Yi Hang-bok (李恒福, 16 November 1556 – 4 July 1618 (13th day of the 5th lunar month)) was a mid-Joseon scholar-official, politician, poet and writer who served in posts including Seungjeongwon ([[Office of the President|Office of the President]]) Senior Secretary ([[Ministry of Land, Infrastructure an
Born~Died 1556 ~ 1618Last edited Oct 15, 2026, 2:51 PM
Yi Hang-bok (李恒福, 16 November 1556 – 4 July 1618 (13th day of the 5th lunar month)) was a mid-Joseon scholar-official, politician, poet and writer who served in posts including Seungjeongwon (Office of the President) Senior Secretary (Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport) and Senior Official of the Dangsanggwan rank (equivalent to a bureau-chief civil servant), and ultimately held the office of Chief State Councillor (Prime Minister) of the Joseon Uijeongbu. He is best known as "Oseong" among the famous pair of officials Oseong and Hanum.
His clan seat was Gyeongju, his courtesy name was Jasang (子常), and his art names were Baeksa (白沙), Pilun (弼雲), Cheonghwa Jinin (靑華眞人), Donggang (東岡) and Sowun (素雲). His posthumous name was Munchung (文忠). He was the son of Yi Mong-ryang (李夢亮), who served as Vice Minister of the Right Counsellor, and the son-in-law of Commander-in-Chief Gwon Yul. He was the founding ancestor of the Baeksa branch (百沙公派) of the Gyeongju Yi clan (慶州 李氏).
He is well known as the subject of the tale of "Oseong and Hanum," which recounts his friendship with childhood friend Yi Deok-hyeong.1
Life
He was born the fourth son of Yi Mong-ryang, who served as Minister of Justice and Vice Minister of the Right Counsellor. It is said that for three days after his birth he neither cried nor nursed, causing everyone to worry, until a fortune-teller observed him and predicted that he would become a great man. From childhood he was clever, and as he grew up he was also skilled at humor, and he is widely known to have been loved by all.2
When he was nine, he lost his father early and was raised under his mother's care, but at sixteen he also lost his mother. As a child he loved play and, leading a band of neighborhood troublemakers, wasted his days, but it is said that his mother's teachings led him to devote himself to study. After completing the mourning period, he entered the Royal Confucian Academy (學宮), where his learning matured further. Gwon Cheol, who later served as Chief State Councillor, lived next door to Yi Hang-bok. Recognizing Yi Hang-bok's character, Gwon Cheol urged his son Gwon Yul to make Yi Hang-bok his son-in-law, and Yi Hang-bok married Gwon Yul's daughter at the age of nineteen.2
In 1580 (13th year of Seonjo), he passed the civil service examination and in 1581 became Editor (檢閱). In the same year, Yi Deok-hyeong also passed the civil service examination at age twenty, placing first among the second-class graduates, and the two began their official careers together. Two years later, in 1582 (15th year of Seonjo), his father-in-law Gwon Yul also passed the civil service examination at age forty-six, placing first among the third-class graduates, and began his official career late.
Official career
In the year following his examination success, he became a Hallim Scholar, and in 1583, on the recommendation of Yi I of Yulgok, he entered the Honorary Hall with his friend Yi Deok-hyeong to undergo Sagadokseo (a royal study leave). He was also recommended for office in Okdang, the Hongmungwan's office. 2 He became Vice Minister of the Board of Revenue, and because he was well versed in the receipt and disbursement of money and grain, he was praised by Minister Yun Du-su. Later, in 1589, as Senior Secretary of the Ministry of Rites, he handled the treason case of Jeong Yeo-rip, for which he was recognized as a third-class Meritorious Subject of Pacifying Rebellion (平難功臣) and enfeoffed as Oseong Gun (鰲城君). He took great care to avoid deep involvement in the turbulent factional politics, remaining always cautious through wisdom and patience. Because he was naturally witty and humorous, it is said that everyone laughed and enjoyed his jokes. However, when the Geonjeo Incident occurred and Jeong Cheol was branded as its ringleader, none of his friends would visit him, but Yi Hang-bok visited him without hesitation. When he was serving as Royal Secretary, he was impeached for negligence in handling the guilt records of Jeong Cheol and was dismissed from office.
