윤행임尹行恁(1762~1801)의 정치 활동과 학문 성향

Abstract

Yoon Haeng-im’s family was well known for being allegiant to the country and he gained King Jeongjo’s sincere trust. The King highly appreciated Yoon Haeng-im’s family for its royalty and also recognized his academic potential. Therefore the King trained Yoon Haeng-im to be his entourage. Under the guidance and concern of the King, Yoon Haeng-im devoted himself to his studies and became well qualified as a government official. Yoon Haeng-im was loyal to the King Jeongjo who recognized his family and academic ability. After the King’s death, his political goal was to realize the later king’s will. To the Byeokpa(벽파) faction, however, a group of politicians who tried to re-organized political structure centering on them, such political attitude of Yoon Haeng-im was threatening. As the Byeokpa faction started to take power, the conflict between this faction and Yoon Haeng-im’s party became amplified. And as a result of this power struggle, Yoon Haeng-im fell under suspicion of exercising authority in the name of the later king and was accused of treason. He was finally executed at the age of forty. Even though the Byeokpa faction, which purged Yoon Haeng-im from the government, was crumbled away in the early part of King Soonjo’s era, his reinstatement was far from realization. A group of people accused him of being an assistor of the Byeokpa faction and strongly opposed against his reinstatement. Thus, it was the first year of King Heonjong(1835), 26 years after his death, when he was finally reinstated. Yoon Haeng-im was ostracized by the Byeokpa faction for he was a threat to them. But when the Byeokpa faction was collapsed, he was ironically criticized for being a helper of the failed faction. For such reason, his political course is still remained indefinite and his academic views have not been completely elucidated. He basically supported the doctrine of hau, but his politics also had some resemblance with the doctrine of lak such as the claim of abrogation of the discrimination against the child of a concubine. These unsolved issues will be elucidated as a new historical material is continuously discovered and relevant researches continue. I hope there will be more studies on Yoon Haeng-im and they will broaden the understanding about the history of politics and thoughts of the 19th century.