Early Joseon civil official who lost his post in the 1519 purge; courtesy name Hyeongjung, pen name Gyuljeong
| Life | 1495 |
| Era | 조선 전기 |
| Clan | 해남 윤씨 |
Yun Gu was an early Joseon civil official of the Haenam Yun clan, courtesy name Hyeongjung and pen name Gyuljeong. He was born in 1495 in the reign of Yeonsangun; the Encyclopedia of Korean Culture gives no death year, while a scholarly paper gives 1495-1549. His grandfather was Yun Gyeong and his father the licentiate Yun Hyo-jeong.
He passed the lower examinations in 1513 and the civil examination in 1516, and was granted study leave. He then served in posts such as Hongmungwan Suchan, Jijegyo, a royal-lecture examiner and a Chunchugwan historian. In the Gimyo purge of 1519 he was stripped of office, and he is also said to have been exiled to Yeongam after it came out that he had misspoken to the king as a royal secretary; he was reinstated in 1538.
His collected works are the Gyuljeong Yugo. Bibliographic research says it contains 33 pieces, survives in three manuscripts and a wood-type edition, and that his poems and rhapsodies liken nature and objects to life to stress self-cultivation, virtue and integrity - which the researcher links to the family learning of the Elementary Learning. He is said to be enshrined at Namhaehyangsa. His son was Yun Ui-jung, Minister of Punishments, which makes Yun Gu the great-grandfather of Yun Seon-do.
He was dismissed in the 1519 Gimyo purge, according to the Encyclopedia of Korean Culture. The exact year of his Yeongam exile was not confirmed.
The Gyuljeong Yugo has been studied bibliographically, and a Korean translation was recently published. See also his father Yun Hyo-jeong.
His tomb was not confirmed.
His son Yun Ui-jung became Minister of Punishments; Yun Seon-do was Ui-jung's grandson.