Late-Joseon military official; fought against the Hong Gyeong-rae rebellion; author of the Seojeong Ilgi; magistrate of Gurye
| Era | 조선 후기(순조) |
| Clan | 온양 방씨 |
Bang U-jeong (方禹鼎) was a late-Joseon military official of the Onyang Bang clan, with the courtesy name Guyeo and the pen name Hwijae; his dates are not recorded. Citing the 1860 edition of the clan genealogy, the Korean Wikipedia article on Bang Jeong-hwan states that Bang Jeong-hwan, of the Panseo-gong branch, was a fifth-generation descendant of Bang U-jeong's younger brother Bang U-jun, so Bang U-jeong can also be counted in the Panseo-gong branch.
According to the Encyclopedia of Korean Culture, he passed the military examination under King Jeongjo and in 1803 accompanied the envoy Sim Neung-geon to Qing China. When Hong Gyeong-rae rose in revolt in Pyeongan Province in the twelfth month of 1811, he served as a company commander of the government's western expeditionary army and distinguished himself in the capture of Jeongju fortress. The rebellion, fueled by discrimination against the northwest and exploitation under in-law government, seized several counties north of the Cheongcheon River before the rebels held out in Jeongju for nearly four months; government forces retook the fortress only in the fourth month of 1812, after tunneling under the walls and blowing them up with gunpowder.
Bang U-jeong recorded his experience in the Seojeong Ilgi (Diary of the Western Campaign). As a day-by-day account by a government officer at the front, it is described in newspaper series on the clan as a valuable source for the study of the rebellion. He served as magistrate of Gurye in 1816 and was later posthumously named vice minister of war.
Care is needed with namesakes written in different characters. Clan sources record a Goryeo official Bang U-jeong (方于楨) who, as an inspector under King Chungseon, petitioned against abuses in the rites at Mount Gamak, and the Encyclopedia of Yeongcheon Culture mentions the Yongam Jeongsa of a Bang U-jeong (方禹楨) at Uncheon-ri, Daechang-myeon, Yeongcheon. Neither is the author of the Seojeong Ilgi.
According to the genealogy, Bang Jeong-hwan was a fifth-generation descendant of his younger brother Bang U-jun (Panseo-gong branch).