Chancellor under King Gongmin; founder of the Munjeong-gong branch
| Life | 1309 ~ 1363 |
| Era | 고려 후기 |
| Clan | 남양 홍씨 |
Hong Eon-bak (洪彦博, 1309–1363) was a chancellor under King Gongmin of Goryeo and the founder of the Munjeong-gong branch of the Danghong line. His courtesy name was Jungyong, his pen name Yangpa and his posthumous title Munjeong. He was a seventh-generation descendant of the calligrapher Hong Gwan, a grandson of Hong Gyu and the second son of Hong Yung. He was a nephew of King Gongmin's mother Queen Gongwon. His elder brother Hong Ju and younger brother Hong Eon-su founded the Namyang-gun and Panjungchu-gong branches.
He passed the civil examination in 1330 and became a royal secretariat scholar in 1348. When Gongmin took the throne he became a senior minister, was named a merit subject and enfeoffed as Lord Namyang. In 1353 he co-supervised the civil examination with Yi Je-hyeon, passing 33 candidates including Yi Saek. He rose through the chancellor posts to Munha Sijung and became a first-rank merit subject for helping purge the faction of Gi Cheol.
When the Red Turbans invaded in 1361 he argued for defending Gaegyeong, and after Pyongyang fell he accompanied the king to Andong and proposed plans to retake the capital. In 1362 he again supervised the civil examination.
During Kim Yong's revolt at Heungwangsa temple in 1363 he refused his son's urging to flee, saying a chief minister could not run from rebels out of fear of death, and was killed. He was posthumously honored as a merit subject. He left the Yangpajip, his four sons all held high office, and he is enshrined at Yangcheon Seowon in Gunwi.
His mother was a daughter of the Royal Secretariat official Na Yu, and his daughter married the senior minister Ryu Yeon. Through the royal ties of his grandfather Hong Gyu and his aunt Queen Gongwon, he is seen as the figure who led the Namyang Hong to the height of their power in late Goryeo. He appears in the MBC drama Sin Don.