In my last Dong Yi post I looked at the ranking system for the King’s concubines in the Joseon period. The  내명부 (內命婦) ne-myeong-bu were the concubines and court ladies in the palace and they were divided into two groups  - the higher 내관 ne-gwan (for concubines) and then the lower  궁관 kung-gwan (for court ladies). There were 9 ranks altogether. The top 4 ranks were held by the concubines and the remainder by the court ladies. In episode 12 Dong Yi moves into the kung-gwan inner court and becomes a court lady 궁녀 kung-nyo working in the investigations bureau. We are not told what her rank is but she has to speak plain Korean to the palace slaves as she is now above them and finds this difficult. The other court ladies in the investigation bureau don’t want to accept her though, because they still see her as a slave.

episode 12 Dong Yi becomes a court lady, MBC

So the concubines in the ne-gwan held the top 4 ranks for females in the palace with the Royal Noble Consort ranked number 1 with the title Bin. The court ladies in the kung-gwan had various jobs around the palace and held a rank from 5 to 9 (see below) and. They could not move up to concubine level in the ne-gwan unless they were noticed by the king.

Outside the  ne-myeong-bu, were girls and ladies working in the palace who held no rank at all.

내명부 궁관

Here’s the ranking system for the 궁관 kung-gwan court ladies that I found here For each rank there were two, three or four titles. (there was a separate system for the concubines and court ladies of the Crown Prince)