In 1590, at age thirty-five, he was promoted to Senior Official of the Dangsanggwan rank and rose to Senior Royal Secretary of the Eastern Division, thereby coming to serve the king at close range.
Imjin War
When the Imjin War broke out in 1592, he served as Royal Secretary-in-Chief and accompanied King Seonjo in fleeing to Kaesong; on the way to flee to Uiju, he was promoted to Vice Minister of Personnel. He then escorted the two princes and first went to Pyongyang, where he was specially promoted to Minister of Justice and then moved to Minister of War, gaining command authority over the repulsion of Japanese forces.
At this time, the Joseon government intended to move King Seonjo to Hamheung, but he insisted that the king should go to Yongbyon in order to maintain contact with the Ming, and the court passed through Yongbyon and Jeongju to reach Uiju. At Uiju, he dispelled the doubts of Hwang Ung-yang (黃應暘), who had come from the Ming, regarding a rumor that Joseon and Japan were cooperating to attack China, and secured the arrival of a great relief army. Meanwhile, after serving as Minister of Justice, during the war he alternately held the post of Minister of War with Yi Deok-hyeong, devoting all his energy to requesting reinforcements from the Ming while also to reorganizing the royal guard, and assisted King Seonjo with proper governance. He also served as Minister of Personnel and Vice Minister of the Right Counsellor.
For this achievement, he became Right State Councillor, and after the end of the war he was recognized as a first-class Meritorious Subject of Protecting the Sovereign (扈聖功臣) and enfeoffed as Oseong Buwongun (鰲城府院君). After serving as Right State Councillor and Left State Councillor, he rose to Chief State Councillor in 1600.2 When Jeong In-hong and others falsely accused Seong Hon, he defended Seong Hon's innocence, but was suspected of being a member of Jeong Cheol's faction, and voluntarily resigned his post as Chief State Councillor, though he retained his courtesy treatment and the king still consulted him on major matters.
During the Imjin War, he also fell into crisis due to the false accusation by the Ming envoy Ding Yingtai (丁應泰). Ding Yingtai, in conflict with General Yang Hao (楊鎬), who had come to Joseon as the commander of Ming relief forces, falsely reported to the Ming court that "Joseon will conspire with Japan to invade the Ming." If the Ming had withdrawn its reinforcements, the military strength would have suffered, and it was a critical moment. However, Yi Hang-bok took Yi Jeong-gu (李廷龜, 1564), then Vice Minister of Public Works, as deputy envoy, and Hwang Yeo-il (黃汝一), known by the pen name Haewol (海月), as recording officer, and crossed to Yeonjing in the Ming, where he caused the Ming to dismiss Ding Yingtai, thereby settling the matter.34
In 1604 (34th year of Seonjo), when the officials involved in the Imjin War were rewarded, he was recorded as a first-class Seonmu Wonjong Meritorious Subject (宣武原從功臣一等). In 1605 he was enrolled as a first-class Cheongnan Wonjong Meritorious Subject.
Confusion and exile under Gwanghaegun's regime
In 1608 (the accession year of Gwanghaegun), shortly after the trial of Yu Yeong-gyeong, while serving as Chief of the Central Office of the Royal Household (영중추부사), he was recorded as a first-class Jeongun Wonjong Meritorious Subject (定運功臣一等). He was then appointed Left State Councillor, and after stepping down, he again served as Right State Councillor and then became Left State Councillor once more.
