Person1739 – 1812
Kim Man-deok
Woman merchant of Jeju who spent her fortune on rice to feed the starving during a great famine on the island under Jeongjo
Orphaned young, she became a gisaeng, regained commoner status and grew rich running a trading house that exchanged Jeju products for rice from the mainland. After she saved the starving in 1795, King Jeongjo asked her wish; she asked to see Hanyang and the Geumgang Mountains, and was allowed to go though Jeju women were then barred from leaving the island. Chae Je-gong wrote her biography, the Mandeok jeon.
