Yi Sunshin

PD Image
Portrait of Admiral Yi, drawn in 1952.

Yi Sunshin (이순신:李舜臣, April 28, 1545 – December 16, 1598) was a Korean admiral renowned for his naval victories against the invading Japanese during the Korean War of 1592-1598.

Family & early life

Yi Sunshin was born on April 28, 1545 in the Geoncheon-dong area of Seoul. Yi was the third child of the four sons begot by Yi Jeong and Chogyae Byeonssi. Despite their aristocratic yangban lineage, the family lived a modest life, since Yi's father opted to avoid pursuing the promising path of a Joseon Dynasty scholar official. The reason for this withdrawal of ambitions was Jeong's unpleasant memory of a violent political purge 20 years before, in which many government officials were killed, and many others, including Sunshin's grandfather, Yi Baek-rok, were demoted to the lower ranks.

The eldest son of the family was Heuishin; the second eldest, Yoshin; and the youngest, Ushin. When Chogyae Byeonssi was pregnant with her third child, Yi Baek-rok, who was now deceased, appeared to her in a dream and said, "that child will turn out to be extraordinary, so name him 'Sunshin'." Thus, like his brothers, Yi Sunshin was named a "vassal" (shin) of one of the sage kings of ancient China (in his case, Shun).

Not much is known about Yi's early life. The only significant detail regarding the time he grew up in Seoul is that he became friends with Yu Seongnyong, who later would become a high ranking scholar official and contribute to Yi's appointment to admiralty. After about 9 years in the capital city, Yi Sunshin followed his family to the Bam-bat-ma-eul village in Asan, where their economic hardships could be better managed with support from their relatives on the mother's side.

Yi was said to be well liked by the other children in the neighborhood despite his being a newcomer. Among the various fun activities that Yi and his friends pursued were the war games, in which Yi was consistently picked as a captain. Yi also enjoyed practicing archery. These boyish interests were rather a fitting contrast to his strict rearing at home, where Yi studied Chinese classics with his brothers.

When Yi was around 20 years old, he married Sangju Bangssi, who was the only daughter of Sangju Bangjin, a high-ranking officer in the military. After the marriage, when Bangjin made it known that Yi had potential in the military profession, Yi quit his Confucian studies and committed himself to military curriculum. Yi formally began training for the military examination in October, 1566, at the age of 21. During the 6 years that he trained, Yi fathered 2 sons: his first son, Yi Hwae, in February, 1567, and, in February, 1571, Yi Ull, who would be renamed as Yi Yer by his father during the war.

Yi took the byeolshi exam in August, 1572. In one of the tests, Yi made a huge blunder by falling off a horse while trying to string his bow. Although Yi was injured in his leg, he tied twigs of willow around his wound as remedy and finished the remainder of the exam. Despite this, Yi failed, but he prepared again for 4 more years and passed the much more difficult, triennial Siknyaunmoogwa exam in February, 1576, at the age of 31.

Career in the army

Yi Sunshin began his military service with his assignment to the very cold and remote region of Samsoo in the Hamgyeong Province. There Yi was to maintain a small fort and protect the civilians, who were sometimes raided by the Jurchen tribesmen across the border.

A survey conducted by Sooncheonhyang University in 2005 indicated that Koreans in general regard Yi Sunshin to be the greatest figure in Korean history.