By Kim Ji-myung
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Accompanying this relatively short article are two large sketched portraits of the king and queen of Korea. The caption for King Gojong's portrait reads "Li, the king of Korea. The man for whose kingdom Japan and China are fighting."
The caption for the woman's portrait is "the queen of Korea. One of the chief intriguers by whom the present war was brought about." Both sketches were "reproduced from the San Francisco Examiner" according to the paper.
Probably no Korean, Japanese or Chinese viewer would have taken this woman in Chinese-style clothing to be a Korean queen. However, almost no foreigner except for a few women in Seoul had seen Queen Min, not to mention a photo of her.
Thanks to the extensive "Chronicling America" project, we can search millions of America's historic newspaper pages from 1789-1963 or use the U.S. newspaper directory to find articles of newspapers published in the U.S. between 1690-present.
My searching and browsing of American newspapers led me to believe this Hawaiian Gazette article was the first printing of the Korean queen's portrait, however it was not. British and other newspapers are still not easy to access online.
As if by a consensus, the same woman's portrait in Chinese dress was introduced, as Queen Min featured in many Western newspapers in 1894 and 1895 before her death.
Queen Min, posthumously granted the title of Empress Myeongseong, was murdered in her residence in the early morning of Oct. 8, 1895. The first news of her death came from the New York Times, dispatched from Yokohama. On Oct. 13, the Morning Times carried Admiral Carpenter's report on "Queen of Korea's Fate," on Oct. 14, the Evening Star wrote about "the Korean revolt and murder of the queen by the Mob." None of them carried any photo or portrait of the queen.
John A. Cockerill (1845-1896) of the New York Herald was the first to send the long eye-witness story of General William McEntyre Dye who was an adviser to the Korean king and stayed near the murder site. But the news of queen's assassination could not be sent out immediately because it was blocked by Japan.
Cockerill's story was printed on Oct. 15, one week later, and Japan made an apology to the press later. He also worked as a war correspondent for the Sino-Japanese War. Meanwhile, the Everville Press & Banner on Oct. 30, and the New York Evening World on Dec. 3, 1895 reported the assassination carrying the same portrait.
Then, who really is the woman in the non-Korean hair style and costume?
The original, an authentic European oil painting was the work of Giuseppe Castiglione (1688-1766). He was Italian Jesuit brother and a missionary and he served as an artist at the imperial court of three emperors ― the Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong emperors.
The figure of the portrait is known as Xiang Fei, the fragrant concubine ("hyangbi" in Korean) who was taken from her Uyghur homeland as a consort by the Qianlong Emperor of the Qing dynasty in the 18th century.
The Chinese and Uyghur version of the story widely differ but it became greatly popular during the early 20th century and has since been adapted into several plays, films, and books.
On my visit to Kashgar, in Xinjiang-Uyghur this year, I visited the Afaq Khoja Mausoleum, the family tomb of Xiang Fei. But she is also believed to be buried at the imperial tombs of the Ming and Qing dynasties in Zunhua, Hebei.
At the time that Xian Fei's portrait was used to portray Queen Min, the Western press had no idea of Queen Min's appearance as there was no published photo of hers anywhere. In fact, there is still not a single picture or a drawing confirmed as that of the queen. I am sure finding an authentic photograph remains a mission impossible for many Korean scholars of modern history.
The writer is chairwoman of the Korea Heritage Education Institute (K*Heritage). Her email address is Heritagekorea21@gmail.com
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