1545: Born on the eighth day of the third moon (April 28) at one o'clock in the morning. Yi was born in Konch'on-dong (Inhyon-dong), Seoul.
1545: Born on the eighth day of the third moon (April 28) at one o'clock in the morning. Yi was born in Konch'on-dong (Inhyon-dong), Seoul.
1552: Moves to Ansan, the family's country home.
1564: Marries daughter of Pang Chin.
1566: Begins to study the military arts (archery, horseback riding, swordsmanship) in the winter.
1567: Birth of his first son, Hoe.
1571: Birth of his second son, Yol.
1572: Falls off his horse while taking the Military Training Command examinations. His left leg is broken, but, the story goes, he gets up on his right foot and bandages his leg with a willow branch.
1576 (or 1577?): Passes the military service examination in the second moon and in the twelfth moon is appointed Acting Commandant of the Fortress Tonggubi, Hamgyong province.
1577: Birth of third son, Myon.
1579: Appointed Staff Captain to the Army Commander, Ch'ung-Ch'ong province.
1580: Appointed Naval Commander (Captain, or Manho), Palp'o, Cholla province.
1582: Discharged from his duties in Palp'o. According to the biography written by his nephew, Yi Pun, this is just one of several instances where Yi's refusal to compromise his morals and sense of honor got him in trouble with jealous associates and superiors. Yi is recalled to the Military Training Command.
1583: Appointed Staff Officer to Yi Yong, Hangyong Army Commander. Then Appointed acting commandant of Konwon fortress. While Yi is at the fortress, the Jurchen forces, led by the Manchurian 'barbarian' chief Mu Pai-Nai, invades the border province. Yi lures Mu to the battlefield and captures him and his 'bandits' (the Orank'ae). Near the end of the same year, his father dies, and Yi resigns his post to fulfill his filial duties as a mourner.
1586: At the end of the three-year mourning period, Yi is appointed chief of the royal carriages and horses. Sixteen days later, he is appointed Garrison Captain of the Chosan Fortress, Hamgyong province.
1587: During an assault by a Manchurian band, Yi leads a counter charge and is wounded in the leg. He removes the arrow without letting anyone else see, for fear that it would demoralize his troops if they knew he was wounded. Not long after the battle, Yi is arrested by Yi Il (no relation), the Army Commander of Hamgyong, who is jealous of Yi's actions and victories. Yi Sun Shin refuses to back down even under torture, and is dismissed from his post. The King allows Yi to fight as a common soldier, instead of remaining imprisoned, and is later pardoned.
1588: Returns home.
1589: Appointed staff officer to Yi Kwang (no relation), Traveling High Commissioner of Cholla province. Yi then shifts position back to Seoul to become the King's bodyguard and messenger. Yi is then transferred again, this time to become Magistrate of Chong'up and T'aein.
1590: Appointed Frontier Commandant in Kosa-ri, but due to a conspiracy in the palace, Yi remains in his position in Chong'up. He is then appointed Commandant of Manp'o, but is again kept from taking the position due to the conspiracy against him.
1591: Yi is appointed Magistrate of Chindo, but before taking office he is re-transferred as Commandant of Karip'o (Wando island). But again, before he can get there, he is again given a new appointment, this time as Commander of Cholla Left Naval Station, in Yosu. Yi begins construction of the Turtle Boats in anticipation of fending off Japanese pirates.
1592: Japanese forces, under Toyotomi Hideyoshi, invade Korea. Yi tries to rally all the southern naval commanders, and so begins his troubles with Won Kyun, Commander of Kyongsang Right Naval Station. Yi finds nearly all of Won's fleet destroyed, but brings the Admiral along with him and his combined fleet against the Japanese invaders. Yi has several naval victories, triggering Won's jealousy of his compatriot. Yi leads several victorious attacks against the Japanese forces this year, and in one action is shot through the left shoulder, with the bullet lodging in his back. True to form, Yi refuses to acknowledge the wound until after the battle. Yi leads several more successful actions against the Japanese fleets, including his famous battle at Hansando. Yi Pun's biography of his uncle describes the battle. "On the eights of Seventh Moon, hearing of the enemy's departure from Yangsan toward Cholla province, Ch'ungmu-kong [posthumous title of Admiral Yi Sun Shin], Yi Ok-ki [Commander of Cholla Right Naval Station], and Won Kyun [Commander of Kyongsang Right Naval Station] sailed to Kyonnaeryang (in Kosong), where they saw seven enemy vanguard vessels advancing in their direction, followed by many other crafts spread out all over the sea. Ch'ungmu-kong said, 'Here the sea is narrow and the shallow harbor unfit for battle, so we must lure them out to the open sea to destroy them in a single blow.' He ordered his warships to pull back with feigned defeat till the jubilant enemy vessels pursued our fleet as far as the sea off Hansando, where they concentrated their total strength. Ch'ungmu-kong waved his flag, beat his drum and shouted the order to attack. In an instant, our warships spread their sails, turned round in a 'Crane-Wing' formation and darted forward, pouring down cannon balls and fire arrows on the enemy vessels like hail and thunder. Bursting into flame with blinding smoke, 73 enemy vessels were soon burning in a red sea of blood. This is called 'The Great Victory of Hansando.'"
