Yi Sunshin

PD Image
Portrait of Admiral Yi, drawn in 1952.

Yi Sunshin (이순신:李舜臣, April 28, 1545 – December 16, 1598) was a Korean admiral renowned for his naval victories against the invading Japanese during the Korean War of 1592-1598.

Family & early life

Yi Sunshin was born on April 28, 1545, in the Geoncheon-dong area of Seoul. Yi was the third child of the four sons begot by Yi Jeong and Chogyae Byeonssi. Despite their aristocratic yangban lineage, the family lived with modest means because Yi's father avoided pursuing the promising path of a Joseon Dynasty scholar official. The reason for Jeong's withdrawal of ambitions was his unpleasant memory of a violent political purge 20 years before, in which many government officials were killed, and many others, including Sunshin's grandfather, Yi Baek-rok, were demoted to the lower ranks.

The eldest son of the family was Heuishin; the second eldest, Yoshin; and the youngest, Ushin. When Chogyae Byeonssi was pregnant with her third child, Yi Baek-rok, who was now deceased, appeared to her in a dream and said, "that child will turn out to be extraordinary, so name him 'Sunshin'." Thus, like his brothers, Yi Sunshin was named a "vassal" (shin) of one of the sage kings of ancient China (in his case, Shun).

As not much is actually known about Yi's early childhood, the only significant detail regarding the time he grew up in Seoul is that he became friends with Yu Seongnyong, who later would become a high ranking scholar official and contribute to Yi's appointment to the admiralty. After about 9 years in the capital city, Yi Sunshin's family moved to the Bam-bat-ma-eul village in Asan, where their economic hardships could be better managed with support from their relatives on the mother's side.

It was said that Yi was well-liked by the other children in the village, and in war games he was consistently picked as a captain. Around this time, Yi started practicing archery, which was a popular sport and an essential prerequisite for a military career. These outside pursuits were contrasts to his strict rearing at home, where he studied Chinese classics with his brothers.

When Yi was around 20 years old, he married Sangju Bangssi, who was the only daughter of Sangju Bangjin. As a high-ranking officer, Bangjin perceived that Yi had some potential in the military profession; therefore, with the advice of his father-in-law, Yi quit his Confucian studies and began preparing for the military exam. During the 6 years that he trained, Yi fathered 2 sons: his first son, Yi Hwae, in February 1567 and in February 1571, Yi Ull, whom the father would rename as Yi Yer during the war.

Yi took the Byeolshi exam in August, 1572. In one of the tests, Yi made a huge blunder by falling off a horse while trying to string his bow. Although he finished the remaining tests after tying twigs of willow around his hurt leg, he was unable to pass because of the accident. Yi prepared again for 4 more years and passed the much more difficult, triennial Siknyeonmoogwa exam in February, 1576, thereby entering military service at a relatively advanced age of 31.

Pre-war military service

Yi Sunshin began his military service with his assignment to the very cold and remote region of Samsoo in the Hamgyeong Province. For 3 years, Yi was to maintain a small fort by the northern border and protect the civilians from the constant threat of the the Jurchen tribesmen. Although Korea was at peace, and the expectations were generally relaxed within the military, Yi fulfilled his duties with due diligence. At the end of his term, Yi was recommended by the provincial inspector and was promoted as a magistrate at the military training center in the capital city of Seoul. Yi's various responsibilities included administrating military exams, training the troops, and overseeing employment and promotion. As Yi was strictly fair and uncompromising, he flatly rejected a request from a superior named Seo Ik, to lift a friend to a high-level office. Yi's incorruptibility was even known to the defense secretary Kim Gwee-yeong. Kim offered his daughter to Yi for marriage, only to be impressed further by Yi's courteous refusal and his explanation that the marriage would give him an unfair political advantage. Later in October, Yi was made an assistant to the army commander of the Chungcheong Province, and, in June 1580, Yi was transferred to the Jeolla Province, where he handled naval affairs for the first time. It is important to note that the "transfer" from the army to the navy was a pattern that was familiar to the Koreans, since their army and navy were not treated as separate branches of the military.

