Mid-Joseon military official; magistrate of Boseong; father-in-law of Yi Sun-sin
| Life | 1514 |
| Era | 조선 중기 |
| Clan | 온양 방씨 |
Bang Jin (方震) was a mid-Joseon military official of the Onyang Bang clan. Wikipedia notes his older seat as Sangju, and some sources call his daughter, the wife of Yi Sun-sin, a "Sangju Bang." According to the genealogy he belonged to the Panseo-gong branch as the 22nd-generation descendant of the mid-founder Bang Un and was born in 1514 at Onyang (today's Yeomchi-eup, Asan). His grandfather Bang Heul (originally Bang Hong) was magistrate of Pyeongchang and his father Bang Guk-hyeong magistrate of Yeongdong; some sources give the father's name by his courtesy name, Junggyu.
He was known as a fine archer and is said to have passed the military examination under King Jungjong. The roster of magistrates in the Jeju Eupji is said to record him serving as a county magistrate in Jeju from 1535 to 1537, and he later became magistrate of Boseong. He was close to Yi Jun-gyeong of the Gwangju Yi and served under him when Yi was Minister of War.
Around 1565 the 21-year-old Yi Sun-sin married his daughter and moved to Onyang to live with her family. Bang Jin's family was wealthy in the Onyang area, and he is said to have encouraged and supported Yi's preparation for the military examination, which Yi passed in 1576. The "Biography of Lady Bang" in the Collected Works of Admiral Yi tells how robbers once broke into the inner courtyard; Bang Jin held them off with his bow until his arrows ran out, a maid having secretly passed them to the robbers. His quick-witted daughter then threw down a bundle of weaving reeds from the loft, crying, "Father, here are the arrows!" and the robbers, fearing his archery, fled.
His property and house passed to his son-in-law. A newspaper series on clans in Uljin describes the site of today's Hyeonchungsa shrine in Asan as Bang Jin's house site. After Yi Sun-sin died at the Battle of Noryang and was posthumously made Right State Councillor, Lady Bang was named a first-rank lady; that appointment document is kept at Hyeonchungsa as part of a Treasure-designated group of documents related to Yi Sun-sin. Bang Jin was posthumously given the rank of tonghun daebu and his wife, of the Namyang Hong clan, the title of suk-in.
He is buried with his wife, Lady Hong of Namyang, on Banghwasan near Hyeonchungsa, Baegam-ri, Yeomchi-eup, Asan; the epitaph is said to have been written by his descendant through his daughter, Yi Jong-guk of the Deoksu Yi.
His only daughter was Lady Bang, wife of Yi Sun-sin, through whose children Yi Hoe, Yi Yeol and Yi Myeon his line continued among the Deoksu Yi descendants of Admiral Yi. The genealogy also records his elder brother Bang In, younger brother Bang Ung and nephew Bang Hui-min.