Park Won-yang (朴元陽, 1804 – 17 December 1884 (1 November 1884 by the lunar calendar)) was a civil official, Neo-Confucian scholar, educator and politician of late Joseon. He was the father of Park Yeong-gyo and Park Yeong-hyo, the brothers who were central figures of the Enlightenment Party and the leader of the Gapsin Coup, and he was the son of Park Je-dang.
He studied scholarship without taking public office, and only late in life entered government service through the hereditary privilege system, serving as magistrate and provincial police official, among other posts. While serving as magistrate of Heungdeok, he was promoted on the report of the royal secret inspector Yi Don-sang. In 1871, when his son Park Yeong-hyo married Princess Yeonghye, the youngest daughter of King Cheoljong, he was promoted several times and rose to vice minister, vice minister, and vice minister of the Office of the Chief Military Affairs Commissioner and Minister of Works.
He was implicated in the Gapsin Coup, stripped of his office, and died of starvation in the Office of Royal Justice. Later, on a memorial submitted by his son Park Yeong-hyo, he was rehabilitated, posthumously conferred the post of Chief State Councillor, and given the posthumous title Jeonggan (貞簡). His courtesy name was Gyeongyu (景猷), his family seat was Banam (潘南), and his posthumous title was Jeonggan. He came from Suwon.
Life
Park Won-yang was from Suwon in Gyeonggi-do. He was the grandson of Park Hae-su, a magistrate of Jinan and a figure of the Noron faction, and the son of Park Je-dang, and he was the father of the brothers Park Yeong-gyo, Park Yeong-ho and Park Yeong-hyo, who were central figures of the Enlightenment Party. Park Gyu-su and Park Ji-won, major political figures of the time, were distant kinsmen, being descendants of Grand Duke Geumyang Park Mi, the brother of his eighth-generation ancestor Park Eon. As a scholar, he did not take office but studied Neo-Confucianism, and he trained disciples including Eo Yun-jung. He first married Lady Song of Jinchun, the daughter of Song Yeon, but she died, and he then took Lady Yi of Jeonui, the daughter of Yi Yun-haeng, as his wife, and had the brothers Park Yeong-gyo, Park Yeong-ho and Park Yeong-hyo.
In 1846 (the 12th year of King Heonjong), he passed the Saengwon examination. He then passed the Jinsa examination and entered government service through hereditary privilege, serving as magistrate of Heungdeok in 1868. In November of that year, he was specially promoted on the report of Yi Don-sang, the Royal Secret Inspector of Jeolla Right Province. In 1870, while still serving as magistrate of Heungdeok, he was again specially promoted, and he held posts including magistrate of the Office of Royal Justice. In 1871 (the 9th year of King Gojong), when his son Yeong-hyo became the son-in-law of King Cheoljong, he was promoted repeatedly through hereditary privilege, and in early 1872 he rose to Junior Second Rank Vice Minister of the Board of Works, and in 1873 to vice minister. In July 1874 (the 11th year of King Gojong), he served as vice commander of the Office of the Chief Military Affairs Commissioner, and after serving as commandant of Beopseongpo, he became Donguigum in 1875. In 1882, as acting guard commander, he was promoted to Senior Second Rank in consideration of his age of 79, and later was promoted to Senior First Rank, and in 1883 he rose to Minister of Works. He was then appointed Jiuigeum. However, he was impeached by a royal secret inspector for misconduct during his earlier tenure as commandant of Beopseongpo.
In 1884 (the 21st year of King Gojong), he rose to Great Guard Commander, but that same year, when the Gapsin Coup led by the Enlightenment Party figures Kim Ok-gyun, Park Yeong-hyo, Park Yeong-gyo, Seo Jae-pil, Yun Chi-ho, Hong Yeong-sik and others failed, he was implicated and stripped of his office. Immediately after the failure of the Gapsin Coup, his wife Lady Yi was killed, and his eldest son Park Yeong-gyo was shot dead by Qing troops together with Hong Yeong-sik, while he himself was imprisoned and died of starvation. He was 80 years old at the time.
According to Baekbeom Ilji by Kim Gu and My Memoirs by Cho Byeong-ok, he was imprisoned, went several days without food, and died miserably of starvation. Baekbeom Ilji by Kim Gu and My Memoirs by Cho Byeong-ok record that, while imprisoned, he tore off and ate the straw mat (rice straw mat) in the prison and starved to death. His family members were all executed, but his eldest daughter, who had married Yi Il-yeong early, and his second daughter, who had married Kim Cheol-hyeon, escaped death because, as married women, they were considered members of another family, and they avoided becoming government slaves. His second son Park Yeong-ho fled to the Japanese legation and narrowly survived, and among the sons of his eldest son Park Yeong-gyo, only Park Tae-seo and a few others were rescued by their wet nurse, escaped, and narrowly survived.
After his death
His body was left unattended, and later his disciple Eo Yun-jung, then senior secretary of the left of the Royal Secretariat, collected the bodies of Park Won-yang and his wife and buried them. Afterward, Kim Yun-sik, the brother-in-law of his elder son by adoption, and Eo Yun-jung and others submitted a special memorial appealing for lenient treatment regarding the burial. In August 1894, on the proposal of Park Yeong-hyo, his official rank was restored on 13 November. He was then posthumously conferred the rank of Grand Preceptor of Great Merit, Senior First Rank, and Chief State Councillor of the State Council. After King Sunjong ascended the throne, in August of 1910 (the 4th year of Yunghui), the posthumous title Jeonggan (貞簡) was conferred.
Family
- Great-grandfather: Park Sang-no (朴相鲁, 1741 – 1783)
- Great-grandmother: ?
- Grandfather: Park Hae-su (朴海壽, 1763 – 1821)
- Grandmother: ?
- Uncle (father's elder brother): Park Je-sang (朴齊尙, 1782 – 1836)
- Father: Park Je-dang (朴齊堂, 1784 – 1858)
- Mother: Lady Yi of Yeonan (延安李氏, 1783 – 1818)
- Stepmother: Lady Yun of Chilwon (漆原尹氏, 1795 – ?)
- Wife (primary): Lady Song of Jinchun (鎭川宋氏, 1803 – 1822, daughter of Song Seong-hyu)
- Wife (secondary): Lady Yi of Jeonju (全州李氏, 1802 – ?, daughter of Yi Dal-tae)
- Wife (secondary): Lady Yi of Jeonui (全義李氏, 1817 – 1884, daughter of Yi Yun-haeng)
- Eldest daughter: Lady Park of Banam
- Son-in-law: Yi Il-yeong
- Eldest son: Park Yeong-gyo (朴泳敎, 1849 – 1884)
- Daughter-in-law: Lady Yi of Deoksu
- Second son: Park Yeong-ho (朴泳好, 1852 – 1897)
- Second daughter: Lady Park of Banam
- Son-in-law: Kim Cheol-hyeon
- Third son: Park Yeong-hyo (朴泳孝, 1861 – 1939)
- Daughter-in-law: Princess Yeonghye (永惠翁主, 1858 – 1872)
- In-law: Cheoljong