㊲ About Admiral Yi Sun-sin's Mother

Many people know that Admiral Yi Sun-sin was a deeply devoted son. His mother appears more than a hundred times in the Nanjung Ilgi, his war diary.

But how that mother raised him is not well known. To be honest, few records remain. Nothing she wrote has come down to us. The records of the Admiral's childhood are only a few lines.

So in this post I want to gather the fragments that remain: a few lines from the "Haengnok" and a few lines from the diary. Through those fragments, I will follow what kind of woman his mother was, and what kind of man the son she raised became.

The Name "Sun-sin"

The Admiral's mother was Lady Byeon of Chogye. The Admiral was born in 1545 in Geoncheon-dong in Hanyang (Seoul), the third of four sons. His elder brothers were Hui-sin and Yo-sin, and his younger brother was U-sin.

The "Haengnok" tells the story of his birth this way:

"When the Admiral was first born, his grandfather, the Honorable Champan [Yi Baek-rok], appeared in his mother's dream and said, 'This child will surely become a man of distinction, so name him Sun-sin.' His mother told the dream to Lord Deogyeon [the Admiral's father, Yi Jeong], and in the end he was named accordingly." (Yi Chungmugong Jeonseo, vol. 9, "Haengnok")

The name "Sun-sin" came from his mother's dream. His mother told the dream, and his father gave the name just as it was.

It is often said that the four sons' names each took one character from the ancient sages Fuxi, Yao, Shun, and Yu. I think the names hold the hope of parents who wished their sons to become such men.

It is said that the Admiral spent his early childhood in Hanyang and, as a youth, moved to Asan in Chungcheong Province, where his mother's family lived. The place where the Admiral grew up was his mother's hometown.

A Mother Who Took In Her Orphaned Grandchildren

The Admiral's two elder brothers died young. The nephews and nieces they left behind were small. The "Haengnok" records in whose hands those children grew up.

"The Admiral's two elder brothers died early, and their children were all young, so they were being raised by the Admiral's mother." (Yi Chungmugong Jeonseo, vol. 9, "Haengnok")

His mother had to bury two of her sons. And she took in and raised the grandchildren who had lost their parents.

In 1589, the Admiral became magistrate of Jeongeup. His mother went with him to Jeongeup, bringing the children. Then someone accused him of namsol (濫率). Namsol meant a magistrate bringing more family members to his post than the law allowed. If caught, it was an offense that could cost him his office.

"The Admiral shed tears and said, 'I would rather be guilty of namsol than abandon these children who have no one to depend on.' Those who heard him thought him righteous." (Yi Chungmugong Jeonseo, vol. 9, "Haengnok")

The son did not abandon the children his mother had taken in. He said he would keep them even if it cost him his post.

In Hong Ik-hyeon's piece attached at the end of the "Haengnok," there is also this passage:

"As the Admiral cared for and raised his nephews and nieces, whenever he obtained something, he always gave it to them first, and only afterward looked to his own children." (Yi Chungmugong Jeonseo, vol. 9, "Haengnok" 2)

He looked after his brothers' children before his own. I think he learned this from his mother. From childhood, the Admiral must have watched his mother, who lost two sons and still took in their children.

"You Must Greatly Wash Away the Nation's Disgrace"

When the war broke out, the Admiral brought his mother to live near Yeosu. In the diary the place appears as Gomnae (古音川). In the 1st month of 1594, the Admiral went by boat to visit his mother.

"Her strength was weak and her breath came short, as if it might stop at any moment; it seemed the time of her death was near, and tears I tried to hide fell of themselves. Yet there was no confusion in what she said." (Nanjung Ilgi, January 11, 1594)

The next morning, the Admiral had to return to his camp.

"After breakfast I took my leave of my mother, and she said, 'Go well. You must greatly wash away the nation's disgrace,' admonishing me two or three times, and she did not sigh in the least at my leaving." (Nanjung Ilgi, January 12, 1594)

She was an old mother whose breath seemed about to give out. Yet she did not hold her son back. She did not worry about herself; she worried about the country. She said it twice, three times.

The same scene is in the "Haengnok." Along with the words "Go well to your camp and greatly wash away the nation's shame," it records that "she showed not the slightest sorrow at parting." His nephew Yi Bun had not forgotten those words either.

If you ask how this mother raised her son, I think this one sentence is the clearest answer.

Greetings Sent Across the Sea

The same sentence appears countless times in the Nanjung Ilgi: "I hear that my mother is well." Whenever the dispatch boat came in, whenever his sons or nephews came in, the Admiral first wrote down how his mother was. And he added, "What a relief."

