Yun Chwi-dong (尹取東, July 18, 1798 – December 21, 1863) was a filial son and civil official of late Joseon. He was the seventh-generation descendant of Yun Du-su. His great-grandfather was Yun Se-gyeom (尹世謙), Office Head of the Office of Royal Relatives, and his grandfather was Yun Bal (尹潑), who served as a nangcheong and was posthumously appointed Vice Minister of the Board of Revenue and Secretariat Vice Director. He was the third son of Yun Deuk-sil (尹得實), who was posthumously appointed Right State Councilor of the State Council with the rank of Gachangdaebu. He rose to the post of Vice Minister of the Central Chungchu Office and was posthumously appointed Chief Councilor of the State Council. He was the great-grandfather of Yun Bo-seon, the former fourth president of the Republic of Korea.
He came from a declining yangban family, and although he was orphaned at a young age, through his own diligence he accumulated property and farmland across the area of Dunpo-myeon, Asan County, which became a springboard for his descendants' success. His clan seat is the Haepyeong branch of the Haepyeong Yun clan. His courtesy name was Sa-im (士任), and his pen name was Sindeokje (新德齋). He was from Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province.
Life
Birth and family background
Yun Chwi-dong was born in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, as the third son of Yun Deuk-sil (尹得實), who held the rank of Tongdeoklang in 1798 and was posthumously appointed Vice Minister of the Board of Personnel with the rank of Tongjeong Daebu and Right Vice Minister of the Uijeongbu with the rank of Gachangdaebu. He was a descendant of the brothers Yun Du-su and Yun Geun-su, both of whom were state councilors during the reign of King Seonjo.
His sixth-generation ancestor Yun Heun was a Meritorious Subject for Protecting the Nation (扈聖功臣) during the Imjin War, and rose to the rank of Jajeon Daebu, Chief Military Official, and was posthumously appointed Chief State Councilor. His fifth-generation ancestor Yun Chwi-ji entered government service through the eumseo system and rose to the post of Vice Chief of the Central Chungchu Office with the rank of Gaeui Daebu. His great-great-grandfather Yun Chae served as Sayeo of the Sejawiwisa and was posthumously appointed Vice Minister of the Board of Personnel. His great-grandfather Yun Se-gyeom served as magistrate of Sunheung, magistrate of Seongju, and Sachesomcheomjeong, and rose to the post of Dongji Dongnyeongbu Sa. However, his grandfather Yun Bal was the son of a secondary wife, and was unable to hold office. He was briefly appointed as a nangcheong from 1791 to 1794, when his house was incorporated during the construction of the temporary palace of Suwon. However, after he left the nangcheong post in 1794, he was never again appointed to office.
His paternal cousin Yun Deuk-u served as magistrate of Dongrae, Vice Minister of the Board of War, and magistrate of Gwangju, but he was attacked several times because he was regarded as a disciple of the Soron scholar Shin Chi-un.1 His grandfather Yun Bal (尹潑) held no office until his house was incorporated into the temporary palace of Suwon, after which he briefly served as nangcheong from 1791 to 1794. However, he was not reappointed to a current post. His father Yun Deuk-sil conducted examinations of Confucian scholars and military men in Suwon, but he repeatedly received low grades. His father Yun Deuk-sil rose to the rank of Tongdeoklang during his lifetime, but because he was fond of alcohol, he died early at the age of 38.2 According to Yun Bo-seon, because of this, Yun Chwi-dong's second son Yun Yeong-yeol later repeatedly warned his own descendants to be careful about drinking.
Early life
However, his family had declined, and his earlier ancestors had lived at the site of the Gyeonggi Suwon temporary palace, until his grandfather's generation moved down to Mosan-myeon (毛山面), Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province. From childhood he was extremely devoted to his parents; he personally carried firewood and served his parents with great effort. He actively cared for his parents during illness.3 Even during his father's generation, the family lived in Gajang-dong, Mosan-myeon, Cheonan, and the graves of his relatives are located across Mosan-myeon and Ilbuk-myeon in Cheonan.