At the time of the Gyechuk Incident, while concurrently serving as Left State Councillor, he worked as Chief Commissioner of the Military Training Command and as Commissioner of Inspection. Yi Hang-bok was impeached by Jeong In-hong and others at the time of the execution of Prince Imhae; when the execution of Prince Yeongchang and the deposition of Queen Inmok as a commoner were discussed, he devoted all his sincerity and wisdom to them and actively sought to save them even at the risk of his life. When the decision was made to depose the Queen Mother and Queen Inmok was deposed and confined to the Seogung, an inhuman incident, Yi Hang-bok for the first time submitted a memorial and strongly remonstrated against its injustice.3
Although he never joined partisan strife throughout his life, when the Northern Faction proposed the deposition theory, he opposed it and aligned himself with the Western faction (西人). In 1617, while actively expressing opposition to the deposition of Queen Inmok, on 21 December 1617 (24th day of the 11th lunar month) he was stripped of his office and sent into exile in Bukcheong. However, at that time his stroke recurred, leaving him half-paralyzed, and the court was perplexed about how to handle his health. On 12 January 1618 (16th day of the 12th lunar month of 1617), an order was issued to move his place of exile to another location under house arrest (위리 안치). After that, he was continually moved from place to place: to Yonggang on the 17th, to Heungha on the 18th, to Changseong on the 21st, to Gyeongwon on the 24th, and to Samsu on the 28th. On 31 January 1618 (6th day of the 1st lunar month), he was exiled to Bukcheong and died there.3
Posthumous events
On 9 July (18th day of the 5th lunar month), Gwanghaegun, following the precedent after the death of Yi Deok-hyeong, ordered that his official ranks be restored and that a funeral be conducted with proper ceremony, as well as that the local authorities in each place of passage assist with the transport of the coffin. After his death, Jeong Chung-sin accompanied his remains; they were gathered and taken to Gyeonggi Province's Pocheon, where his ancestral mountain lay, departing on 7 August (17th day of the 6th lunar month) and arriving on 31 August (12th day of the 7th lunar month).2 His tomb (Gyeonggi Provincial Monument No. 24) is located at San 4, Geumhyeon-ri, Gasan-myeon, Pocheon-si, Gyeonggi Province.
He was recorded in the Sangsinnok (相臣錄), and his posthumous name was Munchung (文忠).2 Scholars of Bukcheong and Pocheon each built shrines to enshrine him, and from the reign of King Hyojong he was enshrined at Hwasan Seowon (花山書院) and Nodeok Seowon and other places. The friendship with the family of Yi Deok-hyeong (Hanum) continues to this day, and it is said that the family also has ties with the household of Jeong In-bo.3 Among his descendants, Yi Gwang-jwa (李光佐), Yi Tae-jwa (李台佐), Yi Jong-seong (李宗城), Yi Gyeong-il (李敬一) and Yi Yu-won (李裕元) rose to the post of Chief State Councillor, and as a prominent family of the Soron faction, the independence activists Yi Hoe-yeong and Yi Si-yeong brothers are also descendants of Yi Hang-bok.
His life is recorded in a chronology, in the biography written by Jangyu of Gyegok, and in the tomb inscription (神道碑銘) written by Sin Heum of Sangchon.3
Evaluation
By nature he was filial, friendly and gentle, and though in his youth he enjoyed the company of kisaeng, after he gave it up he never again approached women; during the forty years he spent at court, he always strove to remain aloof from factional politics.
He was very close to Gwon Yul, going beyond the relationship of father-in-law and son-in-law, and many anecdotes concerning this have been passed down.
Family
Grandfather: Yi Ye-sin (李禮臣)
Father: Yi Mong-ryang (李夢亮), Vice Minister of the Right Counsellor of the Uijeongbu
Yi Hang-bok's writings were published posthumously in 1629 in Gangneung under the leadership of his disciples, were republished in 1635 in Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province, under the leadership of Jeong Chung-sin, and were published again in 1726 under the leadership of his fifth-generation descendant Yi Jong-seong. Fifteen volumes of his collected works survive today.3
Baeksajip (白沙集)
Bukcheon Illok (北遷日錄)
Sarye Hunmong (四禮訓蒙)
References
This article includes text based on the entry "Re-division of the Yangban Bureaucrats" from the Global World Encyclopedia, distributed under the GFDL or CC-SA license by Daum Communications (now Kakao).
