⑨ Wherever Admiral Yi Was, He Was There: Song Hui-rip

Who Was Song Hui-rip?

Song Hui-rip (宋希立) belonged to the Yeosan Song clan; his courtesy name was Sinjung (信仲) and his pen name Samgyudang (三規堂).

He was born in 1553 in Maryun-ri, Daegang-myeon, Heungyang County, Jeolla Province (today Maryun-ri, Donggang-myeon, Goheung County, South Jeolla Province), the second son of Song Gwan (宋寬), a former county magistrate. He had an elder brother, Song Dae-rip (宋大立), and a younger brother, Song Jeong-rip (宋挺立), and all three brothers would fight in the Imjin War. He was eight years younger than Admiral Yi Sun-sin, the commander who saved Joseon at sea during the war.

In 1583, the 16th year of King Seonjo's reign, he passed a special military examination. And in 1591 he became Admiral Yi's direct aide.

A direct aide was something like today's personal adjutant, but at the time he not only handled communications and practical matters at the commander's side, but also took up sword and bow and went into battle himself.

Portrait of General Song Hui-rip at Chungmusa in Suncheon

Urging the Sortie Together with Jeong Un

In the 4th month of 1592, when the Imjin War broke out, Won Gyun, the Right Gyeongsang Naval Commander, scuttled most of his more than seventy ships, disbanded over ten thousand naval troops, and in the end asked Admiral Yi, the Left Jeolla Naval Commander, for help.

Admiral Yi gathered his commanders and held a council on whether to sail into Gyeongsang waters. Those who argued most strongly for setting out were Jeong Un and Admiral Yi's direct aide, Song Hui-rip.

The Revised Annals of King Seonjo records that the two pleaded together in tears:

"In fighting the enemy, there is no 'our province' and 'their province.' If we first break the enemy's spearhead, our own province can be preserved as well." (Revised Annals of King Seonjo, 5th month, 1592)

At that council, Admiral Yi resolved to sail into Gyeongsang waters.

And on the 7th day of the 5th month, at Okpo off Geoje, the Joseon navy won its first victory. In the victory report Admiral Yi sent to the court after this battle, the Okpo Pawae Byeongjang, it is written:

"Sado Garrison Commander Kim Wan took one large ship, Bangdap Garrison Commander Yi Sun-sin (李純信) one large ship, Gwangyang Magistrate Eo Yeong-dam one large ship... My own officers, the bongsa Byeon Jon-seo, Song Hui-rip, Kim Hyo-seong, Yi Cheop, and others, shot arrows together, broke one large ship, and burned it." (Okpo Pawae Byeongjang, 5th month, 1592)

Here "my own" (本) refers to Admiral Yi himself. In other words, in this report written by Admiral Yi himself, Song Hui-rip is named, together with Byeon Jon-seo, Kim Hyo-seong, and Yi Cheop, as "my own officer." As Admiral Yi's officer, he took up his bow and fought, helping to win the Joseon navy's first victory.

The Direct Aide's Work in the Nanjung Ilgi

After that, the Nanjung Ilgi, the Admiral's war diary, continues to show Song Hui-rip at work as Admiral Yi's direct aide. Going to check on a fire in Gwangyang (9th day of the 7th month, 1593), reporting on the farming at Doyang (6th day of the 6th month, 1595), delivering Admiral Yi's wish for reconciliation to Won Gyun, with whom he was on bad terms (3rd day of the 3rd month, 1596) — in matters great and small, Song Hui-rip faithfully carried out Admiral Yi's orders.

As a Disgraced Soldier, and at Myeongnyang

In 1597, when Admiral Yi, slandered by Won Gyun, was taken under guard to Hanyang and imprisoned in the Uigeumbu, the royal tribunal for grave crimes, Song Hui-rip is said to have spread a straw mat before the palace and lain prostrate there, together with the secretary Jeong Gyeong-dal and the officer Hwang Dae-jung, pleading the Admiral's innocence.

It was a time when King Seonjo was threatening to hold anyone who defended Yi Sun-sin guilty of the same crime. When even Seoae Ryu Seong-ryong, who had recommended Admiral Yi as Left Jeolla Naval Commander, could not speak up for Admiral Yi's innocence, Song Hui-rip pleaded the innocence of the Admiral he served. Without a respect welling up from deep in his heart, this is not something a direct aide would do of his own accord.

At the beginning, I mentioned that all three Song brothers fought in the Imjin War.

