Song Deokbong

Song Deok-bong (Korean: 송덕봉; Hanja: 宋德奉; 1521–1578) was a Korean female poet of the mid Joseon period, and was active in the sixteenth century.^[1]^{[page needed]}

Biography

Song Deok-bong was born in 1521 to Song Jun and Lady Yi of the Hampyeong Yi clan into the Hongju Song clan (홍주 송씨) during the reign of King Jungjong.

She was later arranged to marry the Confucian scholar Yu Hui-chun in 1536 as his second wife. The marriage produced one son and five daughters, but in 1547, Yu was exiled.

When he boasted of his faithfulness to her, she reprimanded him in letters by saying his boasting of such matters did not do him any credit. She furthermore let him know that she had diligently mourned his mother for three years and arranged the funeral, which she implied were much more difficult tasks than remaining faithful. She also commented that spending some months without sexual relations would have been good for him, seeing as he was getting older and needed to preserve his energy.^[2]^{[page needed]} He took her admonishment without rancor and they continued to correspond with each other in verse.^[2]

On her way to visit her husband in exile in Jongseong, Song Deokbong composed a much-praised poem whilst passing through an area called Macheonryeong.^[2]^{[page needed]}

She was seen as a virtuous woman writer.

Family

Father - Song Jun (송준; 宋駿; 1475 – ?)
Mother - Lady Yi of the Hampyeong Yi clan (함평 이씨; 1471 – ?); eldest daughter
Husband - Yu Hui-chun (유희춘; 柳希春; 1513–1577)
Issue
- Son - Yu Gyeong-ryeom (류경렴; 柳景濂; 6 February 1539 – ?)
- Daughter - Lady Yu of the Seonsan Yu clan (선산 유씨; 1540 – ?)
- Daughter - Yu Hae-seong (유해성; 柳海成), Lady Yu of the Seonsan Yu clan (선산 유씨; 1550 – ?)
- Daughter - Yu Hae-bok (유해복), Lady Yu of the Seonsan Yu clan (선산 유씨; 1555 – ?)
- Daughter - Yu Hae-myeong (유해명), Lady Yu of the Seonsan Yu clan (선산 유씨; 1560 – ?)
- Daughter - Yu Hae-gwi (유해귀), Lady Yu of the Seonsan Yu clan (선산 유씨; 1565 – ?)

Notes

^ Kim, Hee-Sook; Kwon, Chang Woo (Feb 2020). "A Study on the Content and Composition of Digital Character Archive in Works and Subjects: Female Writers in the mid of the Joseon Dynasty". Journal of the Korean Society for Library and Information Science (in Korean). 54 (1): 145–174. ISSN 1225-598X.
^ ^a ^b ^c Hai-soon Lee, Hye-sun Yi (2005). The Poetic World of Classic Korean Women Writers. Vol. 9. Ewha Womans University Press. p. 11. ISBN 8973006274.

Sources

Lee, Hai-soo & Yi, Hye-sun (2005). The poetic world of classic Korean women writers. Ewha Womans University Press.

[1] Kim, Hee-Sook; Kwon, Chang Woo (Feb 2020). "A Study on the Content and Composition of Digital Character Archive in Works and Subjects: Female Writers in the mid of the Joseon Dynasty". Journal of the Korean Society for Library and Information Science (in Korean). 54 (1): 145–174. ISSN 1225-598X.

[:0-2] Hai-soon Lee, Hye-sun Yi (2005). The Poetic World of Classic Korean Women Writers. Vol. 9. Ewha Womans University Press. p. 11. ISBN 8973006274.

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