Mid-Joseon official who passed the special civil examination under Injo, served as magistrate of Heungdeok and is enshrined at Songgye Seowon in Cheongju (courtesy name Hwigyeong; pen name Ilgong)
| Life | 1590 ~ 1666 |
| Era | 조선 중기 |
| Clan | 초계 변씨 |
Byeon Si-hwan (卞時煥, 1590-1666) was a civil official of the Chogye Byeon, with courtesy name Hwigyeong (輝卿) and pen name Ilgong (一筇), who lived in Cheongju. According to the Encyclopedia of Korean Culture his great-grandfather was Byeon Chung-nam, posthumously made a pangyeolsa, his grandfather Byeon Gyeong-bok and his father Byeon Yu-myeong.
In 1635 (Injo 13), as a sagwa officer, he passed the special civil examination in the byeongwa class and afterward served as magistrate of Heungdeok. The entry gives no other concrete achievements. The clan's table of graduates likewise lists him as 'special examination, Injo 13, byeongwa, magistrate', so the two sources agree.
He is said to be enshrined at Songgye Seowon in Cheongju, and the clan's list of sites includes 'Byeon Si-hwan, Songgye Seowon'. The Digital Cheongju Culture Encyclopedia places the academy in Naegok-dong, Heungdeok-gu, Cheongju. When and why he was enshrined was not confirmed here.
His great-grandfather Byeon Chung-nam is counted as the first of the family to settle in Cheongju, and Byeon Si-hwan and Byeon Si-ik are both his great-grandsons. They are of the same generation, but their fathers are recorded under different names (Byeon Yu-myeong and Byeon Yu-in), so their exact degree of kinship is not judged here.
Songgye Seowon is a Cheongju academy that the clan lists among its heritage sites. Seowon honored past worthies and taught younger scholars, so his enshrinement there suggests that later local society regarded him as someone worth honoring.
His tomb was not confirmed in the sources used here.