㊱ Admiral Yi Sun-sin's Poetry and Music

I love poetry. I love history, and I love music.

While rereading the Nanjung Ilgi, Admiral Yi Sun-sin's war diary, by topic, I had a strange feeling. Everything I love was there in his diary. The Admiral listened to the sound of the flute, had the geomungo played, and strung a newly made gayageum. On sleepless nights he recited poems, and on rainy days he read history books.

We know the undefeated admiral. In this post, I want to meet the admiral who recited poems and listened to the flute.

The Flute on a Moonlit Night on Hansan Island

I first met the Admiral through a single sijo poem.

"On a moonlit night on Hansan Island, I sat alone in the watchtower, my long sword at my side, sunk deep in worry, when from somewhere a single flute cry (一聲胡笳) pierced through, and it broke my heart." (Yi Chungmugong Jeonseo, vol. 9, "Haengnok")

Rereading this sijo, I lingered long over its last line. Ilseong hoga means a single strain of the flute. The hoga (胡笳) is a kind of flute. What broke the Admiral's brooding was not the enemy. It was the sound of a flute coming from somewhere.

The Admiral's most famous sijo ends with the sound of a flute.

👉 ① The Hidden Story Behind "Hansando-ga"

Sounds That Rang Through the Camp

That sound of the flute appears many times in the Nanjung Ilgi.

The Flute His Nephew Played

It was a summer night in 1594, in the camp on Hansando.

"The night was deep, and the sea was full of the sound of flutes. Listening to the geomungo played in praise of the commanders, we talked quietly and then parted." (Nanjung Ilgi, June 9, 1594)

Two days later he wrote again:

"As we talked together in the moonlight, the sound of the jade flute was mournful. We sat for a long time and then parted." (Nanjung Ilgi, June 11, 1594)

In the 8th month of that year, the name of the one who played the flute appears.

"The moonlight was like silk, and with no wind the sea was calm, so I had Hae (荄) play the flute. Only when the night was deep did we stop." (Nanjung Ilgi, August 13, 1594)

Hae (荄) is the Admiral's nephew, Yi Hae. The diary records many times that "my nephew Hae came in." The Admiral had his nephew play the flute and listened until deep into the night.

During the day on that same date, the Admiral ordered his swiftest commanders to be chosen to spy on the enemy. By day he watched the enemy; by night he listened to the flute.

Having the Geomungo Played

The 13th day of the 5th month, 1595, was a day when rain poured down all day.

"Sitting alone in the middle of the main hall, my thoughts have no end. I called Bae Yeong-su (裵永壽) and had him play the geomungo." (Nanjung Ilgi, May 13, 1595)

On a day when his mind was troubled, the Admiral called someone in and listened to the geomungo.

The 26th day of the 6th month that year was Kwon Jun's birthday.

"I was told that today was the birthday of the Honorable Kwon Eon-gyeong (權彦卿). So we made noodles and ate them, drank until we were very drunk, listened to the geomungo, and played the flute, and parted only at dusk." (Nanjung Ilgi, June 26, 1595)

Eon-gyeong was Kwon Jun's courtesy name (ja). They ate birthday noodles, listened to the geomungo, and played the flute. It was a birthday party in the middle of a war.

👉 ⑤ Admiral Yi's Center Guard Commander and Close Friend: Kwon Jun

There was even someone who came to show off his geomungo.

"After dark, Yi Ji-hwa (李知和) brought his geomungo to show off what he owned. Yeong (英) also came to see it, and we talked all night." (Nanjung Ilgi, leap August 18, 1596)

Stringing a New Gayageum

On the 5th day of the 2nd month, 1596, the Admiral gathered the commanders of the three provinces, fed them, and held archery.

"At the same time we shot arrows and had music played, and parted drunk." (Nanjung Ilgi, February 5, 1596)

On the same day he also wrote that "together with the commanders, I listened to several tunes on the gayageum."

Here is the diary from a little more than a month later.

"The east wind blew hard and the weather was bitterly cold. In the morning I strung the newly made gayageum." (Nanjung Ilgi, March 19, 1596)

A new gayageum had been made in the camp. The diary does not say whether the Admiral played it himself. But he wrote down in his diary that he strung it.

Poems on Sleepless Nights

Whistling

The 15th day of the 8th month, 1595, was Chuseok, the harvest moon festival.

"Tonight the dim moonlight shines on the pavilion, and I cannot sleep, so all night long I whistled and recited poems." (Nanjung Ilgi, August 15, 1595)

The next spring, too, he could not sleep because of the moon.

"This night the moonlight was like broad daylight and the waves were like silk, and though I tried to sleep, I could not." (Nanjung Ilgi, February 15, 1596)

And there is this short record:

"Reciting to myself, I leaned on the watchtower." (Nanjung Ilgi, May 17, 1596)

The watchtower. The very watchtower of "On a moonlit night on Hansan Island, I sat alone in the watchtower." The scene in the sijo was in the diary too.

