Yun Pil-sang (尹弼商, 1427 – intercalary 4th month, 19th day of 1504) was a civil official, royal in-law, and meritorious subject of the Hun-gu faction in the early Joseon period. His family seat was Papyeong (坡平), and his courtesy names were Tangjwa (湯佐), Yangjwa (陽佐), and Yanggyeong (陽卿). In 1455 he was recorded as a Wonjong meritorious subject of the second rank through eumseo, and he later passed the Jungsi munkwa and served as Vice Secretary of the Right and Chief Royal Secretary. In 1467, for his service in suppressing Yi Si-ae's Rebellion, he quickly transmitted royal orders and gathered intelligence, and he was honored as a first-rank Jeokgae meritorious subject. After King Sejo died, he served for three years as a tomb keeper at Gwangneung and looked after it. In 1470 he was named among the Jwari Meritorious Subjects and others. He then served as Minister of Personnel, Right Assistant State Councillor, and Left Assistant State Councillor, after which he became Right State Councillor and Left State Councillor and rose to Chief State Councillor, receiving the title Papyeong Prince Consort (坡平府院君). In 1498, together with Yi Geuk-don (李克墩) and Yu Ja-gwang (柳子光), he led the Mu-o Purge and took part in purging the emerging Sarim faction, including Kim Il-son (金馹孫), Kwon O-bok (權五福), and Jeong Yeo-chang (鄭汝昌), and he eliminated his political rivals. However, he himself was implicated in the deposition of Deposed Queen Yun, was exiled to Jindo, and was sentenced to death by poison.
He was the son of Yun Gyeong (尹坰), a Vice Minister, the great-grandson of Yun Gon, and the first cousin once removed of Yun Ho, the maternal father of Queen Jeonghyeon, consort of King Seongjong. Yun Sa-ro, who married Princess Jeonghyeon, a daughter of King Sejong by a secondary consort, was his older cousin. Therefore he was a royal in-law across four reigns, those of King Sejong, King Sejo, and King Seongjong. He was honored three times as a meritorious subject, as a Wonjong, Jeokgae, and Jwari meritorious subject, and in 1498 he received a stool and staff from Yeonsangun and entered the Giro-so. Yun Sa-ro, the husband of Queen Jeonghyeon, a daughter of King Sejong by a secondary consort, was his older cousin.
Biography
Early career
Birth and family
He was the great-grandson of Sojeong Gong Yun Gon (尹坤). His grandfather was Chanchan Seong (贈贊成) Huije (希齊), and his father was Vice Minister Yun Gyeong (尹坰). His mother was the daughter of Yi Mok (李霂).1 He belonged to the clan of Queen Jeonghui, consort of King Sejo, and Yun Ho, the maternal father of Queen Jeonghyeon, was his uncle by a younger generation and a powerful figure during the reign of King Seongjong. Yun Sa-ro, husband of Princess Jeonghyeon, a daughter of King Sejong by a secondary consort, was the son of his uncle Yun Eun (尹垠), and he was his older cousin.
He was clever from an early age, had an excellent memory, and did not easily forget what he had seen once. He was small in stature but bold and wise. Princess Jeonghyeon Ongju, a daughter of King Sejong by a secondary consort, married his older cousin Yun Sa-ro, which made the family royal relatives.
Study and examinations
Through diligent study, he passed the Sami examination in 1447, in the reign of King Sejong, and in 1450 (first year of King Munjong) he passed the Chujang munkwa (秋場文科).
In 1453 (second year of King Danjong) he became Jeojak, and in 1455, right after Sejo's accession, he served as Hojo Jwarang and was recorded as a Wonjong meritorious subject of the second rank (原從功臣). He then became a Seoyeon official (書筵官) at the Gyeongyeon Office. In his youth he was poor, but he was quick-witted and nimble in his conduct.
Political career
After Sejo's accession
In 1457 he passed the Jungsi munkwa, and in 1462 he lectured Mencius to the crown prince as a Seoyeon official.
In 1463 he was promoted to Vice Secretary of the Right in the Royal Secretariat. He later served as Chief Royal Secretary and held other posts, and he attended closely to King Sejo and enjoyed the king's favor. After becoming Vice Secretary of the Right in 1463, he served as Secretary of Hyeongbang and Chief Royal Secretary, and he received the trust and favor of Sejo at his side.
