Yun Hyo-jeon (尹孝全, 1563–1619) was a civil official and Neo-Confucian scholar of mid-Joseon. His birth name was Hyo-seon (孝先), his courtesy names were Yeong-cho (詠初) or I-yeong (貽永), and his pen name was Gicheon (沂川). His factional affiliation was the Northern Faction, specifically the Small Northern faction (소북), and he was the father of Yun Hyu. His family seat was Namwon. He was a grand-disciple of Seo Gyeong-deok and studied under Min Sun, a disciple of Seo Gyeong-deok, and under Jeong Gu, a disciple of Yi Hwang.
He entered office through eumseo (hereditary appointment) and passed the civil service examination while serving as hyeongam (magistrate). In the late reign of Seonjo he supported Gwanghaegun, opposed the faction of Yu Yeong-gyeong, and presided over the trial of Prince Imhae. In 1613 he was registered as a second-class Ik-sa meritorious subject. He later served as Daesaheon and Jiuigeumbusa before dying in office as Buyun of Gyeongju. After the Injo Restoration of 1623 he was stripped of his honors for his alleged involvement in the deposition proposal against Queen Inmok, but he was later restored through a memorial submitted by his son Yun Hyu, and he was posthumously promoted to Chief State Councillor of the State Council.
He revered Hwadam Seo Gyeong-deok and took part in the publication of the Hwadam Collection (화담집), Seo Gyeong-deok's collected works, and later took the lead in its publication. He belonged to the Northern Faction and at one point served as tutor to the royal princes under Gwanghaegun. Because of his participation in the government of Gwanghaegun as a Northern Faction member, the Westerners later used his family's political record to attack his son Yun Hyu. His title was initially Grand Lord (帶原君), later changed to Grand Lord of Grace (帶恩君). He was the son-in-law of Yi Sun-sin through a secondary daughter, and one of his concubines was a daughter of one of Yi Sun-sin's concubines.
Biography
Early life
His father was Yun Hui-son (尹喜孫), a Confucian scholar who served as Seonmurang and was posthumously granted the title of Grand Lord of Daeseong and Chief State Councillor. His mother, of the Yi clan, was a daughter of Yi Su (李琇). He was the father of the White Tiger Yun Hyu (尹鑴). The Daeseong title and the posthumous conferral of State Council Chief State Councillor held by his father were honors conferred later, when Yun Hyo-jeon was registered as a first-class Yeongsa meritorious subject under Gwanghaegun. He was originally named Yun Hyo-seon (尹孝先) and later changed his name to Hyo-jeon (孝全).
His great-grandfather, Yun Ja-gwan (尹子寬), studied under Jo Gwang-jo (趙光祖) of the Jeongam school, but was implicated in the Gimyo Purge and suffered for it. After the Sarim faction rose to power, his family's affiliation became the Northern Faction and later the Small Northern branch. His grandfather, Yun Ho (尹虎), was a Saengwon who studied as a student at Seonggyungwan before taking office and rising to Vice Minister of the Ijo.
His father, Yun Hui-son, was a Neo-Confucian scholar who studied under Yi Jung-ho (李仲虎) and under Yi Jun (李準) and Yi Pung-hu (李風后), both followers of Jo Gwang-jo. He served as Seonmurang through hereditary appointment but died young at the age of 33. Yun Hyo-jeon spent an unfortunate childhood but later restored the family's fortunes. He studied under Min Sun, a disciple of Seo Gyeong-deok. Later he also studied under Jeong Gu (鄭逑), known as Hanggang, a disciple of Yi Hwang and Jo Sik (1501).
He changed his birth name from Hyo-seon to Hyo-jeon in 1612 because it was the same as that of Yu Hyo-seon (柳孝先), who had associated with the so-called "Seven Friends of Yeogang" (驪江七友) during the Gyechuk Incident and suffered for it. He revered Hwadam Seo Gyeong-deok and, after taking office, took part in the publication of Seo Gyeong-deok's collected works, the Hwadam Collection, and later took a leading role in its publication.
