Leader of the Noron faction and foremost Joseon Neo-Confucian scholar (enshrined in the National Confucian Shrine and the royal ancestral shrine)
| Life | 1607 ~ 1689 |
| Era | 조선 |
| Clan | 은진 송씨 |
Song Si-yeol (pen name Uam, posthumous title Munjeong) was a scholar-statesman of the Jeongnang-gong line of the Eunjin Song clan. He stood at the center of King Hyojong's northern-expedition discussions and the ritual disputes, is regarded as the leader of the Noron faction that split from the Westerners, and is said to have been executed by poison at Jeongeup in 1689 after exile to Jeju.
Song Si-yeol is said to have been born in 1607 at Gurongchon in Okcheon, his mother's home. In 1625 he entered the school of Kim Jang-saeng, and after Kim's death in 1631 he studied under his son Kim Jip. He is recorded as taking first place in the 1633 licentiate examination.
In 1635 he became tutor to Grand Prince Bongnim, the future King Hyojong, and after the Manchu invasion of 1636-37 he withdrew to the countryside for roughly a decade of study and teaching. When Hyojong took the throne in 1649 he submitted a memorial and entered court politics; in 1658-59, as Minister of Personnel, he is said to have discussed the northern-expedition plan with the king in private audience. Hyojong's death in 1659 ended the plan before it could be carried out.
In the Gihae ritual dispute after Hyojong's death in 1659, he argued for a one-year mourning period for Queen Dowager Jaui, opposing the Namin. In the Gabin dispute of 1674 he backed the nine-month theory, but the one-year view was adopted and the political balance shifted; in 1675, under Namin pressure, he was exiled, beginning with Deogwon and moving between several places. Accounts differ in the finer points of the arguments, so only the outline is given here.
When the Namin fell in the Gyeongsin Hwanguk of 1680 he was released and returned as Yeongjungchubu-sa; in 1683 he retired on grounds of age with the honorary title Bongjoha. As the Westerners split into Noron and Soron he was revered as the Noron leader, and his quarrel with his disciple Yun Jeung (the Hoe-Ni dispute) is cited as one background to the split. In 1683 he built Namgan Jeongsa in Gayang-dong, Daejeon, as a place for teaching.
In 1689 he opposed naming the son of Royal Consort Jang as crown prince, was exiled to Jeju, and while being brought back to Seoul is said to have received poison at Jeongeup. A tradition says he asked his disciple Kwon Sang-ha to build Mandongmyo at Hwayang to honor the Ming emperors. After the Gapsul Hwanguk of 1694 his ranks were restored and the posthumous title Munjeong was granted.
His writings are collected in the Songja Daejeon, which was published at state expense under King Jeongjo. Among his disciples Kwon Sang-ha is reckoned the chief one, and figures such as Kim Chang-eop and Kim Jong-su are linked to his scholarly lineage. Across from Namgan Jeongsa stands a repository holding the printing blocks of the Songja Daejeon.
He was enshrined at many places including Hwayang and Maegok academies, and in 1756 under King Yeongjo he was posthumously made Chief State Councillor and enshrined in the National Confucian Shrine. Daejeon maintains the Uam Historic Park in his memory.
Views are divided. Some regard him as a great scholar who guarded Zhu Xi orthodoxy and advanced reformist ideas such as extending military cloth levies to the yangban; King Jeongjo honored him as 'Songja' (Master Song). Others criticize him for sharpening factional conflict and attacking opponents personally, and note that his role contributed to the Noron-Soron split.
His body is said to have been carried home to Hoedeok after his death. In Daejeon, Namgan Jeongsa and the Uam Historic Park commemorate him.
He had an adopted son, Song Gi-tae; his grandson Song Ju-seok passed the civil examination and reached the post of Gyori. The independence activist Song Byeong-seon was his ninth-generation descendant.