Mid-Joseon civil official and upright minister who served as Minister of Taxation, known for the lineage-correction mission to Ming and the mourning-rites debate (pen name Cheongryeon; posthumous title Munjeong)
| Life | 1520 ~ 1578 |
| Era | 조선 중기 |
| Clan | 연안 이씨 |
Yi Hu-baek (1520-1578) was a mid-Joseon civil official of the Yeonan clan, with courtesy name Gyejin, pen name Cheongryeon and posthumous title Munjeong. The encyclopedia names him a great-grandson of Governor Yi Suk-ham, with grandfather Yi Se-mun, father Yi Guk-hyeong and mother of the Im clan. After a run of prestigious censorial and editorial posts he rose under King Seonjo to royal secretary, chief remonstrator, vice-director of the Hongmungwan and vice minister of personnel.
He received Ming envoys as an aide in 1567, and in 1573 went to Ming as an envoy to correct the dynastic record. He served as Minister of Punishments and governor of Pyeongan, where he is said to have governed well. In the debate over mourning rites after Queen Inseong's death he argued for a three-year period, and this was adopted. In 1590, after his death, he was named a second-class Gwangguk merit subject for the lineage-correction effort; the encyclopedia gives two different titles of nobility for this (Prince Yeonwon and Prince Yeonyang).
He served as Minister of Personnel, as a vice chief of the Hongmungwan and Yemungwan, and was listed among upright officials. He died in 1578 at Hamyang while on leave from his post as Minister of Taxation. He was honored for his writing and virtue and enshrined at Munhoe Academy in Hamheung; his collected works are the Cheongryeonjip.
In 1573 Yi Hu-baek travelled to Ming as an envoy for correction of the record. The long diplomatic effort to correct the wrongly recorded Joseon royal lineage later earned him, in 1590, a second-class Gwangguk merit title.
When the mourning period for Queen Inseong was disputed he argued for three years, and this was carried out. He was listed among upright officials and is said to have been revered by the literati for his writing and virtue.
The tomb was not confirmed here. He died at Hamyang while visiting family graves during leave from his post as Minister of Taxation.
His great-grandfather was Governor Yi Suk-ham; one study treats his descendants as a distinguished family of the Honam region.