Agyeisanhae Portrait

Yi San-hae (李山海, 1539–1609) was a civil official of the mid-Joseon period. His courtesy name was Yeosu and his pen name Agye; his clan seat was Hansan. He passed the singnyeon civil service examination in 1561, the sixteenth year of King Myeongjong, and the following year became a proofreading official in the Hongmun-gwan, the Office of Special Advisers. He went on to serve as busujan and as a junior official of the Ministry of War, and later as an inspector of the Office of the Inspector-General, as a royal secretary, and as head of the National Academy. In 1578, the eleventh year of King Seonjo, as Inspector-General he impeached the Westerner faction officials Yun Du-su and Yun Geun-su, having them dismissed. After serving as Chief Inspector, Second State Councillor, and Minister of War, he became Third State Councillor in 1588; when the Easterner faction split at this time into Southerners and Northerners, he took power as leader of the Northerners. He became Chief State Councillor in 1590, and for his part in resolving the dispute over Joseon's royal lineage as recorded in Chinese court annals, he was awarded third-class merit as a Meritorious Subject for Rectifying the State Records and enfeoffed as Lord Aseong. The following year, when Jeong Cheol raised the question of naming an heir apparent, Yi San-hae had his son Gyeongjeon impeach Jeong Cheol, and Jeong Cheol was exiled as a result. When the Imjin War broke out in 1592, Yi San-hae accompanied the king in flight as far as Gaeseong, where he was dismissed after being impeached by the two censorate offices for having ruined the country and invited the Japanese invasion. He was later reinstated, becoming head of the Yeondonnyeongbu in 1595; when the Northerners split again, he joined Yi I-cheom and Jeong In-hong in forming the Great Northerner faction. He rose again to Chief State Councillor in 1599 but was dismissed after being impeached; in 1601 he was once more enfeoffed as a lord, and on King Seonjo's death he took charge of state affairs as a senior minister acting for the young king. He excelled in calligraphy, painting, and literary composition, and was counted as one of the eight great literary masters of King Seonjo's reign. His writings are collected in the Agye-jip. His posthumous title was Munchung.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Yesan, Chungnam

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산