Commander of Nokdo who fell at Sonjuk Island in the 1587 Japanese raid; posthumous title Chungnyeol
| Life | 1566 ~ 1587 |
| Era | 조선 중기 |
| Clan | 함평 이씨 |
Yi Dae-won (1566-1587) was a mid-Joseon naval commander of the Hampyeong Yi clan with courtesy name Hoyeon and posthumous title Chungnyeol. Born in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi (now Naegi-ri, Poseung-eup), he became commander of Nokdo and is introduced as belonging to the Seonggeun Jinsa-gong branch. He died at the age of twenty-two.
When eighteen Japanese ships appeared off Sonjuk Island in Heungyang, Jeolla, in the second month of 1587, he is said to have advised fighting the next day with reinforcements because night was falling and troops were few, but the Left Jeolla naval commander Sim Am forced him to sortie. Yi Dae-won went out with about a hundred men and fought for three days and nights without the promised support, and was finally captured and killed while rebuking the enemy.
The incident is called the Jeonghae Waebyeon and came five years before the Imjin War. The court posthumously made him Vice Minister of War, and his death is recorded in a spirit-way stele inscription written by Nam Gu-man. His tomb and shrines are found in Pyeongtaek, Yeosu and Goheung.
In the first month of 1587 Yi Dae-won pursued Japanese ships near Nokdo ahead of orders and won a success, which is said to have aroused the jealousy of the naval commander Sim Am. When ships reached Sonjuk Island in the second month, Sim Am forced the sortie, and the ships of other garrisons scattered, leaving only Yi Dae-won's ship facing the enemy.
It is told that, sensing defeat, he left a farewell poem and entrusted his clothes to a retainer so a funeral could be held at home. These accounts rest on the stele inscription and later records, so details vary by source.
His tomb at Huigok-ri, Poseung-eup, Pyeongtaek, is Gyeonggi Monument No. 56. Pyeongtaek has Hwakchungsa, where his tablet is enshrined with an annual memorial rite.
In Jeonnam, Ssangchungsa in Goheung (Jeonnam Monument No. 128) and the Yi Dae-won shrine on Sonjuk Island, Yeosu (Jeonnam Monument No. 239) honor him, and a shrine site in Yeosu (Jeonnam Monument No. 44) is said to enshrine him with Choe Yeong, Yi Sun-sin and Jeong Un.
In the stele inscription Nam Gu-man lamented a talented commander lost young amid jealousy and enemy attack. He was cited alongside Yi Sun-sin as a loyal subject in 1615 under Gwanghaegun, and in 1668 under Hyeonjong was posthumously made Vice Minister of War and honored with a village gate.
The clan remembers him as a leading figure of his branch. He is said to be the son of Yi Chun-bang and a mother of the Jeonju Yi clan.
Huigok-ri, Poseung-eup, Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi (Gyeonggi Monument No. 56)