순조 1년(1801) ‘신유옥사(辛酉獄事)’와 윤행임(尹行恁) 사사(賜死) 사건 －임시발(任時發)․윤가기(尹可基) 사건을 중심으로－

Abstract

King Jeongjo(正祖) died in June 1800. As his successor Sunjo(純祖) was still young, Queen Jeongsun stepped in as Overseer of the government. Within the Noron(老論) In-law faction(外戚), the Gyeongju Kim house (Queen Jeongsun’s home) and Shim Hwan-ji(沈煥之) of the Noron Byeokpa(僻派) faction formed the ‘Byeokpa administration.’ Several factions, including a Soron party faction which was against reinstating Crown prince Sado’s honor(反追崇), as well as the Gongseo-pa(攻西派) segment inside the Southerner party, joined the administration. The Byeokpa administration orchestrated the Shin’yu-year Purge(‘辛酉邪獄’), during which the Shipa(時派) line (mainly members of the Pungsan Hong house: Crown princess Hyegyeong-gung’s home) and members of the royal family(宗親) amongst the Noron In-law faction, and the Shinseo-pa(信西派) segment inside the Noron and Southerner parties, were all dismissed under accusations related to the so-called Western studies(西學). Then the administration also engineered the Shin’yu-year Imprisonment(‘辛酉獄事’), in order to expel the Cheong’ron(淸論) faction inside the Noron party, and the Pro-Crown prince Sado elements in the Soron and Southerner parties. Yun Haeng-im(尹行恁), who was more against the royal family In-laws’ active participation in politics (a sentiment the late Jeongjo shared) than interested in banned Western studies or Crown prince Sado’s honor issue, aspired for a political system where wise and empathic men from all over the political spectrum would lead the government in general[右賢左戚]. Determined to honor the late King Jeongjo’s wishes, he argued that the honor of the Cheong’ron faction must be reinstated and members be posthumously entitled. He also sponsored their continued participation in politics, and tried to put the Shiron(時論)ㆍShiryu(時流)-led Byeokpa administration under check. As a result, he came to be considered as a political obstacle for the administration, and was dismissed from the central court, ordered to report to a remote post only one year after King Jeongjo’s death, and then simply exiled. It was then when the scandal of Im Shi-bal and Yun Ga-gi posting a controversial placard[掛書] broke out. It was revealed during interrogation that Im authored a draft criticizing the Byeokpa administration, and Yun was named as the person behind it. Also, related by marriage were Yun and Park Je-ga(朴齊家). Judged for either treason(大逆不道) and contempt(犯上不道), Im and Yun were summarily executed by dismemberment(凌遲處死) and beheading(斬) respectively. Yun Haeng-im was accused of being behind all this, and also for protecting rebellious malcontents for his own personal plans under the pretense of upholding late Jeongjo’s wishes. Queen Jeongsun decided to execute him only by poison, claiming she was being generous[減等之典] as Yun had been one of the closest aides to Jeongjo and was handpicked by herself. Yun, who intended to continue the Tangpyeong politics with loyal vassals(世臣) to Jeongjo gathered around(保合), through an alliance with the Pungsan Hong house, the Cheong’ron faction, the faction for ‘Reinstating Sado’s honor’, the Shinseo-pa line and not the Gyeongju Kim house, was killed off by the Byeokpa administration which was under control of the Shiron and Shiryu segments. The Byeokpa administration was dissolved with the Byeong’in-year Purge in 1806, but Yun’s honor was not immediately restored, due to elements against the Cheong’ron faction and the cause of reinstating Sado’s honor, as well as the Gongseo-pa line. Yun’s wife appealed in 1809 and Sunjo ordered Yun’s honor to be restored, but the Euigeum-bu office refused to comply, saying that the authorities were still reviewing the issue(“臺啓”). Yun’s honor was restored only in 1835, the first year of King Heonjong’s reign.