Chae Su (蔡壽, August 25, 1449 (lunar August 8) – December 12, 1515 (lunar November 8)) was a civil official of the early Joseon period. His family seat was Incheon. His courtesy name was Gijji (耆之), and his pen name was Najae (懶齋).1 He was the author of the early Joseon Hangul novel 《Seolgongchanjeon》.
He passed the Saengwonsi in 1468, and in 1469 (the 1st year of King Yejong) he passed the sikjeon civil service examination at the top of his class, going on to serve as Daesaheon, Governor of Chungcheong Province (Gwanchalsa), Vice Minister of Revenue (Champ'an) of the Ministry of Revenue, and other posts. In 1506 he took part in the Jungjong Restoration, was honored as a Meritorious Subject of Bunui Jeongguk (奮義靖國功臣), and was enfeoffed as Lord of Incheon (仁川君). At the time of the purge of Queen Yun, he asked that Lady Yun be pardoned. After the Jungjong Restoration he was ranked fourth among the meritorious subjects, but he gained notoriety for writing Seolgongchanjeon, which satirized the court of the time. His surviving work is the two-volume 《Najaejip》. He was posthumously granted the rank of Jwachanseong, and his posthumous name was Yangjeong (襄靖). He was a disciple of Kim Jong-jik. Yi Ja and Kim An-ro were his sons-in-law.
Life
Early career
His father was Shin Bo (申保), who served as a county magistrate and as Magistrate of Namyang, was posthumously granted the rank of Vice Minister of Personnel (贈 吏曹參判), and was posthumously enfeoffed as Lord of Soseong (邵城君). His grandfather was Yun (倫), who served as Left Pilseon of the Crown Prince's Lecture Office and was posthumously granted the rank of Vice Director of Rites (贈 禮曹參議). His great-grandfather was Yeong (泳), Vice Director of the Military Supplies Office (軍資監少監). His mother was of the Munhwa Yu clan (文化柳氏), the daughter of Yu Seung-sun (柳承順). He was the 11th-generation descendant of Chae Bomun (蔡寶文), a civil official of the Goryeo period in the reign of King Uijong. One of his sisters became the wife of Yi Wi (李偉), Pyeongseong Dojeong and grandson of Grand Prince Hyoryeong Bo. Yi Simwon, Lord of Jugye, was his nephew through his sister.
His wife was of the Andong Kwon clan (安東權氏), the daughter of Kwon I-sun (權以順), and she was from Hamchang in North Gyeongsang Province.
He began his studies at the age of 11, and he was praised for his skill in writing poetry by Jeompilje Kim Jong-jik, under whom he studied as a disciple. Later he entered Seonggyungwan to continue his studies, passed the Saengwonsi in 1468 (the 14th year of King Sejo), and in 1469 (the 1st year of King Yejong), as a Seonggyun Saengwon,2 he passed the sikjeon munkwa at the top of his class and was immediately appointed Gamchal of the Office of the Inspector-General.3 In 1470 (the 1st year of King Seongjong) he became Sujan of the Yemun-gwan, and afterward he served as Gyori of the Hongmun-gwan, Jipyeong, and Jeongnang of the Ministry of Personnel, taking part in the compilation of the Veritable Records of King Sejo and the Veritable Records of King Yejong as one of the recording officers of the Chunchugwan.
Official career
He was also accomplished in music, and in 1475 (the 6th year of King Seongjong), during the reign of King Seongjong, he was Jeongnang of the Ministry of Personnel and also oversaw affairs of the Jangakwon.4 In 1476, while serving as Jeongnang of the Ministry of Personnel, he passed the civil examination of that year's Jungsi at second place (二等).
In 1477 (the 8th year of King Seongjong) he became Eungyo and impeached the misdeeds of Im Sa-hong (任士洪).5 He served successively as Right Secretary, Vice Secretary, Left Secretary, Right Chief Secretary, Left Chief Secretary, and Chief Secretary, and while serving as Daesaheon he asked for the relief of Queen Yun (廢妃尹氏), arguing that she was the birth mother of the crown prince. This angered the king, and he withdrew from office.3 Together with Kwon Gyeong-u (權景祐), Gyori of the Hongmun-gwan, he submitted a memorial saying: "Although Lady Yun was deposed, she was still the consort of the Supreme Sovereign (至尊). Yet now she is treated with contempt and made to live among the common people, and her household is poor so that her support is strained. We request that she be made to dwell separately in a single room and that the government provide her with food." King Seongjong said, "This is flattery toward the crown prince, aiming to secure a foundation for the future," and he gathered his ministers in a large assembly to deliberate. He revoked their credentials and interrogated them, but he did not yield.
In 1485 (the 16th year of King Seongjong) he was finally reinstated and became Governor of Chungcheong Province.6 In 1488 (the 19th year of King Seongjong) he went to Ming China as the Seongjeolsa (聖節使) envoy and returned, and after serving as Daesaseong of the Seonggyungwan (成均館大司成), in 1494 (the 25th year of King Seongjong) he became Vice Minister of Revenue.7 However, after Yeonsangun ascended the throne, he consistently sought outside posts, such as Left Assistant Magistrate of Hanseongbu, and thus he avoided the Mu-o literati purge. In 1499 (the 5th year of Yeonsangun) he was appointed as Teukjingwan. After 1499 he was appointed Vice Minister of Rites, Vice Minister of Justice, and other posts, but he made excuses of illness and did not take them up.3 In January 1503 he was appointed Governor of Pyeongan Province, but the censors repeatedly argued against the impropriety of the appointment, and in February of that year he asked to resign. Yeonsangun, however, calmed the matter and he took up his post in Pyeongan Province.
