Jinseong of Silla facts for kids

Jinseong of Silla (c. 865–897) was the fifty-first ruler of the Korean kingdom, Silla in 887–897. She was also Silla's third and last reigning queen after Seondeok and Jindeok. Her reign saw the end of Unified Silla and the beginning of the Later Three Kingdoms period.

Family

• Grandfather: Kim Gye–myeong (김계명)
• Grandmother: Madam Gwanghwa (광화부인)
• Father: Gyeongmun of Silla (841–875) (
• Mother: Queen Munui of the Kim clan (문의왕후 김씨)
• Husband:
  • Kim Wi–Hon (김위홍), son of Kim Gye–myeong (김계명)
    • Stepson: Yang Jeong (양정)

Life

Jinseong was the daughter of King Gyeongmun and Queen Munui. The younger sister of Heongang and Jeonggang, she rose to the throne when both of her brothers died without issue. Though Seondeok and Jindeok's successful reigns were invoked to help Jinseong secure the throne, Silla's third queen regnant ultimately did not live up to the expectations of her predecessors.

Reign

Jinseong is noted in the Samguk Sagi for her immoral conduct. The Samguk Sagi was written by Confucianists, who held a negative view of female rule, so the precise details therein should perhaps not be taken at face value.

In contrast, according to the records of Choe Chiwon, she was a good-hearted monarch with no greed.

During her reign, public order collapsed. Taxes could no longer be collected and the military conscription system failed. Taking advantage of this domestic disarray, Yang Gil in the northwest and Gyeon Hwon in the southwest rebelled and founded their own kingdoms.

In 895, Jinseong appointed Heongang's illegitimate son Kim Yo as Crown Prince. On July 4, 897, she abdicated the throne and later died on December 31, 897. She was buried to the north of Sajasa temple in Gyeongju.

Legacy

She ordered the first compilation of hyangga works, Samdaemok, to be created.