Military official who helped suppress the Yi In-jwa rebellion as magistrate of Gonyang and left the Mushin tojeok ilgi
| Life | 1686 ~ 1749 |
| Era | 조선 후기 |
| Clan | 단양 우씨 |
U Ha-hyeong (c. 1686-1749) was a late Joseon military official of the Danyang clan. His father was U Sun-pil (posthumously Minister of Military Affairs), his grandfather U Geuk-myeong and great-grandfather U Sung-mun; his mother was of the Jeonju Yi clan. He passed the military examination in 1710 (Sukjong 36) at 25, was appointed Seonjeongwan the next year, and served as Hunnyeonwon Jubu, Panggwan and Cheomjeong and as deputy commander of Hwanghae. The birth year is calculated from recorded ages.
In 1727 he was named magistrate of Jangyeon but did not take up the post, and soon became magistrate of Gonyang. In spring 1728, when the Yi In-jwa rebellion (Mushin rebellion) broke out and Yi Ung-bo and Jeong Hui-ryang spread their power in Yeongnam, taking five districts in ten days, U Ha-hyeong, summoned by Gyeongsang Right Commander Yi Si-beon and confirming the news, raised the Gonyang troops and rushed to Jinju Fortress. His epitaph records him saying he could not wait for orders from a court a thousand li away while rebels were stirring. At Saengcho Station the rebels bound Yi Ung-bo, Jeong Hui-ryang and others and handed them over, and U Ha-hyeong had the leaders executed on the spot (the Veritable Records of Yeongjo say he beheaded Jeong Hui-ryang and others while Yi Seok-bok, arriving after, beheaded Yi Ung-bo and the rest, so accounts differ). Governor Hwang Seon criticized him for executing without waiting for orders and for letting a soldier avenge his father, so he received no large reward, but he left the Mushin tojeok ilgi, a record of the campaign.
He then served in key frontier and Yeongnam posts: Hadong magistrate, Gyeongju commander, Gyeongsang Left Naval Commander, Hoeryeong magistrate, Hamyang and Isan magistrate, and Gyeongsang Left Army Commander. In 1733 as Isan magistrate he was credited for catching smugglers who had crossed the border, but his career was not smooth, as he was also called to account over handling of Qing intruders. He became Northern Army Commander in 1742 but was dismissed that year and died on 8 September 1749 at 64. According to the epitaph by Chae Je-gong he was buried in Pyeongsan, Hwanghae. He married a lady of the Hansan Yi and had two sons, Hong-gyu and Hong-sang, and a daughter.
After confirming news of the rebellion in March 1728 he raised the Gonyang troops and rushed to Jinju Fortress. The epitaph and the Veritable Records of Yeongjo differ on events at the gate, so accounts vary.
He served as magistrate of Hadong, Gyeongsang Left Naval Commander, magistrate of Hoeryeong and Isan, and in 1742 Northern Army Commander, a military career that contrasts with that of U Seong-jeon of the same clan, remembered as a civil official and volunteer leader.
According to the epitaph written by Chae Je-gong, he was buried two months after his death, in November, on a hill in Geumam-myeon, Pyeongsan, Hwanghae Province.
With his wife of the Hansan Yi he had two sons, Hong-gyu (a military commander) and Hong-sang (a jinsa), and a daughter.