조선 태조･세종대 세자빈 폐출 사건의 의미 -현빈 유씨, 휘빈 김씨, 순빈 봉씨를 중심으로-

Abstract

In the beginning of the foundation of the Joseon Dynasty, there was frequent expulsion of the Crown princess. King Taejo and Sejong suffered from a particularly large number of problems at home. The kings who were heads of both a nation and a home could not stand an immoral marital life and scandalous rumors. Consequently, King Taejo and Sejong expelled their daughter-in-law which caused nationally tragedy. After King Taejo founded the Joseon Dynasty, Hyenbin Ue who was a wife of the Crown prince, Bangseok, was driven out cheating with a eunuch, man-Lee. Taejo wanted to keep the incident private, however, a Daegan and Heyngjo tried to reveal the secret. Eventually, the people involved were punished and exiled to an island. There were two more expulsions of Crown princesses in King Sejong’s generation. The Crown prince got married to Whubin Kim, a daughter of Omun-Kim. However, the Crown prince was not solid with Whubin Kim. Whubin Kim elaborated a secret plan to recover her relationship with the Crown prince and she was expelled after two years. King Sejong proclaimed Sunbin Bong, Bongyeo’s daughter, as a second Crown princess. However, Sunbon Bong experienced even more trouble than Whubin Kim. In addition, the Crown prince didn’t get along well with Sunbin Bong, and thus King Sejong worried about his descendants. For the reason King Sejong gave his Crown prince three concubines. Sunbin Bong went astray as the Crown prince kept a close relationship with his concubines. Sunbin Bong became jealous when Yangwon Kuen became pregnant. She caused many problems, faking pregnancy, drinking, becoming violent and having a homosexual relationship with a court lady. Finally Sunbin Bong was expelled to her parent’s home. Unlike King Taejo, King Sejong handled the expulsion of the Crown princess officially. As the generation of King Taejo and King Sejong was the beginning of the foundation of the Joseon Dynasty, the ideology of Neo-Confucianism was not firm but newly intensified. The significance of the expulsion of the Crown princess under these circumstances are the following: First of all, women who were used to the freewheeling lifestyle of the Goryeo Dynasty were not accustomed to new moral value of the Joseon Dynasty. Second, in the marital life of Joseon Dynasty, banning jealousy was more emphasized. Third, even the Crown princess had low status in an absurd marital life that had concubine system. Fourth, regulations and policies about women had been tightened since the foundation of the Joseon Dynasty. The incident of the expelled Crown Princess shows how the Joseon Dynasty treated women. Inversely, the incident also displayed how loyal women should behave to survive in the palace.