성삼문 成三問
One of the Six Martyred Ministers and a Hall of Worthies scholar involved in creating Hunminjeongeum; courtesy name Geunbo, pen name Maejukheon, posthumous title Chungmun
| Life | 1418 ~ 1456 |
| Era | 조선 전기 |
| Clan | 창녕 성씨 |
Life & career
Seong Sam-mun (1418-1456) was an early-Joseon official and one of the Six Martyred Ministers. His seat was Changnyeong; his courtesy names were Geunbo (謹甫) and Nuloong, his pen name Maejukheon (梅竹軒) and his posthumous title Chungmun (忠文). Grandson of Seong Dal-saeng and son of Seong Seung, with a mother of the Juksan Bak clan, he was born at his mother's family home in Noeun-dong, Hongbuk, Hongju (now Hongseong). A tale says Heaven asked three times at his birth whether the child had been born, hence the name Sam-mun, 'three questions.'
He passed the civil examination in 1438 (the 20th year of King Sejong), became a scholar of the Hall of Worthies and took part in the 1442 reading leave. He is said to have visited the Ming Hanlin scholar Huang Zan in Liaodong thirteen times with Sin Suk-ju to ask about phonology, which is explained as a contribution to the promulgation of Hunminjeongeum in 1446. He placed first in the re-examination of 1447 and served as censor, vice director of the Hall of Worthies, vice minister of rites and royal secretary. After the 1453 coup he was named a merit subject but, regarding this as shameful, is said to have stayed away from the celebration.
When Sejo took the throne by Danjong's abdication, he saw it as usurpation and plotted Danjong's restoration with his father Seung, Bak Paeng-nyeon, Ha Wi-ji, Yi Gae, Yu Seong-won and Yu Eung-bu. At the farewell banquet for Ming envoys in June 1456, Seung and Yu were to stand as sword-bearing guards and remove Sejo, but the guards were abolished and the plan was halted; Gim Jil informed, and Sam-mun was arrested on 2 June. He did not yield under Sejo's own interrogation and was put to death by dismemberment outside the Armory on 8 June; his father, brothers and sons were killed too. His wife and daughter were given as slaves and freed in 1475. His rank was restored in 1691, and he was posthumously made Minister of Personnel with the title Chungmun in 1758 and entered the Danjong loyalists' roll in 1791.
Academies and Shrines
He is honored at Minjeol Seowon and Uijeolsa at Noryangjin, Noeun Seowon in Hongju, Changjeol Seowon in Yeongwol, Chunggok Seowon in Yeonsan, Sungmojeon at Donghaksa in Gongju, and the Sedeoksa of Mulgye Seowon in Changnyeong, and he is also enshrined at the loyalists' altar of Jangneung, Danjong's tomb. He is remembered with Bak Paeng-nyeon, Ha Wi-ji and Yi Gae among the Six Martyred Ministers, and his collections Seonggeunbojip and Maejukheonjip survive.
Grave
Tradition places his remains at the Sayuksin shrine at Noryangjin in Seoul, and a tomb at Yangchon in Nonsan, said to hold one leg, was designated South Chungcheong Cultural Heritage Material No. 81 on 17 May 1984. A cenotaph with his belongings is said to be near his parents' tombs at Noeun-ri, Hongseong, and his birthplace remains are a provincial monument.
Descendants
Most of his family was wiped out, and descendants are said to continue through his daughters and maternal grandchildren.