Regulations for Queen Dowager Regency: An Introduction to the Nineteenth-Century Suryǒm ch’ǒngjǒng chǒlmok 垂簾聽政節目

This paper aims to introduce the Suryǒm ch’ǒngjǒng chǒlmok 垂簾聽政節目 (Regulations for Queen Dowager Regency) from nineteenth-century Chosǒn, as recorded in the Chosǒn wangjo sillok 朝鮮王朝實錄 and Sŭngjŏngwŏn ilgi 承政院日記, with the goal of providing a comprehensive English-language translation and analyzing the characteristics of the regulations. The Suryǒm ch’ǒngjǒng chǒlmok standardized the procedure for suryǒm ch’ǒngjǒng 垂簾聽政 (queen dowager regency), authorizing queen dowagers to assume a public role during the minority or unpreparedness of a king, which marked the only period in which women were legally and directly involved in court politics. This paper will analyze each regulation from the 1800 promulgation of the Suryǒm ch’ǒngjǒng chǒlmok for Queen Dowager Chŏngsun’s 貞純王后 (1745-1805) regency for King Sunjo 純祖 (1790-1834) and identify the amendments to the regulations during the later queen dowager regencies. The regulations allowed the queen dowagers to be involved in court politics within established bounds, covering a range of procedures from where the queen dowager could sit in court, how to give orders and how the king could turn to the queen dowager for advice. The regulations established the procedure for regency with the purpose of encouraging the joint governance between the queen dowager and the king, which coincided with the king’s education during the regency period. The Suryǒm ch’ǒngjǒng chǒlmok is significant to studies on the queen dowagers and the institutional history of the Chosǒn dynasty because it codified queen dowager regency, officially authorizing them to assume a public and political role, albeit temporarily.