The Dawn Moon Shining on Bow and Sword

The "Haengnok" records a poem in classical Chinese (hansi) that the Admiral is said to have recited on a moonlit night.

Autumn light grows late upon the wide sea;
startled by the cold, the wild geese fly high.
My heart full of care, I cannot sleep this night;
the dawn moon shines upon my bow and sword.
(Yi Chungmugong Jeonseo, vol. 9, "Haengnok")

On a sleepless night, the dawn moon shines on the bow and sword hanging in the Admiral's room. Perhaps the dawn moon was Admiral Yi himself, sitting alone in that room.

👉 ① Not the Song of the Sword, but the Song of the Bow

In the North, and in the South

There is a poem the Admiral wrote down in his own diary. In the 9th month of 1595, Seon Geo-i, the Chungcheong Naval Commander, was to leave Hansando. Parting from him, the Admiral wrote him a poem.

"When we went north, we worked together; when we came south, we shared life and death. Tonight, under this moon, we share one cup; tomorrow we must part from each other." (Nanjung Ilgi, September 14, 1595)

"When we went north" has a story behind it. In 1587, after fighting the Jurchens at Nokdundo in Hamgyeong Province, the Admiral was held responsible for the defeat and was to be interrogated. At that time Seon Geo-i, then a military officer under the provincial army commander, took the Admiral's hand, wept, and offered him a drink. The Admiral declined, saying, "Life and death are a matter of Heaven's will. What use is drinking?" (Yi Chungmugong Jeonseo, vol. 9, "Haengnok")

Eight years later, the two men parted again, this time by the southern sea. This time the Admiral raised the cup. And he wrote a poem.

Here is the next day's diary.

"Naval Commander Seon Geo-i (宣居怡) came to take his leave and return, and we raised the parting cup once more and parted." (Nanjung Ilgi, September 15, 1595)

The Admiral Who Read History

On the 25th day of the 5th month, 1596, it also rained all day.

"Sitting alone in the upper pavilion, all kinds of thoughts arise. Reading our country's history, I have many thoughts of lament." (Nanjung Ilgi, May 25, 1596)

The Admiral also left a short piece he wrote after reading the history of the Song dynasty. It is included in the Yi Chungmugong Jeonseo. Li Gang (李綱), a chief minister of Song, tried to step down when things did not go his way while the country was in danger. The Admiral wrote that if he had been Li Gang, he would not have stepped down. He would have made his will clear to the end, and if that still failed, he would die. Or else he would throw himself into the midst of it, handle affairs one by one, and look for a way to save the country.

He read the stories of people of old and wrote down what he would have done. For the Admiral, history was not a story of the past.

There was also a day he rejoiced at receiving a book. A month before the war broke out, Ryu Seong-ryong sent him a book on military strategy, Jeungson Jeonsu Bangnyak. The Admiral wrote: "Naval warfare, land warfare, fire attacks, and more are discussed one by one; it is truly a work unique through all ages." (Nanjung Ilgi, March 5, 1592)

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

There Was a Time for Music, Too

The Admiral did not always enjoy music.

In the 4th month of 1597, the Admiral was released from prison and set out to serve as a common soldier (baegui jonggun). When he stopped in Asan, people from the village came with bottles of wine to comfort him.

"Hong Gun-u (洪君遇) sang, and Yi Byeoljwa sang too. Listening to the songs, I was not the least bit happy." (Nanjung Ilgi, April 9, 1597)

Two days later, the Admiral lost his mother.

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

On the 1st day of the 7th month that year, there is this record:

"I heard that the military aide Hwang Yeo-il (黃汝一) played the flute by the big stream. It is shocking, shocking, for today is the memorial day of King Injong." (Nanjung Ilgi, July 1, 1597)

The Admiral did not let it pass that someone had played the flute on a day of royal memorial rites. He was a man who enjoyed the flute, but he knew the days when it should not be played.

The Sound of the Flute and the Sound of Weeping

Closing the diary, I thought of one man.

A man who, on a day of rain from morning to night, sits alone in the main hall and asks for the sound of the geomungo. A man who, on the night of Chuseok, cannot sleep because of the moonlight and whistles and recites poems. A man who writes a poem for an old friend who is leaving. And a man who, the next morning, attends to official duties again and shoots his bow.

I believe the Admiral endured the nights of war through poetry and music. With the sword alone, he could not have lasted seven years.

On a moonlit night on Hansan Island, what broke the Admiral's heart was the sound of a flute. I believe that because he had a heart that could hear that flute, he could also hear the weeping of the people.

👉 Next post: ㊲ About Admiral Yi Sun-sin's Mother

— Momcheolhak