Left State Councillor under King Myeongjong; younger brother of Sim Yeon-won
| Life | 1499 ~ 1572 |
| Era | 조선 중기 |
| Clan | 청송 심씨 |
Sim Tong-won (沈通源, 1499–1572) was a mid-Joseon official under King Myeongjong, of the Cheongsong Sim clan, with the courtesy name Sayong and the pen name Ukjae. A great-grandson of Sim Hoe and fourth son of Sim Sun-mun, he was the youngest brother of Chief State Councillor Sim Yeon-won and a great-uncle of Queen Insun.
Called a prodigy from childhood, he became a licentiate in 1519, took first place in a special civil examination in 1537 and also passed the higher re-examination in 1546. In 1543 he was briefly dismissed after censors charged that his lectures to the crown prince were unorthodox. He served as a lecturer to the king and as an academician drafting state documents, then as royal secretary, Governor of Gyeongsang, Inspector-General, Mayor of Hanseong and envoy to Ming. Becoming Right and then Left State Councillor, he and his brother made a famous pair of brother-ministers, and he entered the Office of Venerable Elders.
As a royal in-law, however, he was impeached in 1565 for abusing power and taking bribes alongside Yun Won-hyeong and left office, and after Seonjo's accession in 1567 he was stripped of his ranks following impeachments led by Yi I. He was even counted with Yi Ryang and Yun Won-hyeong among the 'three villains', and he is criticized as a pillar of in-law politics under Myeongjong. He died in 1572 at 73.
In the clan's own history he is recorded as the publisher of its first genealogy, the Eulsa edition printed in Suncheon in 1545. He is also said to have helped restore a damaged portrait of the scholar An Hyang in 1558.
His tomb and spirit-way stele, erected in 1575, are in Igok-ri, Soheul-eup, Pocheon, and are designated a Pocheon local heritage site.
His tomb and the spirit-way stele erected in 1575 are in Igok-ri, Soheul-eup, Pocheon, designated a Pocheon local heritage site.