Queen Sondok
By: Jennie Ngoc Vu
Queen Sondok was the first woman to
become a queen in the Korean Silla kingdom in 632 A.D. Queen Ma-ya,
Sondok's mother, did not bear any sons to become king, so King Chinpyong
sent her to a convent in the mountains to become a nun. This brought
a great deal of sadness to Sondok, she said, "The monastery has
swallowed everyone I love." (7) After Queen Ma-ya was gone, King
Chinpyong, who had reigned for fifty years, remarried a woman who
also could not bear him a son (7). Since Sondok was the eldest daughter,
Sondok became queen after the king died. She became the most famous
queen of a Korean state.
Queen Sondok was born in Korea in 610
A.C.E. She ruled for fourteen years, holding the realm together against
external and internal threats. During this period, women already had
a certain degree of influence as advisers, queen dowagers, and regents.
Throughout the kingdom, women were heads of families since matrilineal
lines of descent existed alongside patrilineal lines. The Confucian
model, which placed women in a subordinate position within the family,
was not to have a major impact in Korea until the fifteenth century
and most of people throughout the kingdom believed in Buddhism, Daoism,
and Shamanism (6). During the Silla kingdom, women's status remained
relatively high.
Early in her life Sondok had displayed
an unusually quick mind. For example, when she was seven, her father
received a gift from the Emperor of China. It was a beautiful painting
of peonies, accompanied by a box of the flower's seeds. Sonduk commented
that the flower was beautiful, but it was a pity, because it had no
sweet perfume. Her father, brow knit in confusion, asked her how she
could know that, since she had never seen a peony before. Sonduk replied
that, if the flower possessed a perfume, there would be butterflies
and bees in the painting, and there were none. The seeds were planted,
the flowers grew, and Sonduk was proven correct. (4)
Sondok also displayed a curiosity for
the stars and heavens during her childhood years. She would go out
and observe the stars every night. Sonduk mostly studied the stars
by herself but learned some facts from the Royal Astronomers. She
learned the ways of Buddha and Confucianism. At the age of fifteen,
she studied Confucius with Lord Lin Fang, the ambassador from China,
and also an astronomer. Lord Lin Fang introduced a new official calendar
to the King, Sondok’s father and convinced the King that the
Chinese calendar was superior to the Korean one. Sondok looked forward
to discussing astronomy with him. But Lin Fang felt that a woman's
place was only in the home and certainly not in the scientific world.
He told Sondok, "Surely you cannot imagine I would converse on
such a serious subject with a young lady? It would be unnatural, and
wholly against the laws of propriety." (7) One of the special
events in Korea was when a solar eclipse was about to occur, Sonduk
calculated the time that it would occur, and turned out it was a different
hour than what the Chinese Sui calendar had predicted. With her wonderful
skills and knowledge of astronomy, she had proven that China's calculations
were wrong for the eclipse (7). Unfortunately this earned her the
wrath of the Chinese ambassador, Lord Lin Fang, who predicted the
wrong date. "Astronomy is not for women," Lin Fang says.
"Go do something female like look after silkworms." Sondok
tried to win him over, but he was unmoved. Worse yet, her father agreed
with the ambassador and forbad his daughter to study the moon and
stars. "Will we ever know the truth about the stars? I am too
young to venture a theory about our universe. I only know that I want
to understand more deeply. I want to know all I can know. Why should
it be forbidden?" wrote fifteen-year-old Sondok on a message
she placed in her grandmother's ancestral jar. (7)
One of Sonduk's special contributions
to science was the construction of Chonsongdae Observatory, which
she begged her father to build for many years. This gave Sondok an
opportunity to view the stars and heavens more closely. The way that
Chonsongdae Observatory built was very interesting. She used 365 stones,
one for each day of the year. It is 27 levels high because Sonduk
was the 27th ruler of Silla. The tower was built on a platform of
12 tiles for the 12 months. Chomsongdae is 29 feet high and is till
standing today! It is the oldest remaining astronomical observatory
in the Far East. (3)
Sondok's reign was a violent one; rebellions
and fighting in the neighboring kingdom of Paekche and Koguryo filled
her days. Paekche, under King Mu, was intent upon destroying Silla.
