Yi Il (; 1538 – 1601) was a

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

military official of the mid-Joseon Period. During the reign of

Seonjo of Joseon Seonjo of Joseon (26 November 1552 – 16 March 1608) was the fourteenth king of the Joseon Dynasty of Korea from 1567 to 1608. He was known for encouraging Confucianism and renovating state affairs at the beginning of his reign. However, politi ...

, he made a great contribution to the conquest of the

Jurchen people Jurchen (Manchu: ''Jušen'', ; zh, 女真, ''Nǚzhēn'', ) is a term used to collectively describe a number of East Asian Tungusic-speaking peoples, descended from the Donghu people. They lived in the northeast of China, later known as Manchu ...

in the north. When

Imjin War The Imjin River ( in South Korea) or Rimjin River ( in North Korea) is the 7th largest river in Korea. It flows from north to south, crossing the Demilitarized Zone and joining the Han River downstream of Seoul, near the Yellow Sea. The river i ...

occurred, he was appointed Mobile Border Commander (순변사; 巡邊使). He was defeated in

Sangju Sangju () is a city in North Gyeongsang Province, central South Korea. Although Sangju is rather rural, it is very old and was once a key city. Along with Gyeongju, it gives rise to half of the name of the Gyeongsang provinces. Sangju is nickna ...

and

Chungju Chungju (충주시) is a city in North Chungcheong province, South Korea. Uamsan is a mountain located within the outskirts of the city. The city is famous for the annual martial arts festival held in October. Also of note, former UN Secretary-G ...

but, he contributed to the restoration of Pyongyang.Yi Il
at

Doosan Encyclopedia ''Doosan Encyclopedia'' is a Korean language encyclopedia published by Doosan Donga (두산동아). The encyclopedia is based on the ''Dong-A Color Encyclopedia'' (동아원색세계대백과사전), which comprises 30 volumes and began to be p ...

Life

Yi Il was born in 1538. In 1558, Yi passed the military examination (무과; 武科) and served as Naval Commander of Left Jeolla Province (전라좌수사; 全羅左水使). In 1583, when Nitangjie (니탕개, 尼湯介) and the

Wild Jurchens The Wild Jurchens () or Haidong Jurchens () were a group of the Jurchens as identified by the Ming Dynasty. They were the northernmost group of the Jurchen people (the other being the Jianzhou Jurchens and Haixi Jurchens). In the 14th century, the ...

rebelled against the Joseon government in

Kyongwon County Kyŏngwŏn County is a ''kun'', or county, in North Hamgyong province, North Korea, located at , formerly known as Saebyŏl. It is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the north and east, Kyonghung to the southeast, Hoeryong to the sou ...

and Jongseong, Yi was assigned magistrate of Kyongwon and repelled the rebel forces. In 1586, as Nitangjie rebelled again in

Hoeryong Hoeryŏng () is a city in North Hamgyong Province, North Korea. It is located opposite Jilin Province, China, with the Tumen River in between. Sanhe (三合鎮), in Longjing City, is the closest Chinese town across the river. Hoeryŏng is the bir ...

, Yi had swept base of rebel forces as magistrate of

and Yi became Army Commander of Hamgyong Province (함경병사; 咸鏡兵使) in recognition of his contribution. Yi also expended ''Jeseungbangryak'' (제승방략; 制勝方略), the book on military strategy in the

Joseon dynasty Joseon (; ; Middle Korean: 됴ᇢ〯션〮 Dyǒw syéon or 됴ᇢ〯션〯 Dyǒw syěon), officially the Great Joseon (; ), was the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, lasting just over 500 years. It was founded by Yi Seong-gye in July 1392 and re ...

. In 1587, when he was Commandant of Hamgyong Province, He detained Yi Kyung-rok, magistrate of

Kyonghung Kyŏnghŭng County is a ''kun'', or county, in North Hamgyong province, North Korea. Formerly known as Ŭndŏk County (), from 1977 to 2010. The county borders the People's Republic of China to the northeast. With the exception of the southwest, i ...

and

Yi Sun-sin Admiral Yi Sun-sin (April 28, 1545 – December 16, 1598) was a Korean admiral and military general famed for his victories against the Japanese navy during the Imjin war in the Joseon Dynasty. Over the course of his career, Admiral Yi fough ...

