[2] Gungnyeo includes sanggung (palace matron)[3] and nain (assistant court ladies), both of which hold rank as officers.

The term is also used more broadly to encompass women in a lower class without a rank such as musuri (lowest maids in charge of odd chores), gaksimi, sonnim, uinyeo (female physicians) as well as nain and sanggung.

Although the first record of gungnyeo appears in Goryeosa, a compilation on the history of Goryeo, a provision was first made in 1392 by King Taejo per Jo Jun (趙浚) and other officers' suggestions after the establishment of the Joseon Dynasty.

In documents related to Goryeo, the social status of gungnyeo was generally commoner or lower class, such as the daughters of slaves, concubines, or cheonmin (the despised).

In general, gungnyeo were chosen from among female slaves who belonged to the governing class rather than from daughters of the sangmin (common people in rank).

However, if circumstances allowed, people around the king wanted to pick gungnyeo from commoners' children, using a custom of early marriage in households that had a daughter over ten years old.

According to the Sokdaejeon (Supplement to the National Code), some female slaves of each government office were chosen to become gungnyeo since the reign of King Yeongjo.

While this restriction on class applied to "common gungnyeo", the appointment of those in important roles, closely waiting on the king and queen, such as jimil nain, was different.

The standard for choosing jimil nain was so high that sanggung tended to go out recruiting candidates through personal connections and by family custom.

Trainee nain referred to girls who had not yet passed the gwallye (冠禮, a coming-of-age ceremony), and they were divided into saenggaksi and gaksi.

Nain wore a jade-colored dangui (a variety of jeogori, a short jacket) and a navy blue chima (a bulky skirt) and decorated their head with a frog-shaped cheopji (a hairpin).

[4] Uinyeo literally means "medicine women" and they usually treated gungnyeo with acupuncture and acted as midwife when the king's consort or concubine gave birth.

For such occasions, they wore wonsam (a female ceremonial garment), hwagwan (an elaborate coronet) on their head and colorfully striped hansam (fabric extensions on the sleeves of the costume)[11][12][13] on their hands just like dancers, so they were also called yakbang gisaeng.

The uinyeo system was originally established during King Taejong's reign because sick consorts, concubines and gungnyeo preferred to die rather than to be seen by a male doctor, due to the strict naeoebeop (sex segregation), based on Confucianism, at that time.

Slave girls who belonged to storage or government offices were therefore chosen to train in medical practices such as pulse-checking, acupuncture and others.

During King Yeonsangun's reign, whenever a feast was held at each government office, uinyeo were told to participate in it as gisaeng with makeup.

[4] Gungnyeo can be described as a type of luxurious slaves for royal private life, needed in departments in charge of clothing, cooking and housing among others.

In terms of a more common individual's household jimil nain, who had the highest standing in gungnyeo society, acted like a personal maid to the mistress.

Thus gungnyeo lived completely isolated from outside life, and were not allowed to contact men, or even other women, except by release from service.

The life of gungnyeo is depicted in an ancient novel titled Unyeongjeon (雲英傳) written by an anonymous writer during the Joseon Dynasty.