Second queen of King Heonjong of Joseon; queen dowager under Kings Cheoljong and Gojong
| Life | 1831 ~ 1904 |
| Era | 조선 후기 |
| Clan | 남양 홍씨 |
Queen Hyojeong of the Hong clan (孝定王后, 1831–1904) was the second queen of King Heonjong, the 24th king of Joseon. She belonged to the Danghong line of the Namyang Hong and was the daughter of Hong Jae-ryong, later Ikpung Buwongun; her grandfather Hong Gi-seop (1781–1866) was Minister of Works and was posthumously named Chief State Councillor. She was born in 1831 in Hamyeol (present-day Iksan), where her grandfather was serving.
After Heonjong's first queen, Queen Hyohyeon, died in 1843, she was chosen by Queen Dowager Sunwon in 1844 as his second queen, and her father was enfeoffed. She bore the king a princess who died young.
When Heonjong died in 1849 and Cheoljong took the throne, she became queen dowager at nineteen, and after Queen Sunwon's death in 1857 she became the senior queen dowager. She received further honorific titles after King Gojong's accession, and after Queen Sinjeong died in 1890 she became the senior elder of the royal house. Under the Korean Empire she was styled Empress Dowager Myeongheon. She is said to have raised in her quarters the young palace maid Cheon Il-cheong, known as the last court lady of Joseon.
She died in January 1904 in the Suindang hall of Gyeongungung (Deoksugung) palace. She is buried at Gyeongneung in the Donggureung cluster in Guri with King Heonjong and Queen Hyohyeon, the only Joseon royal tomb with three mounds side by side. She was the one queen the Danghong line produced in the Joseon period.
Because of the honorific Myeongheon she received as queen dowager she is sometimes called Queen Myeongheon, but her formal posthumous title is Queen Hyojeong. Her younger brother Hong Jong-seok became Minister of Rites, and her father died in 1863.