Princess Dowager Krjong
The Princess Dowager Krjong (Shinasthana: 龔太后, krjong-ladh-goh; May 2, 1893 – Oct. 5, 1975) was the mother of Emperor Hên. She was known as Princess-dowager Gwin (弦太后, gwin-ladh-goh) after her son became emperor. She married Prince Kr′ang, a grandson of Emperor Mjen, in 1914 and gave birth to Emperor Hên in 1916. Widowed when her husband died in 1920, her son was not expected to become emperor as Emperor Grui was expected to father an heir. When his was assassinated in 1923, her son was taken from her custody, crowned, and raised by nurses and tutors, an arrangement she constantly protested to no avail due to the overwhelming opposition of Empress Dowager Gwidh, Grui's consort. Krjong only became an important figure at court on Gwidh's death in 1955.
Princess-dowager Krjong private life was less constrained by the rules of royalty than many of her contemporaries, due to her liberal upbringing and distance from court life. She frequently clashed with Gwidh, over her position at court and influence over courtiers. Though she was an aristocrat, she deliberately related with ordinary Themiclesians to set herself apart from Gwidh, who was an archconservative on court life and the privileges of the upper class. Her relationship with the late Emperor Hên drew scholars who studied the effects of the artificial separation between her and her son. She resented the fact that her son called Gwidh "my mother empress", and herself "Princess-dowager of Gwin". After Gwidh died, she petitioned to unite with her son but was rebuffed by Conservative peers, who insisted that she could not be the emperor's mother; the matter was publicized and drew criticism from many advocacies. Conservative courtiers relenting in 1961, a purge occurred at court to force its liberalization. While many of her decisions were controversial at the time, they have come to be positively received more recently.