He did not only send replies.

"My servant Mongnyeon (木年) came from Gebaugae (蟹浦: Haepo, Haeam-ri, Yeomchi-eup, Asan), and said that my mother is well. I immediately wrote a reply and sent him back, sending five bundles of seaweed along with it." (Nanjung Ilgi, May 18, 1593)

His mother's birthday came every year. Not once was the Admiral able to go and offer her a cup.

"Today is my mother's birthday, yet because of the work of fighting these enemies I cannot go and offer her a cup for her long life. It will be a regret all my life." (Nanjung Ilgi, May 4, 1593)

That summer he also left this record:

"In the morning I plucked out a dozen or so white hairs. What does it matter if my hair is white? It is only that I have an aged mother above me." (Nanjung Ilgi, June 12, 1593)

He plucked out his white hairs because his old mother might be saddened if her son looked old. The Admiral was forty-nine at the time.

Holding Her All Night to Comfort Her

In the autumn of 1596, the Admiral had his men row all day and reached his mother late at night.

"At about ten o'clock at night I came before my mother. Her white hair was disheveled, and when she saw me she rose in surprise. Her strength was such that her breath seemed about to stop; it seemed hard for her to last from morning to evening. With tears in our eyes we held each other, and all night long I comforted her and made her glad, easing her heart." (Nanjung Ilgi, leap August 12, 1596)

"I sat beside her at breakfast and had her eat, and she looked very happy. In the late afternoon I took my leave and came back to headquarters." (Nanjung Ilgi, leap August 13, 1596)

The Supreme Naval Commander of the Three Provinces sat beside his old mother and had her eat her breakfast. He could not stay even a full day, and went back to his camp.

The Last Voyage

In the spring of 1597, the Admiral was released from prison and set out to serve as a common soldier (baegui jonggun). His mother came up by boat to Asan to see her son. And she died on that voyage. She was eighty-three.

"I set out early, and took my leave before my mother's spirit tablet, crying out. Where in heaven and earth is there anyone in a plight like mine! It would be better to die early." (Nanjung Ilgi, April 19, 1597)

I have already written about this day twice.

👉 ③ My Mother's Death, on the Road as a Disgraced Soldier

👉 ② (Baegui Jonggun Road) From the Old Home to Gebawi

Having His Mother's Family Genealogy Written

Rereading the diary this time, I lingered long over the records of two days. It was two months after he had lost his mother. The Admiral was serving as a common soldier at Chogye in Hapcheon.

"Today is the full moon, but because I am with the army, I cannot offer a cup and weep before my mother's spirit tablet. How can I put my longing into words!" (Nanjung Ilgi, June 15, 1597)

The next day:

"I sat alone, and no one came to look in on me. I called my son Yeol and Yi Won-ryong (李元龍) and had them make a book and write out the Byeon family genealogy." (Nanjung Ilgi, June 16, 1597)

On a day when no one came to see him, the Admiral called his son and had him write out the genealogy of his mother's family. Perhaps that was all a son could do who had had to leave before even finishing her funeral.

Devotion to His Mother, and Love for the People

His mother received her son's name in a dream. She lost two sons and still took in and raised their children. With a body whose breath seemed about to give out, she told her son, "Wash away the nation's disgrace." And she set out by boat to see her son, just released from prison.

The son did not abandon the nephews and nieces his mother had taken in. Whenever he obtained something, he gave it to them first. And during the war, he clothed his ragged soldiers and fed the starving people.

I think these two streams are joined as one.

On New Year's Day of 1596, the Admiral paid his New Year's respects to his mother at one o'clock in the morning. That evening he returned to camp and wrote that "my mind was so troubled that I could not sleep all night." (Nanjung Ilgi, January 1, 1596)

On the 23rd of the same month, the Admiral gave clothes to seventeen ragged soldiers. (Nanjung Ilgi, January 23, 1596)

👉 ㉟ The Heart That Beheads and the Heart That Gives Away Its Clothes: Admiral Yi Sun-sin

The man who worried about his old mother's failing strength saw the bodies of his soldiers shivering in the cold of the camp. I think those two hearts were not different.

Filial devotion begins with serving one's own parents. But the Admiral's mother did not keep her son at her side. She sent him to the country. The Admiral's devotion was to follow his mother's will, and that will was turned toward the country and its people.

That is why I believe Admiral Yi Sun-sin's devotion to his mother carried over into his love for the people.

— Momcheolhak