Yi Hang-bok (李恒福, 16 November 1556 – 4 July 1618 (13th day of the 5th lunar month)) was a mid-Joseon scholar-official, politician, poet and writer who served in posts including Seungjeongwon (Office of the President) Senior Secretary (Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport) and Senior Official of the Dangsanggwan rank (equivalent to a bureau-chief civil servant), and ultimately held the office of Chief State Councillor (Prime Minister) of the Joseon Uijeongbu. He is best known as "Oseong" among the famous pair of officials Oseong and Hanum.
His clan seat was Gyeongju, his courtesy name was Jasang (子常), and his art names were Baeksa (白沙), Pilun (弼雲), Cheonghwa Jinin (靑華眞人), Donggang (東岡) and Sowun (素雲). His posthumous name was Munchung (文忠). He was the son of Yi Mong-ryang (李夢亮), who served as Vice Minister of the Right Counsellor, and the son-in-law of Commander-in-Chief Gwon Yul. He was the founding ancestor of the Baeksa branch (百沙公派) of the Gyeongju Yi clan (慶州 李氏).
He is well known as the subject of the tale of "Oseong and Hanum," which recounts his friendship with childhood friend Yi Deok-hyeong.1
Life
He was born the fourth son of Yi Mong-ryang, who served as Minister of Justice and Vice Minister of the Right Counsellor. It is said that for three days after his birth he neither cried nor nursed, causing everyone to worry, until a fortune-teller observed him and predicted that he would become a great man. From childhood he was clever, and as he grew up he was also skilled at humor, and he is widely known to have been loved by all.2
When he was nine, he lost his father early and was raised under his mother's care, but at sixteen he also lost his mother. As a child he loved play and, leading a band of neighborhood troublemakers, wasted his days, but it is said that his mother's teachings led him to devote himself to study. After completing the mourning period, he entered the Royal Confucian Academy (學宮), where his learning matured further. Gwon Cheol, who later served as Chief State Councillor, lived next door to Yi Hang-bok. Recognizing Yi Hang-bok's character, Gwon Cheol urged his son Gwon Yul to make Yi Hang-bok his son-in-law, and Yi Hang-bok married Gwon Yul's daughter at the age of nineteen.2
In 1580 (13th year of Seonjo), he passed the civil service examination and in 1581 became Editor (檢閱). In the same year, Yi Deok-hyeong also passed the civil service examination at age twenty, placing first among the second-class graduates, and the two began their official careers together. Two years later, in 1582 (15th year of Seonjo), his father-in-law Gwon Yul also passed the civil service examination at age forty-six, placing first among the third-class graduates, and began his official career late.
Official career
In the year following his examination success, he became a Hallim Scholar, and in 1583, on the recommendation of Yi I of Yulgok, he entered the Honorary Hall with his friend Yi Deok-hyeong to undergo Sagadokseo (a royal study leave). He was also recommended for office in Okdang, the Hongmungwan's office. 2 He became Vice Minister of the Board of Revenue, and because he was well versed in the receipt and disbursement of money and grain, he was praised by Minister Yun Du-su. Later, in 1589, as Senior Secretary of the Ministry of Rites, he handled the treason case of Jeong Yeo-rip, for which he was recognized as a third-class Meritorious Subject of Pacifying Rebellion (平難功臣) and enfeoffed as Oseong Gun (鰲城君). He took great care to avoid deep involvement in the turbulent factional politics, remaining always cautious through wisdom and patience. Because he was naturally witty and humorous, it is said that everyone laughed and enjoyed his jokes. However, when the Geonjeo Incident occurred and Jeong Cheol was branded as its ringleader, none of his friends would visit him, but Yi Hang-bok visited him without hesitation. When he was serving as Royal Secretary, he was impeached for negligence in handling the guilt records of Jeong Cheol and was dismissed from office.
