Exploring the Exile Life of Female Exiled Person in the Joseon Dynasty

This study aimed to explore the reality of exile of ‘female exiles.’ To this end, we first identified exceptional provisions related to exile, reviewed articles on the exile of women in historical materials to understand the characteristics of female exile cases, and explored more specific information about the exile life of female exiles through diary data. The most important exceptional provision related to the exile of women was that “women should not be exiled if possible,” but in reality, female exile occurred frequently. Adultery was the most common incident, but women were also exiled for various other reasons. Women of the upper and lower classes were exiled at similar rates, but the rate of exile of court ladies involved in incidents that occurred in the palace was high. There is little evidence that testifies to the specifics of women’s actual exile life. This is because women rarely left records themselves. The diaries that supplement the records that appear occasionally in the diaries of male exiles are memoir-like diaries such as <Geongeoji> and <Gohaengnok> written by wives who accompanied their male family members on their journey of exile. These records vividly record the pain and discomfort of exile, such as pregnancy and childbirth, examples of gender segregation, and taboos. In order to avoid misunderstanding that exile was merely a crude sword that the nobles used to wield in political strife, it must first be acknowledged that exile was a punishment that was imposed not only on the nobles, but also on commoners and women.