| Yi Sun Sin |
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| 1545 births | |
| 1598 deaths | |
| korean admirals | |
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| joseon dynasty people | |
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Yi Sun-sin ( March 8 , 1545 – November 19 , 1598 ), was a Korean naval leader famous for his victories at the Battle Of Hansan , among others. The Admiral, who was successful against overwhelming odds, is also respected for his character and leadership abilities. His brilliant tactical mind led the Korean navy to crushing victories over the Japanese navy. As the Lord High Admiral of the Korean Fleet under the Joseon Dynasty , Yi Sun-Sin led the fight against the Japan ese during their Invasion of Korea during April 1592 in the Seven-Year War . He turned back the enemy fleet of Japanese invaders with his innovative Turtle Ship s, and is considered the premier Korean national Hero of all time. He was shot by a stray bullet in the Battle Of Noryang Point in November 1598, and died. The court eventually bestowed various honors, including a posthumous title of "chungmu" (loyal and martial), an enrollment as a first-class merit subject (ildeung gongin), an enfeoffment title of "Deokpung Buwongun," and a poshumous office, the chief state councillor (Yeonguijeong). EARLY LIFE Yi Sun-sin was born in Geoncheon-dong (Korean: 건천동; 乾川洞), Seoul . His family was part of the Yi of Deoksu descent group, whose ancestral seat, Deoksu, was near present-day Kaesong . In 1552, after his father, Yi Jeong, had been falsely accused of a crime, imprisoned, and tortured by the government, the family moved from Seoul to Asan . King Seonjo later cleared Yi Sun-sin’s father’s name after coming to power in 1567. In 1576, Yi Sun-sin passed the military examination (무과; 武科) and was posted to the northern border region for the next 10 years. In 1583, he lured the Jurchen chief Mu Pai-Nai to battle, defeated his army, and captured him. According to a contemporary tradition, however, Yi Sun-sin then had to spend three years out of the army after hearing of his father’s death. After his return to the front line, Yi Sun-sin led a string of successful campaigns against Jurchen Nomads . However, his brilliance, despite his short career, made his superiors jealous, and they falsely accused him of Desertion during battle. Yi Sun-sin was arrested and imprisoned; after his release, Yi was allowed to fight as a common soldier. Upon his release, he had to climb through the ranks again. After a short period of time, he was appointed as the Magistrate of a small county. His efforts there were rewarded in 1591 when the Korean Court assigned Yi Sun-sin to command the naval forces in Jeolla Province (전라도; 全羅道). Here he was able to undertake a buildup of the regional navy, which was later used to confront a Japanese invasion force. He subsequently began to strengthen the nation’s navy with a series of reforms, including the construction of the Turtle Ship , which was one of the first, if not the first, Ironclad Warship s in history. SEVEN-YEAR WAR This Korean admiral played the most decisive role in fighting off the Japanese invaders in 1592 and 1597. In 1592, Toyotomi Hideyoshi gave the order to invade Korea, planning to sweep through the peninsula and use it as a forward base to conquer China . (See Seven-Year War .) Hideyoshi was fully aware of the need to control the seas during the invasion. Having failed to hire two Portuguese Galleon s to help him, he increased the size of his own fleet to 700 vessels, assuming that the Koreans would fight hand-to-hand and be easily overwhelmed. Four Campaigns of Admiral Yi See Also: The Four Campaigns of Admiral Yi during the Imjin Year (1592) The invasion force landed at Busan, a port city on the southern tip of Korea, without meeting any Korean ships, and the Japanese forces began a lightning march north, reaching Seoul within nineteen days on May 2 1592 . But the Korean navy was not idle. In May and June, in a series of actions, a Small Korean Fleet commanded by Yi Sun-sin destroyed several Japanese flotillas—in all, about 72 vessels were sunk by the end of June. Turtle ships See Also: Turtle ship With his creative mind and the support of his subordinates, Yi was able to devise the ''geobukseon'', or “turtle ships”. They held ten cannons on each side of the ship, and two each at the stern and the bow. Also, there was a figurehead of a dragon, which held up to four cannons and a smokescreen. The roof was covered with iron plates