차원부 車原頫
Late-Goryeo remonstrance official, Neo-Confucian scholar and painter counted among the 72 loyalists of Dumun-dong; posthumous name Munjeol, pen name Unam
| Life | 1320 |
| Era | 고려 말·조선 초 |
| Clan | 연안 차씨 |
Life & career
Cha Won-bu (b. 1320) was a late-Goryeo scholar and painter of the Yeonan Cha clan, with courtesy name Sapyeong, pen name Unam and posthumous name Munjeol. His father was the regional inspector Cha Jong-ro, whom the Wolpa-gong branch regards as his father (he is said to be Jong-ro's third son). He passed the civil examination under King Gongmin, rose to remonstrance official (uigidaebu), and was famed with Jeong Mong-ju and Yi Saek as a Confucian who studied Neo-Confucianism deeply.
As Goryeo's politics fell into disorder he resigned and withdrew to Suunam-dong in Pyeongsan. When Yi Seong-gye consulted him about attacking Liaodong, he opposed the expedition; after the founding of Joseon, King Taejo tried to name him a merit subject but he declined, and he also refused posts such as jeongeon and pan jeonnongsisa. For this he is counted among the 72 loyalists of Dumun-dong. He was also an accomplished painter, especially of plum blossoms.
As to his death, the Encyclopedia of Korean Culture says Jeong Do-jeon and Ha Ryun resented him for recording honestly in the genealogy that they were descended from a concubine line of the Cha family, and that on his way back to Pyeongsan he was killed at Songwon, along with family and associates numbering over 80, by assassins sent by Ha Ryun and others. This is a tradition from clan and later records whose dates and details differ by source and should be read carefully. In Sejong's reign he was rehabilitated on Hwangbo In's petition and posthumously made Sijung.
The Account of Jeong Do-jeon and Ha Ryun
The story that Cha Won-bu earned the resentment of Jeong Do-jeon and Ha Ryun by recording in the genealogy that they came from a concubine line comes from the Cha Won-bu Seolwongi and clan records. The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture says assassins sent by Ha Ryun, while this site's earlier Munjeol-gong card says soldiers sent by Jeong Do-jeon, so sources differ on perpetrators and dates. They are given side by side, noting that these are clan records.
The Seolwongi and Rehabilitation
Clan records say that in 1456 (Sejo 2) the Cha Won-bu Seolwongi was compiled by royal order from essays by six scholars including Bak Paeng-nyeon, 48 poems by learned Confucians and a preface by Ha Wi-ji, clearing his name. The Encyclopedia, however, says he was already redressed in Sejong's time on Hwangbo In's petition, so the order of the two cannot be fixed. Printing blocks for the Collected Account of Munjeol-gong, made in 1791, survive in Gwangyang, South Jeolla.
Commemoration
Deogwon Seowon in Hapcheon, a Gyeongsangnam-do cultural heritage material, enshrines the three ancestors Cha Po-on, Cha Won-bu and Cha Un-hyeok. He was also honored at Unamsa in Suncheon. His descendants continue as the Munjeol-gong branch.
Grave
He is enshrined at Deogwon Seowon in Hapcheon (with Cha Po-on and Cha Un-hyeok) and was honored at Unamsa in Suncheon; his grave location was not confirmed here.