Daio ohi (大王大妃)

Daio ohi was a grandmother to the king and mother of the previous king.

Although Daio ohi had less political power compared to the empress dowager, she received the highest rank in the royal family and was highly respected as the grandmother of the King and she was a symbol of the royal family. Therefore, King and ministers in the government could not interfere in decisions made by Daio ohi without reason, this was because Chonhi (貞熹) ogo (王后),Buntei ogo, Teijun ogo and Jungen ogo became the power behind the curtain (governance by women).

Since most of empresses died when they were empresses and empress dowagers, very few lived long enough to become daio ohi. However, sovereignty dropped because life got shorter in the middle period of Korean dynasty compared to the early period, the collateral line succeeded to the throne and the wage was relatively high. Under such circumstances, the reign behind the curtain by Daio ohi from the Seido family (勢道家) came to be an issue.

Prominent examples are Teijun ogo from the Kim clan of Gyeongju district and Jungen ogo from the Kim clan of Andong district.

[Original Japanese]