Tuesday, March 19, 2024
FILM&DRAMAKOREAN HISTORY

The Ranks of Concubines in the Joseon Period

When I watch historical Korean drama set in the Royal Court, it can be tricky to follow the strict hierarchical structure in the palace! Whilst I enjoy dramas like Dong Yi and Jewel in the Palace which centre around the ladies of the Royal Court, the titles and ranking system of the court ladies have really confused me. This inspired me to do a series of posts on the court ladies of the Joseon period (1392-1897) and in this post I will focus on the the ranks of the concubines.

related posts:

What was the ranking system for Court Ladies?

What can we learn about the status of women in the Joseon palace watching Jewel in the Palace?

Ranks of concubines and court ladies

The first thing to know is that the head of the court ladies (nemyeoung-bu) was the Queen.

As a member of the Royal Family, the Queen was above and separate from the court ladies and was not ranked in the same way. Obviously, the mother of the King (Dae-Bi-Ma-Ma) was also not in this ranking system. All the concubines and court ladies answered to the Queen.

The concubines and court ladies in the Joseon palace were collectively called the ne-myeong-bu (내명부 內命婦) but they were divided into two departments:

  • ne-gwan (내관) concubines
  • kung-gwan (궁관) court ladies

There were 9 ranks, but each rank had a senior and junior level (so 18 altogether). The top 4 ranks were held by the concubines and the remainder by the court ladies.  So as we are only looking at the concubines in this post, we only have to worry about the top four ranks.

So let’s have a look at the chart below.

Confusingly, the two levels within each rank have very similar pronunciation! The senior level of each rank is Jeong (정 正 ) and the lower level is Jong (종 從). So just to make things a bit easier, I refer to the senior level as A and the junior level as B. (That’s just my idea though).

We can see that the top ranking concubine is the Royal Noble Consort 1A. (1) pronounced as Jeong-il-pum. The title for the top concubine was Bin. And one of the most famous concubines from the Joseon period was Jang Hee-bin.

Chart of the ranks of concubines in Joseon

RANKROMANIZATIONHANGULHANJA

Rank 1A 1

Jeong-il-pum

Bin

Rank 1B 1

Jong-il-pum

Gui-in

귀인

貴人

Rank 2A 2

Jeong-i-pum

So-ui

소의

昭儀

Rank 2B 2

Jong-i-pum

Suk-ui

숙의

淑儀

Rank 3A 3

Jeong-sam-pum

So-yong

소용

昭容

Rank 3B 3

Jong-sam-pum

Suk-yong

숙용

淑容

Rank 4A 4

Jeong-sa-pum

So-won

소원

昭媛

Rank 4B 4

Jong-sa-pum

Suk-won

숙원

淑媛

Home KOREAN HISTORY The Ranks of Concubines in the Joseon Period

What was the concubine rank of the infamous Jang Hee-bin?

One of the most famous concubines from the Joseon period was Jang Hee-bin.

Bin became her official title as the top ranking concubine. Her name was Jang Ok-jong and she entered the palace as a young court lady. But when she attracted the attention of the king she became a special court lady (sang-gung) of King Sukjong. The special court lady had, as the name implies, a special status! But she was not on the concubine ranking system. To become an official concubine she would have to become pregnant.

At the beginning of the drama Dong Yi, Jang Hee Bin is a special court lady and addressed as Jang sang-gung. But  when  she becomes pregnant with the King’s child we see her promoted to a the junior rank 4 concubine, Sook-won. (and addressed as Suk-won ma-ma). There is a lavish ceremony and everyone involved has very big hair.

Eventually she moves up to the top concubine position (Bin) after giving birth to a son. (the future King Gyeongjong (r.1720-1724)

This is portrayed in Episode 17 of Dong Yi. In the ceremony, she is given the new title Jang Hee-bin. This means she is now second only to the Queen. But was it possible for a concubine to leave the ranking system of the concubines and be promoted to Queen?

Could a concubine become Queen?

Queen Inhyeon (Park Ha-sun) takes part in the ceremony to accept Lady Jang as a concubine, Dong Yi, MBC. The queen oversees the ranks of concubines

Jang Hee-bin is often portrayed as an ambitious femme fatale who would do anything to become Queen. In fact, the saying goes that her energy was so strong that it lasted even after her death. So women who are looking for love visit her grave.

In the drama Dong Yi, Queen Inhyeon (Park Ha-sun) takes part in the ceremony to accept Lady Jang as a concubine.

