To fully understand Lady Hyegyong’s memoir, one must first understand the political circumstances of the time. In this period of the ChosOn dynasty there were two main political parties, Soron and Noron. Crown Prince Sado was on Soron’s side and his wife, Lady Hyegyong, followed her father on Noron’s side. There was intended to be some degree of political discord in the couple’s marriage from the start. Although Westerners may have mixed opinions about Lady Hyegyong, most Koreans believe that Lady Hyegyong showed much more support for her father than for her husband, the Crown Prince. After all, the marriage between the two was a decision made by the parents, not desired by either of them.

Lady Hyegyong repeatedly emphasizes the need to plead the case of her family members so that they can be judged fairly and regain their honor posthumously. She, although she repeatedly expressed her desire to follow the Crown Prince in death, with phrases such as: “I felt cornered on the edge of a precipice with no other way out than death. This solution … beckoned more and more.” (pg297)) One must have doubts about her sincerity as she was never able to fulfill her wish of ‘always strong attractiveness’.

There are two attitudes that Koreans have regarding Lady Hyegyong’s involvement in Crown Prince Sado’s downfall: Lady Hyegyong was an innocent victim of political turmoil who lost her husband and spent the rest of her days in sorrow; Lady Hyegyong, in the midst of political power, caused her husband to suffer in order to enjoy a life of luxury under the rule of the Grand Heir. Consequently, Koreans interpret the title of this book differently depending on their point of view. In Korean, the title of ‘Memoirs of Lady Hyegyong’ is ‘Han-jung-nok’-‘jung’ meaning ‘center’ and ‘nok’ meaning ‘record’. Those who support Lady Hyegyong use the Chinese character (h) ‘han’, meaning ‘unity’, to interpret the title as ‘Record of Bitter Tears’. Those who contradict Lady Hyegyong use the Chinese character (‘) ‘han’, which means ‘leisure’, to interpret the title as “Record of a free time”.