Mid-Goryeo civil official who reached Jeongdang Munhak and Minister of Rites; laid the basis for the clan's rise as an aristocratic house
| Life | 1118 ~ 1192 |
| Era | 고려 중기 |
| Clan | 파주 염씨 |
Yeom Sin-yak (廉信若, 1118-1192) was a mid-Goryeo civil official; Wikipedia gives his seat as Bongseong (峯城) and his birthplace as Bongseong county in Yanggwang Province. Bongseong is explained as an old name of Paju, and in the Paju Yeom early line he is counted as the 7th generation. His father was Yeom Deok-bang, Vice-Director of the Court of the Imperial Household; his mother was a daughter of Sim Hu; his sons Yeom Geuk-gwon and Yeom Geuk-mo are recorded. He died on the 30th day of the tenth lunar month of 1192, aged 75.
He passed the examination in King Injong's reign, became Gwangju Jangseogi and Cheomsabu Nokssa. After King Myeongjong's accession he served as Gukjagam Jwaeju and Hallim Sigang Hagsa and became Pan Daebusa; in 1178 he was Military Commissioner of the Northwest, in 1179 Minister of Personnel, and in 1183 Vice-Director of the Privy Council and Hallim Academician Seungji. He rose to Jeongdang Munhak and Minister of Rites, then retired. He is therefore described as the one who laid the basis for the clan's growth into a Goryeo aristocratic house.
He is said to have been small in stature but bold, compared to Yan Ying of Qi; intelligent, with a good memory, versed in Fan Ye's Book of the Later Han, and a writer of many fine works. A land dispute with Jeong Jung-bu, in which a slave was killed and he was dismissed, is also recorded, showing how the military coup era's turmoil touched civil houses. A culture newspaper adds that a filial-piety gate was raised for him. His son Yeom Geuk-mo entered office by hereditary privilege under Myeongjong and reached Vice-Minister of Works and Revenue under Gojong.
Wikipedia gives Yeom Sin-yak's seat as Bongseong. The article on the Paju Yeom clan explains that the clan first took Bongseong, where the founder lived, as its seat, then Gokseong in 1354, then Seowon, and in Joseon fixed it as Paju; so "Bongseong Yeom" and "Paju Yeom" can be seen as old and new names of the same clan.
Yeom Geuk-mo started office by hereditary privilege under Myeongjong and rose to vice-minister of Works and Revenue under Gojong, with an epitaph dated 1217 given as the basis. His son Yeom Su-jang is said to have passed the exam in 1214 and reached Yebin-gyeong.
His tomb was not confirmed in the sources used here.