The first of Yi Sunshin's trials with the bureaucracy began with some malicious rumors that prompted his summoning by the provincial governor, Son Sik, during an inspection tour. Son asked about various military strategies that might reveal Yi's incompetence, but as Yi was able to show his understanding on the subject Son resolved the issue without inflicting any harm toward Yi. More difficult situations followed involving the two men who, one after the other, occupied the position of the Jeolla Left Naval Commander. The first, admiral Saung Bak, ordered Yi to cut down a large Odongnamoo tree in Yi's official residence to make himself a a stringed Korean musical instrument known as Gaumoon-go. Yi disobeyed the admiral on the ground that the tree was a national property that could not be taken for individual use. By the time when the issue had subsided, Saung was replaced by Yi Yong, who was probably influenced by Saung and was also hostile to Yi Sunshin. Yong soon proceeded on an inspection tour to the 5 navy posts under his command. Although the admiral witnessed a considerable amount of shifts that were absent in Yeodo, Sado, Nokdo, and Bangdap, he only reported Yi Sunshin for just 3 such cases that he had found in Balpo. Yi Yong hastily withdrew the charge, however, when Yi Sunshin began his own investigation of the 4 other posts. Later, Yi Yong attempted to discredit Yi Sunshin again in an official evaluation, but the provincial inspector general intervened and nullified the report. Nevertheless, Yi's stubborn refusal to play the political game inevitably had terrible repercussions. In February 1582, Yi Sunshin was expelled from his post after he was falsely denigrated in a weapons inspection by Seo Ik, who still held grudge against Yi since their past dispute.

After four months of dismissal, in May 1582, Yi Sunshin was allowed to return to his former post at the training barracks in Seoul. A chance to further mend his degraded situation came in December of that year when he was visited by his old time friend, Yu Seongnyeong. Yi learned from Yu that he would be able to make acquaintance with Yi Yulgok, who was a very prominent scholar official of the time. Even with Yu's urging to accept, Yi Sunshin refused on the same ground as he had previously with Kim Gwee-yeong's.

In summer of the following year, Yi Yong was promoted as the General of the Hamgyeong Province, whereupon he requested Yi Sunshin to be transferred to his command. It was a friendly request as Yi Sunshin and Yi Yong were reconciled since their confrontation 2 years before. Yi was instated in October 1583 to the position of a border outpost commander that he had once held at the beginning of his career. His new outpost was located 10 miles south of Gyeong-won, in the northernmost part of the Korean peninsula, where the Jurchens posed a major threat. On November 14, Yi staged a successful ambush on the Jurchen raiders and captured their leader. Although the Joseon court initially considered to reward Yi quite generously for this feat, one of his superiors denied this prospect by complaining that the attack was carried out without any prior consultation. Instead, Yi was given a small promotion to the office of overseer at the local training barrack, but he withdrew from service in January 1584 when he received news of his father's death, and spent the next 3 years in ceremonial mourning.

Due to the persistence of Jurchen attacks at the borders, the Joseon court repeatedly inquired when Yi would cease his mourning for his deceased father. In January 1586, Yi Sunshin, who was already at the age of 40, was initially appointed the chief custodian of transportation at the royal palaces but was soon re-assigned to Gyeungheung (present-day Undok) in Hamgyeong Province upon recommendation by Yu Seongnyeong. In August 1587, Yi was put in charge of a fort on the island of Noktundo across the Tumen River, and his duties were expanded to include land inspection of the area. Yi Sunshin reported that Noktundo was not adequately defended and requested assistance from General Yi Il, but he was unable to obtain help. Noktundo was soon invaded by a Jurchens, who took 60 people hostage and proceeded to attack the fort. As most of his troops were away in the fields, Yi only had 10 men at his disposal, but he was able to make the Jurchens as they fell by his arrows. Yi and several others made a chase and was able to save the hostages, while sustaining minimal losses and injury. Afraid of being held responsible for the incident, Yi Il sent a false report to the Joseon court, which resulted in Yi's demotion to the rank of a private, although he would have been executed had not his past achievements been taken into consideration. Yi was restored in January 1588.

A survey conducted by Sooncheonhyang University in 2005 indicated that Koreans in general regard Yi Sunshin to be the greatest figure in Korean history.