During the Gabsa literati purge, he was exiled with a beating to Danseong in Gyeongsang Province for having handed over to the Royal Historian the crimes of Queen Yun that Queen Dowager Jeonghui had earlier written in the vernacular script (諺書), and he was released shortly afterward. In 1506 he resigned on account of illness, and in the same year he was appointed Yongyangwi Hogun (龍驤衛護軍).
Later life
In 1506, when the Jungjong Restoration broke out, he joined it, was honored as a fourth-rank Meritorious Subject of Bunui Jeongguk,3 was promoted to Gajeong Daebu, and was enfeoffed as Lord of Incheon.
Afterward, ashamed to serve in government alongside his juniors, he gave up his office and retired to Hamchang (咸昌) in Gyeongsang Province, where he built Kwaejejeong (快哉亭) and lived in seclusion, spending his remaining years in reading and in pleasures of the arts. He was intelligent and broadly learned, and his knowledge extended to the books of the realm, the Sangyeong (山經), the Jiji (地誌), and even the paegwan sosol (稗官小說).6
His paegwan novel Seolgongchanjeon, written in 1511, has survived. Seolgongchanjeon was a novel in Hangul, and at the time his remarks satirizing the meritorious subjects, and his statement that even a king who was like Zhu Quanzhong would go to hell, offended King Jungjong. Because it concerned the afterlife, it drew criticism from the Sarim and became a topic of controversy. Seolgongchanjeon was designated a banned book, and every copy was burned. However, Yi Mun-geon, known as Mukjae, left a manuscript copy, which was passed down to later generations. Afterward he withdrew from office, moved to Iyan in Hamchang County (later Iyan-myeon, Sangju, North Gyeongsang Province), and spent his remaining years there, building Kwaejejeong, until he died in 1515 (the 10th year of King Jungjong).
In 1703 (the 29th year of King Sukjong), the Sarim of Hamchang established the Imho Seowon (臨湖書院) in his hometown, and he was enshrined there together with Pyo Yeon-mal (表沿沫), Hong Gwi-dal (洪貴達), and others. His surviving work is the two-volume 《Najaejip》.
Death
In March of that year he was buried at Yulgok in Hamchang (later Yulgok-ri, Gonggeom-myeon, Sangju, North Gyeongsang Province). He was posthumously granted the rank of Jabeonchanjang (資憲大夫 議政府左參贊 兼 知經筵春秋館事 藝文館提學) and was later given the additional posthumous rank of Jwachanseong, and his posthumous name was Yangjeong (襄靖).
His tomb is located at San 71, Yulgok-ri, Gonggeom-myeon, Sangju, North Gyeongsang Province, and in front of the tomb stands the Stele of Chae Su (懶齋 蔡壽 神道碑), written by Nam Gon (南袞). The stele has suffered severe weathering and wear, but its contents can be known through the Gukjo Inmulgo and the Najaejip. The Stele of Chae Su was designated a Provincial Tangible Cultural Heritage of North Gyeongsang Province on August 3, 1998.
The copy of Seolgongchanjeon that he wrote was discovered in 1997, having been transcribed by Yi Mun-geon of Mukjae.
Works
This novel was a classical novel written by Chae Su around 1511 (the 11th year of King Jungjong). The Veritable Records of King Jungjong record it as "薛公瓚傳",8 Eo Suk-gwon's Paegwan japgi records it as "薛公瓚還魂傳",9 and the Korean-script version refers to it as "Seolgongchani" (설공찬이).
The original Chinese-script text has not survived since it was burned on royal order after September 1511, when it was judged to be a corrupting influence on the people because its content contained the Buddhist doctrine of transmigration and retribution.10 Its Korean-script manuscript, however, was secretly written on the reverse side of the third volume of Yi Mun-geon's Mukjae ilgi (默齋日記), together with other classical novels in Korean-script versions such as Wangsijeon, Wangsibongjeon, Bigunjeon, and Jusaengjeon, and it was discovered in 1997. The Korean-script version survives only up to page 13, with its latter half missing. However, the content of the ending can be inferred from Eo Suk-gwon's remarks.9
Family
- Grandfather: Chae Ryun (蔡倫)
- Father: Chae Sin-bo (蔡申保, 1420 – 1489)
- Mother: Munhwa Yu clan, daughter of Yu Seung-sun (柳承順)
- Younger brother: Chae Nyeon (蔡年)
- Younger brother: Chae Jae (蔡載)
- Wife: Andong Kwon clan, daughter of Kwon I-sun (權以順)
- Son: Chae Yun-gwon (蔡胤權)
- Son: Chae So-gwon (蔡紹權) (1480 – 1548)
- Daughter-in-law: Cheonan Jeon clan, daughter of Jeon Yang (全讓)
- Son: Chae Seung-gwon (蔡承權)
- Son-in-law: Kim An-ro
- Son-in-law: Yi Ja
Works in which he appears
Related cultural properties
Biographical sources
- Yi Haeng, 《Yongjaejip》, vol. 10, Epitaph of Chae Gong of Incheon-gun
- Jeong Jong-ro, 《Ipjaejip》, vol. 43, Biographical record of Yangjeong Gong Najae Chae Seonsaeng, posthumously granted the rank of Jabeonchanjang, Vice Minister of Rites, and Hongmun-gwan Jehak (贈 資憲大夫 議政府左參贊 兼 知經筵春秋館事 藝文館提學 行 嘉靖大夫 禮曹參判 弘文館提學 仁川君)
References
- "조선의 선비 귀신과 통하다", 《설공찬전》, Jang Yun-seon, Iscience (2008, pp. 147–151)
- "조선의 문화공간", Jacheondae and Chae Deuk-gi, the Recluse of Sungjeong, Lee Jong-mook, Humanist (2006, pp. 268–273)
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Footnotes