There are issues with her promotion though, as she doesn’t come from the upper classes. She comes from the commoners’ class chung-in. So the Queen Mother is against her promotion to concubine.

(However, her view may be motivated by politics because Lady Jang’s promotion will strengthen the Southern faction if she gives birth to a son – which she does…)

So it’s noteworthy that Jang Hee-bin then goes on to become Queen. But she is only Queen for a while and it doesn’t end well.

This was because rumours spread that she had a role in the death of the Queen Mother. So King Sukjong later demoted her back to Hee-bin and passed a law that no concubine could ever become Queen.

Home KOREAN HISTORY The Ranks of Concubines in the Joseon Period

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Jang Hee-bin and Suk-bin both reach  the top ranks of concubines

What was the concubine rank of Dong Yi?

The drama Dong Yi (MBC 2010) portrays the story of the unusual case of the concubine Suk-bin.

She was another concubine of King Sukjong (r.1674-1720) who is the king most famous for his love life! Throughout his reign King Sukjong had seven concubines and three royal noble consorts: Hee-bin 희빈, Suk-bin 숙빈, and Myeong-bin 명빈.

Suk-bin’s story is rare as she came from the slave class. And yet she became the top ranking concubine (Bin) when she gave birth to King Sukjong’s son. (future King Yeongjo r.1724 -1776).

Other concubines in drama

Concubines often appear in historical dramas and can be part of dramatic political or romantic storylines. In particular, Jang Hee-bin is a strong character as she had the king’s love and attention.

The drama Yi San is about the reign of King Jeongjo and includes a love story between the king and his concubine Ui-bin.

Lower ranking concubines can add to great storylines too. For instance, in the drama Jewel in the Palace, we see Jang Geum’s friend promoted to a level 4 Suk-won. This is the lowest rank of a concubine.

related posts:

The Ultimate Guide to the Joseon Kings

What were the social classes in the Joseon period?

What can we learn about the status of women in the Joseon palace watching Jewel in the Palace?

Questions about historical dramas

How did people address each other in the Joseon period? 10 must-know titles.

How did people tell the time in the Joseon period?  

What can we learn about Joseon society through the paintings of Shin Yun Bok?

Was there really a Court Lady Investigation Bureau in the Joseon Palace?

Joseon tombs in Gangnam, Seoul

Why Are Floors in Traditional Korean Hanok Houses Yellow?

48 thoughts on “The Ranks of Concubines in the Joseon Period

  • ever since watching this amazing drama, i’ve been curious bout the concubine ranks. this helps a lot. thank you 🙂

    Reply
  • When you get a chance to watch Yi San, you’ll notice that Jeongjo’s consorts had a different ranking system to which I have yet to find an explanation for. For example, the lead female character is granted the title 의빈 even though I have never seen any other king with a concubine with that rank. If you look at the wiki entry for King Jeongjo you’ll notice the rest of his concubines also have different titles. Hopefully you can explain this if you watch Yi San.

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    • Interesting. Thanks for this. Yes, I need to watch Yi San and I’ll see if I can find out more about this ranking system.

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      • I checked out the info about King Jeongjo and according to Wiki King Jeongjo had 4 royal noble consorts (top rank, Bin) during his reign – Wonbin, Hwabin, Uibin, Subin. The title of the top ranking concubine was Bin but she was also given a new name by the court. This name was chosen for her depending on her personality. So for example in the case of King Sukjong’s concubines, Jang Ok-jong became Hee Bin. She was given the name Hee ([禧) meaning ‘blessing’ (according to the hanja dictionary). Choi Dong Yi became Suk Bin. She was given the name Suk (淑) meaning ‘pure’ So all the top ranking concubines had the same title Bin but had different given names. (I don’t think I made this clear before)

        Ui Bin, 의빈 King Jeongjo’s concubine was a palace maid at first before being noticed by the King, so was part of the lower kung-gwan court lady ranking system. I didn’t include the court lady ranking system in this post but have now added it here. She was a rank 5A 상의 sang ui and moved up to a rank 3A 소용 So yeong (see above chart) when she gave birth to the King’s son. Then she moved up to the top rank Bin. She was given the name ui 의 (宜) meaning ‘suitable’. So as far as I can tell the ranking system seems to be the same. But I could be wrong. ..