He lost his parents at a young age, served his eldest brother as though he were his father, and raised his nephews as his own children. Later, when famine struck, he paid the government grain levies on behalf of all the poor, and the residents even erected a monument in his honor. He also repeatedly petitioned on behalf of his grandfather, who had died unjustly, and the king, moved by his filial devotion, readily cleared his name and even granted him a posthumous title.3
His brothers were Yun Gyo-dong and Yun U-dong. Having lost his father early, he served his eldest brother Yun Gyo-dong as a parent. It is also said that after settling in Asan, he had his nephews Yun Chi-jung (尹致仲) and Yun Chi-seok (尹致奭), grandsons of his elder brother Yun U-dong who had died young, come and settle in Sinhang-ri, Dunpo-myeon, Asan County.
In his generation as the third son, the family moved from Mosan-myeon, Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, to nearby Sinhang-ri, Sambuk-myeon (三北面), Asan, South Chungcheong Province. Later, parts of Mosan-myeon and Ilbuk-myeon in Cheonan County were incorporated into Asan County and combined with Sambuk-myeon of Asan County to form Dunpo-myeon, Asan County. He rose to the post of Vice Minister of the Central Chungchu Office.
Self-made success
After living in Cheonan, Yun Chwi-dong moved to Asan, where he worked diligently and accumulated wealth.4 His family gradually became one of the wealthy families of Asan, South Chungcheong Province.4 As the third son of a farmer from a poor, declining yangban family, he worked hard to obtain farmland, and his descendants were able to rise to prominence again on the basis of the wealth he had built.
His eldest brother Yun Gyo-dong, who had no sons, adopted Yun Paeng-yeol (尹彭烈), a son of a distant relative, but Yun Paeng-yeol also died in 1833, September 23, four years after his elder brother Yun Gyo-dong died. He cared for Yun Bong-yeol, the son of his second elder brother Yun U-dong, as though he were his own son, but Yun Bong-yeol died on July 3, 1850. He also raised and cared for the two sons of his nephew Yun Bong-yeol. The sons of Yun Bong-yeol, Yun Chi-jung and Yun Chi-seok, branched off to a place near the Sinchon hamlet of Sinhang-ri; Yun Chi-jung settled at Bangok (芳谷) Balak in Sinhang-ri, and Yun Chi-seok settled at Bangi-gol hamlet in Sinhang-ri.
Having had no son for a long time, even past the age of 40, he had sons Yun Ung-yeol and Yun Yeong-yeol by his second wife, of the Andong Kim clan (安東金氏), after the age of 40. His official rank during his lifetime reached Chief State Councilor. After his death, due to the honors earned by his sons Ung-yeol and Yeong-yeol, he was posthumously appointed Vice Minister of the Board of Personnel with the rank of Gachangdaebu, and after the establishment of the Korean Empire he was again posthumously appointed Jeongchan of the State Council (議政府贊政) with the rank of Jachidaebu.
Anecdotes
It is said that while returning from Dunpo-jang, he found a monk who had collapsed on the road, cared for him attentively, and in return the monk showed him a auspicious burial site.5 Afterward he relocated his father's grave there, and it is said that his son's generation later achieved success.5 He first buried his father Yun Deuk-sil near the tomb area of General Yi Sun-sin, which the monk had pointed out, but he was instructed that if the descendants of Yi Sun-sin discovered it, he should say it had been done by mistake. Afterward, it is said he temporarily buried the remains in a flat, concealed grave near the tomb of Yi Sun-sin before moving them to their present location (Dongcheon-ri, Eumbong-myeon, Asan-si, San 34-2). The grave he chose holds his father Yun Deuk-sil and his mother, his elder brother Yun Gyo-dong and his wife, and his first wife of the Goryeong Shin clan.
