Official regarded as leader of the Easterners, courtesy name Gyeongham, pen name Dongam; served as Vice Director of the Office of Special Advisors and Inspector-General, and died in the 1589 purge
| Life | 1544 ~ 1589 |
| Era | 조선 중기 |
| Clan | 광산 이씨 |
Yi Bal (李潑, 1544-1589) was a mid-Joseon official of the Gwangsan seat, courtesy name Gyeongham (景涵) and pen name Dongam (東巖); the Encyclopedia of Korean Culture gives his pen names as Dongam and Buksan. He was a son of Jehak Yi Jung-ho, his mother a daughter of Yun Gu, and a great-grandson of Yi Dal-seon. He studied under Kim Geun-gong and Min Sun.
He became a saengwon in 1568 (Seonjo 1), topped the Aldeung civil examination in 1573, and after a period of study leave in 1574 was picked as Senior Official of the Personnel Board. He then served as Eungyo in 1579, Jeonhan in 1581, Vice Director of the Office of Special Advisors in 1583 and Inspector-General in 1584. He took Jo Gwang-jo's ideal of good government as his creed, led scholarly opinion and urged kingly rule at the royal lectures. The sources also record criticism that as Personnel Board official he promoted men of his own faction. After the East-West split he was a leading Easterner against the Westerners; leading the hardliners over punishing Jeong Cheol, he drifted from Yi I and Seong Hon and earned Western hatred.
In 1589, when Easterner Jeong Yeo-rip was accused of treason and the Westerners took power, Yi Bal resigned and awaited judgment outside the capital, was arrested, and died after two severe torture sessions. Wikipedia says most letters found at Jeong Yeo-rip's house were Yi Bal's and that their frank discussion of even King Seonjo's affairs worsened his fate. His brother Yi Gil and elder brother Yi Geup died too, and then his 82-year-old mother and young son (aged 8 or 10 depending on the source) died under interrogation without ever confessing. His wife's nephew Yun Seon-do is said to have nursed a deep grudge against the Westerners as a result.
Sources differ on his rehabilitation. Wikipedia says repeated requests under Gwanghaegun failed, that he and Yi Gil were cleared and their ranks restored in 1624 (Injo 2), and that a memorial gate was set up in 1694 (Sukjong 20). The Gwangsan Yi article says he was cleared in 1624 on a memorial by Chief State Councillor Yi Won-ik, while the Encyclopedia of Korean Culture's Yi Gil entry says Yi Gil was cleared in 1694 and posthumously made Vice Director. Which is correct could not be settled here.
Around 1578 (Seonjo 11) it became evident that officials had divided into Easterners and Westerners, and the Revised Seonjo Annals are said to name Jeong Cheol among the Westerners and Yi Bal among the Easterners as those acclaimed. Yi I tried to reconcile the two sides but it did not last. Jo Heon submitted a memorial claiming Yi Bal had fabricated slanders against Jeong Cheol, and the Office of the Inspector-General rebutted it as fabrication.
When Jeong Yeo-rip killed himself in flight in the tenth lunar month of 1589, Yi Bal resigned as Inspector-General and awaited judgment outside the city. His name came up in the confession of Jeong's nephew, who yielded under torture, and King Seonjo personally questioned him; on the way to exile he was returned to prison and died under torture. About a thousand Easterners were killed or exiled in the affair, and the property of Yi Bal and Yi Gil was confiscated. Doubts are also noted about whether Jeong Cheol sincerely tried to prevent Yi Gil's execution, as the Revised Seonjo Annals record.
One account says the tragedy of Yi Bal's family greatly worsened the Easterners' feelings toward the Westerners and led to the later North-South split among the Easterners. Meanwhile Sim Gyeong (of the Cheongsong Sim) is said to have recovered and buried the bodies of the executed brothers, for which he was exiled to Buryeong. The Gwangsan Yi of Jindo are said to be descendants who settled there to escape this disaster.
The location of his tomb could not be confirmed. A memorial gate is said to have been ordered at his old village under King Sukjong.
His aged mother and young son both died; Yi Won-seop, son of his brother Yi Gil, and sixth cousins Yi Won-jun and Yi Geun are said to have fled to Jindo and formed the Jindo Gwangsan Yi.