Deputy Director of the Hall of Worthies who submitted the memorial opposing Hunminjeongeum; an honest official
| Life | 1398 ~ 1445 |
| Era | 조선 |
| Clan | 해주 최씨 |
Choe Man-ri (1398-1445) was an early Joseon civil official and scholar of the Haeju clan, with courtesy name Jamyeong, pen name Gangho sanin and posthumous title Gonghye. His father was Choe Ha (崔荷) and his mother of the Chungju Ji clan. He was chosen as an honest official (cheongbaengni).
He passed the saengwon examination in 1419 and the civil examination in 1427, then served in the Hall of Worthies as baksa, gyori, eunggyo, jikjehak and bujehak. He was Governor of Gangwon in 1439 and returned as Deputy Director in 1440, and also took part in lectures for the crown prince (Munjong).
In 1444 he led the memorial against the vernacular script (Hunminjeongeum) signed together with Hall of Worthies scholars such as Sin Seok-jo, Kim Mun, Ha Wi-ji and Jeong Chang-son. It angered Sejong and he was imprisoned at the Uigeumbu; he resigned that year, returned home, and died in October 1445.
After passing in 1427 he spent over twenty years in the Hall of Worthies on research into ancient institutions and teaching, and was renowned as an honest official; Deputy Director Choe Man-ri appears among the Sejong-era figures in lists of Joseon honest officials.
The memorial argued that creating a script different from China's offended the principle of serving the great power, that the vernacular script offered no benefit over idu for learning, that the matter was rushed without consulting widely, and that the crown prince should not involve himself in it. The date is given variously as the 17th or 20th of the second month.
After Sejong's rebuke and personal interrogation he was jailed. He resigned in 1444, went home, and died on 23 October 1445. The memorial is valued as a source on how scholar-officials of the time viewed the creation of the script.
His tomb and the shrine Gangho-jae are in Jimun-ri, Wongok-myeon, Anseong, in an area described as a Haeju Choe clan village. His five sons founded several branches, and descendants are said to include Choe Gyeong-chang and Choe Gyu-seo. He is described as an ancestor of Yulgok Yi I.
Jimun-ri, Wongok-myeon, Anseong, Gyeonggi, buried with his wife of the Junghwa Yang clan; the shrine Gangho-jae stands nearby, and a spirit-path stele written by Yi Sung-nyeong was erected by descendants in 1962.
His five sons Choe Gak, Jeong, Dang, Eun and Yeon are said to have founded the Hyeongam-gong, Jwarang-gong, Saengwon-gong, Jinsa-gong and Jeonhan-gong branches. His daughter married Yi Ui-seok of the Deoksu Yi clan, and Yulgok Yi I descends from her line (described as an ancestor of Yi I through the daughter's line, jeung-oe-gojo). Descendants include Choe Gyeong-chang and Choe Gyu-seo.