and spikes. There were two masts that held as many sails. The geobukseon was steered by twenty oars, pulled by 2 men in fair conditions and 5 in combat situations. It had two decks, one with rowers and the other with cannons. Also, it had small holes in which to fire guns and see the enemy position. They were often pivotal in the many naval battles that they were in. Because of the design of the ship, people could look out of the ship but others couldn't look in. Japanese response But Hideyoshi and his commanders soon adjusted. At Busan , the surviving Japanese warships took aboard some heavier guns and iron plates, and clustered beneath the harbour's defences of heavy shore-mounted Cannon . But above all, the Japanese knew that for a successful invasion of Korea, Yi Sun-sin had to be eliminated. No Japanese fleet would be safe as long as his presence was commanding the sea. Seeing how the internal court rivalries of the Koreans worked, the Japanese devised a plan. A Japanese soldier named Yoshira was sent to the camp of the Korean general Kim Eung-Su , and convinced the general that he would spy on the Japanese for the Koreans. Yoshira spent a long time acting as a spy and giving the Koreans what appeared to be valuable information. One day he told General Kim that the Japanese General Kato Kiyomasa would be coming on a certain date with the great Japanese fleet, and insisted that Admiral Yi be sent to lie in wait and sink it. General Kim agreed and requested King Seonjo for permission to send Admiral Yi. The general was given permission. When he gave Admiral Yi his orders, the admiral declined, for he knew that the location given by the spy was studded with sunken rocks and was very dangerous. When General Kim informed the king of Admiral Yi Sun-sin’s declination, Admiral Yi’s enemies at court insisted on his replacement by the pathetic, unorganized Won Kyun and his arrest. As a result, in 1597 Admiral Yi Sun-sin was relieved of command, placed under arrest, taken to Seoul in chains, beaten, tortured, and imprisoned. The king wanted to have Admiral Yi killed but the admiral’s supporters at court cheifly Yu-Song-Nyong, Admiral Yi's childhood friend, convinced the king to spare him due to his past service record. Spared the death penalty, Admiral Yi was again demoted to the rank of a common infantry soldier. Yi Sun-sin responded to this humiliation as a most obedient subject, going quietly about his work as if his rank and orders were totally appropriate. Reinstatement and the Final Campaign With Admiral Yi stripped of any influence, when negotiations broke down in 1596, Hideyoshi again ordered his army to attack Korea. The invasion came in the first month of 1597 with a Japanese force of 140,000 men transported to Korea in 1000 ships. Had Admiral Yi been in command of the Korean Navy at that time, the Japanese would most likely never have landed on any shore again. Instead, the Japanese fleet landed safely at Sosang Harbour. Yi's successor, Won Kyun fought against the Japanese Fleet with 133 battleships and 30,000 crews at Chilchon Straits on Aug. 28, 1597. It was the kind of battle Admiral Yi had always won at, which was bombarding the Japanese with cannons, but Won Kyun allowed the Japanese to gain the upper hand and board the Korean ships and fight hand to hand combat, which was their primary strategy. In the battle, the Joseon Navy was completely destroyed except 13 battleships under control of an officer named Bae Sol. Bae Sol ran away before the battle to save his life, and Won Kyun also ran away during the battle but was killed by the Japanese when he struggled ashore with his remaining army. It is interesting to see that the battle of Chilchon Straits was the only navel battle the Japanese ever won during the war. King Seonjo who tried to execute Admiral Yi reassigned him as the commander of the Joseon Navy. He found the abandoned 13 battleships and rallied the 200 remnants and survivors. At that time, King Seonjo who judged that the Joseon Navy had lost their power and would never be restored again, sent a letter to abolish the Navy and fight with General Kwon Yul on land. Admiral Yi responded with a letter written "...I still have twelve battleships... As long as I live, the enemies would never look down on us." The Japanese Navy made up their mind to eliminate the remnant 12 battleships under command of Yi on their way to the capital city of Joseon. On Sep. 15, 1597, Yi decoyed the Japanese fleet consisting of 333 battleship and 100,000 crews within Myongryang