Consort of King Gongmin of Goryeo; daughter of Yeom Je-sin (said to have refused submission in the Jaje-wi incident)
| Era | 고려 말 |
| Clan | 파주 염씨 |
Sinbi Yeom (神妃 廉氏) was a consort of King Gongmin of Goryeo, of the Paju clan (described as from Seowon). Her father was Yeom Je-sin and her mother Lady Jinhan of the Andong Gwon clan, and her brothers were Yeom Guk-bo, Yeom Heung-bang and Yeom Jeong-su. Her dates are not recorded. Her rank among his consorts differs: the Wikipedia line says fourth consort, while Namuwiki's Gongmin article says fifth.
After Princess Noguk died in 1365, Gongmin had no heir, so in 1371 (the 20th year) Sinbi was chosen from among the daughters of several powerful families to produce an heir and is said to have entered the palace on the 28th day of the eleventh lunar month. The Goryeosa records that she was selected and enfeoffed as Sinbi, naming her as a daughter of Prince Gokseong Yeom Je-sin. She had no children with Gongmin.
The Goryeosa says that during the Jaje-wi incident of 1372, when Hong Ryun and Han An forced themselves on the consorts, Sinbi refused and did not comply. After Gongmin's assassination in 1374 she shaved her head and became a nun, and Namuwiki says she left the palace and entered Jeongeopwon. No later records exist; it has been conjectured that her natal family's ruin in the Musin purge of 1388 did not spare her, but this is not confirmed. Some sources (Encyves Wiki) call her a consort of King U, which does not match the Goryeosa records of Gongmin's consorts and appears to be an error.
Some accounts (the Wikipedia line) count her as fourth consort and others (Namuwiki) as fifth, so her order is not asserted. What is consistently attested is that her father was Yeom Je-sin and that she entered the palace in 1371.
The Jaje-wi was a guard organ of young aristocrats set up by Gongmin and is explained together with the 1374 assassination. The Goryeosa records that Sinbi refused when its members tried to violate the consorts in 1372. The full course of events was not confirmed here.
Her grave is not recorded.