[K-Women Talk] The Woman Who Protected Her Family, The Woman Who Protected Joseon

Jo Ae-jung, Wife of Left State Councillor Nam I-ung
Led Relatives and Servants Through the Byeongjahoran War
Survived by Farming Without Her Husband

The Byeongjahoran War left a truly deep wound in Joseon. In just two months, the capital was captured, and the king was trapped in Namhansanseong Fortress, eventually bowing in surrender before the enemy emperor. Countless people died or were taken prisoner. It was an especially harsh time for women, who either committed suicide to avoid capture, were taken as prisoners to distant Chinese lands, or simply survived.

Jo Ae-jung was in the third category. Her clan was the Nampyeong Jo clan; she was the daughter of Jo Gyeong-nam (曺慶男) and the wife of Nam I-ung (南以雄), who served as Left State Councillor during King Injo’s reign. Jo Ae-jung bore five children in her lifetime, but three of them died young. Two sons grew up and married, but they died without having children, and their daughters-in-law also all passed away.

"What kind of fate is this, that I bore four sons and one daughter, yet no trace remains?" Thus, Jo Ae-jung expressed her loneliness and sorrow. When the Byeongjahoran War began, she was already 63 years old. Her husband Nam I-ung served as a high-ranking official, accompanying the king during the siege of Namhansanseong and later traveling to China. Because he was engaged in important national affairs, he had no time to care for the family. Still, people had to live and take care of their families. That responsibility fell solely on Jo Ae-jung, who was left alone.

When the war broke out, Jo Ae-jung led fourteen relatives and servants to flee. They left Seoul and wandered from Chungcheong Province to Jeolla Province, and then to various other places. During this time, all sorts of hardships occurred. They lost members of their group among the refugees, stayed on a deserted island where they spread mats to sleep, melted snow to drink, and cooked rice with seawater. Thieves stole their food. Though uncertain of what tomorrow would bring, Jo Ae-jung worried about the country.

"Though it is not a woman’s place to know the affairs of a fallen nation, how could one not weep and weep again?" The reality was even more painful. Her husband could not send any news, and after the war ended, he accompanied Crown Prince Sohyeon to China and did not return for over a year.

"My husband must have forgotten the affairs of home," Jo Ae-jung wrote in her diary, and she sometimes met him in her dreams. Despite the loneliness and hardship, Jo Ae-jung managed the household. Even amid war, they had to eat and live, so while fleeing, she sent servants to farm, weed, and harvest crops. Jo Ae-jung’s servants said, "We survived the war thanks to our master," and supported her group both materially and spiritually. Even in the old days of rigid class distinctions between yangban and servants, such trust would have been impossible without a strong bond built over time.

And even during this time, new life was born. When her husband’s concubine gave birth, Jo Ae-jung mourned her deceased children but still cherished and loved her illegitimate children. Eventually, the refugee life ended, and her husband returned from China. Years later, when she passed away in 1645 at the age of 71, her illegitimate children reportedly grieved as if they had lost their own mother. Jo Ae-jung did not show steadfast loyalty in the face of war, nor did she bear outstanding children. But she firmly managed her household, protected her family, and loved, fed, and raised children not born of her own body. It is thanks to people like Jo Ae-jung that Joseon was able to survive even after experiencing war.

Lee Han, Historical Writer