From Arranged Marriage to Deteriorating Health: The Story of The Last Princess of Korea

(Warning: Mental illness and suicide references ahead)

                    Many of you fine people who read this have no idea of how many royal families and monarchs that have existed since the advent of human history. Nowadays you probably only known several European constitutional monarchy royals like The British Royal Family and King Charles III, The Dutch Royals with King Willem-Alexander as the current monarch, or even the still-ruling Japanese empire with Emperor Naruhito at the helm. Others might include the likes of those in the Middle East, few of them practice Absolute Monarchy like Saudi Arabia, or even our neighbors in Southeast Asia, like Malaysia with their unique rotating sultanate policy and Brunei. In short, this form of government has existed as long and as historic as the human civilization itself. I often thought what if Indonesia adopted this form of government, but given our national history and its turbulence, it seems very unlikely. But one can only hope, am I right? 

                  Now, there are several instances where a country changed their government model from a monarchy to a republic. One can look at the history of the French Republic, who attained their independence by the way of blood during the French revolution, often involving imprisonment of several member of the French royal family and subsequent execution by guillotine. The most famous story of those is the execution of King Louis XVI and his wife Queen Marie-Antoinette. Others, unfortunately ended via occupation by another country, like the Joseon Empire, which is the precursor of modern-day Korea. Once known as one of the great Empires in East Asia, the Korean Empire was occupied and annexed by the Japanese, effectively ending the Joseon Dynasty and setting up a series of events that lead to the Korean war and the subsequent separation of both Korean territories, one in the south with parliamentary republic system, and those of the north which operates with the communism and socialism ideology governed by a dynasty with a dead guy as eternal president (The Democratic People's Republic of Korea, or North Korea is a necrocracy, which means a country that is governed by a dead man, Kim Il-sung as eternal president). 

 

                  The story of the former Joseon Empire is one big piece on itself, but I want to focus on one specific figure, who was known during her lifetime as the last princess of the Korean Empire, one who was exiled to Japan and finally returned to her homeland, which is now a republic. Princess Yi Deokhye was born on the 25th of May 1912 in Deoksu Palace in Keijo (modern-day Seoul), Korea during the Japanese Imperial times after the region was annexed by Japan two years prior. She was the daughter of Emperor Gojong of Joseon and Imperial Consort Boknyeong. There are some interesting facts about the royal princess. One of them was she was not formally considered as a royal princess by the Japanese just because her mother wasn't the Queen, but rather an imperial concubine to the emperor. This too, was obviously pointed out by her nickname, which was Deokhye-ongju (the royal staff refers to her as Ongju-nim), rather than Gongju (the latter title is given to the daughters of the queen, while the former was assigned to the daughter of the concubines). But in 1917, after his father persuaded the Then Governor-General of Korea Masatake Terauchi, she was finally recognized as the royal princess and was integrated to the royal family registry. 

 

                  Like those of the royal families in the past, arranged marriages between the royals were also common in Joseon, as the emperor once tried to set up a marriage between Deokhye-ongju with a court chamberlain's nephew, named Kim Jang-han in 1919, but went bust after the Japanese intervened, and barred Kim Hwang-jin, the chamberlain to enter the Deoksu Palace. It was also on this year that the emperor died suddenly, allegedly by poison from the Japanese. In 1925, Deokhye-ongju was sent to Japan with the pretense of continuing her studies (in reality, she was exiled), and known by the Japanese as Princess Tokue. She was known as that one student who was untalkative and struggled with exercising. She was allowed to return to Korea temporarily to attend her mother's funeral in 1929 but denied permission to wear proper clothing for the occasion. 

 

                  Princess Deokhye was also known for her battle with mental illness. This condition first manifested in spring 1930, during the period where she often forgot to eat and drink. Subsequent examination revealed that the princess had developed schizophrenia, partly due to her upbringing. Over time, her condition improved, but in 1933, her condition worsened, leading to many trips to various mental clinics. The condition was further exacerbated by the grief of losing her daughter, Masae (Korean name: Jeonghye) who was reported missing in 1956 and allegedly committed suicide due to the stress of her parents' divorce. Speaking of divorce, she once married to Count Takeyuki Sō of Tsushima, after being matched by Empress Consort Teimei, the wife of Emperor Yoshihito (Later Emperor Taishō). Their marriage lasted from 1930 until their divorce in 1955, and Masae was their only daughter. It was reported that the marriage was an unhappy one, and by the time she finally arrived and resided in Korea, Takeyuki attempted to visit his ex-wife, but was denied by her remaining relatives, fearing her worsening mental state if she contacted him. After the divorce, Takeyuki Sō then moved to Kashiwa and subsequently remarried to a woman named Yoshie Katsumura, fathering 3 more children. During this time, Deokhye-ongju spent most of her time in Japan.

 

                  Then, the monumental occasion came. After 38 years, the government of the Republic of Korea invited the princess to return to her homeland, after being discovered by Kim Jang-han, now a reporter inside a mental institution. Initially, South Korean authorities refused the return of the last royal blood, due to the president at the time, Lee Seung-man wanting to avoid political chaos. After some persuasion by Kim, Princess Deokhye finally stepped foot in her homeland after arriving at Kimpo International Airport in Seoul on the 26th of January 1967, and was greeted by few figures of her childhood, including her kindergarten classmate, her nurse, and her remaining family members. She was also able to restore her Korean citizenship, despite being born there, now as Yi Deok-hye. The princess spent her last years in-and-out of hospitals, and in 1983, she once admitted to Hallym University Hangang Sacred Heart Hospital due to old age. And on the 21st of April 1989, Princess Yi Deokhye, the last royal princess of the Korean Empire passed away at the age of 76 at the Sugang Hall, Changdeok Palace in Seoul, and was laid to rest near her father and her half-brother in Hongryureung, Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province.

