Princess Gyeonghwa


Bayankhutag, more commonly known by her Korean title Princess Gyeonghwa, was a consort of Chungsuk of Goryeo. After his death, she was raped by her stepson, who was then forced to marry her.

Biography

Mysteries surround Bayankhutag's lineage, but Masahiko Morihira has suggested that she was a sister of Princess Consort Joguk of the Borigin clan who was the wife of King Chungsuk. After her sister's death in 1325, Bayankhutag married her sister's husband, probably between 1330 and 1333.

Assault

Chungsuk died in 1339, after which Bayankhutag stayed in Goryeo. The Goryeosa records that, during a meal in her apartments one night, her stepson, Chunghye of Goryeo, got drunk and raped her. The next day, Bayankhutag attempted to flee to the Yuan ambassador for help to leave Goryeo, but Chunghye issued a ban on horses in the city, so she could not leave. He then had her imprisoned in Yeongrak Palace, told the court that she was ill, and posted guards around her apartments. The Yuan emissary eventually visited the palace and insisted that Bayankhutag be released and Chunghye take her as a consort.
As consort, Bayankhutag is recorded to have offered advice in choosing officials in the Yuan Goryeo government. She died in 1344. In 1367, she received her posthumous name from the Yuan dynasty.

Her full posthumous name

  1. Chungsuk of Goryeo
  2. Chunghye of Goryeo

    Works cited