Jeong Yeo-rip

Jeong Yeo-rip (Korean: 정여립; Hanja: 鄭汝立; 1546–1589) was a Korean politician of the Joseon period. His art name was Jukdo, and his courtesy name was Inbaek.

Born in 1546 in Jeonju-bu, Jeollabuk-do. He was the son of a yangban (noble) family. When he was young, he was a disciple of Yi Yi and Seong Hon, and in 1567 he achieved the rank of Jinshi. In 1570 he achieveded the rank of Bunka, in 1583 he achieved the rank of Reiso Sarō, and in the following year he was promoted to Shusen.

Politically, he was initially a Westerner, but later joined the Eastern faction. He was heavily criticized by the Westerners for criticizing his former teacher Yi Yi. His criticisms caused the displeasure of King Seonjo (King Seonjo compared him to Hyeong-seo (邢恕) of the Song Dynasty who betrayed his teacher),^[1] following which, he resigned from the government and returned to his hometown, Jeonju, where he conducted academic research and formed an armed organization, Daedonggye (대동계; 大同契), to oppose Japanese pirates. The Daedonggye met monthly and trained in archery and other forms of combat. In 1587, the Daedonggye was powerful enough to defeat a group of pirates when the Jeonju magistrate's governmental army could not.^[2][3]

The formation of Daedonggye was claimed to be a rebellion plan by the Westerners, while the Easterners claimed this to be slander. During the ensuing investigations, Jeong Yeo-rip committed suicide.