When he served as Secretary of Hyeongbang, the weather was very cold, so he examined in detail the prisoners in the provinces, recorded them in a small book, and answered immediately when Sejo asked about the state of the prisoners, thereby strengthening his trust.2 Because of this, his official rank continued to rise.2 Afterward, by handling the transmission of royal orders well, he also gained Sejo's deep trust. In 1464 he served as Secretary of the Sugung (守宮承旨), and afterward he went through Seungjeongwon Left Secretary and Left Vice Secretary before again becoming Chief Royal Secretary.
Yi Si-ae's Rebellion and campaign against the Jurchens
In 1465 he went to the Royal Court of Justice (義禁府) and personally interrogated the cases of Kim Ja-haeng (金自行) and Yun Hong (尹洪), and that May he again became Left Secretary of the Royal Secretariat. In 1467, during Yi Si-ae's Rebellion, as Chief Royal Secretary of the Royal Secretariat, he quickly handled the transmission of royal orders. When the rebellion was pacified, he was specially promoted to Right Assistant State Councillor of the State Council with the rank of Jahon Daebu, in recognition of his merit in learning the secrets of the rebellion in advance and in quickly handling the case. He was also enfeoffed as Prince of Papyeong (坡平君) as a first-rank holder of the title Jeongchung Chulgi Pouui Jeokgae Gongsin (精忠出氣布義敵愾功臣).
In 1467 he took part in the campaign against the Jianzhou Guard, distinguished himself, and in December of that year was recorded as a first-rank military merit subject and promoted two rank grades.
That same year he consoled the troops who returned after subduing the Yain (野人) living along the Paje River (婆猪江), and the following year, as Anju Seonmusa (安州宣撫使), he received the envoys of the Ming dynasty. That year, when Sejo died, he served for three years as a tomb keeper (守墓官) of Gwangneung (光陵, the tomb of Sejo). In the same year he was named a Jwari meritorious subject.1
After Seongjong's accession
In 1471 a drought struck Gyeongsang Province and famine became severe. As Right Assistant State Councillor, he became Jinhyeolsa (賑恤使) and relieved the starving people, and he was then concurrently appointed Governor of Gyeongsang Province, where he relieved the hungry until the following year. For this merit he received fur clothing (毛衣) and deerskin boots (鹿皮靴) as gifts. In 1474 he concurrently served as Minister of Personnel and as a senior official of the Uigumbu. However, Han Myeong-hoe and No Sa-sin and other powerful ministers intervened deeply in the personnel authority of the Ministry of Personnel, so he protested, resigned, and temporarily retired.1
Soon he was reinstated, and in 1475 he took part in deliberations on whether to enshrine the spirit tablet of Prince Hoegan in the royal ancestral shrine. In 1477 the Three Offices impeached him for seizing the property of the people to fill his own coffers, and he was dismissed from office.1
Soon he was released and reinstated, and he became Left Assistant State Councillor (左贊成). While serving as Left Assistant State Councillor and as envoy to request approval, he returned from the Ming court and reported in detail on the conditions of the Jianzhou Guard Yain. The following year he passed through Yeongjungchubu-sa (領中樞府事) and rose to Right State Councillor (右議政).
In 1479 (ninth year of King Seongjong), when the Ming attacked the Jianzhou Guard, he became Left State Councillor of the State Council and served as Commander-in-Chief of the Western Campaign (西征都元帥). Together with Kim Gyo (金嶠), Yi Jong-saeng (李從生), and others, he led 5,000 troops, aided the Ming dynasty in fighting, and crushed the Jianzhou Guard. In this battle he killed many enemy commanders and captured many prisoners, and for this achievement he received rewards from the emperor of the Ming dynasty.
Later career
Conflict with the Sarim faction
The Sarim faction, after taking control of the Three Offices, attacked the Hun-gu faction through memorials and other means. Among them, the one who attacked Yun Pil-sang was Yi Mok (李穆), a student at Sungkyunkwan and a disciple of Kim Jong-jik. In early 1493 he submitted a memorial impeaching Chief State Councillor Yun Pil-sang, then a powerful figure of the time, on the grounds that he venerated Buddhism. Because of this, Yun Pil-sang suffered a political blow, and later this became the occasion for his participation in the elimination of the Sarim faction during the Mu-o Purge.
