[K-Women Talk] The Most Political Voice of a Joseon Woman

Gwangsan Kim Saves Her Grandson
with a Heartfelt Petition
Amidst the Noron and Soron Power Struggle

Here is a document. Even now, the beautiful Korean calligraphy in Gungseo style is stunning. It is as elegant as a painting. However, the content written is shockingly startling.

"I have committed an unforgivable sin between heaven and earth...".

The writer confesses to having committed a great sin. And ends with even stronger words than before: "Please behead only this body." Why was such terrifying content written in such beautiful handwriting?

The official title of this document, created in 1727, is ‘A Petition from Gwangsan Kim Clan, the Wife of the Late Magistrate Yi Imyeong’. Gwangsan Kim is a family name, not a person’s name. It only confirms that she was Yi Imyeong’s wife and born into the Gwangsan Kim family. In the Joseon Dynasty, it was rare for noblewomen’s names to be revealed publicly. Although her given name is unknown, she was the daughter of Seo-po Kim Manjung and a matron who fought fiercely to protect her family from the turmoil that befell them.

Everything began with the succession to the Joseon throne. King Gyeongjong, son of Jang Hui-bin who ascended in 1690, was frail and had no children. The Noron faction tried to establish his half-brother Yeoninggun (King Yeongjo) as the successor and attempted a regency. Gyeongjong, insulted by the officials, was enraged and purged the Noron faction.

At that time, Gwangsan Kim’s husband Yi Imyeong and their only son Yi Giji were executed, and their grandson Yi Bongsang was also in danger. Gwangsan Kim deceived others by pretending that a slave child’s corpse was hers and hid her grandson.

After Gyeongjong died in 1724, Yeoninggun ascended the throne as King Yeongjo. He did not forget the Noron faction that supported him. Yi Imyeong, who had been executed, was posthumously reinstated, and Yi Bongsang was appointed to office. Gwangsan Kim personally submitted a petition to the king, passionately conveying the tragedy that had befallen her family.

She told the story of the slave child who chose death to save her master’s grandson, the grandson who barely escaped and whose whereabouts were unknown, and her own pain after losing her husband and son, all expressed in elegant and restrained prose. She also thanked Yeongjo, saying, "Your Majesty’s grace in restoring the broken generation and preserving what was lost surpasses that of other kings." Yeongjo was deeply moved by the petition. Having met Yi Bongsang and heard his story, Gwangsan Kim’s appeal through the petition was a great success.

However, in 1727, the world once again became dominated by the Soron faction. Gwangsan Kim’s grandson Yi Bongsang and Yi Imyeong’s younger brother Yi Ikmyeong were arrested. Yi Bongsang had clearly committed a crime by defying the king’s order and hiding, and Yi Ikmyeong was accused of knowingly ignoring this.

Facing this new calamity, Gwangsan Kim wrote a second petition to protect her family.

"Although Yi Bongsang erred by disobeying the king’s order and hiding, all of this is my fault. The grandson acted according to his grandmother’s words, and at the time this happened, my brother-in-law was far away. It is all my sin, so punish me!"

Gwangsan Kim stepped forward as a shield to protect the Noron family, taking all blame upon herself. The second petition was as poignant, earnest, and intense as the first, appealing to her tragic situation of losing her husband and son while also appropriately criticizing the opposing Soron faction. Through this petition, Gwangsan Kim saved her grandson, and her voice remains an example of the most political expression by a woman in Joseon.

Writer Lee Han