김종직 金宗直

Early-Joseon Neo-Confucian scholar and civil official; master of the Sarim faction (pen name Jeompiljae)

Life & career

Gim Jong-jik was a scholar-official from Miryang known by the pen name Jeompiljae and courtesy name Gyeon. Inheriting his scholarship from his father Gim Suk-ja, he is regarded as the founding master of the Sarim faction of early Joseon and trained many disciples, including Gim Goeng-pil, Jeong Yeo-chang, and Gim Il-son.

He served as a local magistrate in Hamyang and Seonsan, working to improve local customs and education, and later held central posts such as compiler at the Hongmungwan, Deputy Royal Secretary, Vice Minister of Personnel, and Minister of Punishments. He is best known for writing the Jouijemun, a veiled criticism of King Sejo's usurpation of the throne.

He had five sons and three daughters but outlived four of his sons; his youngest son by his second wife, of the Mun clan, Gim Sung-nyeon, was only seven years old when his father died. In 1498, after his disciple Gim Il-son included the Jouijemun in the draft court history, the incident touched off the Muo Purge, in which the already-deceased Gim Jong-jik's corpse was exhumed and beheaded. His tomb stands beside his ancestral home, Chuwonjae, in Jedae-ri, Bubuk-myeon, Miryang. His writings survive in the Jeompiljaejip, and he was posthumously titled Munchung.

Grave

Jedae-ri, Bubuk-myeon, Miryang, South Gyeongsang Province (the hill behind Chuwonjae)

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