Mu-o Purge
Immediately after the accession of Yeonsangun, he entered the Giro-so (耆老所), and in 1496 (second year of Yeonsangun) he received a stool and staff (几杖) from King Yeonsangun and enjoyed his deep trust. In 1498 (fourth year of Yeonsangun) he led the Mu-o Purge together with Yi Geuk-don (李克墩) and Yu Ja-gwang (柳子光), and took part in purging the emerging Sarim faction, including Kim Il-son (金馹孫), Kwon O-bok (權五福), and Jeong Yeo-chang (鄭汝昌). At that time he also linked Yi Mok (李穆), a rival who had earlier impeached him as a treacherous advocate of Buddhism, to the disciples of Kim Jong-jik (金宗直) and removed him. At the same time, Kim Gwang-pil, Nam Gon, Jeong Gwang-pil, and others were also expelled.
Gapja Purge and death
In 1504 (tenth year of Yeonsangun) he was named as a person involved in the deposition case and was posthumously punished for failing to prevent Queen Yun's deposition. He was exiled to Jindo (珍島), and on the 19th day of the intercalary 4th month he received a sentence of death by poison. Even at the moment of death he acted no differently from usual, and when he took the poison but did not die, he is said to have taken poison and killed himself. He was 77 years old at his death.
On 23 May of that year, his sons Yun Suk (尹俶), Yun Wi (尹偉), and Yun Jun (尹俊) were all executed by beheading, and afterward his close relatives were also implicated, dismissed from office, or restricted from holding official posts.
Posthumous events
When Yun Pil-sang died in exile, his body was left in the fields for ten days and no one collected it for burial. It is said that crows and kites did not eat it and that neighborhood dogs did not look at it. It is also recorded that even the intellectuals of Jindo passed by, looked at his corpse, and mocked it. Long afterward someone collected his remains.
He was rehabilitated after the Jungjong Restoration.
Evaluation and criticism
Yun Pil-sang took part in the elimination of the disciples of Kim Jong-jik during the Mu-o Purge by raising the issue of a passage criticizing Sejo's usurpation of the throne, and because of this he was not sympathized with even though he was a victim of the Gapja Purge. Apart from the Sarim faction, he was also criticized for having merely ingratiated himself with the will of the king.
Family relations
- Great-great-grandfather: Yun Seung-sun (尹承順)
- Great-grandfather: Yun Gon (尹坤, ? – 1422)
- Grandfather: Yun Huije (尹希齊)
- Father: Yun Gyeong (尹坰)
- Mother: daughter of Yi Mok
- Wife: Changnyeong Seong clan, daughter of Magistrate Seong Heo
- Eldest son: Yun Gan (尹侃), Counselor (參議)
- Second son: Yun Suk (尹俶), Secretary (承旨)
- Son-in-law of eldest daughter: Shin Jo-ui (辛祖義), Magistrate (牧使)
- Son-in-law of second daughter: Kim Jin (金震), County Magistrate (郡守)
- Son-in-law of third daughter: Ji Jun (池浚), District Magistrate (縣監)
- Maternal grandson: Ji Yeong-su (池永洙)
- Uncle: Yun Eun (尹垠)
- Grand-uncle: Yun Samsan (尹三山)
- Great-great-uncle: Yun Seung-rye (尹承禮)
Related works
Television
- Seoljungmae (MBC, 1984–1985, actor: Park Young-ji)
- Han Myeong-hoe (KBS, 1994–1994, actor: Ban Mun-seop)
- King and Queen (KBS, 1998–2000, actor: Choi Byung-hak)
- Queen Insu (JTBC, 2011–2012, actor: Yun Cheol-hyeong)
- Traitor: The Thief of the People (MBC, 2017–2017, actor: Choi Yong-min)
Film
References
- Veritable Records of King Sejo
- Veritable Records of King Seongjong
- Veritable Records of King Yeonsan
- Daedong Yasung
- Yeonryeo Silgisul
Footnotes