        Reply
      • I knew that all the prefixes to the 빈 title usually had a meaning to it, but in all the charts I’ve seen, they always (including yours) they always were associated with a rank. What I don’t understand is, if they gave out titles based on a suitable meaning to the concubine, why bother with the rankings? Every chart I’ve seen always says 희빈 is ranked higher than 숙빈. So technically, if they wanted Dong-yi to be ranked higher, they would have given her a different title even though they are all still part of the 빈 tier. Ugh, I have a headache >_<

        Reply
  • Additional info:

    There had been 3 cases of concubines becoming Queens Consort:
    1) Yeonsan-gun’s mother: She was first “sook-ui” (2B; Junior 2nd Rank) before she gave birth to Yeonsan-gun (her firstborn, termed as “wonja”). She was promoted as Queen Consort when Seongjong (the good king in “King and I”)’s 1st Queen Consort (Queen Gonghye) died and “wonja” became the Crown Prince (“seja”). Hers were the first and violent case. She was deposed later on, and was known as “Pyebi Yoon-ssi” (Lady Yoon, the Deposed Queen), was executed by poisoning (for those who remember the initial scenes in DJG…). She was reinstated posthumously as Queen Jeheon. The most recent actress portraying her was Goo Hye-seon of BOF fame.
    2) Jungjong’s mother: she was also “sook-ui”. When Queen Jeheon was deposed, she was the next one to be elevated as Queen Consort, since she also bore Seongjong a son, Grand Prince Jinseong, later Jungjong.
    3) Jang Hui-bin was the last one.

    Reply
    • well…the three ones are true….and present in history. But I know another one…and that’s even before Queen Yoon. It’s on the Period of Sejong The Great…it’s about his Wife Queen Soheon.If you take a look on youtube and write “Queen Soheon Coronation” you will find a clip that shows the coronation of a prince’s mother. She was a concubine and then enthroned as queen. That makes 4 kases. I am not shure of my discovery but I hope I am right tell me if I am wrong. Thanx 🙂

      Reply
      • Hi Mihai

        I think thats not the case with her, what had happen there was that Sejong was not the original crown prince, that was his brother, but he did not like politics and was deposed. His father abdicated and Sejong was named King at the same time his wave was named queen, and their son crown prince.

        Hope this help!

        Reply
  • We were commenting on what these titles meant on s2. No one ever came up with such insightful information. This lays “time and grade” classes of the concubine ranks out, in easy and understandable way. From this you can see where the word “consortium” came from. he-he!
    Thank you DramaRoc and Mae-jang

    Reply
    • what about the way the clothe the consort and concubine wear. And there the thing they have in there hair

      Reply
      • Basically, concubines should wear green wonsam, but PD-nim & Wardrobe-nim can get creative & ignore history…

        Basically, it’s just a wig; hair extensions around the head…it’s kinda long story…

        Reply
  • and i thought i was the only one! haha ive been searching a lot but i only found one site but the format and numbering was in bullets and i doubt if they were in order but somehow it gave me an idea… but im still curios, there’s like 9 Bin ranks so how come dong yi became suk-bin while ok-jang who’s more senior a hui-bin? does that mean than all Bin have same standing regardless of what title is given to them? they only have to respect each other according to who came first? and how can you decide which title to give? like at the comments you said Ui-bin was sang-ui then moved to so-young when she had a son, but why only so-young? isn’t dong yi the same? the difference was she was made suk-won first with the pregnancy, but she was made suk-ui coz of her son, but why did she skipped the 3rd rank? it’s so confusing but i really can’t find an article about this, like nobody cares about the concubines at all! O.o and in yi san, the frist concubine was it won -bin? so girls chosen from noble families immediately becomes Bin whether they give birth or not….?

    Reply
    • Dong-yi & Jang Ok-jeong (future Hui-bin) were both on the bin rank (Senior 1st Rank; in Korean jeong il pum nae myeong bu), meaning they rank just under the Queen Consort…
      …the difference comes from their titles (basically adjectives pertaining to their Concubine) before the bin; it varies from King to King on how they would like to call their Concubine (BTW, that’s what bin translates to…)

      Actually all of the lesser wives can give respect or not depending on what their ranking is…

      The King decides which title to give based on (my conjecture & guesses):
      1) social class (but I think they disregard this thing, depending on the King)
      2) their conduct as lesser wife, and
      3) their offsprings gender; now, if you became a concubine of teukbyeol sanggoong rank (where lesser wives basically start), & your 1st child with the King was female, your child gets ongju (“Princess”; basically way different from gongju, which has same translation but basically higher rank, since gongju is King’s daughter by Queen Consort), and have a rank but lower…now, if your child is male, child gets gun (basic “Prince”), and a rank basically somewhat high but still lower; but if male child is firstborn son, much higher rank (like Jang Ok-jeong)…and if King decides to still shower you with honor, that’s just about it…

      Ranking there is not on a step-by-step basis…

      Reply
  • btw how about consorts (Bi)? there’s five of them but how do they work?

