한글편지에 나타난 순원왕후의 일상과 가족

Abstract

This study has an intention of discussing Queen Sunwon's daily life and family, focussing on details stated on Hangeul letters written by Queen Sunwon. It is known that women of the Royal Family in the Chosun Dynasty period had exchanged letters each other at their ordinary times. But there is no many letters reserved at present. Fortunately, the 58 letters that Queen Sunwon had sent to Heung Geun Kim have been kept in Gyujanggak. This study tried to analyze many things about Queen Suwon and her family through that letters. According to the letters of Queen Sunwon, her health was relatively fine. But her husband, Sunjo and grandson, Heonjong's death were happened in succession and their death were a great shock to her. She was suffering from hypochondria caused by the terrible events and seemed to enjoy writing letters to her family members or reading novels as a way to overcome her suffering. The letters are showing various subjects, i.e. individual things including greetings between relatives and their death, health, or exile, and official political issues in dispute. In addition, the letters are subtly revealing very close relationships between Queen Sunwon and the Family Andong-Kim and a sense of distance which Queen Sunwon felt from the Family Andong-Kim as a member of the Royal Family. The reason we can notice Queen Sunwon's detail psychological state from the letters is that the letters are basically belonging to personal genre. So, the letters are describing Queen Sunwon's frank inside mind which was not revealed on official records. They help us understand more and pass the limit to the political situation at the age only through a few official record. As the result, this analysis into the Hangeul letters written by Queen Sunwon is very suggestive of needs to delicately approach to Political in Power, which has been understood somewhat in one sided-method, in the 19th century.