『임오유월일기』를 통해 본 명성황후의 피난 생활과 황후 호칭 再考

Abstract

During the Imo War, Empress Myeongseong hurriedly hid herself from misfortune. Following her 52-day refuge life from June 10th to August 1st, when she returned to the palace, I could find several characteristics below. First, the people who accompanied her on the way to escape were the relatives of Min family including Min Yeong-gi, Min Eung-sik, and Min Geung-sik. At the time of escape, the empress moved from one house to another in haste. During her trip, she used a shabby palanquin and sometimes hid herself in a closet due to chaotic public sentiment. Second, the empress suffered many hardships while hiding in an unfamiliar environment and atmosphere during her refugee life. Her worries about her palace and her stress from living in exile, illness, and boring country life made her empress easily dependent on shaman. Third, during her life in exile, her empress suffered from many diseases including sore throat, heat illness, leg sores and boils, and malaria. Considering that various customized medicines and health foods were provided whenever she got sick, it is judged that the Empress was closely guarded by a person with medical skills by her side. Fourth, the diseases that the empress suffered from during her life in exile were the ones that she usually suffered from except malaria. The Empress lived with her colds and the resulting indigestion, upset stomach, abdominal pain, headaches, beriberi, and insomnia. In the meantime, her title as Empress has been variously called such as ‘Minbi’, ‘Queen Min’, ‘Queen Myeongseong’, and ‘Empress Myeongseong’, but it is judged desirable to call her as ‘Empress Myeongseong’ as a unified expression. It seems that the Japanese people have been calling her ‘Minbi’ not only with the intention to disparage her empress, but also with the malicious intention to undermine our national pride and self-respect and inflame our national feelings. Regardless of the evaluation of her, it would be a natural and appropriate title to refer to her as ‘Empress Myeongseong’ according to her epitaph.