Early Joseon official and writer, chief scholar and Left Assistant State Councillor (pen name Gijae, posthumous title Mungan)
| Life | 1484 ~ 1555 |
| Era | 조선 전기 |
| Clan | 고령 신씨 |
Sin Gwang-han (申光漢, 1484-1555) was an early Joseon official and man of letters. His courtesy names were Hanji and Sihoe, his pen names Nakbong, Gijae, Seokseonjae and Cheongseong dongju, and his posthumous title Mungan. A grandson of Chief State Councillor Sin Suk-ju, he was the son of Sin Hyeong, director of the Office of Palace Supplies, and of a daughter of Jeong Bo.
He passed the licentiate examination in 1507 and the triennial civil examination in 1510, and was granted study leave at the Hodang. He served as an erudite of the Office of Diplomatic Correspondence, as a compiler and editor in the Office of Special Advisors, as a remonstrance official and as a section chief in the Ministry of Works, and as a lecturer at the royal lectures he discussed current affairs with Jo Gwang-jo and others. In 1518 he was specially appointed Rector of the National Academy. In the purge of 1519 he was accused of belonging to Jo Gwang-jo's faction, demoted to magistrate of Samcheok, dismissed the following year, and spent eighteen years in seclusion in Yeoju.
In 1538, when victims of the 1519 purge were restored, he returned as Rector of the National Academy, then served as Inspector-General of the Censorate, Governor of Gyeonggi, Vice Mayor of Hanseong and Vice Minister of War; as Inspector-General from 1540 he tightened discipline among officials. He went on to serve as Vice Minister of Revenue, Mayor of Hanseong, Minister of Punishments and Minister of Personnel, and under King Injong he became chief scholar. After King Myeongjong's accession he sided with the Lesser Yun faction in the purge of 1545, was enrolled as a third-grade Wisa merit subject and made Prince Yeongseong, and was later posthumously elevated to Grand Prince Yeongseong. He served as Right Associate State Councillor, Minister of Rites and Superintendent of the Office of Royal Relatives, rose to Left Assistant State Councillor, and in 1553 entered the Office of Elder Statesmen and received an armrest and staff from the king. He retired in 1554 and died the following year.
A gifted writer, he left many poems and prose works, and as Rector students are said to have flocked to him. As Minister of Personnel he was praised for fair appointments and for recruiting many scholars who had lived in obscurity. In learning he modeled himself on Mencius and Han Yu, and in poetry on Du Fu. His collected works, the Gijae jip, survive, and in 1553 he wrote the collection of classical Chinese short stories Gijae gii.
The descendants of his elder brother Sin Gwang-yun settled in the Nangseong and Gadeok areas of Cheongju and became known as the Sandong Sin; Sin Gwang-yun's great-grandson Sin Sik belongs to this line.