He married a daughter of Yun Dam-hyu (尹覃休) of the Paepyeong Yun clan, but lost his first wife. He then remarried a daughter of Kim Deok-min (金德珉), a scholar known as Ganseojae, of the Gyeongju Kim clan. From his second wife, Kim, he had a son, Yun Hyu, born late in life.
Official career
One of his concubines was a secondary daughter of Yi Sun-sin. His son by a concubine of the Deoksu Yi clan, Yun Yeong, later married a secondary daughter of the concubine of Oh-ri Yi Won-ik, a Southern Faction minister of the time, and thus became related by marriage to Yi Won-ik, Heo Mok, and others.
He entered office through eumseo. In April 1592 (the 25th year of Seonjo), when the Imjin War broke out, he fought the Japanese invaders as a righteous army leader. For this service he was later registered as a Seonmu Wonjong meritorious subject. After the war he became tutor to the royal princes under Seonjo, but in April 1600 he resigned and went back to his hometown to care for his aged mother. Seonjo specially promoted him to sixth rank and appointed him to a local post. In 1601, while serving as magistrate of Songhwa (松禾縣監), he devoted himself to restoring the Hyanggyo (local Confucian school) that had been burned during the Imjin War, and he received praise from Seong I-mun (成以文), Governor of Hwanghae Province.
In 1602 he became Hyeongjo Jwarang. In 1603, when the Veritable Records of King Myeongjong, which had been lost during the Imjin War, were recompiled, he served as Sub-Editor of the Chunchugwan (春秋館記事官) with the rank of Joseondaebu (朝散大夫) while serving concurrently as Ijo Jwarang, and became one of the compilers of the Veritable Records of King Myeongjong. In 1604 he took up his post as magistrate of Yeongyu (永柔縣令). That year the Pyeongan Province royal inspector Sin Ryul (申慄) reported on his service and rated him as having "a clean character and upright conduct," and Seonjo bestowed on him a set of outer and inner garments (表裏 1襲).
While serving as Hyeonryeong in 1604 (the 37th year of Seonjo), he was registered as a third-class Seonmu Wonjong meritorious subject. At that time he had not yet changed his name, so his meritorious subject certificate records his birth name, Yun Hyo-seon. Afterward he became hyeongam, and in 1605 (the 38th year of Seonjo), while serving as hyeongam, he passed the special civil service examination (증광문과) in the third rank and became Jeongeon, but he resigned in disgrace because of problems arising from his earlier service as Yeongyu magistrate. He then served as Sujan of the Hongmungwan, and in 1606 he went to Hwanghae Province as a royal secret inspector (암행어사). After returning he served as Jeongeon, Sahonbu Jipyeong, and Seonggyungwan Jeonjeok. In 1607 he served as Gyori, Jikgang, and Heonnap, and then again as Jikgang and Gyori.
Immediately after Gwanghaegun's accession he served as Sub-Editor of the Veritable Records of Seonjo, with the rank of Tonghun Daebu, Hongmungwan Jikjehak, Jijegyo, and Gyeongyeon Sigangwan, and he took part in compiling the Veritable Records of King Seonjo. He then held several offices and became tutor to the royal princes under Gwanghaegun, and later, after serving as Vice Director of the Royal Secretariat, he was sent out as Governor of Chungcheong Province.
In 1608 (the year of Gwanghaegun's accession), immediately after the trial of Yu Yeong-gyeong, he was registered as a first-class Wonjong meritorious subject under the designation of Jeongun (定運功臣一等).
While serving as magistrate in the Honam region, he and Kim Si-yang (金時讓), a county assistant who oversaw the provincial examinations, were impeached when the examination topic conflicted with the policies of the court at that time. Gwanghaegun was supported by Yun Hyo-jeon, who opposed the faction of Yu Yeong-gyeong in the late reign of Seonjo and protected Gwanghaegun, and at the beginning of Gwanghaegun's reign he presided over the trial of Prince Imhae.
