Jinseong of Silla

Who was Jinseong of Silla?

Queen Jinseong of Silla was the fifty-first ruler of the Korean kingdom, Silla. She was also Silla's third and final reigning queen. Her reign saw the end of Unified Silla and the beginning of the Later Three Kingdoms period.

Jinseong was the daughter of King Gyeongmun. The younger sister of Heongang and Jeonggang, she rose to the throne when both of her brothers died without issue. Though Seondeok and Jindeok's successful reigns were invoked to help Jinseong secure the throne, Shilla's third queen regnant ultimately did not live up to the expectations of her predecessors.

Jinseong is noted in the Samguk Sagi for her immoral and licentious conduct, ranging from taking bribes to bringing cute boys into the palace and committing lewd acts with them. She also carried on an affair with the high commander Wihong. The Samguk Sagi was written by Confucianists, who held a negative view of female rule, so the precise details therein should perhaps not be taken at face value.

During her reign, public order collapsed. Taxes could no longer be collected and the military conscription system failed. Taking advantage of this domestic disarray, Yang Gil in the northwest and Gyeon Hwon in the southwest rebelled and founded their own kingdoms.