The kingdom of Koguryo was so strong that it even defeated the forces
of the emperor of T'ang China. When Koguryo and Paekche allied against
Silla, Sonduk sought help from the T'ang dynasty. Thus, she initiated
a pro-T’ang policy that would help pave the way for the unification
of the peninsula under Silla (6). She maintained good relationship
between the Korean peninsula and China. Sondok also sent many students
to go to China to study. Today, she is perhaps best known for the
cultural impact of her reign. Korean monks, back from studying Chinese
Buddhism, encouraged the study of Buddhism. Sondok furthered this
revitalization by having the Buddhist temples at Punhwangsa and Yongmyosa
finished.
For years, Sondok dedicated herself
to improving the life of the people and to strengthening defense as
well as providing greater security for her kingdom. Sondok built one
of the other famous constructions of Korea, the Nine-tiered pagoda
of Hwangnyongsa, which symbolized Silla's destiny to conquer nine
other East Asian nations and receive their tribute in fealty and also
to protect the kingdom from foreign invasions (5). Unfortunately,
this famous construction was destroyed during the Mongol invasion
in the 13th century; however, there is still enough of the foundation
remaining so later generation can still get an idea of its former
glory. (6)
With the power to predict the future,
Queen Sondok predicted the hour of her death, which eventually became
true in that the greatest queen, Sondok, died in 647 A.D. Although
she did eventually take a king consort, unfortunately no heirs were
produced, male or female. Without an heir, Sondok passed the Silla
throne to her cousin, Chindok, the daughter of Sondok's uncle, Kuk-pan.
(3)
Sondok's respect as a ruler may have
been reinforced by the ancient tradition of female shamanism, which
was prominent in Korea and among some peoples, still is. Up until
Sondok's time, the word shaman was assumed to apply to women. Shamans
had great power as recognized intermediaries between gods and humans.
Some presided over national ceremonies, but most were a kind of family
priestess, whose role usually was inherited. Through spirit possession,
shamans performed healings and exorcisms, revealed causes of family
strife and advised on their resolution, picked auspicious days for
weddings or burials, conducted rituals to guarantee continual prosperity,
and healed those who were broken in body or soul. As foretellers of
the future, shamans had enormous power (1). Soujourner Truth, a Black
slave who lived in a Dutch settlement in upstate New York, had said,
“The worth of a race must be measured by the character of its
womanhood."
Not only her ability to anticipate
events, also her kindness. During her reign, people were strongly
influenced by Chinese cultures. They switched to wearing their skirt
over the jacket. Skirt ribbons were fastened over the breast, influenced
by T'ang China fashion. Over this they wore a short-sleeved or sleeveless
vest and a long scarf over the shoulders that hung down below the
knees. Shoes were of leather or silk. They wore their hair rolled
up and fastened with a hairpin and additional ornamental pins. (8)
They also established a lot of Buddhist temples and schools. Silla
period was known as a golden age in Korean history.
Bibliography
1. Yung-Chung Kim, Women of Korea – A history from Ancient
Times to 1945, Seoul: EWHA Women’s University Press, 1994.
(http://www.womeninworldhistory.com/heroine7.html)
2. Still More Women Rulers
3. Women of Royalty - Sondok, Queen of Silla
(http://royalwomen.tripod.com/womenofroyalty/id17.html)
4. Muses – The Graces—Graeco-Roman
(http://www.geocities.com/Wellesley/1582/muses.html)
5. Lee, Ki-baik -1984 ANew History of Korea Translated by Edward
W.Wbner. Harvard University Press, London.
(http://ko-m.hp.infoseek.co.jp/Miruk.htm)
6. Famous Koreans – Six Portraits by Mary Connor. Education
about Asia, volume 6, number 2, Fall 2001.
(http://www.aasianst.org/EAA/connor.htm)
7. Sondok: Princess of the Moon and Stars, Korea, A.D. 595 (The
Royal Diaries) by Sheri Holman
8. The Influence of China on the Three Kingdoms and Unified Silla
(http://
www.marymount.k12.ny.us/marynet/TeacherResources/SILK%20Road/html/sillatang.htm)
E-Mail: JennieV385@pacificu.edu
Last Edited: November 23, 2003
