Yun Sa-ro (尹師路, 1423 – 1463) was a civil official and royal in-law of the early Joseon period, and the husband of Princess Jeonghyeon, an illegitimate daughter of King Sejong. He became a half-brother-in-law of King Sejo, and after his death the daughter of his fifth-generation cousin-uncle Yun Ho was invested as Queen Jeonghyeon, consort of King Seongjong, making him a double in-law of the royal family.1 Yun Pil-sang, a prime minister during the reign of King Seongjong, was his younger cousin by four years.
In 1436 (18th year of King Sejong), at age 14, he married Princess Jeonghyeon and was invested as Lord Yeongcheon (鈴川君). In 1444 he became Jaui Daebu (資義大夫), and the following year Tonghon Daebu (通憲大夫). In 1452 (2nd year of King Munjong), he became Yeongcheon Commandery Lord (鈴川尉), and served as a Supervisor of the Royal Tomb Guard and Chief Director of the Bin-jeon Dogam. He contributed to Sejo's Gyeyujeongnan and was named First-class Meritorious Subject of Left Wing, and was specially appointed Left Chancellor of the Uijeongbu concurrently Chief Director of the Royal Justice Office, Chief Director of the Office for Publication of Buddhist Scriptures, and Senior Official of the Office of Royal Merit, and was elevated to Yeongcheon Buwongun (Lord of Yeongcheon Palace).
Yun Pil-sang was his younger cousin, and Yun Eun-ro and Yun Tang-ro were his younger sixth-generation cousins. Also, Queen Jeonghui, wife of King Sejo, was of his clan: her father Yun Beon was a younger cousin of Yun Gon, Yun Sa-ro's grandfather. He was also a co-in-law of Han Myeong-hoe, as his son Yun Ban (尹磻) married one of Han Myeong-hoe's daughters. His art names were Gwaong (果翁) or Juong (周翁), and his family seat was Paepyeong. He was from Gyeonggi Province.
Life
Early life
Yun Sa-ro was born in 1423 to Yun Eun (尹垠), who as magistrate of Gwangju was posthumously given the rank of Uijeongbu Yeonguijeong, and to Lady Yi, daughter of Lee Su-sang (李守常), a Judge of the Yebinsi (禮賓寺). His grand-uncle Yun Beon's daughter married Grand Prince Suyang, the second son of King Sejong, thereby making the family royal in-laws.
Yun Sa-ro likewise married Princess Jeonghyeon in 1436 (18th year of King Sejong) at age 14 and was invested as Lord Yeongcheon (鈴川君). In 1444 he became Jaui Daebu (資義大夫), and the following year Tonghon Daebu (通憲大夫).
In 1452 (2nd year of King Munjong) he was enfeoffed as Yeongcheon Commandery Lord (鈴川尉), and after King Munjong's death he served as Supervisor of the Royal Tomb Guard (守陵官) and Chief Director of the Bin-jeon Dogam (殯殿都監提調). He was then promoted to Sungdeok Daebu (崇德大夫) of Senior First Rank, and in 1454 (2nd year of King Danjong) he received 70 gyeol of land under the gwajeon system as Gwangdeok Daebu (光德大夫).
Cooperation in the Gyeyu Incident and King Sejo's rise
He then cooperated with King Sejo's Gyeyujeongnan, and after Sejo's accession was registered as First-class Meritorious Subject of Left Wing (輸忠衛社同德佐翼功臣). In 1456 (2nd year of King Sejo) he was specially appointed Left Chancellor of the Uijeongbu concurrently Chief Director of the Royal Justice Office, and while in that post interrogated and punished a faction opposed to Sejo. He was promoted to Seongnok Daebu (成祿大夫) and became Chief Secretary of the Central Secretariat (領中樞院事). The following year he was enfeoffed as Yeongcheon Buwongun (鈴川府院君). In 1461 he became Chief Director of the Office for Publication of Buddhist Scriptures, and the following year, while serving as Senior Official of the Office of Royal Merit, he died of illness. He was 40 years old.
When Yun Sa-ro died in 1463, King Sejo suspended court audiences and markets for two days. The Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty recorded the following about him: [He was intelligent and quick to grasp others' intentions, but in discussions of wealth he did not leave even the smallest profit. Whenever he went to see the king he wore an old hat and dirty clothes, and the king always said, "That man is greedy and stingy, and he suddenly became rich; he must have accumulated tens of thousands of coins." Yet he bowed humbly to scholars and was not arrogant, so many people followed him. His posthumous name was Chunggyeong (忠景): uprightness and fairness are called chung (忠), and aiding others according to righteousness is called gyeong (景).]23
His fifth-generation cousin-uncle Yun Ho, of similar age, later became the father-in-law of King Seongjong.
Assessment
The Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty describe Yun Sa-ro as follows:
Yun Sa-ro married Princess Jeonghyeon and was favored by the king, but his character was childish, though he was rather quick-witted, and he was skilled at usury. He piled up many thousands of seok of grain at his farms in the provinces, and the storehouse of his residence in the capital was so vast that it could be seen from several li away. Such was the extent of his exactions.
