(124) Wives and concubines

By Robert Neff

Horace N. Allen wrote that during a Korean wedding "one of the presents exchanged is a goose, an emblem of conjugal faithfulness, since the goose is reputed to have but one mate." But many Koreans – especially the noble and affluent had more than just one mate.

Allegedly in the beginning, King Gojong's relationship with his wife, Myeongseong (Queen Min), was a loveless affair. He was only 15 – she was 16 – when they married in 1866. Like many marriages, theirs was one of political expedience rather than love. Gojong supposedly did not even consummate the marriage for an extended period of time – instead he devoted his attention upon his favorite concubine, Lee Gwi-in. She eventually bore him a son and gained the undying hatred of the queen.

One historian suggests that the queen may have been involved in a little dallying herself. He claimed that the queen took to "having many handsome boys disguised in court beauty's costume" attend to her.

But it was a dangerous game she played. So, in an attempt to attract the king's attention, she is said to have resorted to a superstitious belief that by wearing necklaces made from the female organs of vixens and cats and the scent glands of deer around her neck that she would gain the king's attention. Apparently they worked because she soon became pregnant with the king's son. Unfortunately he did not live very long.

How true these accounts are is unclear. Depending on the historian, she has been vilified or martyred. It is clear, however, that Gojong did eventually come to love and respect her.

Prince Euihwa – one of Gojong's sons by another consort or concubine – is alleged to have been quite the lady's man while studying abroad. While in Japan he spent very little time on his studies and was instead "systematically debauched by a group of conspirators."

When he studied in the United States in 1902 he went on an extravagant trip to Coney Island where he spent more than 30,000 dollars. According to one newspaper account:

"(There) was, of course, an unlimited supply of the prince's chief delight – the unveiled American woman. (Blond) beauties, chorus girls in tights, beach sprites in bathing suits, all attracted the prince's attention and subtracted his coins. He gave suppers to bevies of blonds and bunches of brunettes. Champagne went down, but the price of it went up."

But he didn't always have to buy their attention. He was extremely popular with young American women and had a way with them. He is said to have proposed to at least four American women but none of them accepted his offer. It is doubtful any of them were aware that he was already married – having married in 1891.

But it wasn't only the royal family that kept more than one woman in the house. Wealthy men were often forced by their families to marry women they had never even seen. This was done for social and political reasons. Of course, there was no love in the beginning but hopefully as the years passed a bond did form.

Men, if they could afford it, sometimes kept one or two concubines as sexual playmates and friends. The concubines were subservient to the wife who often ruled them with an iron-fist. Fights and intrigue must have been a common fare in the homes of these wealthy men as evidenced by the old Korean saying – "Even a tiger cannot hurt a man who has lived with a wife and two concubines."

Many of the early Westerners – especially missionaries – in Korea frowned upon the idea of keeping concubines and felt it demeaning and archaic. It was, they argued, sinful. But, as we shall see in the next article, not all of the Westerners residing in Korea (including the missionaries) were able to keep the seventh commandment – Thou shall not commit adultery.

Robert Neff is a historian and contributing writer of The Korea Times.

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