His elder brother, Song Dae-rip, walked the road with Admiral Yi while the Admiral was serving as a common soldier in disgrace. Why it was his elder brother and not Song Hui-rip who attended the Admiral at that time is unknown, but perhaps Song Hui-rip had some reason he could not.

For reference, Song Dae-rip later raised a volunteer army on land and fought the Japanese, and was killed in the 4th month of 1598 in a battle at Cheomsan (尖山) in Goheung.

His younger brother Song Jeong-rip is also said to have fought at the Battle of Noryang and been killed.

At Noryang, the Man Who Fell Before Admiral Yi

On the night of the 18th day of the 11th month of 1598, the allied fleet of Joseon and Ming clashed with the Japanese ships off Noryang. It was a fierce, chaotic battle that lasted from night until the dawn of the next day.

Song Hui-rip was struck by a bullet and fell before Admiral Yi did.

The Yi Chungmugong Haengnok, the account of the Admiral's life by his nephew, describes Admiral Yi's last moments like this:

"As Yi Sun-sin was urging on the battle, he was suddenly struck by a passing bullet. 'The battle is at its most urgent. Do not tell anyone that I have died.' Leaving these last words, he died. Because they carried his body into the cabin, only three people who were attending him — his servant Kim I, his son Hoe, and his nephew Wan — knew; even his close and trusted subordinates such as Song Hui-rip did not know."

And the Annals of King Seonjo (27th day of the 11th month, year 31), which carries the report sent to the court by Left State Councillor Yi Deok-hyeong, describes what happened right after:

"Sun-sin was shooting arrows at the enemy himself when he was struck in the chest by an enemy bullet and fell on deck. Sun-sin's son was about to cry, and the soldiers were thrown into confusion. Yi Mun-uk, who was beside him, stopped the crying, covered the body with clothing, and beat the drum to advance. All the soldiers, thinking Sun-sin was not dead, took courage and attacked. The enemy was at last badly defeated, and everyone said, 'The dead Sun-sin drove off the living enemy.'" (Annals of King Seonjo, 27th day of the 11th month, year 31)

Putting the two records together: Song Hui-rip, himself struck by a bullet, was not fully conscious and did not know of the moment Admiral Yi breathed his last. And the man who hid the death on the spot and kept up the command by beating the drum was not Song Hui-rip, but Yi Mun-uk, another officer at Admiral Yi's side.

In other records written in later times, what Yi Mun-uk did was presented as Song Hui-rip's deed, so that even today most people believe Song Hui-rip took up Admiral Yi's drumsticks and beat the drum to urge on the fight. But such later records often carry the writer's own stance and a touch of imagination. Song Hui-rip's greatness is not diminished because he did not do what Yi Mun-uk did. On the contrary, even if Song Hui-rip did not take up the drumsticks after Admiral Yi's death, and was unconscious from his wound, I bow my head more to Song Hui-rip's greatness than to Yi Mun-uk's. Song Hui-rip was always at Admiral Yi's side wherever he was, and even in the Admiral's hardest moments he protected him at the risk of his own life. I believe that this unchanging heart of Song Hui-rip is far greater than taking up the drumsticks at the last moment.

Fortunately, Song Hui-rip was wounded at the Battle of Noryang but did not lose his life.

After the Battle of Noryang, his merit was recognized and he was enrolled as a First-Class Meritorious Subject of the war (Seonmu Wonjong Gongsin). In 1601 he served as magistrate of Yangsan and garrison commander of Dadaepo, and in 1611 he was appointed Left Jeolla Naval Commander.

In 1623, the year of the coup that put King Injo on the throne, Song Hui-rip died at the age of seventy-one.

Closing

Song Hui-rip became Admiral Yi's direct aide in 1591; in the 4th month of 1592 he urged, together with Jeong Un, that they sail into the Gyeongsang seas, and he won merit at the Battle of Okpo. Whether on an urgent errand or on a delicate errand of reconciliation, he gave his whole heart as the Admiral's direct aide. When Admiral Yi was imprisoned in the Uigeumbu, he pleaded the Admiral's innocence at the risk of his life. He fought alongside Admiral Yi at the Battle of Myeongnyang, and at the Battle of Noryang, before Admiral Yi was struck, he too was hit by a bullet and lost consciousness. From beginning to end, wherever Admiral Yi was, Song Hui-rip was always there.

👉 Next post: ⑩ Reborn as a Brave Commander After Meeting Admiral Yi: Kim Wan

— Momcheolhak