⑯ The Man Who Recommended the Admiral at Court: Ryu Seong-ryong

Until now, in "The People of Admiral Yi," we have met the commanders who fought alongside Admiral Yi Sun-sin — the commander who saved Joseon at sea during the Imjin War — on the sea. Beginning with this post, the next three are about somewhat different people: those who protected the Admiral not at sea but at court. Ryu Seong-ryong, who recommended him; Yi Won-ik, who defended him; and Jeong Tak, who saved him when he was in prison.

The first is Ryu Seong-ryong.

Everyone knows the bond between Ryu Seong-ryong and Admiral Yi. The two grew up as neighbors in Geoncheon-dong in Hanyang, the capital. Ryu Seong-ryong was three years older. Just before the war, Ryu Seong-ryong recommended the Admiral for the post of Jeolla Left Naval Commander.

Yet there were almost no days during the war when the two actually met. Ryu Seong-ryong was at court, and the Admiral was at sea. What connected them was letters — and the Admiral's dreams.

In this post, let us read together the Nanjung Ilgi, the Admiral's war diary; the Annals of King Seonjo; and the Jingbirok, the memoir of the war that Ryu Seong-ryong wrote himself.

1591: "Some Doubted the Extraordinary Promotion"

Ryu Seong-ryong wrote of recommending the Admiral in the Jingbirok:

"At this time, as rumors that the Japanese would invade spread more urgently by the day, the king ordered the Border Defense Council to recommend men fit to be commanders. I recommended Yi Sun-sin, and at last he was raised past the usual grades from magistrate of Jeongeup to naval commander. Some people then doubted the extraordinary promotion."

A county magistrate of the junior sixth rank became a naval commander of the senior third rank. He had leapt seven grades at once. From then on, Ryu Seong-ryong was "the man who recommended Yi Sun-sin." Later this fact would become a burden for both of them.

A Book That Arrived a Month Before the War

In the 3rd month of 1592, a book came to the Admiral from Hanyang.

"Toward evening, the officer who had gone to the capital returned. He brought a letter from Left State Councillor Ryu Seong-ryong and a book called Jeungson Jeonsu Bangnyak." (Nanjung Ilgi, 5th day of the 3rd month, 1592)

The Jeungson Jeonsu Bangnyak is a military manual on methods of attack and defense. A month later, on the 13th day of the 4th month, the Japanese army landed at Busan.

Letters Between the Sea and the Court

The Nanjung Ilgi records about twenty exchanges of letters with Ryu Seong-ryong. But the Admiral almost never wrote what was in them. Only in a short line here and there can one see his heart.

"A letter came from the Chief State Councillor (Ryu Seong-ryong) as well. To hear that His Majesty worries day and night and is so burdened — I am deeply moved." (Nanjung Ilgi, 12th day of the 2nd month, 1594)

"Sin Gyeong-hwang came in bringing a letter from the Chief State Councillor (Ryu Seong-ryong). There could be no one who worries for the nation more than he." (Nanjung Ilgi, 15th day of the 6th month, 1594)

There were things the Admiral sent, too. In the 9th month of 1593 he sent letters with abalone to Ryu Seong-ryong and several others, and in the 9th month of 1595 he sent Ryu Seong-ryong thirty citrons. (Nanjung Ilgi, 4th day of the 9th month, 1593; 17th day of the 9th month, 1595)

Thirty citrons, sent from the sea to the capital in the middle of a war. Not a grand gift. That is why one can feel the heart in it all the more.

"If Something Had Happened to Minister Ryu"

In the 7th month of 1594, a rumor came that Ryu Seong-ryong had died.

"They say an obituary notice for Chief State Councillor Ryu Seong-ryong reached the Border Commander's post. This must surely be slander made up by those who hate Minister Ryu. I cannot bear the indignation." (Nanjung Ilgi, 12th day of the 7th month, 1594)

That night the Admiral could not sleep.

