The Conundrum of Queen Min’s Portrait: A Denied or Partial Identity?

Abstract

Queen Min (1851-1895) is described in numerous texts including diaries and newspaper articles written by Western, Japanese and Korean authors who lived in Korea between the late 19th and early 20th centuries. However, she is without visual identity, i.e., facial identity, even though King Kojong (1864-1907) referred to the existence of a portrait. This article holds that visual and non-visual identities are complementary to a person. It argues that in the case of Queen Min, the missing visual record generates a de-personification of her identity and that this contributes to the tarnishing of her public and private role in the period prior to Japan’s annexation of Korea. The paper also discusses the history of the queen’s visual identity, which is missing from official history, and inquires into its significance.