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A review by booklover160
The Memoirs of Lady Hyegyong: The Autobiographical Writings of a Crown Princess of Eighteenth-Century Korea by
4.0
After reading [b:The Red Palace|56978115|The Red Palace|June Hur|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1616437004l/56978115._SY75_.jpg|84477339] and learning it was inspired by a real prince of Korea, I spent a good two or three days researching Prince Sado and his actions. This led me to this book.
According to Wikipedia, Lady Hyegyong's memoirs are some of the only pre-modern autobiographies written by a woman in East Asia. I found her interesting and decided to get my hands on this book and read it.
It's very well written for this time period and it was a wonderful look into Lady Hyegyong's life and the precarious role she had to play in Prince Sado's life. I am of the opinion that Prince Sado had a severe mental illness and I believe his father also suffered from a slightly less severe mental illness too. From what she says, King Yongjo also had uncontrollable fits of rage, you can tell by the way he treats Sado, and his rituals seem to also lend to the idea he also suffered from a mental illness. He was blow small mistakes out of proportion with cruel and harsh punishments while large transgressions (like Sado literally killing hundreds of people) got more sympathy and smaller punishments.
It is fascinating to see an educated woman's impartial view of the whole incident. Well, mostly impartial. She clearly has devotion to her husband, her king, and her country. I think she did the best she could in the terrible situation she was in. A single misstep could have resulted in her death; from her husband or even the king. But she seemed to handle it gracefully, jotting down her innermost thoughts and wishes.
Overall, a great read for those interested in this time period and more specifically Prince Sado himself.
According to Wikipedia, Lady Hyegyong's memoirs are some of the only pre-modern autobiographies written by a woman in East Asia. I found her interesting and decided to get my hands on this book and read it.
It's very well written for this time period and it was a wonderful look into Lady Hyegyong's life and the precarious role she had to play in Prince Sado's life. I am of the opinion that Prince Sado had a severe mental illness and I believe his father also suffered from a slightly less severe mental illness too. From what she says, King Yongjo also had uncontrollable fits of rage, you can tell by the way he treats Sado, and his rituals seem to also lend to the idea he also suffered from a mental illness. He was blow small mistakes out of proportion with cruel and harsh punishments while large transgressions (like Sado literally killing hundreds of people) got more sympathy and smaller punishments.
It is fascinating to see an educated woman's impartial view of the whole incident. Well, mostly impartial. She clearly has devotion to her husband, her king, and her country. I think she did the best she could in the terrible situation she was in. A single misstep could have resulted in her death; from her husband or even the king. But she seemed to handle it gracefully, jotting down her innermost thoughts and wishes.
Overall, a great read for those interested in this time period and more specifically Prince Sado himself.