In 1590, at age thirty-five, he was promoted to Senior Official of the Dangsanggwan rank and rose to Senior Royal Secretary of the Eastern Division, thereby coming to serve the king at close range.
Imjin War
When the Imjin War broke out in 1592, he served as Royal Secretary-in-Chief and accompanied King Seonjo in fleeing to Kaesong; on the way to flee to Uiju, he was promoted to Vice Minister of Personnel. He then escorted the two princes and first went to Pyongyang, where he was specially promoted to Minister of Justice and then moved to Minister of War, gaining command authority over the repulsion of Japanese forces.
At this time, the Joseon government intended to move King Seonjo to Hamheung, but he insisted that the king should go to Yongbyon in order to maintain contact with the Ming, and the court passed through Yongbyon and Jeongju to reach Uiju. At Uiju, he dispelled the doubts of Hwang Ung-yang (黃應暘), who had come from the Ming, regarding a rumor that Joseon and Japan were cooperating to attack China, and secured the arrival of a great relief army. Meanwhile, after serving as Minister of Justice, during the war he alternately held the post of Minister of War with Yi Deok-hyeong, devoting all his energy to requesting reinforcements from the Ming while also to reorganizing the royal guard, and assisted King Seonjo with proper governance. He also served as Minister of Personnel and Vice Minister of the Right Counsellor.
For this achievement, he became Right State Councillor, and after the end of the war he was recognized as a first-class Meritorious Subject of Protecting the Sovereign (扈聖功臣) and enfeoffed as Oseong Buwongun (鰲城府院君). After serving as Right State Councillor and Left State Councillor, he rose to Chief State Councillor in 1600.2 When Jeong In-hong and others falsely accused Seong Hon, he defended Seong Hon's innocence, but was suspected of being a member of Jeong Cheol's faction, and voluntarily resigned his post as Chief State Councillor, though he retained his courtesy treatment and the king still consulted him on major matters.
During the Imjin War, he also fell into crisis due to the false accusation by the Ming envoy Ding Yingtai (丁應泰). Ding Yingtai, in conflict with General Yang Hao (楊鎬), who had come to Joseon as the commander of Ming relief forces, falsely reported to the Ming court that "Joseon will conspire with Japan to invade the Ming." If the Ming had withdrawn its reinforcements, the military strength would have suffered, and it was a critical moment. However, Yi Hang-bok took Yi Jeong-gu (李廷龜, 1564), then Vice Minister of Public Works, as deputy envoy, and Hwang Yeo-il (黃汝一), known by the pen name Haewol (海月), as recording officer, and crossed to Yeonjing in the Ming, where he caused the Ming to dismiss Ding Yingtai, thereby settling the matter.34
In 1604 (34th year of Seonjo), when the officials involved in the Imjin War were rewarded, he was recorded as a first-class Seonmu Wonjong Meritorious Subject (宣武原從功臣一等). In 1605 he was enrolled as a first-class Cheongnan Wonjong Meritorious Subject.
Confusion and exile under Gwanghaegun's regime
In 1608 (the accession year of Gwanghaegun), shortly after the trial of Yu Yeong-gyeong, while serving as Chief of the Central Office of the Royal Household (영중추부사), he was recorded as a first-class Jeongun Wonjong Meritorious Subject (定運功臣一等). He was then appointed Left State Councillor, and after stepping down, he again served as Right State Councillor and then became Left State Councillor once more.
