Robert Neff has authored and co-authored several books, including Letters from Joseon, Korea Through Western Eyes and Brief Encounters.
Go Dae-su: Queen Min's giant female bodyguard
Korean women assisting with the rice. Circa 1900s. Robert Neff Collection
By Robert Neff
Early Western accounts of Korea often portray women as meek, subservient and hidden away from view of all males except their husbands, fathers and brothers. A Korean woman was expected to obey, without deviation, every whim of the males in her life and in some cases to follow them into death. These characterizations of Korean women were made by both male and female foreign observers, and, although there was some truth to them, they were generalizations that did not distinguish between social status, class and location. Not all Korean women were docile; many – especially the royal family – wielded influential power and, according to some observers, manipulated politics.
Women proprietors of inns were fairly common and notorious for having a firm hand when it came to dealing with husbands who overstepped their perceived authority or male patrons who were overly emboldened by a drink too many. There are many anecdotes of wives seizing the topknot of their philandering husbands and pounding sense into their heads with the wooden sticks used to iron clothes. A perusal of the newspapers also reveal wives murdering their husbands – sometimes as revenge against their husband’s faults while others sought to move on to a new partner.
Women were also upholders of the law. The police used women detectives because they could disguise themselves as servants and secretly investigate possible crimes in households where a man could not easily enter. Of course, these women had to be physically strong – able to carry a 40-kilogram bag of rice – and able to drink three large bowls of "makgeolli" (a type of Korean alcohol).
Women smoking pipes and cigarettes in the early 1900s. Robert Neff Collection
These women detectives had to be at least 152.5 cm tall, which meant they towered over the average Korean woman ( 142 cm tall at the end of the 19th century) and many of their male counterparts – an examination of 1,000 policemen in 1897 revealed the shortest was 144 cm and the tallest was about 182 cm.
While these women detectives may have towered over most of the female population, they were dwarfed by one of the palace women who served as a bodyguard for Queen Min (Empress Myeongseong). According to one writer, “like most Korean women of the time,” this bodyguard “did not have a given name, but her nickname was [Go Dae-su] meaning ‘a giant girl who needs to be taken care of.’” Other sources, however, speculate that her name was Lee Woo-seok and suggest that she was born in 1842 – possibly in the Seoul area.
We know nothing about her childhood and can only speculate that it was very unpleasant. By the time she reached adulthood, she stood 210 cm tall, and “was said to be stronger than five or six ordinary men.” It would not challenge the imagination to assume she weighed more than 150 kilograms. And, judging by her nickname, “Ancient Beast,” men did not gaze upon her with lust or affection.
Allegedly Queen Min looked upon her favorably but Go was ignored by her peers save the taunts and ridicule they heaped upon her. At some point, she began to provide confidential information about the palace, the queen, and the royal family to a group of dissatisfied young progressives who were plotting to overthrow the government. It would be charitable to say that loneliness and a desire to be acknowledged forced her into the arms of these rebels, but it seems more likely her participation in this treasonous plot was an attempt to exact revenge.
Women ironing clothes. Circa 1900s. Robert Neff Collection
The attempted overthrow – known as the Gapsin Revolt – took place on Dec. 4, 1884, and started at the post office inauguration dinner. Go aided the rebels by setting off dynamite in different places on the palace grounds, which helped confuse and demoralize the troops loyal to the government.
The rebels were initially victorious but after only a couple of days were forced to flee for their lives. Several of them escaped to Japan but the majority of them were quickly killed or captured. Even Go, despite her strength, was quickly apprehended. Her fate was sealed.
According to the accounts, it was on a cold winter day when Go was led through the streets of Jongno with a placard placed about her neck denouncing her for treason. Crowds of people followed, jeering and tearing at her clothing and flesh with their fingers. By the time she passed through Gwanghuimun (also known as the Corpse Gate) she was already bleeding heavily and much of her clothing was gone.
She was taken to a nearby radish field – the execution ground – and placed at the mercy of the blood-thirsty crowd. Stones fell upon her like the rain and she eventually fell to the ground –her body shattered. According to one modern writer, it was “an especially cruel death.”
What became of her corpse is unknown. In all likelihood, it was displayed for a couple of days while suffering further indignations from mischievous children and hungry animals. If she was buried, her grave has long been forgotten and even the pages of history remember her as nothing more than an odd footnote.
Robert Neff has authored and co-authored several books, including Letters from Joseon, Korea Through Western Eyes and Brief Encounters.