Straits and defeated them with only 13 battleships. Admiral Yi crushed the Japanese Navy, which lost a staggering amount of at least 120 battleships (31 battleships completely destroyed and more than 90 half-destroyed that lost their functions as battleships). This battle showed that Admiral Yi was a great strategic commander and won even when the odds were against him. After this battle, Yi made devotion for the recovery of the Joseon Navy and increased the number of battleships and crews. On Nov. 19, 1598, Admiral Yi ambushed and destroyed the Japanese fleet trying to make a full retreat to Japan at Noryang Strait. At dawn, Admiral Yi was encouraging the crews in the fore part of his Flagship in the heat of the battle and personally wielded a bow himself. But sadly, when he ordered the final charge to destroy the Japanese fleet, he was shot and killed on his left chest by a stray bullet by a Japanese arquebusier. Admiral Yi then asked 3 other commanders to keep his death a secret so the Korean morale would not fall. Admiral Yi died in minutes. In this battle, about 450 Japanese battleships were destroyed and only 50 ships were able to return home to Japan. Shimazu Yoshihiro, the Japanese commander at Noryang Strait barely escaped. It was a sad ending to the 7 Year-War between Joseon and Japan. LEGACY Yi Sun-Sin was considered a master naval tactician and his sea campaigns were decisive in hampering Japanese land operations in 1592 and 1597. He has often been compared to Lord Nelson of England at Trafalgar. During the war, Admiral Yi won every one of at least 23 naval battles that he fought. Reputedly, he never lost a single ship under his command yet he destroyed around a thousand ships of the enemy, a remarkable testament to his strategic and tactical skills. Admiral George Alexander Ballard of the Royal Navy considered Yi Sun-Sin a great naval commander, and compared him to Lord Nelson of England:
Admiral Togo Heihachiro of the Imperial Japanese Navy commented on Admiral Yi in his speech during the celebration ceremony after he defeated the Russian Baltic Fleet in 1905 , which was considered as the most powerful naval force in the world at that time, as follows:
Admiral Tetsutaro Sato of the Imperial Japanese Navy mentioned the Korean Admiral in his book published 1908:
In order to fully understand Admiral Yi’s legacy, one must first understand how the navy operated in Korea at the time. During the time of the invasion, it was up to the admiral to supply his fleet. Admiral Yi’s navy was cut off from any helping hand from the king’s court and had to fend for itself. Admiral Yi often wrote in his war diary how concerned he was about the food supply during winters. His enemy was fully supplied, and always outnumbered him, yet Admiral Yi never lost a battle. Admiral Yi himself had never been trained as an admiral. Korea, called Joseon at the time, did not have any naval training facilities. Admiral Yi used to be a general, fighting foreign Jurchen tribes invading from Manchuria. In fact, the Battle Of Okpo , his first victory against the Japanese fleet, was also his first sea battle ever. None of his subordinates, including his own staff, had ever fought at sea before. One of the biggest factors in Admiral Yi’s success was his foresight in developing new weapons, even before the war. Ironically though, his Cannons and guns had longer range and power than the enemy's cannons even while the Japanese had thousands of advanced arquebusiers to attack Korea with. His turtle ship, which actually had first set sail the day before the invasion, was very effective in leading the attack and breaking the enemy’s formation. However, Admiral Yi’s real legacy lies in the fact that he was a brilliant strategist. The more advanced weapons might have given him the edge, but it was his strategy that made him invincible. He used many different formations according to the situation, and capitalized on tides and ocean currents. Many times he lured the enemy to a place where his fleet would have advantage. And through these manipulations, he instilled a fear in the Japanese commanders whenever they patrolled their seas. At the Battle of Hansando, Admiral Yi had instilled so much fear in the Japanese that their commander broke ranks and routed his fleet - the first and only time any Japanese commander lost courage to a foreign opponent. Admiral Yi’s expertise on naval strategy is apparent in the fact that his successor Won Kyun, even with all of Admiral Yi’s ships and trained crew, could not defeat an