Yun Bang (尹昉, June 22, 1563 – August 1640) was a civil official of Joseon. His family seat was Haepyeong. His courtesy name was Gahoe (可晦), and his pen name was Chichun (稚川).
He was the eldest son of Yun Du-su. He was a disciple of the Confucian scholar Yi I (李珥), also known as Yulgok. After passing the civil service examination, he held the prestigious posts of the Three Offices (三司, 삼사). During the Imjin War, he accompanied King Seonjo in his royal procession as far as Uiju. He then held a series of important posts in the Three Offices. In 1597 he was sent out as Royal Inspector of Gyeongsang Province (慶尙道守禦使), where he calmed public unrest, and on his return he served as Director of the Military Arsenal (軍器監正) and other posts. Also in 1597, as Royal Inspector of Sunan (順安獨察), he restored public order and procured military grain, and his son Yun Sin-ji became Lord Haesung (海嵩尉). Later, after the death of his father Yun Du-su, he inherited the title, and he was enfeoffed successively as Lord Haechang, Lord Haepyeong Buwongun, and finally Lord Haechang Buwongun. At the beginning of the reign of Gwanghaegun, he became Minister of Justice, and afterward he served as Mayor of Hanseong and Concurrent Director of the Office of Punishments (判義禁府事). On August 27, 1614 (the 6th year of Gwanghaegun), he was registered as a Third-Class Original Meritorious Subject of Wiseong (衛聖原從功臣三等). In 1618 (the 10th year of Gwanghaegun), he did not take part in the deliberations on deposing Queen Dowager Inmok and resigned from office. In March 1623 (the 15th year of Gwanghaegun), after the Injo Restoration brought the Westerners to power, he was appointed Minister of Rites. In 1627, during the Jeongmyo Horan, he accompanied King Injo to Ganghwa Island. He served as Chief State Councillor, and in 1636, during the Byeongja Horan, as Commissioner for the Royal Shrine and Altars (廟社提調), he escorted the ancestral tablets to Namhan Fortress. His posthumous name was Munik (文翼).
Life
Yun Bang, also known as Chichun, was born in 1563 as the eldest son of Yun Du-su (尹斗壽), a former Chief State Councillor and known as Ose. His mother was the granddaughter of Hwang Gi (黃琦), a governor, and the daughter of Hwang Dae-yong (黃大用), a chamberlain (參奉).
In his youth he studied under Yi I (李珥). In 1582 (the 15th year of Seonjo) he became a Jinsa (進士), and in 1588 he passed the regular civil service examination and served as a Junior Secretary of the Seungmun Office (承文院正字) and other posts. In 1591 he served as Examining Editor of the Office of Special Advisers (藝文館檢閱) concurrently Historiographer of the Office of Historiography (春秋館記事官), and afterward as Secretary of the Office of Special Advisers (藝文館奉敎), Junior Secretary of the Ministry of Rites (禮曹佐郞), and Judicial Officer of the Office of the Inspector-General (司憲府持平). In the same year, 1591, his father Yun Du-su was exiled as a result of factional strife with the Easterners, and Yun Bang resigned. He later returned to office and served as Remonstrance Officer (正言).
While serving as Examining Editor of the Office of Special Advisers and Historiographer of the Office of Historiography, his father Du-su was exiled after being caught up in factional disputes. Yun Bang took leave, citing illness, and although the court summoned him several times, he did not take up his post. When, during the Imjin War, Du-su was reinstated as a senior minister, Yun Bang became Coordinator (正郞) of the Ministry of Rites and accompanied his father in escorting King Seonjo's royal procession through Pyongyang as far as Uiju. He impeached the Minister of War Yi Yang-won for improper personnel appointments and was transferred to the post of Compiler (典籍) at Sungkyunkwan. He subsequently served as Junior Secretary of the Ministry of Rites, Junior Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue (戶曹正郞), and Assistant Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue (戶曹佐郞). While serving as Junior Secretary of the Ministry of War, he suffered the death of his mother, but by special command he was soon recalled to service (起復) and held a number of prestigious posts, including Compiler of the Office of Special Advisors. He then became Assistant Secretary of the Ministry of Personnel (吏曹佐郞) and was promoted to Secretary of the Office of Special Advisors. At that time, despite the extreme brutality of the Japanese invaders, he secretly slipped away to visit his mother's mourning shrine, demonstrating filial devotion.
After this he served successively as Compiler of the Office of Special Advisors, Junior Secretary of the Ministry of Personnel, Assistant Secretary of the Ministry of Personnel, Secretary (應敎), Director (直講), and Saye (司藝). Because of factional politics, his father Yun Du-su was impeached and removed from office, and Yun Bang also resigned in solidarity. However, he was soon recalled as Senior Lieutenant of the Military Arsenal (軍器寺僉正), and in 1597 he was sent out as Royal Inspector of Gyeongsang Province (慶尙道巡禦使), after which he again became Senior Lieutenant of the Military Arsenal. For the merit of his performance as Royal Inspector of Gyeongsang Province, he was promoted to Director of the Military Arsenal (軍器監正) and later served as Magistrate of Pyongsan (平山府使). He also played an active role as one of the investigating officers when the rebellion of Yi Mong-hak (李夢鶴) was suppressed.