At the time of the Gyechuk Incident, while concurrently serving as Left State Councillor, he worked as Chief Commissioner of the Military Training Command and as Commissioner of Inspection. Yi Hang-bok was impeached by Jeong In-hong and others at the time of the execution of Prince Imhae; when the execution of Prince Yeongchang and the deposition of Queen Inmok as a commoner were discussed, he devoted all his sincerity and wisdom to them and actively sought to save them even at the risk of his life. When the decision was made to depose the Queen Mother and Queen Inmok was deposed and confined to the Seogung, an inhuman incident, Yi Hang-bok for the first time submitted a memorial and strongly remonstrated against its injustice.3
Although he never joined partisan strife throughout his life, when the Northern Faction proposed the deposition theory, he opposed it and aligned himself with the Western faction (西人). In 1617, while actively expressing opposition to the deposition of Queen Inmok, on 21 December 1617 (24th day of the 11th lunar month) he was stripped of his office and sent into exile in Bukcheong. However, at that time his stroke recurred, leaving him half-paralyzed, and the court was perplexed about how to handle his health. On 12 January 1618 (16th day of the 12th lunar month of 1617), an order was issued to move his place of exile to another location under house arrest (위리 안치). After that, he was continually moved from place to place: to Yonggang on the 17th, to Heungha on the 18th, to Changseong on the 21st, to Gyeongwon on the 24th, and to Samsu on the 28th. On 31 January 1618 (6th day of the 1st lunar month), he was exiled to Bukcheong and died there.3
Posthumous events
On 9 July (18th day of the 5th lunar month), Gwanghaegun, following the precedent after the death of Yi Deok-hyeong, ordered that his official ranks be restored and that a funeral be conducted with proper ceremony, as well as that the local authorities in each place of passage assist with the transport of the coffin. After his death, Jeong Chung-sin accompanied his remains; they were gathered and taken to Gyeonggi Province's Pocheon, where his ancestral mountain lay, departing on 7 August (17th day of the 6th lunar month) and arriving on 31 August (12th day of the 7th lunar month).2 His tomb (Gyeonggi Provincial Monument No. 24) is located at San 4, Geumhyeon-ri, Gasan-myeon, Pocheon-si, Gyeonggi Province.
He was recorded in the Sangsinnok (相臣錄), and his posthumous name was Munchung (文忠).2 Scholars of Bukcheong and Pocheon each built shrines to enshrine him, and from the reign of King Hyojong he was enshrined at Hwasan Seowon (花山書院) and Nodeok Seowon and other places. The friendship with the family of Yi Deok-hyeong (Hanum) continues to this day, and it is said that the family also has ties with the household of Jeong In-bo.3 Among his descendants, Yi Gwang-jwa (李光佐), Yi Tae-jwa (李台佐), Yi Jong-seong (李宗城), Yi Gyeong-il (李敬一) and Yi Yu-won (李裕元) rose to the post of Chief State Councillor, and as a prominent family of the Soron faction, the independence activists Yi Hoe-yeong and Yi Si-yeong brothers are also descendants of Yi Hang-bok.
His life is recorded in a chronology, in the biography written by Jangyu of Gyegok, and in the tomb inscription (神道碑銘) written by Sin Heum of Sangchon.3
Evaluation
By nature he was filial, friendly and gentle, and though in his youth he enjoyed the company of kisaeng, after he gave it up he never again approached women; during the forty years he spent at court, he always strove to remain aloof from factional politics.
He was very close to Gwon Yul, going beyond the relationship of father-in-law and son-in-law, and many anecdotes concerning this have been passed down.
Family
Grandfather: Yi Ye-sin (李禮臣)
Father: Yi Mong-ryang (李夢亮), Vice Minister of the Right Counsellor of the Uijeongbu
Yi Hang-bok's writings were published posthumously in 1629 in Gangneung under the leadership of his disciples, were republished in 1635 in Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province, under the leadership of Jeong Chung-sin, and were published again in 1726 under the leadership of his fifth-generation descendant Yi Jong-seong. Fifteen volumes of his collected works survive today.3
Baeksajip (白沙集)
Bukcheon Illok (北遷日錄)
Sarye Hunmong (四禮訓蒙)
References
This article includes text based on the entry "Re-division of the Yangban Bureaucrats" from the Global World Encyclopedia, distributed under the GFDL or CC-SA license by Daum Communications (now Kakao).