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Calligraphy by Seong Sam-mun
Calligraphy by Seong Sam-mun

Sŏng Sammun · Public domain · Source

Person1418 – 1456

Seong Sam-mun

Hall of Worthies scholar executed for plotting to restore Danjong; one of the Six Martyred Ministers

Under Sejong he helped create Hunminjeongeum and travelled repeatedly to Liaodong to consult an exiled Ming scholar on phonology. In 1456, with Bak Paeng-nyeon, Ha Wi-ji, Yi Gae, Yu Seong-won and Yu Eung-bu, he planned to kill Sejo at a banquet for Ming envoys, but the plot leaked and he was executed. He left a sijo beginning 'When this body dies, what shall it become…'.

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4 related events

  1. 1
    1420Jiphyeonjeon expandedparticipant

    Sejong turned the Hall of Worthies into a research institute whose scholars produced the Hunminjeongeum commentary and many other works.

  2. 2
    1446Promulgation of Hunminjeongeumparticipant

    King Sejong published Hunminjeongeum, a new script he created for ordinary people.

  3. 3
    1447An Gyeon’s Dream Journey to the Peach Blossom Landrelated figure

    An Gyeon painted in three days the peach-blossom paradise Prince Anpyeong saw in a dream — a monumental landscape leading from the real world into paradise, masterpiece of early Joseon painting.

  4. 4
    1456Six Martyred Ministersleader

    Seong Sam-mun, Bak Paeng-nyeon and others were executed for plotting to restore Danjong, who was exiled to Yeongwol and died the next year.

People who appear alongside

  • Sejong the Great1397 – 1450

    Fourth king of Joseon, creator of Hangul, patron of science and of the northern frontier

  • Sin Suk-ju1417 – 1475

    Jiphyeonjeon scholar who helped create Hunminjeongeum, wrote the Haedong jegukgi after a mission to Japan, and became Chief State Councillor under Sejo

  • Bak Paeng-nyeon1417 – 1456

    Jiphyeonjeon scholar executed as one of the Six Martyred Ministers for plotting with Seong Sam-mun to restore Danjong

  • Jeong In-ji1396 – 1478

    Jiphyeonjeon scholar who wrote the preface to the Hunminjeongeum haerye and led the compilation of the Goryeosa

  • Sejo (Grand Prince Suyang)1417 – 1468

    Seized power in the 1453 coup and took the throne from his nephew Danjong

  • Danjong1441 – 1457

    Sixth king of Joseon, deposed by his uncle Sejo and killed in exile at Yeongwol

Themes this person appears in

  • The Course of Korean PaintingAD 450 – 1897

    From Goguryeo tomb murals to Jang Seung-eop — daily life and guardian deities, Goryeo Buddhist painting, early Joseon landscapes, true-view landscapes and genre painting, literati and folk painting

  • Printing and Documentary HeritageAD 751 – 2011

    From the Dharani Sutra to the May 18 archives — woodblock and metal-type printing, and the records inscribed on the Memory of the World