홍양호 洪良浩
Chief scholar and Pan-jungchubusa; scholar-statesman and author of Igye jip, pen name Igye
| Life | 1724 ~ 1802 |
| Era | 조선 후기 |
| Clan | 풍산 홍씨 |
Life & career
Hong Yang-ho (洪良浩, 1724-1802) was a late-Joseon official and scholar of the Pungsan Hong clan; his early name was Yang-han, his courtesy name Hansa and his pen name Igye (耳溪), which he is said to have taken because he lived late in life in Ui-dong, Seoul. His father was Hong Jin-bo, posthumously Left Minister, and his mother was of the Cheongsong Sim clan, daughter of Chief State Councillor Sim Su-hyeon; both families were distinguished Soron houses. He learned from his maternal uncle Sim Yuk, a central figure of the Ganghwa school. He passed the special civil examination in 1752 (the 28th year of Yeongjo) in the Byeong class.
He served as censor, magistrate of Gangdong, governor of Gyeongju, magistrate of Hongju and governor of Hwanghae, working hard in local administration; at the center he held posts including head of the National Academy, minister of personnel, works, rites and punishments, mayor of Hanseong, and chief scholar of both Hongmungwan and Yemungwan. His 1778 posting to Gyeongheung in Hamgyeong is said to have resulted from friction with Hong Guk-yeong. In 1782 he went to Qing China as deputy envoy and on returning submitted the "six-point memorial" stressing carts and bricks, and in 1794 he went again as chief envoy with his son Hong Hui-jun, befriending Ji Yun and gaining information on philology and epigraphy. His final post was Pan-jungchubusa.
His works include Igye jip and Igye oejip; Mokmin daebang, his views on local administration written as magistrate of Gyeongheung; Buksae giryak and Buksae japyo, records of his survey of the northern region; Yuk seo gyeongwi, a philological work; and Cheonggu dangok, which renders sijo into Chinese verse. As governor of Gyeongju he discovered Silla inscriptions and in 1796 wrote a postscript to a fragment of the stele of King Munmu; surveying the northern region, he held that territory had shrunk after the Baekdusan boundary stele and proposed ways to recover it, and he succeeded in establishing a county in the abandoned Husu region. He also left the calligraphy treatise Pilgyeol and narrative poems such as "Imyeong daecheopga" and "Yumin-won." He is regarded as a statesman and practical-learning scholar, and the clan association counts Igye jip, Yeoksangik, Manmul wonsi and Gyeokmulhae among the family's emblematic works. His tomb is halfway up Mount Ilbong in Yonggok-dong, Dongnam-gu, Cheonan. Though a Pungsan Hong like Hong Nak-seong, he came from a Soron family, unlike the Noron in-law relatives.
The Beijing Missions and the Six-Point Memorial
In 1782 he went to Qing as deputy envoy and submitted a memorial stressing carts and bricks; in 1794 he went again as chief envoy with his son Hong Hui-jun.
Northern Survey and Epigraphy
He surveyed the north and wrote Buksae giryak, discussing recovery of territory, and as governor of Gyeongju he discovered Silla inscriptions.
Writings
They include Igye jip, Mokmin daebang, Yuk seo gyeongwi, Cheonggu dangok and Pilgyeol.
Grave
His tomb is halfway up Mount Ilbong in Yonggok-dong, Dongnam-gu, Cheonan, South Chungcheong.
Descendants
His son Hong Hui-jun (1761-1841) served as minister of personnel and mayor of Hanseong.