"Toward dusk that day my mind was in great turmoil. Sitting alone in an empty house, I could not hold my heart steady. My worry grew more stifling, and I could not sleep though the night grew late. If something has happened to Minister Ryu, what will become of the affairs of the nation! What will become of them!" (Nanjung Ilgi, 12th day of the 7th month, 1594)

The moment he heard the rumor, the Admiral's first thought was that it had been "made up by those who hate him." The Admiral, too, knew that there were people at court who hated Ryu Seong-ryong.

The Man He Met in Dreams

There are many dreams in the Nanjung Ilgi. Ryu Seong-ryong appears in several of them.

"In a dream at dawn, the Chief State Councillor was dressed in a strange way, and I, with my official hat off, went with him to Min Jong-gak's house, where we talked together until I woke. I do not know what sign this is." (Nanjung Ilgi, 8th day of the 11th month, 1594)

The dream of the first month of 1596 is longer.

"Around two in the night, I dreamed that I came to a certain place and talked with the Chief State Councillor for more than an hour. Taking off our robes and hats, we sat and lay down by turns, pouring out to each other our worries for the nation, until at last we poured out even what was knotted in our chests. After a long while, wind and rain beat down fiercely, yet we did not part." (Nanjung Ilgi, 12th day of the 1st month, 1596)

To take off one's robes and hat means to set aside dignity and formality. It must mean they opened their hearts that fully. Even as wind and rain beat down, the two did not part.

At the end of this dream, the Admiral added:

"I heard earlier that the Chief State Councillor was very ill with a phlegm-cough. I wonder whether he has recovered." (Nanjung Ilgi, 12th day of the 1st month, 1596)

In the 7th month of that year, too, the Admiral wrote, "In a dream at night, I talked quietly with the Chief State Councillor." (Nanjung Ilgi, 30th day of the 7th month, 1596)

Perhaps they met in dreams because they could not meet in reality. There were that few people to whom he could pour out what was knotted in his chest.

The 1st Month of 1597: What Did Ryu Seong-ryong Say?

Now I must tell a story that is not well known.

In the 1st month of 1597, a debate arose over punishing the Admiral for failing to stop Kato Kiyomasa, a leading Japanese general, at sea. On the 27th day of the 1st month, King Seonjo summoned his high ministers to discuss it. The king said:

"Yi Sun-sin cannot be pardoned in the least. The habit of military officials taking the court lightly must be dealt with." (Annals of King Seonjo, 27th day of the 1st month, year 30)

There, Ryu Seong-ryong first made clear his own relationship with the Admiral.

"Because my house is in the same neighborhood as Yi Sun-sin's, I know his character deeply." (Annals of King Seonjo, 27th day of the 1st month, year 30)

He went on to say that he had recommended him because the Admiral was unbending by nature and therefore worth choosing. Then he said:

"He stayed at Hansan for a long time without doing much, and this time too he did not intercept the enemy at sea. How can one say he is without fault?" (Annals of King Seonjo, 27th day of the 1st month, year 30)

Read on its own, this sentence makes it look as if the man who knew the Admiral best had admitted his guilt. But Ryu Seong-ryong's words did not end there.

"It is only that the situation would likely become difficult during a change of command, and that is why I reported as I did before." (Annals of King Seonjo, 27th day of the 1st month, year 30)

A "change of command" means replacing the commander. He was saying that he had earlier advised as he did out of concern that the situation would become difficult while the Admiral was being replaced. This, I believe, is what Ryu Seong-ryong truly wanted to say that day.

A Confession Left in the Jingbirok

Ryu Seong-ryong later wrote about this time in the Jingbirok:

"Because I was the one who first recommended Yi Sun-sin, those who disliked me joined forces with Won Gyun and put all their strength into attacking Yi Sun-sin. Only Right State Councillor Yi Won-ik made it clear that this was not so, and he also said: 'Yi Sun-sin and Won Gyun each had areas to guard, so not advancing at once at first was no great fault.'" (Jingbirok, Book 2)

He also wrote of what happened after the Admiral was imprisoned:

"Only Jeong Tak, the Panjungchubusa, said, 'Yi Sun-sin is a famous general; he must not be put to death.'" (Jingbirok, Book 2)

Ryu Seong-ryong named himself as one of the reasons the Admiral was attacked: those who hated him had attacked the man he had recommended. This sentence reveals why Ryu Seong-ryong had to choose his words so carefully before the king.