    Reply
  • One thing is still unclear for me:
    You are speaking about bin = Royal Noble Consort (RNC) as rank No. 1. But is this below the Queen? Or you use RNC instead of Queen here?

    Reply
    • The Royal Noble Consort is rank no. 1 of the concubines. The king only has one wife – the queen – and she is above all the other females in the palace. The queen is not a concubine and so is not part of the ranking system. Below the queen are the king’s concubines in order of rank starting with bin at the top. And below the concubines are other female members of court.

      Reply
      • thanks for the information… so interesting..

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  • Can Someone list me meaning of king’s wives in korea past ago…completely
    Bin= (and why should her name at the back and front change?)
    Won=
    Sang-gung=
    Ui=
    Suk=
    (and If it is Queen? example if her real name is Dong-yi (hehe only e.g) what should her name be when she was a Queen?)

    Why if e.g real name Dong-yi and then became king’s wife (at first) her name is “Seung Sang-gung”(4 women that have been touch by the king,so at the back her name is Sang-gung) and then Up became “Suk-Won” and when she pregnant(first born) became Suk-Ui and when she pregnant again (second born) became Suk-bin same Level with Jang Hee-bin

    Reply
    • found this link (not sure if it has been shared. This link explains about Royal Noble Consort Suk.
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consort_Suk_of_the_Choe_clan

      In the series “Dong Yi”, when she was brought back into the palace by King Sukjong after she was missing for a period of time, King Sukjong announced that Dong Yi is now in the status of Special Lady who has the favor of the King. As such Dong Yi is address as Lady Choe or Choe Sang-gung.

      Queen Consort Jang in her attempt to ruin DY aka Lady Choe then recommended DY to Rank 4B Sook-won 숙원. However DY did not received this rank until Queen Consort Jang was deposed and Queen Inhyeon was reinstated as Queen. On the day of the ceremony to receive her rank 숙원, it was discovered DY is pregnant. As such double joy for everyone esp King Sukjong and Queen Inhyeon. Once DY received her rank, she is addressed as Choe Sook-won or simply sook-won mama or mama by others lower rank/status than her.
      Much later in the series, staying outside the palace, DY was pregnant and gave birth to Yi Geum. When Geum reached the age to receive royal education and DY and Geum was called back to the palace by King Sukjong, it was King Sukjong who elevated DY to Rank 2B Sook-ui
      숙의 and Geum to be installed as Yeon-ing gun. As such DY is known as Choe Sook-ui or Sook-ui ma ma.

      After the death of Queen Inhyeon, in the turmoil of the royal court as to who should be the Queen consort, it was then King Sukjong elevated DY to Rank 1 – BIN 빈 and gave her the name “Suk 숙” meaning pure. And it was here then DY was known as Suk-bin / Suk-bin ma ma.

      Interestingly DY was elevated twice by King Sukjong himself.

      In history, Lady Choe was elevated from sang-gung (5th) to suk-won (royal concubine rank 4) to suk-ui (royal noble consort rank 2) to gwi-in (royal noble consort rank 1) to finally bin (this level is directly below the Queen). All these was between 1693 to 1699.

      Reply
  • if dong yi is sok-won,,, who is highier position ?? Lady sokwon or lady jang??

    Reply
  • elow…am from the philippines and also a big fan of dong yi. coming from a totally different social structure, can you provide us a more simple way to understand the ranking as well the term used?

    Reply
  • I want to be a king to have many concubines……

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  • If DY became Queen, her name will change too and it is according to the palace rule.
    from Dy her name would change to Queen Myeonghye

    Reply
  • so who is this myeong-bin mentioned as one of sukjong’s consorts by wikipedia?

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  • may i ask if is there’s any ranking for the sons of the king to his queen and to their concubine for the crowning of the crown prince?

    Reply
    • I’m not exactly sure what you mean. But regarding the ranking of the sons of the king, I believe the first son of the queen is the crown prince 세자 世子 and so the first in line to the throne.
      And any son of the queen would be higher in rank than the son of a concubine. So even if a concubine has a son before the queen, the queen’s son will still become crown prince.