Later career
In 1610 (the 2nd year of Gwanghaegun), after serving as Seungjiseung Secretary and Vice Director, in 1613 (the 5th year of Gwanghaegun), for his part in the Gyechuk Incident, he was registered as a second-class Ik-sa meritorious subject under the designation of Hyochung Bunui Byeonggi Gyeolchaek Iksa Meritorious Subject (效忠奮義炳幾決策翼社功臣). He then served as Daesaheon and Jiuigeumbusa. In 1614 he took up his post as Governor of Gonghongdo.
In 1615 he was enfeoffed as Grand Lord (帶原君) and became Jiuigeumbusa, and he requested to resign, but his request was not granted. While in conflict with Yi Icheom and Jeong In-hong, in 1617 (the 9th year of Gwanghaegun), as Daesaheon of the Office of the Inspector-General, he opposed the confinement of the Queen Dowager, and after serving as Commander of the Capital Garrison and Jiuigeumbusa, he was pushed out to become Buyun of Gyeongju in the same year.
However, because his faction was the Northern Faction and he had participated in the government of Gwanghaegun, the Westerners later used his family's political record to attack his son Yun Hyu. He was originally Grand Lord (帶原君) and later changed to Grand Lord of Grace (帶恩君). In 1618 he cooperated with the line of Yi Icheom, joined the Great Northern Faction, but died of illness at his post in Gyeongju in 1619. He was 56 years old at his death.
After death
He had served as tutor to Crown Prince Jil, the son of Gwanghaegun, so when he died on the 15th day of the 3rd month, the Crown Prince requested and sent him a funeral gift. In March 1623 (the 15th year of Gwanghaegun), after the Injo Restoration, his title as Ik-sa meritorious subject was revoked. Afterward, when the Westerners came to power, he was also punished on the grounds that he had been involved in the deposition proposal against Queen Inmok, but his son Yun Hyu petitioned for his vindication, citing that he had not actively taken part in the deposition proposal against Queen Inmok. He was restored, and later was posthumously granted the rank of Daegwang Bogukjeong Seungnok Daebu and promoted to Chief State Councillor of the State Council.
On the 2nd day of the 7th month of 1623 (the 1st year of Injo), Yi Deok-on (李德溫), a Hogun (護軍), submitted a memorial claiming that he had encouraged public opinion favoring the exhumation of Mongneung (the tomb of Seonjo) and requested his punishment, but the matter soon faded away. His remains were interred in Geumsa-myeon of Yeoju, but in the 2000s they were moved to the family graves in Daejeon.
Family
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Great-grandfather: Yun Ja-gwan (尹子寬, 1490–1550)
- Grandfather: Yun Ho (尹虎)
- Father: Yun Hui-son (尹喜孫)
- Mother: Lady Yi, daughter of Yi Su (李琇)
- Secondary mother: name unknown
- Secondary son: Yun Hyo-jong (尹孝宗)
- Secondary son: Yun Hyo-jeung (尹孝曾)
- Secondary son: Yun Hyo-gwang (尹孝光)
- Principal wife: Paepyeong Yun clan, daughter of Yun Dam-hyu (尹覃休)
- Second wife: Gyeongju Kim clan, daughter of Kim Deok-min (金德珉) of Ganseojae
- Son: Yun Hyu (尹鑴, pen name Baekho, 1617–1680)
- Concubine: secondary daughter of Yi Won-ik of the Jeonju Yi clan
- Illegitimate son: Yun Yeong (尹鍈, 1611–1691)
- Illegitimate son's mother: Deoksu Yi clan, secondary daughter of Yi Sun-sin (Chungmu Gong)
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Maternal grandfather: Yi Su (李琇)
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Father-in-law: Yun Dam-hyu (尹覃休)
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Father-in-law: Kim Deok-min (金德珉, scholar, pen name Ganseojae)
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Concubine's father-in-law: Yi Sun-sin (李舜臣, 1545–1598; he took one of his secondary daughters as a concubine)
Other
He praised Seo Gyeong-deok highly, saying that "one volume of Seo Gyeong-deok's writings is comparable to ten volumes by other scholars."