1593: Again Yi leads several victorious naval actions, including one at Ungp'o. He moves his fleet to Hansando and is then appointed Supreme Naval Commander of the Three Provinces.
1594: Yi visits his mother early in the year, and she sends her son back to the war, telling him, "Go quickly to your sea camp and vindicate the national honor." Two months later, a Ming (Chinese) envoy arrives at the Japanese camp to negotiate a peace, but Yi objects, declaring, "I am a subject of Korea, and for justice's sake I cannot live with these robbers under the same heaven." Yi comes down with Typhoid in the same year, but recovers in twelve days. A plague spreads through his naval camps, and many sailors and soldiers die, so Yi holds a provisional military examination to recruit more. During the ninth moon, Yi leads his fleet to victory in Changmun-p'o.
1595: After putting up with continual criticism from Won Kyun, Yi requests a transfer, but is refused. In this year, a Japanese double agent hatches a plot to get rid of Yi Sun Shin. He convinces the local military commanders that he knows when and on what ship a key Japanese commander will be sailing. The trap for Yi is set into motion two years later.
1597: Yi finds himself caught in a difficult position. He is ordered to go out to sea to catch the returning Japanese official, whom the spy says is returning soon. Yet Yi knows it is a trap, but doesn't tell his superiors because he doesn't want to offend them, as they have believed the spy. At the same time, over the previous two years, Won Kyun had false messages defaming Yi's character to the court, and there is a growing suspicion that he is not loyal. Yi obviously fails to catch the returning Japanese commander, and is dismissed from his position by the King, handing over command to Won Kyun. Yi is taken to Seoul as a prisoner in a cage on an ox cart, and people line the streets to lament his detention, as he and his naval forces had struck fear in the Japanese military's hearts. Yi is released and placed as a regular soldier, and shortly thereafter his mother dies. Meanwhile, Won Kyun is defeated, much of his fleet destroyed and he is beheaded. Yi is returned to his post as Supreme Naval Commander of the Three Provinces, but finds only 12 vessels and 120 sailors remaining in tact from his previously victorious navy. Nonetheless, even outnumbered, Yi leads his fleet to a victory in Uldolmok (Myongnyand). That same year his third son, Myon, is killed while fighting the Japanese in Asan.
1598: Yi moves his naval headquarters to Kogum-do, and later in the year organizes the United Naval Forces with Ming commander Chen Lien. On the nineteenth day of the eleventh moon [November 19, 1598], while waging a final campaign against the retreating Japanese forces, Yi is killed. During this battle, Yi's combined forces destroyed 200 out of 500 fleeing Japanese ships. Yi's nephew describes his final moments. "On the nineteenth at dawn Ch'ungmu-kong plunged his entire fleet into a final battle with the enemy, thundering 'Charge!' Suddenly a stray bullet from the enemy vessel struck him. 'The battle is at its height; do not announce my death!' With these words, he died." Yi's eldest son, Hoe, and his nephew, Wan, move the Admiral's body to his cabin and went back out to continue banging the war drum and waving the battle flags, thus ensuring no body knew of Yi's death and ensuring a final victory.
Bibliographical references
NANJUNG ILJI: The War Diary of Admiral Yi Sun Shin. Translated by Ha Tae Hung, Edited by Sohn Pow Key. Published by Yonsei University Press, 1977.
Available from HanBooks
IMJIN CHANGCH'O: Admiral Yi Sun Shin's Memorials to the Court. Translated by Ha Tae Hung, Edited by Lee Chong Young. Published by Yonsei University Press, 1981.
Available from HanBooks
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