      Reply
      • what about if there is no son’s or heir from the queen. is there any chances that if the son’s of the concubine will be a king the mother of said concubine son’s turn king would be queen dowager?

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        • No, if the mother of the King is just a concubine, his mother wouldn’t be address as Queen Mother. First, the title is only fitting to Queen, the King’s official consort. second a son of concubine that would become crown prince would be officially adopted by the Queen. therefore in the paper, the Prince mother would be the Queen and his concubine mother would be just his birth mother.

          In Yi san’s drama when Yi san become King his mothe lady Hyegyung was address as Queen mother, it only because his mother a Crown Princess of the late Crown Prince Sado. just like Queen Insoo when his son become King she was address as Queen Mother because his husband was a crown prince.

          Reply
  • ” i mean before the crowning of the crown prince… an i’ve been watching princess’s man a day ago i noticed that the daughter and the son of grand prince suyang is actually named as princes and princesses please explain to me further… i am a bit curious about that.

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  • i mean that does not named as princes and princess… only the children of the king alone?

    Reply
  • what about the the son’s and daughter of the 2nd prince from his mother queen is there named particularly to them?

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    • About the rank or how the offspring of the other princes (also son of the Queen) would be address. the best example is Grand Prince Suyang. HIs first son would be address as Prince but has lower rank than the current King son. He can be called Prince (Men during their time is much different in terms of titles than women) but as you know not all royalty has the same level of power. to Prince Suyang’s daughter she will be address as “My Lady” or Agassii she can’t be called as Princess. because only the King Daughter should be address that way.
      If you would ask me if who is higher, The Former King Daughter of the current king daughter? well! the former will be respected by the latter, but the latter is much powerful than the former, due to fact that his father is the reigning king.

      Reply
  • it is possible to have a ranking of the princes’ concubine?

    Reply
    • I’ll see if I can find any info on this…

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    • Yes, and there are two ways
      *first if they are the son of a concubine with the BIN title.
      *second if who’s older than who (most of the time the ranking would based among who was born first)

      Reply
  • What about Lady Mishil’s title she was given the title Seju right, is she higher than Bin?

    Reply
    • yes, because lay mishil;s title seju means queen i think

      Reply
      • Saeju is the title for her because she is keeper of the royal seal. She is also called mishil gongju because she was a past consort of a dead king. Not too certain about the gongju part… she’s not really a princess tho

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  • May i ask , why is that the crown princess is much higher ranks rather than the concubine of the king?

    For example the confrontation of lady suk -ui to seja-bin at secret door

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  • Actually ‘chungin’ (중인) is middle class, not the commoners (‘sangmin’, 상민) so Jang Ok-Jeong was from the middle class, between the ‘yangban’ (양반) and the ‘sangmin’; thus her social standing was good.

    Reply
  • Search: Famous Korean Queen or Empress
    Result: Queen Seondeok of Silla and Empress Myeongseong (Queen Min of Joseon) with Queen Seondeok dominating the result.

    Search: Famous Korean Royal Noble Consort
    Result: Choi Suk Bin and Jang Hui-Bin with Jang Hui-Bin dominating the result.

    After watching Queen In-hyun’s Man, I’ve become Queen Inhyeon’s fan. It’s a bit sad she’s not as famous as the four ladies above.

    Reply
  • Crown Princess is higher than a concubine in ranking system because she is next in line to become the next mother of the nation, however as a respect to the concubine. especially with the “BIN” title the Crown Princess respect them because they are her elder (They are in the palace ahead of them) but in terms of ranks, Crown Princess is above them.

    We can’t compare Mishil to the concubine with the BIN title, because first of all Mishil is Silla’s (Olden Kingdom before the unification of three kingdoms before Joseon Dynasty) concubine. but if we do, yes Mishil would be higher than with Bin tile because she’s the keeper of the royal seal.

    About the rank or how the offspring of the other princes (also son of the Queen) would be address. the best example is Grand Prince Suyang. HIs first son would be address as Prince but has lower rank than the current King son. He can be called Prince (Men during their time is much different in terms of titles than women) but as you know not all royalty has the same level of power. to Prince Suyang’s daughter she will be address as “My Lady” or Agassii she can’t be called as Princess. because only the King Daughter should be address that way.
    If you would ask me if who is higher, The Former King Daughter of the current king daughter? well! the former will be respected by the latter, but the latter is much powerful than the former, due to fact that his father is the reigning king.

    I’m very interested in Royal Family that is why I’ve researched too much to know it all.

    Reply

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