Words to Save the King's Face, and Save the Admiral

Why, then, did Ryu Seong-ryong first say, "How can one say he is without fault?"

We must think about the situation in that room. The king had already said he "cannot be pardoned in the least." Many at court hated Ryu Seong-ryong, and they were attacking the Admiral he had recommended. In such a setting, what would have happened if Ryu Seong-ryong had countered, "Yi Sun-sin is innocent"? It would have been a direct denial of the king's words. And it would have given the other side the pretext that he was "shielding the man he recommended." Far from saving the Admiral, it would have put him in greater danger.

So, as I see it, Ryu Seong-ryong first accepted the king's words. He saved the king's face. Then he added what he truly wanted to say: that replacing the commander now would make the situation difficult. Instead of arguing over guilt or innocence, he tried to keep the Admiral in his post by pointing to the state of the nation. It was a careful, heavy word, spoken to save a friend standing at the edge of a cliff.

And in the Jingbirok, Ryu Seong-ryong did not write that he had defended the Admiral. He left only the names of Yi Won-ik and Jeong Tak as the men who protected him. He did not put his own merit forward.

The Day After He Left Prison

On the 1st day of the 4th month of 1597, the Admiral was released from prison. That day, Ryu Seong-ryong sent a servant to ask after him. (Nanjung Ilgi, 1st day of the 4th month, 1597)

And the next day, the Admiral went to see Ryu Seong-ryong.

"Toward dusk I went into the city and talked with the Chief State Councillor late into the night before leaving." (Nanjung Ilgi, 2nd day of the 4th month, 1597)

What the two talked about that night is not recorded. Nor can we know whether the Admiral knew what had been said before the king in the 1st month. But nowhere in the Admiral's diary is there a word of resentment toward Ryu Seong-ryong. The next day, the Admiral set out on the road as a common soldier in disgrace.

The 19th Day of the 11th Month, 1598

At dawn on the 19th day of the 11th month of 1598, the Admiral was killed in battle in the sea off Noryang.

On the same day in Hanyang, the Office of the Censor-General asked that Ryu Seong-ryong be stripped of his offices. King Seonjo answered, "Do as reported. Dismiss Yu Seong-ryong." (Annals of King Seonjo, 19th day of the 11th month, year 31)

One man lost his life at sea; the other lost his place at court. It was the same day. Of course, it was coincidence. But when I think of the roads the two had walked, it is hard to pass it off as mere coincidence.

Through the seven years of the Imjin War, Admiral Yi gave himself fully as Jeolla Left Naval Commander and as Supreme Naval Commander of the Three Provinces, and Ryu Seong-ryong gave himself fully as Chief State Councillor and as the Do-chechalsa overseeing military affairs in wartime. And Admiral Yi left behind the Nanjung Ilgi, and Ryu Seong-ryong left behind the Jingbirok.

Ryu Seong-ryong's Last Judgment

After leaving office, Ryu Seong-ryong went down to his hometown of Andong and wrote the Jingbirok.

In it he set aside a separate section, "The Spirit and Integrity of Yi Sun-sin," and wrote about the time when the Admiral was in prison.

A jailer hinted to the Admiral's nephew Yi Bun that he could be released if a bribe were paid.

Hearing this, the Admiral grew angry with his nephew.

"If I must die, then I will die. How could I go against what is right just to live!" (Jingbirok, Book 2)

And he ended this passage like this:

"Yi Sun-sin had talent but no fortune; he died without unfolding even one part in a hundred. Ah, what a pity!" (Jingbirok, Book 2; original text: "有才無命 百不一施而死 嗚呼惜哉")

This was a commander who never once lost at sea. Yet Ryu Seong-ryong wrote that he "did not unfold even one part in a hundred." It is the judgment of the man who had known the Admiral the longest. In Ryu Seong-ryong's eyes, what the Admiral left undone loomed larger than what he had achieved.

👉 Next post: ⑰ The Man Who Defended the Admiral at Court: Yi Won-ik

— Momcheolhak