Lady Park was born on 10 March 1455 to Park Jong-seon and his wife, Lady Heo of the Yangcheon Heo clan during King Danjong's last year of reign. Lady Park was the third eldest within seven siblings, including Park Won-jong. Through her paternal grandmother, she was a great-granddaughter of Sim On and a grandniece of Queen Soheon, the wife of King Sejong.[3]
Upon her marriage she was given the title of Princess Consort Sangwon (상원군부인; 祥原郡夫人).[4] When her brother-in-law, King Seongjong, ascended to the throne, she became Princess Consort Seungpyeong (승평부부인; 昇平府夫人). Her last title would be given within her scandal.
During her marriage she did not have any children of her own, but she gained a stepson in 1485 through her husband's concubine, Lady Kim of the Wonju Kim clan. Although, her family registry states that the Princess Consort had the child herself. She outlived Grand Prince Wolsan by 18 years who died on 21 December 1488.[3]
One of her younger sisters married Queen Jeonghui's grandnephew, Yun Yeo-pil of the Paepyeong Yun clan, and became the mother of Yun Im and Yun Myeong-hye, the second wife of King Jungjong. Since her younger sister died at an early age after giving birth, she had raised her young niece, Yun Myeong-hye, as if she was her daughter.
The Princess consort later became the sister-in-law to Grand Prince Jean, the son of Queen Ansun and King Yejong, when her youngest sister married him.
Scandal and Death
It was said that the Princess consort had an outstanding beauty of her time, and had many scandals surrounding her.[5]
Prince Yeonsan, her nephew-in-law, frequently visited her residence in Deoksugung, due to her husband's frequent sickness and because of this, Princess Consort Sangwon had raised him and became his foster mother.[6] It was said that at some point Yeonsangun, who later became king, invited and brought the Princess Consort to live within the palace.[7] The king also gave his old residence to the Princess Consort and visited her frequently.[6] His visitations eventually caused a scandal spreading that Yeonsangun had committed adultery with her.[5]
In addition, Yeonsangun put the character '大' (Dae; 대) in front of Princess Seungpyeong's name; creating the title of Grand Internal Princess Consort Seungpyeong (승평부대부인, 昇平府大夫人).[8]
Another rumor was that Yeonsangun had a long spear placed in the grave of Grand Prince Wolsan and was surprised to see his uncle appearing in his dream while sleeping in the same room with the Princess consort.[5]
Her younger brother had planned to do a rebellion against the king, but during Yeonsangun's 12th year of reign, the Grand Princess died within Gyeongun Palace on 20 July 1506 at the age of 51.[6] She was then buried in the same tomb of her husband's mausoleum.[3]
There was a theory that she drank poison and committed suicide. In the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty, it is recorded that people at the time said that she conceived a child with Yeonsangun and later committed suicide because of it. However, there is an argument that Park was over fifty at the time, so it cannot be said that she had a child and committed suicide.[5][9] There were also opinions that Park Won-jong, who was the mastermind behind the rebellion against King Jungjong, fabricated the incident with fake evidence between his eldest sister and Yeonsangun to justify his rebellion.[5]
^ abcde김만중, 《숨겨진 조선의 연애 비화 48가지》올댓북, 2008, p.134, ISBN9788990790828 (Translation: Kim Man-jung, 《48 Hidden Secrets of Love in Joseon》 All That Book, 2008, p.134, ISBN 9788990790828)
^ abc연산군일기(1122). Chungcheong Today (in Korean). Retrieved August 19, 2021.