enemy fleet of similar might. In fact, Won lost all but 12 of 300 ships that Admiral Yi left him, and was killed himself in the battle. One of the greatest legacies of the Admiral was the utter destruction of the Japanese fleet. Through his calculated attacks, he successfully burdened the Japanese navy and the supplies trying to reach their lines near the Chinese border. If Admiral Yi had not commanded the Korean fleet, it is safe to assume that Japan might have continued her conquest into Ming China, and the overall history of Asia would have been completely different. Although perhaps minor to the new Tokugawa leaders, seeing their shameful defeat against Korea encouraged the new leadership to abandon Hideyoshi's dreams of a continental empire. For more than 300 years, Japan never attempted to invade Korea or China. Through the rest of the years until the Meiji Restoration, Japan favored peaceful communications with Korea, and both nations relatively prospered from this mutual association. Unfortunately for Admiral Yi and perhaps the Joseon Dynasty , his reformations on the navy didn't persist and soon disappeared after his death, due to court swindling and corruption in the Joseon government. The turtle ships faded in the annals of Korean history. Despite their experiences in the Seven Years War, the Joseon court decided on a reduced military, especially after the Manchu invasions in the 1630s. Yi Sun-Sin kept a careful record of daily events in a diary, and it is from these entries, along with the reports he sent to the throne during the war, that much about the man has been learned. These works have been published in English as ''Nanjung Ilgi: War Diary of Admiral Yi Soon Shin'', and ''Imjin Jangcho: Admiral Yi Soon Shin’s Memorials to Court''. Among his direct male descendants, more than two hundred passed the military examination and pursued military careers, hence constituting a most prominent military yangban family of late Joseon. Although Yi's military men descendants did not play the kind of a vital role in the tumultuous factional politics of late Joseon as did the many members of Pyeosan Sin and Neungseong Gu military yangban lines, the court seems to have treated them with respect and care. Many attained important high-level posts in the officialdom. Moreover, at the end of the Joseon period, at least several descendants are known to have become anti-Japanese independence activists. Today, most of Yi's descendants live in or nearby Seoul and Asan; those residing in the Jeolla region appear to be descended from an illegitimate son (seoja). ( Seoul )]] LEGACY AND MODERN DEPICTION Yi's Posthumous Title , Lord of Loyalty and Chivalry (Chungmu-gong, 충무공; 忠武公) is used in Korea’s third highest military honor, ''the Cordon of Chungmu of the Order of Military Merit and Valour''. He was posthumously granted the title of ''Prince of Deokpoong''. Chungmuro (충무로; 忠武路)—a street in downtown Seoul—is also named after him. The city Chungmu, now renamed Tongyeong , on the southern coast of Korea is named in honour of his posthumous title and the site of his headquarters. There is a prominent Statue of Admiral Yi Sun-sin in the middle of Sejongno in central Seoul . Two motion pictures have been made based on his life, both entitled ''Seong-ung Yi Soon Shin'' (“The Saintly Hero Yi Soon Shin”), the first a 1962 black & white movie, and the second, based upon his war diaries, in color in 1971. There is also a drama series airing on Korean television called “Bulmyul Ui Yi Soon Shin” (“ The Immortal Yi Soon Shin ”), which shows the events of his life. It premiered on September 4, 2004 in Korea and has become popular in China and the USA as well. There's a 2005 movie about Yi Sun Shin fighting the Jurchen tribes, fighting along with villagers and North and South Korean soldiers who traveled from 2005 to 1572 with Halley's Comet. You see that there are history flaws, like when Yi mentions he works for the Jurchens, doesn't dream of being an admiral (he might've as a kid) and he didn't fight the Jurchens in 1572. The movie, Chungoon (천군)or "General" was directed by Min Joon Gi, and was one of the top movies of 2005 Korea. Despite many tales of the admiral's successful military exploits ''The Record of the Black Dragon Year'' significantly and seriously downplays his role in the Hideyoshi Invasion. The text briefly mentions his creation of the turtle ships and soon afterwards, he is beheaded by the Japanese commander. SEE ALSO REFERENCES
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