 

                  The story of Princess Deokhye is nothing sort of a tragic one across any royal history. Once the princess of her homeland, she was exiled by the occupation government and was forced to an unhappy, arranged marriage to a Japanese count, developed a mental illness which had worsened over time. There are few literatures that can be used to study the princess, but the 2016 movie The Last Princess directed by Hur Jin-ho is by far the best way to help those who studied Korean history to examine the life of the princess, from her upbringing, her marriage, her mental struggles, all the way to her return and passing. Yes, her life might be a tragic one, but remember, she was a member of the Korean royal family, those who governed the region as Joseon, and her life is to be celebrated as the last ever princess of Korea who finally returned home after a lengthy exile.

The Beast of Gevaudan: A True French Terror

 (Warning: Graphic description ahead)

 

"To the father and the son

Came the beast of Gevaudan

Terminator, a traitor, half wolf, and half machine

To the prior and the nun

Came the beast of Gevaudan

A redeemer, believer of fatal, mad, and mean

Beast of Gevaudan!"

 

-"Beast of Gevaudan", performed by Powerwolf, 2021.

 

            Yeah, I know. I only found out about this beast from a Powerwolf song, talking about a wolf-like beast, subsequently known as la bête du Gevaudan (the beast of Gevaudan), that terrorized an ancient region of Gevaudan in France between 1764 and 1767, but aside from the song, the beast itself was known for its cruel method of killing, by ripping out their throats, and in some cases, also decapitated. There are many interpretations about the existence of this beast. One of which being about how the beast was sent as an act of God to punish sinners in the area. 

 

            There are many descriptions about this beast, many of them are exaggerated due to the mass hysteria caused by the killings. But general description of the beast was a wolf-like canine with a tall, lean frame capable of taking great strides. Other descriptions being it has the size of a horse, has elongated head with flattened snout, pointed ears, and a wide mouth sitting atop of a broad chest. Some even said that the beast had the capability to speak like humans do, but this is heavily disputed. 

 

            The first instance of the attack happened sometime on early summer of 1764, when it attacked a young woman named Marie Jeanne Valet whilst taking care of her cattle. The beast was about to attack her when her bulls charged forward, obstructing it. They then drove the beast off when it tried to attack again. Valet was lucky enough, but a 14-year-old shepherdess named Jeanne Boulet didn't share the same fate; she was the first recorded victim of the beast of Gevaudan. The attack occurred on 30th June 1764. During the remainder of the year, more attacks and killings are reported throughout the region, made worse by the fact that the beast often preyed on lone men, women and even children as they tended to their livestock in the forests. There are reports that stated that the beast targeted the neck and head area. The fact pretty much explained the state of the victims at the time of the discovery, with many of them have their throats destroyed, or even worse, decapitated. By the end of 1764, there are also speculation that there is more than one beast lurking around the area. This is due to the fact that there had been such high number of attacks in such short time span, and many attacks or reports that occurred happened almost simultaneously. On early 1765, The Kingdom of France was alerted of the attack after the beast attacked 10-year-old Jacques Portefaix and his seven friends, all aged between 8 to 12. They survived the attack, and subsequently caught the attention of King Louis XV, who then rewarded Portefaix and his friends for their bravery, and later promised that the state will help to eradicate the beast. By this point, the beast was known as la bête féroce (the ferocious beast). 

 

            The French crown then sent many hunters to kill the beast, who at that point, had a bounty of 6.000 French livre. The first was First captain Duhamel of the Clermont Price dragoons and his troops but was met with non-cooperative farmers and local herders. His strategy was awfully executed too. He organized a large hunting party to hunt for the wolf-like creature, but when chances presented itself, it was hindered by the incompetence of his guards. This prompted louis XV to send a father-son duo of Jean Charles Marc Antoine Vaumesle d'Enneval and Jean-François. Their tactics were radically different from the previous, by using stealth techniques to kill the beast. After the pair failed to capture the beast as the attacks continued, François Antoine was sent on Jun 1765 to continue the hunt. On the 21st of September, Antoine shot an unusually large wolf measuring 80 cm (31 in) high, 1.7 meter (5 ft 7 in) long, and weighing 60 kg (130 pounds). He hunted the rest of the pack, and returned to Paris a hero of France, receiving titles and large sums of money. They thought that the attacks were over, but on early December 1765, two boys were attacked, but survived the ordeal. This suggested that the wolf killed by Antoine months prior was not the beast of Gevaudan.

 

            The terrors eventually stopped on the 19th of June 1767, when a local hunter named Jean Chastel shot the beast on the slopes of Mont Mouchet (now la Sogne d'Auvers) during a hunt organized by a local nobleman, the Marquis d'Apchier. The body then was transferred to the castle to be examined, and upon being opened, the beast's stomach contents revealing the remains of its last victim. 

 

            When you look at this story, from the first attacks all the way to the last, you might think that this could came out of a science-fiction movie, but the attacks by the beast of Gevaudan were horrific, to the point that even the king of France had to interfere. Usually, I'm quite a fan of historical stories and mythologies, but this one is actually scaring me, not because of the fact that the beast has killed people, but by the method of the killings themselves. And as I said in the beginning, the German metal band Powerwolf introduced me to this legend with the song Beast of Gevaudan, depicting this beast as a divine intervention and an act of God to punish all the sinners in the ancient region of Gevaudan. Seriously, if you look up the lyrics of this song, you will find that this song is actually about the wolf doing the act of cleansing the world of the sinners. Although the story behind the song and the lyrics are quite grim, I actually liked the song itself. In the end, the story of the beast of Gevaudan served as a lesson to always be vigilant to your surroundings. You would never know who or what is coming after you.