Skip to main content
Loading Explore guides…
Admiral Yi's Early Career · Acedra
Home
Explore
History
Admiral Yi's Early Career
Sign in to save
Chat
If YouTube asks you to sign in, open the video on YouTube.
Watch on YouTube
Reload player
Transcript
18 segments
Copy
Hide video
0:00
♫ War drums ♫
0:25
The year is 1572 - 26 years earlier. A 28 year old man rides across an open plain. A group of military men stand quietly. Observing. His horse stumbles. He's thrown! At first everybody watching thinks he's dead. His leg is horribly bent. Broken. But, after a moment. He gets up dragging one leg behind him and pulls himself to a willow tree. He binds his leg with its branches, remounts his horse, and finishes the military examination.
0:54
He fails the exam anyway; but four years later he'll be back. He'll pass, and so will begin the career of one of the most glorious admirals of all time. It's strange that this man even decided to join the military. Korea had know 200 years of relative peace, threatened only by the occasional raids from the Jurchen tribes on the northern border and pirate crews plying the nearby sea. The military was not a highly respected career choice for a man of noble birth.
1:19
Taking the civil service exams and joining the ranks of the Confucian court was a much better way to receive power and success. And yet this man, Yi Sun-Shin [alt. Yi Soon Shin and Yi Sun-Sin], though he was schooled in the Confucian texts, had dreamed of being a soldier ever since he was a little boy. And so, at last, when he had passed the military exam, he was appointed to a desolate fort along the northern border. While most of the border forts were pits of corruption,
1:42
seen simply as a place to dump individuals who had fallen out of favor with the court, Yi drilled his men rigorously, and re-fortified his post, bringing it up to true readiness in case of an attack. One day, the provincial governor came by to inspect the post. This was a man all of the fort commanders dreaded, known for his harsh punishments and brutal discipline. But when he came to Yi, he simply said: "Hm." "Hm. Well done!" And moved on. Shortly thereafter, Yi was moved back to Seoul,
2:09
a sign of growing favor, and he was given a post at the military academy there, training new recruits. He was, by all accounts, rigorous, diligent, and incorruptible. And this was exactly the problem. At this time, the military academy was actually a tool for younger noble sons to jump up the ranks quickly, and for courtiers to channel their favorite people into the cushiest of assignments. And Yi was not cooperating. So, after a short stay in Seoul,
2:33
he was booted back to a provincial assignment. By July though, he had secured a position running a naval garrison and was rapidly rising up the ranks again. But here too, he was schemed against by corrupt officials. Many attempts were made to have Yi removed, but each one he parried expertly, until one day, one of his previous superiors from the military academy One who Yi had rebuked for corruption, was called to his province to do an inspection. Seeing an oppotunity for revenge,
2:59
the inspector wrote a report castigating Yi, saying he was 'completely negligent'. When the report got to Seoul, Yi found himself dismissed from the military entirely. Four months later, though, he was vindicated. Found innocent of the charges against him, he was returned to service, but demoted to the lowest possible officer grade. He might have languished at this menial post, but at last his diligence was finally rewarded
3:22
when he was brought back to meaningful duty by none other than one of his former rivals. One of the fleet commanders who Yi had served under while maintaining the naval garrison, had been transferred to the northern frontier, and knowing that he'd need good, capable officers, he requested Yi be sent with him. Soon though, it became clear that Yi was needed to garrison a fort on the Tumen River which was one of the demarcation lines between Jurchen and Korean territory.
3:45
Jurchen Raiders roamed far south of the Korean border looting and pillaging at will raids had nearly overrun the nearby Frontier Province and so, Yi took up the post. He drilled his troops until they were in top shape and knowing that simply shoring up the defenses wouldn't be enough, he laid his troops out for an ambush and then lured the Raiders into Korean territory. He fell on them with a ferocity and a swiftness they had never seen in Korea. Within hours the tribes were smashed
4:12
and their power shattered. They would never again be such a threat to the province. But here, too, Yi was stymied by a jealous superior and while the court was jubilant about his success, the official record reads: "although the Court recognized Yi Sun-Shin emeritus service to the king it nevertheless decided against awarding him a prize" Shortly after this, Yi's father died and being deeply rooted in Confucian ideals,
4:35
Yi retired home for three years in accordance with the traditional mourning period. When he at last returned to service he was put in charge of transportation for the court, but a mere 16 days later it was decided that Yi was needed too badly at the border, and once again he was sent North. He was to man a small island fortress: undermanned, crumbling, beyond disrepair. He once again drilled its garrison, shored up its defenses,
4:59
and week after week sent out a request to the district commander for reinforcements. Then one morning, as the mists rolled in and most of the men were out harvesting rice because the military was in such a state that men on the border had to harvest their own food, the Jurchen attacked, pouring out of the mist on horseback. Yi Sun-Shin only had a dozen men to defend with. He and his handful of soldiers fought desperately
5:21
cutting their way to one group of captives and escaping with 50 people the Jurchen would have taken prisoner but by this time you know the story in order to avoid blame Yi superior, a man named Yi Ill, blamed the entire defeat on yi sun-shin. He had him brought back to the capital, tortured, and put on trial in an attempt to have him condemned so that Yi Ill could avoid any of the blame. But Yi Sun-Shin did not crack under torture, and when it came time to take the stand
5:46
he said this to Yi Ill "My Lord you are asking me to assume the whole responsibility for the misfortune. But you are wrong. May I remind you that you have always refused my frequent request for reinforcement. The defeat was not a result of my negligence of duty but in large part your fault. Therefore it is not I, but you, who should be held responsible for the defeat." The court was stunned. Many of them knew of Yi's record and were inclined to believe him. So in the end,
6:12
he was allowed to live, but he was stripped of his rank, again, and returned to the army as a common enlisted man, starting over at the very bottom as if he'd never taken the military examinations. He was once again placed on the northern border, and asked to fight the invading tribes. And once again, he did so with distinction. Until, finally in 1588, he asked that he be allowed to retire. But storm clouds were gathering over Korea and some, especially his longtime friend,
6:39
a man named Ryu Song Nyong, recognized that soon the country would have need of good military men. While Yi had struggled through his career in the military, Ryu, his childhood compatriot, who had been his companion in games of war, had risen to be prime minister of Korea. It was actually through Ryu influence, and because of his subtle aid, that Yi had time and again survived the machinations held against him.
7:01
now Ryu planned to see that Yi would take his rightful place for the war he feared was coming. On the next episode of extra history; remember how in the Sengoku Jidai episodes we talked about that messy Japanese invasion of Korea? Well that's about to happen. Join us as Yi and Ryu take on the Japanese forces. As we delve into the differences in government, technology, and arms between these two nations, and as we explore the first few disastrous weeks of this war. ♫ Music ♫
Here to help you learn
Sign in to keep a private conversation with your course tutor.
Ask me anything about the material…
Sign in to chat