Sin Myeon (申㴐, also written 申沔, 1438 – 22 May 1467) was a civil and military official of early Joseon. He was the second son of Sin Sukju and the father of Left State Councillor Sin Yonggae. His family seat was Goryeong. He served as Right Secretary and Vice Director of the Office of Public Works, and as Chief Royal Secretary of the Royal Secretariat he assisted King Sejo.
In 1467, while serving as Governor of Hamgil Province, the Yi Si-ae's Rebellion broke out. The court appointed him Member of the Central Military Council and planned to replace him with Eo Se-gong (魚世恭) as Governor of Hamgil Province. Before Eo Se-gong could arrive, however, the troops of Yi Si-ae (李施愛) surrounded the provincial government office of Hamgil. Realizing the situation was critical, he went out to suppress the rebels, but he was defeated and killed. He was posthumously appointed Senior Grand Master for Splendid Blessing and Left Councillor concurrently Minister of Personnel, and later, because of his son Sin Yonggae's elevated status, he was further posthumously granted the title of Grand Master for Meritorious Service and Chief State Councillor.
Biography
Early life
In 1438 he was born in Hanseong as the son of Sin Sukju, then a scholar of the Hall of Worthies, and Lady Yun of Musong. His family seat was Goryeong. He was the great-grandson of Sin Poshi, Vice Director of the Office of Public Works; his grandfather was Sin Jang, Vice Minister of Public Works; and his father, Sin Sukju, later achieved merit in the Sejo's Coup and served as Chief State Councillor. His mother, Lady Yun of Musong, was the granddaughter of Yun Hoe, a minister of the reign of King Sejong, and the daughter of Yun Gyeongyeon. His half-sister, a daughter of a secondary wife, Consort Sin, became a concubine of King Sejo.
He married a daughter of Jeong Ho, and his son Sin Yonggae later served as Right State Councillor and Left State Councillor.
Official career
He entered office through hereditary appointment and, while serving as Acting Vice Secretary, was registered as a Third-Rank Original Meritorious Subject of the Left Wing in 1455 (the first year of King Sejo). In the twelfth month of that year he became a Recorder. Afterward, in 1458, he held the posts of Office Director of Dyeing (都染署令) and Vice Director of the Court of the Imperial Clan (宗簿寺少尹), and at the order of King Sejo he went to Hamgil Province as Chief Military Inspector to console his father, Sin Sukju, before returning. In the third month of 1461 (the seventh year of Sejo) he became Senior Secretary of the Office of the Inspector-General. In 1463 he served as Right Secretary of the Royal Secretariat and Commissioner of Works, and the following year he again became Right Secretary. In the twelfth month of 1464 he advanced to Left Secretary of the Royal Secretariat, and in 1465 he served as an examiner for the military examination.
In the fifth month of 1465 he became Chief Royal Secretary (都承旨) of the Royal Secretariat and assisted King Sejo, and in 1466 he was again made Chief Royal Secretary. In the third month of the same year, together with his father Sin Sukju, Jeong Changson and others, he served as a reading examiner (讀券官) and presided over the preliminary and intermediate stages of the civil examination. That year, when Yang Jeong urged King Sejo to abdicate, he and Yun Jaun, Judge of the Uigeumbu (義禁府判事), impeached Yang Jeong and had him executed.
Yi Si-ae's Rebellion and death in battle
In the fourth month of 1467 he became Governor of Hamgil Province. While he was in office, on 17 May of that year, Yi Si-ae raised an army, claiming he would purge the merit subjects of the Sejo coup. The court appointed him Member of the Central Military Council and sought to replace him with the general Eo Se-gong as Governor of Hamgil Province to suppress the rebellion.
In early May 1467 the rebellion of Yi Si-ae (李施愛) broke out, and he reported it. At this time the court appointed him Member of the Central Military Council and planned to replace him with Eo Se-gong (魚世恭) as Governor of Hamgil Province in order to suppress the rebels. However, in mid-May, before Eo Se-gong could arrive, he was surrounded by the rebel army. He climbed the watchtower to fight and was killed there.
