⑫ From Coward to Brave Commander: An Wi

Who Was An Wi?

An Wi (安衛) belonged to the Sunheung An clan and was born in 1563 in Gimje, Jeolla Province. In 1589, the 22nd year of King Seonjo's reign, when the rebellion of Jeong Yeo-rip broke out (the Gichuk purge), he is said to have been implicated simply because he was a fifth-degree relative of Jeong Yeo-rip; he was flogged and exiled to Pyeongan Province.

Three years later, in 1592, when the Imjin War broke out, An Wi passed the military examination held at Yeongyu (永柔) in Pyeongan Province and so found a way back into office. After serving as postal station master of Daedong and assistant commander, he was appointed magistrate of Geoje in 1594.

After that, An Wi often appears in the Nanjung Ilgi, the war diary of Admiral Yi Sun-sin — the commander who saved Joseon at sea during the Imjin War. Like the other commanders, he is an ordinary figure who comes to the Admiral to report on the enemy's movements, discusses welcoming a new governor, and joins in at drinking gatherings. His remarkable story begins in 1597, after the second Japanese invasion broke out.

Chilcheollyang: Among the Wailing

On the 16th day of the 7th month of 1597, the Joseon navy led by Won Gyun was destroyed at Chilcheollyang. Admiral Yi, who had been dismissed and was then serving as a common soldier in disgrace, heard the news of the defeat and went around the southern coast himself to see the situation. This is the record from the 21st day of the 7th month, five days after the great defeat.

"After lunch I arrived at Noryang. Geoje Magistrate An Wi (安衛), Yeongdeungpo Garrison Commander Jo Gye-jong (趙繼宗), and a dozen or so others came and wailed, and of the soldiers and people who had fled there was not one who was not crying out." (Nanjung Ilgi, 21st day of the 7th month, 1597)

Bae Seol, the Gyeongsang Naval Commander, had fled and was nowhere to be seen, and the survivors told of that day's horror through their tears.

"The commander Won Gyun (元均) saw the enemy and fled ashore first. The other commanders also made for the shore, and so it came to this." (Nanjung Ilgi, 21st day of the 7th month, 1597)

That night, Admiral Yi spent the night nowhere else but on An Wi's ship.

"I slept on the Geoje ship and talked with Geoje Magistrate An Wi (安衛). Even at the fourth watch I could not close my eyes at all. Because of that, I got an eye ailment." (Nanjung Ilgi, 21st day of the 7th month, 1597)

This is how An Wi first appears: as a man who survived, wailing, in the midst of the disaster in which the whole Joseon navy collapsed.

Myeongnyang: "An Wi, Do You Want to Die by Military Law?"

Less than two months later, on the 16th day of the 9th month, the Battle of Myeongnyang took place. Admiral Yi had to face 133 enemy ships with thirteen ships. But when the fighting actually began, the ships of several commanders, An Wi among them, had drawn back.

"The commanders, seeing that we faced a great enemy with few men, thought only of turning back and escaping." (Nanjung Ilgi, 16th day of the 9th month, 1597)

This was the same man who, only two months before, had told the horror of Chilcheollyang in tears and stayed up all night with Admiral Yi. Perhaps he was afraid the disaster would happen again; like the other commanders, An Wi had drawn far back. Only one ship — the flagship carrying Admiral Yi — did not retreat and faced the enemy. Admiral Yi, who had plunged alone into the enemy line and was firing his cannons, raised the choyogi, the flag used to summon the central division, on his mast to call the commanders. The first ship to come near was An Wi's.

"An Wi (安衛), do you want to die by military law? Do you want to die by military law? Do you think you will live anywhere by running away?" (Nanjung Ilgi, 16th day of the 9th month, 1597)

At these words, An Wi rushed headlong among the enemy ships. The enemy commander drove two ships at An Wi's and they clung to it like ants, while An Wi and the men aboard fought desperately, striking with clubs, stabbing with spears, and throwing stones.

"Seven or eight of An Wi's (安衛) oarsmen jumped into the water and were swimming; it seemed they could hardly be saved." (Nanjung Ilgi, 16th day of the 9th month, 1597)

Admiral Yi turned his ship and charged straight in, firing his cannons, and then, as the ships of Nokdo Garrison Commander Song Yeo-jong and Pyeongsanpo commander Jeong Eung-du joined in, the Joseon navy was able to seize the advantage. In this way, the ship that opened the way in that day's battle — thirteen ships against 133 — was An Wi's panokseon.

After Myeongnyang

On the 16th day of the 11th month, a little over two months after the Battle of Myeongnyang, An Wi's merit was formally recognized.

"When the military merit records (the record of each person's battle merits) were checked one by one, Geoje Magistrate An Wi (安衛) was made Tongjeong Daebu (a senior third-rank title), the others also received ranks in turn, and (the court) sent twenty taels of silver to me." (Nanjung Ilgi, 16th day of the 11th month, 1597)

This is the last day An Wi's name appears in the Nanjung Ilgi.

The next year, 1598, An Wi became Right Jeolla Naval Commander. In the 11th month of that year he is said to have fought in the Battle of Noryang, Admiral Yi's last battle.

Even after the war ended, An Wi was called on by the nation for a long time. He held many important posts, moving between the southern seas and the northern frontier: Dongji Jungchubusa, Army Commander of Jeolla, Naval Commander of Jeolla, of Chungcheong, and of Gyeongsang, and Defense Commander of Pyeongan. The man who came to his senses only after Admiral Yi's thunderous rebuke at Myeongnyang went out again, from then on, wherever the nation called him.

At Seventy-Four, an Old Body

When the Qing invasion of 1636 broke out, An Wi was already an old man of seventy-four. Even so, he went north to escort the king, but the roads were blocked and he could not get into Namhansanseong Fortress. Only when he heard that the court had surrendered did he return home, and in 1644 he died at the age of eighty-two.

He lies in what is now the Tomb of General An Wi, in Jojong-ri, Baeksan-myeon, Gimje City, North Jeolla Province.

Closing

An Wi was not a brave commander from the start. He wailed before the horror of Chilcheollyang, and at Myeongnyang he hung back with the other commanders. But at a single thunderous rebuke from Admiral Yi he plunged straight into the enemy line, and that charge opened the way in the battle in which thirteen ships held off 133. And after that, until he set out again at seventy-four to face the national crisis of the Qing invasion, An Wi answered the nation's call all his life. He came to his senses only after Admiral Yi's rebuke, but from then on he became a brave commander who protected his country to the end.

👉 Next post: ⑬ A Reluctant Fighter Becomes a Brave Commander: Sin Ho

— Momcheolhak