Afterward he served as Magistrate of Pyongsan and Junior Secretary of the Eastern Office (東部承旨). During the Jeongyu Horan (丁酉再亂) of 1597, he became Royal Inspector of Sunan (巡按督察), in charge of transporting military grain. He was soon sent out as Magistrate of Cheorwon (鐵原府使), where he governed well, and when he was promoted to Junior Secretary of the Eastern Office and returned to the capital, the people of that place erected a stele in praise of his virtue. In that same year, King Seonjo made his second son a son-in-law to a princess (駙馬) and granted him the title Lord Haesung (海嵩尉).
In 1601, when he was promoted to Junior Secretary of the Western Office (右副承旨), Yun Bang, while in mourning for his father, was recalled to service by royal command. After returning from a winter solstice embassy (冬至使) to the Ming dynasty, he was enfeoffed as Lord Haechang (海昌君), and as Deputy Director of Military Affairs (副摠管) he concurrently served as Vice Minister of War (兵曹參判). Afterward, his title was passed on through his father's enfeoffment, and he was enfeoffed as Lord Haepyeong Buwongun, and then re-enfeoffed as Lord Haechang Buwongun.
Then in 1601, as Vice Minister of War, he concurrently served as Assistant Editor of the Office of Historiography (春秋館同知事) and took part in the recompilation of the Veritable Records (實錄) that had been destroyed in the Imjin War. He was transferred to Chief Royal Secretary (都承旨), then served as Mayor of Hanseong Prefecture concurrently Acting Director of the Office of Punishments (知義禁府事), and Director of the Office of Punishments. As Senior Commander of the Royal Guard (行大護軍), in 1605 he was registered as a First-Class Original Meritorious Subject for the Suppression of Rebellion (淸難原從功臣一等). When Gwanghaegun ascended the throne in 1608, he served as Minister of Justice. Afterward he served as Mayor of Hanseong, Director of the Office of Punishments, and Minister of Justice. In 1609 he returned from an embassy of gratitude (謝恩使) to the Ming, and then, concurrently as Director of the Office of Historiography (知春秋館事), he took part in the compilation of the Veritable Records of King Seonjo. Afterward he served as Minister of War, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, and Governor of Gyeongsang Province. In 1613 (the 5th year of Gwanghaegun) he was registered as a First-Class Original Meritorious Subject (翼社原從功臣一等).
On August 27, 1614 (the 6th year of Gwanghaegun), he was registered as a Third-Class Original Meritorious Subject of Wiseong (衛聖原從功臣三等). In 1615 (the 7th year of Gwanghaegun), he again went to the Ming dynasty as an embassy of gratitude. Afterward he served as Acting Director of the Office of Punishments and Minister of Personnel. In 1618 (the 10th year of Gwanghaegun), when the deposition of Queen Dowager Inmok was raised, he did not attend the assembly that called for her deposition and resigned from office. In 1623, after the Injo Restoration, he was appointed Minister of Rites. He then served as Vice Chief Secretary of the State Council (右參贊) concurrently Acting Director of the Office of Punishments, was promoted to Right State Councillor (右議政), and immediately became Left State Councillor. While serving as Left State Councillor, when the rebellion of Yi Gwal (李适) broke out, he suppressed it and worked to restore public order. In 1627 (the 5th year of Injo) he became Chief State Councillor, but he resigned and became Chief Councillor of the Central Advisory Office (領中樞府事).
In 1627, when the Jeongmyo Horan broke out, he accompanied King Injo to Ganghwa Island. After the return to the capital, in 1628 he became Acting Chief of the Central Advisory Office (行判中樞府事). In 1628 (the 6th year of Injo), for the merit of assisting in the suppression of Yu Hyo-rip's rebellion, he was registered as a First-Class Original Meritorious Subject for the Pacification of the Realm (寧社原從功臣一等).
In 1634 he fell ill, and in 1636, during the Byeongja Horan, as Commissioner for the Royal Shrine and Altars (廟社提調), he attended to the royal shrine and altars and escorted the more than forty ancestral tablets of the Crown Princess (嬪宮), Grand Prince Bongnim (鳳林大君), and others to Ganghwa. He buried more than forty altar tablets in the ground to protect them from the enemy's fire and thus escaped disaster, but he lost the spirit tablet of Queen Inseon (仁順王后) and one tablet of the queen, and for this he was impeached. Grand Prince Bongnim and others defended him by explaining that the situation had been unavoidable, but the censors' public impeachment over the loss of the tablets led even King Injo to have no choice but to dismiss him from office and send him into exile. In June 1639 he was moved to Yeonan (延安). That August he was pardoned and returned to his home district, after which he became Chief Councillor of the Central Advisory Office, and in 1640 he again became Chief Councillor of the Central Advisory Office. His literary collection is the Chichun-jip (稚川集). Yun Deok-yeong and Yun Taek-yeong, brothers, are his descendants.
He was dignified and sincere, skilled in writing, and extremely filial. Later he entered the Giroso (耆老社), and in early 1640 he fell ill and died in August of that year. On November 7, 1640, he was buried at the ancestral grave in Oeum-ri, Jangdan County. The posthumous name Munik (文翼) was bestowed upon him.
Related works
Drama
Other
Early in the reign of Gwanghaegun, he rose to Minister of Justice, but he always behaved with caution and restraint. Because he was a royal relative, he received no special favors, and although many royal relatives and senior officials suffered various misfortunes early in Gwanghaegun's rule, Yun Bang alone is said to have escaped gossip and calumny.
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