At that time his father, Sin Sukju and others, were under suspicion of colluding with Yi Si-ae. Yi Si-ae entered the Hamgil provincial office claiming to have received a secret decree, and then seized the provincial government. On 22 May, Sin Myeon, knowing he could not escape disaster, resolved to die. With a small force, carrying a bow and arrows, he went up the wall and shot four men with arrows. When his arrows ran out, he bent and broke his bow and fought on, dying together with Military Governor Kang Hyo-mun (康孝文), Deputy Commander Jeong Yukeul (鄭六乙), and others.
After death
His tomb was established as a cenotaph (gamyo) on the north-facing slope of Sabong in Goksan-ri1, Naedong-myeon, Yangju County, Gyeonggi Province (now Gosan-dong, Uijeongbu). Later, the tombs of his father Sin Sukju and the clan were established nearby. He was soon ordered to receive a commemorative gate (jeongnyeo).
In the intercalary ninth month of 1471 (the second year of King Seongjong), he was added to the Third-Rank Meritorious Subjects for Enmity (敵愾功臣), but he was stripped of that honor after objections from Hong Gwi-dal, Senior Secretary of the Office of the Inspector-General, and Choe Hanjeong, Remonstrator of the Office of Remonstrance. He was posthumously appointed Senior Grand Master for Splendid Blessing, Left Councillor of the State Council concurrently Minister of Personnel, and Governor of Hamgil Province and Magistrate of Hamhung (行嘉善大夫咸吉道觀察使兼咸興府尹). Later, during the reign of King Jungjong, because of the advancement of his second son Sin Yonggae, he was again posthumously appointed Grand Master for Meritorious Service and Chief State Councillor.
His wife, Lady Yeonggwang Jeong, was first buried in Unyang-ri, Gimpo, and later, together with his cenotaph, was moved in 2004 to San 104-1, Gumuncheon-ri, Hyangnam-eup, Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province. Some of his descendants settled in Gumuncheon-ri, Hwaseong, where a tomb area was established, and in 2008 the tomb and stele of his second son Sin Yonggae were moved below his tomb.
Family
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Great-grandfather: Sin Poshi (申包翅)
- Grandfather: Sin Jang (申檣)
- Grandmother: Lady Jeong of Naju
- Uncle: Sin Malju (申末舟)
- Uncle: Sin Songju (申松舟)
- Father: Sin Sukju (申淑舟)
- Mother: Lady Musong Yun of Musong, daughter of Yun Gyeongyeon
- Elder brother: Sin Ju (申澍)
- Sister-in-law: daughter of Han Myeong-hoe (韓明澮)
- Younger brother: Sin Chan (申澯)
- Younger brother: Sin Jeong (申瀞)
- Younger brother: Sin Jun (申浚)
- Younger brother: Sin Bu (申溥)
- Younger brother: Sin Hyeong (申泂)
- Younger brother: Sin Pil (申泌)
- Brother-in-law: Sin Myeongsu (申命壽)
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Wife: Lady Yeonggwang Jeong (武靈丁氏) – daughter of Jeong Ho (丁湖), Military Commander of the Right Army
- Eldest son: Sin Yonggae (申用漑)
- Daughter-in-law: daughter of Park Geon (朴楗)
- Grandson: Sin Han (申瀚)
- Great-grandson: Sin Yeoju (申汝柱)
- Great-granddaughter: wife of Yi Sunhyo (李純孝)
- Granddaughter: wife of Park Eun (朴誾)
- Great-grandson through a daughter: Park Gongyang (朴公亮)
- Father-in-law: Jeong Ho (丁湖)
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Maternal great-grandfather: Yun Hoe (尹淮)
- Maternal grandfather: Yun Gyeongyeon (尹景淵)
Related works
Television dramas
Footnotes