Epitaph of Princess Suryeong

Goryeo · 1F · Medieval and Early Modern History · Goryeo 2

This is the epitaph of Lady Suryeong (1281-1335), wife of a Goryeo royal, who died in 1335, the fourth year of King Chungsuk's restored reign. Married at fourteen to the royal Wang On, she was widowed at twenty-nine and raised three sons and a daughter alone; when her only daughter was sent to Yuan China as a tribute woman, grief is said to have brought on the illness from which she died. In the epitaph, characters relating to the Yuan emperor such as "Sejo," "Cheonja (Son of Heaven)," and "Jo" are carved one register higher than terms for the Goryeo king such as "Hyeonwang" and "Munwang," revealing the hierarchical relationship between the two states.

See it in person at the National Museum of Korea — 1F · Medieval and Early Modern History · Goryeo 2

Source: based on official e-museum records (National Museum of Korea).