— Veritable Records of King Sejo, 3rd year (1457), 10th month, 24th day, 3rd entry
Family
- Grandfather: Yun Hui-je (尹希齊)
- Father: Yun Eun (尹垠)
- Mother: Lady Yi, daughter of Lee Su-sang (李守常)
- Maternal grandfather: Lee Su-sang (李守常)
Relationships with Queen Jeonghyeon, Queen Janggyeong, Queen Munjeong, and Lady Yun of Sukbin
Queen Jeonghyeon, Queen Munjeong, Queen Janggyeong, and Consort Sukbin Yun were all descendants of Yun Cheok (尹隻), Goryeo Military Records Minister (軍簿判書) and Yeongpyeong Commandery Lord (鈴平君); they descend from the third son, Munha Pyeongni Yun Seung-sun (尹承順), and the fifth son, Dodo Pansu Yun Seung-rye (尹承禮), among Yun Cheok's five sons.
King Seongjong's third consort, Queen Jeonghyeon, was a fourth-generation descendant of Yun Seung-sun and a descendant of Yun Gon. The line runs Yun Gon – Yun Samsan – Yun Ho – Queen Jeonghyeon. Yun Gon was the fourth-generation elder cousin of Yun Beon, the father-in-law of King Sejo, and the grand-uncle of Queen Jeonghui; Yun Ho was a second-generation grandson of Yun Beon and a second-generation grand-nephew of Queen Jeonghui. Yun Sa-ro, the grandson of Yun Gon through his second son Yun Hui-je (the elder brother of Yun Samsan) (Yun Gon – Yun Hui-je – Yun Eun – Yun Sa-ro), was the paternal cousin-brother of Queen Jeonghyeon as well as of Yun Eun-ro and Yun Tang-ro, and the sixth-generation elder cousin of Yun Pil-sang. Yun Sa-ro, who was of similar age to his cousin-uncle Yun Ho, married Princess Jeonghyeon, a daughter of King Sejong, early and became Buma Yeongcheon-wi.
Queen Jeonghui, King Sejo's principal consort, was the granddaughter of Yun Seung-rye and daughter of Chief State Councillor Yun Beon. Yun Beon was a younger cousin of Yun Gon and the great-uncle of Yun Ho. Queen Janggyeong, the second continuing consort of King Jungjong, was a fifth-generation descendant of Yun Seung-rye and a fourth-generation descendant of Yun Beon. The line through Queen Jeonghui's elder brother Yun Sa-bun runs Yun Beon – Yun Sa-bun – Yun Bo – Yun Yeo-pil – Queen Janggyeong and Yun Im, siblings. Also, Yun Yeo-hae, exiled when Yun Im was executed, was the younger brother of Yun Yeo-pil.
Queen Munjeong, the third consort of King Jungjong, and Consort Sukbin Yun, a concubine of King Injong, were descendants of Yun Sa-heun, son of Yun Beon and younger brother of Queen Jeonghui and Yun Sa-bun. The line runs Yun Beon – Yun Sa-heun – Yun Gye-gyeom – Yun Wook – Yun Ji-im – Queen Munjeong, Yun Won-hyeong, Yun Won-ro, and Yun Won-ryang, siblings. Consort Sukbin Yun was the daughter of Yun Won-ryang. Queen Janggyeong, the second consort of King Jungjong, and Queen Munjeong, his third queen consort, were nine-generation cousins (uncle and nephew generations); Consort Sukbin Yun, concubine of King Injong, was the tenth-generation grand-niece of Queen Janggyeong, who was the mother-in-law generation to Queen Munjeong's maternal nephew.
Furthermore, Queen Janggyeong, the second continuing consort of King Jungjong, was the eleventh-generation niece of Queen Jeonghyeon, the third consort of King Seongjong; Queen Munjeong, the third consort, was the twelfth-generation granddaughter-generation of Queen Jeonghyeon. Consort Sukbin Yun was of the great-grandchild generation of Queen Jeonghyeon's clan. Yun Sa-ro, the son-in-law of King Sejong, was the eleventh-generation uncle of Queen Janggyeong, the twelfth-generation clan great-uncle of Queen Munjeong, and the thirteenth-generation great-great-uncle of Consort Sukbin Yun.
Relationship with Han Myeong-hoe
Yun Sa-ro and Han Myeong-hoe were doubly related by marriage. The second wife of his great-grandfather Yun Gon was a daughter of Han Sang-jil. Among Han Sang-jil's sons, Han Gi was the father of Han Myeong-hoe, so Yun Gon was Han Myeong-hoe's aunt's husband. Also, Yun Sa-ro was Han Myeong-hoe's inner-cousin-grandson. Yet Yun Sa-ro's eldest son, a great-grandson of Yun Gon, married one of Han Myeong-hoe's daughters, the elder sister of Queen Konghye, forming a second in-law relationship.
Notes