, Subarea Commander of Chosan (조산만호; 造山萬戶), holding them responsible for losing battle after being ambushed by the Jurchen while harvesting at

Noktundo Noktundo is a former island (currently a peninsula) in the delta of the Tumen River on the border between Primorsky Krai, Russia and North Korea. The area of the island was . In the 15th century, Noktundo belonged to the Jurchen people, Jurchen. ...

. Later, Yi attacked Jurchen in revenge for their invasion. In the attack, Yi killed about 380 soldiers of Jurchen and burnt about 200 houses. In 1588 and 1589, Yi discussed national defense in frontier with

Shin Rip Sin Rip (sometimes romanized as Shin Rip or Shin Rib) (Hangul: 신립, Hanja: 申砬; 16 November 1546 – 7 June 1592) was a Korean general and a member of the Pyeongsan Sin clan. He passed the Korean national military examinations at the age of ...

and

Jung Eon-sin Carl Gustav Jung ( ; ; 26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who founded analytical psychology. Jung's work has been influential in the fields of psychiatry, anthropology, archaeology, literature, phi ...

as Commander of Army Commander of Jeolla Province (전라병사; 全羅兵使). In 1592, when the

occurred, Yi was Mobile Border Commander. On 24 April 1592, Yi fought against

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

at the Battle of Sangju. Yi organized a unit about 800 soldiers but they were unstructured. Yi started to train with the rest of them on 25 April. They were defeated by Japan being ambushed. Yi had run off to

and met

tried to kill Yi taking responsibility for the defeat, but Yi wasn't killed because

Kim Yeo-mul Kim or KIM may refer to: Names * Kim (given name) * Kim (surname) ** Kim (Korean surname) *** Kim family (disambiguation), several dynasties **** Kim family (North Korea), the rulers of North Korea since Kim Il-sung in 1948 ** Kim, Vietnamese ...

stopped

. Yi's aplogy was accepted since he was an experienced general. Yi participated in

Battle of Chungju The Battle of Chungju or the Battle of Tangeumdae was the last battle of the Chungju Campaign fought between the Koreans and Japanese during the Japanese invasion of Korea in 1592. Chungju is located just south of the Han River and Seoul, Kore ...

with

and he was defeated and pulled back to

Pyongan Province Pyeong-an Province (, ) was one of Eight Provinces of Korea during the Joseon Dynasty. Pyeong'an was located in the northwest of Korea. The provincial capital was Pyeongyang (now Pyongyang, North Korea). History Pyeong'an Province was formed in ...

once again. Yi contributed to recapture

Pyongyang Pyongyang (, , ) is the capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is known as the "Capital of the Revolution". Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. According to the 2008 populatio ...

with forces of

Ming The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

by winning Siege of Pyongyang on 8 January 1593. Later, he had trained the forces and when

Hanyang Hanyang may refer to: China *Hanyang District (漢陽區, 汉阳区, ''Hànyáng Qū''), Wuhan, Hubei :*Hanyang Arsenal (漢陽兵工廠), founded in 1891 as one of the oldest modern arsenals in Chinese history :*Hanyang 88 (漢陽八八式步槍), ...

was recaptured and the Military Training Agency (훈련도감; 訓練都監) was founded, he became the Police Chief of the Right (우포장; 右捕將) and concentrated on training soldiers as the Left Initiate (좌지사; 左知事).Yi Il
at Encyclopedia of Korean Culture Yi settled the rebellion of Song Yu-jin as Mobile Border Commander. In 1601, Yi died in

Chongpyong Chŏngp'yŏng County is a county in South Hamgyŏng province, North Korea. It borders South P'yŏngan province to the south, and the East Korea Bay to the east. Physical features The highest point is Noranbong. Most of the county's land is m ...

while he was being transported on the suspicion of murder. He was buried in what is

Yongin Yongin () is a city in the Seoul Capital Area, the largest in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. With a population over 1 million, the city has developed rapidly since the 21st century, recording the highest population growth of any city in the count ...

nowadays.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yi, Il 1538 births 1601 deaths Korean generals People of the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598) 16th-century Korean people