miles from Seoul. Meanwhile, the Japanese programme of reform was pur- sued steadily, and the Queen submitted with what grace she could command to changes that effaced the old order more and more completely, and put an end to abuses by which her kith and kin had largely profited. All the principal offices of state came into the occupation of Inde- pendents—that is to say, Liberals ; the Court was excluded from any share in the administration ; the finances were organized so as to check wholesale mis- appropriation of state funds, and two battalions of troops, drilled and equipped in foreign style, were placed beyond the reach of the Queen's orders. Such was the state of affairs at the end of September, on the eve of Count Inouye's withdrawal from Seoul and re- placement by a new Japanese representa- tive, Lieutenant-General Viscount Miura. Japan has been attempting to direct Corean affairs without authoritatively in- terfering in them. The slightest exercise of control involved imminent risk of international complications, in view of Russia's attitude and her support by Germany and France. The Queen per- ceived this; and between the Russian Legation and the Palace the wife of the Russian Charge d'Affaires constituted a unique channel of communication. Count Inouye possesses the rare faculty of exercising authority without openly wielding it. But on his withdrawal the Queen flouted the authority of the Min- isters, made appointments and removals without reference to the Cabinet, the personnel of the household was raised from 600 to over 2000, and the new fin- ance system was dislocated to provide funds for this crowd of Min partisans. The sale of official ranks was recom- menced. Class distinctions were restored. The King once more began to exercise his puppet authority at the bidding of his clever wife. Two of the Ministers found themselves compelled to resign, and even the Premier, despite a promise given to Count Inouye that he should never quit office except under irresistable pressure, showed plain signs of yielding. The Independents in their extremity formed a coalition with Tai Wen-kun, and the immediate instrument employed was a battalion of the newly-organised troops. These it had always been the Queen's wish to disband, and when the time seemed favourable collisions were contrived between them and the Palace Guards, a pretext being thus furnished to charge the troops with insubordination and dis- loyalty. Their disbandment and the punishment of their officers would have speedily followed, but intelligence of the peril having been conveyed to them, they were easily persuaded to avert it by recourse to violence. The Palace Guards offered a de- sultory resistance, but dispersed after one or two casualties. The Tai Wen-kun obtained audience of the King, and the coup d'Etat was an accomplished fact. Then ensued an incident that is still wrapped in some obscurity. Three ladies, one of them apparently the Queen, were dragged from their chambers, their throats cut, and corpses carried out and burned. The perpetrators of this atrocity are strongly suspected to have been Japanese. They wore foreign costume and wielded Japanese swords. Many of the Soshi class, the curse of modern Japan, have flocked to Corea in search of adventure, and are prepared to use their swords in any cause that seems to make for their country's benefit. The Tai Wen-kun may have employed a band of them—for they are mercenaries as well as cut-throats; the official con- spirators may have employed them; or they may have acted solely on their own impulse, believing the Queen to be a fatal obstacle in the path of Corea's progress. At all events, the evidence now available goes to show that the assassination of the Queen was perpetrated by Japanese Soshi, acting in collusion with the Corean soldiers. The King immediately on the outbreak of the emeute sent word to the Japanese Legation, and Viscount Miura, the new Japanese representative, hastened to the Palace escorted by a small force. Order was speedily restored. There remained nothing to fight about. The Queen had disappeared ; the persons of the King and the Crown Prince were in the hands of the conspirators; the Min faction were utterly broken; the Tai Wen-kun and the Independents remained absolute masters of the situation. Three days later the King issued an edict that takes rank as one of the most extraordinary state docu- ments on record. It ran thus :— Our reign has already lasted 32 years, and yet it grieves us to think that the country has not been sufficiently benefited under our sway. Our Queen, of the Min family, collecting around our throne a large number of her relations and par- tisans, has obscured our intelligence, robbed the people, confused our orders, bartered official rank, and practised all sorts of extortion in the provincial localties. Bands of lawless robbers roamed in all parts of the country, and the dynasty was placed in a perilous situation. That we have not punished her, though knowing her wickedness, may perhaps be ascribed to our lack of wisdom, but it is principally owing to the fact that she surrounded us with her partisans. In order to impose restraints upon the evil, we made a vow to the spirits of our ancestors in December last, to the effect that the Queen and all her blood relations should henceforth be pro- hibited from meddling with state affairs. It was our hope that the Queen would

repent of her errors. But instead of repenting, she continued to favour her followers and to keep at a distance those of our own family. She also pre- vented the Ministers of State from directly approaching the throne. She further conspired to cause a distur- bance by falsely making it known that it was our wish to disband our troops,and when the disturbance arose she left our side, and following the method pursued by her in 1882, she hid herself beyond the reach of Our search. Such conduct is not only inconsistent with her rank as Queen, but is the acme of crime and heinousness. We therefore, in pursuance of our family precedents, are compelled to depose our Queen and to degrade her to the level of the common people. This wretched Monarch's naive confes- sion that, although aware of his spouse's wickedness, he had for years been unable to shake off her thraldom, is worthily capped by his charging the Queen with "leaving his side" when she had been dragged from it by assassins, and de- nouncing her for concealing her where- abouts when her charred corpse was lying outside the city walls. Were old-time methods pursued, the death of the Queen would be followed by a sanguinary perse- cution of her relatives. But the King has issued an edict promising that no con- siderations of party shall influence the distribution of rewards or punishments. The Japanese are intensely chagrined to find their countrymen figuring conspicu- ously in such a barbarous page of history. The vernacular press calls loudly for a strict inquiry and the infliction of drastic penalties; the Emperor has issued an ordinance forbidding any of his subjects to visit Corea without official permission. But all this touches only the sur- face of the affair. Japan has her Soshi just as Russia has her Nihi- lists, France her dynamitards, and Great Britain her Fenians. The fair fame of a nation is not seriously impaired because a few of its fanatical units sometimes elude the means provided for their restraint. What appears really disquieting is that the self-effacement imposed on Japan by the intervention of Russia, Germany, and France has incapacitated her for the role she undertook to play in the peninsula. It is a plainly unpractical situation. A Shanghai telegram dated December 4 says :— "The news that Li Han Shin, the Corean Minister, who for months past has been in hiding in the Russian Legation in Seoul, had organised a conspiracy to seize the King in the Royal Palace is confirmed. An attempt to carry out the plot was made on November 28 by 300 followers of Li Han Shin and a portion of the palace guard. The conspirators intended to possess themselves of the person of the King and simultaneously to assassinate the Cabinet Ministers, but their plans were divulged by some Corean officials and were completely frustrated. Li Han Shin took refuge on the Russian gunboat Otvajni, which at once left for an un- known destination."_

Not assassinated?

Korean news reported today that she was not assassinated, but survived the attempt. Has anyone seen anything on that? 71.171.103.178 (talk) 01:24, 1 July 2013 (UTC)

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