Chief State Councillor under Seonjo; scholar-official who endured nineteen years of exile after the 1545 purge; pen name Soje; posthumous titles Munui and Mungan
| Life | 1515 ~ 1590 |
| Era | 조선 중기 |
| Clan | 광주 노씨 |
No Su-sin (1515-1590) was a mid-Joseon official and scholar from Gwangju (光州), with courtesy name Gwahoe (寡悔) and pen names Soje (蘇齋), Ijae, Amsil and Yeoji Noin. His father was No Hong, his grandfather No Hu, and his mother a daughter of Yi Ja-hwa. A disciple and son-in-law of Yi Yeon-gyeong (Tansu), a student of Jo Gwang-jo, he inherited the neo-Confucian line of Kim Jong-jik, Kim Goeng-pil, Jo Gwang-jo and Yi Yeon-gyeong, and is said to have been on friendly terms with Yi Hwang and Kim In-hu and close to Yi I.
He placed first in the 1543 regular civil examination and became a lecturer at the Crown Prince's academy in 1544 with a reading leave. After Injong's accession he joined the Great Yun faction and as a censor impeached Yi Gi; but when Myeongjong took the throne in 1545 and Yun Won-hyeong of the Lesser Yun staged the purge, he was dismissed as a Ministry of Personnel official. Exiled to Suncheon in 1547, he was moved to Jindo after the Yangjae Station placard affair and lived nineteen years in banishment, then was shifted to Goesan in 1565. In exile he debated with Yi Hwang and Kim In-hu by letter, wrote the "Insim Dosim Byeon" in dispute with Yi Hwang, and annotated the Daehak Janggu and Dongmong Suji.
When Seonjo took the throne in 1567 he was freed and made a proofreader; he went on to Inspector-General, Minister of Taxation, Minister of Personnel and Director of the Office of Special Advisors, then Third State Councillor in 1573, Second in 1578 and Chief State Councillor in 1585. He resigned in 1588 to become Senior Adviser, but was impeached and dismissed in 1589 for having recommended Jeong Yeo-rip in the Gichuk purge. He was restored posthumously as Chief State Councillor and in 1591, when the Jonggye correction succeeded, was named first-class Gwangguk Wonjong merit subject. Skilled in prose and calligraphy, he studied Wang Yangming thought deeply and drew attacks from the Zhu Xi school, and his contacts with Buddhist figures also drew criticism from neo-Confucians. His writings include the Sojejip and Sigangnok, and he was enshrined at Palbong Seowon in Chungju, Donam and Bongsan Seowon in Sangju, Hwaam Seowon in Goesan and Bongamsa in Jindo.
During nineteen years on Jindo, No Su-sin debated the "Insim Dosim Byeon" with Yi Hwang by letter and annotated the Daehak Janggu and Dongmong Suji. In political terms, his scholarship deepened in the hardest years. His deep study of Wang Yangming thought drew attacks from the Zhu Xi school and his contact with Buddhist figures was criticized by neo-Confucians, but this can also be read as a sign of the breadth of his learning.
He became Chief State Councillor in 1585 but was impeached in 1589 for recommending Jeong Yeo-rip in the Gichuk purge, and was restored posthumously. The Okyeonsa area at Sasan-ri, Hwaseo-myeon, Sangju is home to the Yanggeun-gong line, with the steles of No Hu and No Hong and No Su-sin's stele and tomb reported to remain. As Chief State Councillor under Seonjo he is presented as the highest-ranking Gwangju No, and as a descendant of No Sung he is introduced as coming from the Sangju home of the Daehogun line's Yanggeun-gong branch.
His spirit-path stele and tomb are said to be at Sasan-ri, Hwaseo-myeon, Sangju (home of the Yanggeun-gong line).
He adopted his nephew No Dae-hae, and a grandson No Do-hyeong is recorded.