Civil official caught in the Kimyo Purge and painter known for tigers; pen name Hacheon
| Life | 1495 |
| Era | 조선 전기 |
| Clan | 장흥 고씨 |
Ko Un was an early-Joseon civil official and painter of the Jangheung Ko clan with the pen name Hacheon. Wikipedia notes that its infobox gives 1479 as his birth year while its categories say 1495; the series on the Gwangju head house says he was born in 1495. His grandson was the righteous-army leader Ko Gyeong-myeong and his son Ko Maeng-yeong, making him the eighth generation.
He passed a special civil examination in 1519 in the third class and served as Hyeongjo Jwarang, but was implicated in the Kimyo Purge of the same year because of his friendship with Jo Gwang-jo. He was later posthumously made Councillor of the Ministry of Rites.
He lived afterward in his home region, famed for writing and painting, especially tigers. His representative work is the Fierce Tiger (Maenghodo); the series on the head house says a painting of a white-browed great tiger is in the Kansong Art Museum, and he is said to have left the Hacheon Yujip.
Sources differ on his birth year, and the Wikipedia entry is a stub with few cited sources. Which work his tiger painting refers to and where it is held are described differently, so please check directly.
His tomb could not be confirmed here.