Chief State Councillor under Kings Jungjong and Myeongjong; founder of the Munhui-gong branch of the Tohong line
| Life | 1476 ~ 1549 |
| Era | 조선 전기 |
| Clan | 남양 홍씨 |
Hong Eon-pil (洪彦弼, 1476–1549) was an early Joseon civil official whose courtesy name was Jami, pen name Mukjae and posthumous title Munhui. His clan seat was Namyang, but he belonged to the Tohong line, a lineage distinct from the Danghong, as its 12th generation and the founder of its Munhui-gong branch. His father was Hong Hyeong and his father-in-law the Chief State Councillor Song Jil; his wife is noted as a rare case of a woman whose father, husband and son all became Chief State Councillor.
Caught up in the 1504 purge, he was exiled to Jindo and freed by the 1506 coup that enthroned King Jungjong, passing the civil examination in 1507. In the 1519 purge he was jailed as a supposed follower of Jo Gwang-jo but released on the plea of Jeong Gwang-pil. He served repeatedly as Inspector-General and as minister of several boards, but was dismissed in 1535 through the slander of Kim An-ro.
Restored after Kim An-ro's fall in 1537, he became Right and Left State Councillor and Chief State Councillor in 1544. He assisted in government when King Injong took the throne, was named a second-rank merit subject after the 1545 purge and enfeoffed as Ikseong Buwongun, and in 1548 again served as Left and Chief State Councillor.
He was known for frugality and strict household discipline and was skilled in poetry, calligraphy and painting. He left the Mukjaejip and was enshrined in King Injong's royal shrine. His tomb lies in Hongbeop-ri, Seosin-myeon, Hwaseong, in a family burial ground designated a Gyeonggi Provincial Monument. His son Hong Seom also became Chief State Councillor.
In 1526, as Vice Minister of Justice, he went to Ming China as an envoy. His son-in-law Yun Jin was a nephew of King Jungjong's mother Queen Jeonghyeon, and his granddaughter married Prince Hawon, son of Grand Prince Deokheung, tying the family to Jungjong's royal house in several ways.