His grave is located in the family cemetery of Seokgok-ri, Dunpo-myeon, Asan-si, South Chungcheong Province. Behind his grave, to the north, lie the grave of his grandmother of the Jeonju Yi clan and, above it, the grave of his grandfather Yun Bal. The grave of his second wife of the Andong Kim clan is located on the opposite side to the north of the grave of his son Yun Ung-yeol, below.
Family
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Grandfather: Yun Bal (尹潑, 1728 – 1798, posthumously appointed Vice Minister of the Board of Revenue with the rank of Tongjeong Daebu)
- Uncle: Yun Deuk-nul (尹得訥, 1747 – November 21, 1816)
- Uncle: Yun Deuk-sul (尹得述, 1758 – September 24, 1790)
- Uncle: Yun Deuk-gil (尹得吉), adopted by uncle Yun Hang (尹沆)
- Uncle: Yun Deuk-chil (尹得七)
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Father: Yun Deuk-sil (尹得實, 1768 – 1823), fifth-generation descendant of Yun Heun6, posthumously appointed Right State Councilor of the State Council with the rank of Gachangdaebu.7
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Mother: Posthumous Lady Jeongbu of the Namyang Hong clan7 (1765 – May 7, 1816)
- Elder brother: Yun Gyo-dong (尹敎東, 1786 – May 8, 1829)
- Sister-in-law: Lady Na of the Naju Im clan (羅州林氏, February 3, 1794 – October 2, 1834)
- Nephew: Yun Paeng-yeol (尹彭烈, 1801 – September 23, 1833)
- Niece-in-law: Jeonju Yi clan, 1813 – October 18, 1894
- Elder brother: Yun U-dong (尹祐東, March 15, 1788 – April 30, 1827)
- Sister-in-law: Ubong Yi clan (1797, September 10 – November 3, 1834)
- Nephew: Yun Bong-yeol (尹鳳烈, 1821 – July 3, 1850)
- Niece-in-law: Andong Kim clan (1818 – February 8, 1843), daughter of Kim Se-in (金世仁)
- Niece-in-law: Miryang Park clan (1822 – 1881)
- Great-nephew: Yun Chi-jung (尹致仲, October 8, 1841 – September 10, 1896)
- Great-nephew: Yun Chi-seok (尹致奭)
- Sister: Haepyeong Yun clan
- Brother-in-law: Kim Sang-jeong (金相鼎, Gwangsan Kim clan)
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Wife: Goryeong Shin clan (6 高靈申氏, 1797 – March 17, 1827)
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Wife: Andong Kim clan (安東金氏, 1810? – October 1900), daughter of Kim Gi-geon (金驥健)
- Daughter: Haepyeong Yun clan (1835 – 1920)
- Son-in-law: Yi Won-si (李源始, of the Yongin clan), two sons and two daughters
References
Miscellaneous
He had no son for a long time, and then at over 40 years of age had a son by his second wife, of the Andong Kim clan. Because of this, there was a large difference in generation and age from his other relatives.
Since his second wife, also of the Andong Kim clan, had no sons, he prayed at Ungdal Mountain near Asan, and obtained his first son Yun Ung-yeol. Afterward, when a second son was born, he named him Yun Yeong-yeol after the name "Yeong" from "Yeongung" (hero). Believing that he had obtained two sons through prayers offered on the mountain, he named the mountain where he prayed Jip-ungdal Mountain. The place where his wife of the Andong Kim clan prayed came to be called Yeomsudae.
His elder brother Yun Gyo-dong had no son, so during his lifetime he adopted Yun Paeng-yeol, but after Yun Gyo-dong's death, Yun Paeng-yeol also died young without an heir. His second elder brother Yun U-dong and Yun U-dong's son Yun Bong-yeol also died early. Therefore, Yun Chwi-dong, the third son, took responsibility for raising the young grandnephews and performing ancestral rites.
Notes