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Famous people are not necessarily kings, queens, or military heroes. My pen name is Shin Saimdang, and I am perhaps the most respected and famous woman in Korean history. I am primarily admired for being the ideal mother, wife, and daughter. I am also famous because I am a recognized painter, calligrapher, embroiderer, and poet. My son, Yi I (Yulgok), is one of the most celebrated Confucian scholars in our history.
I grow up in a city on the east coast of Korea. Most of my life is lived during the reign of King Chungjong, who is a benevolent ruler. My father has an aristocratic heritage. I have no brothers, but I have four sisters. I am the second oldest. My name is Shin Yi-son. I take a pen name, Saimdang (pronounced Sa-Im-Dang), from a famous story about a Chinese woman who is known for her honesty and wit.
My parents are determined to educate their daughters. When I am very young, they are convinced that I have artistic talent. I have a classical education; that is, I am schooled in the Confucian classics. I am particularly interested in Confucian philosophy, which teaches me the value of knowledge and influences me greatly. I will instill this value in my children. Today in America one still witnesses the impact of Confucianism on students of Asian descent in their dedication to their studies.
Confucius also teaches me about filial piety. What does this mean? First, it means that one should respect one’s parents. Children should respect their parents and follow their parents’ wishes with proper attitude and behavior. Second, children should care for their parents. Children owe their lives and upbringing to parents, and when they become adults, they should support and wait on their parents. Third, when parents die, filial piety is practiced again in the form of funeral rituals and ancestral memorial rites. Fourth, carrying on the family line is essential for filial piety. The Korean family system is patrilineal. For a son, the most important filial act is marrying and producing a son. Filial piety is the behavioral norm of traditional life and remains the foundation of Korean behavioral
norms.
At an early age I prepare for the responsibilities of being a wife and mother. I marry when I am nineteen. My husband, who is distantly related to the great naval hero Admiral Yi Sun-shin, becomes a scholar and serves as a government official. Even though I am very happily married, I am deeply saddened in my first year of marriage because my dear father dies. According to custom, I will mourn my father for three years. After this my husband and I will move to live with his family some distance away from my village and my widowed mother. It is difficult, but I travel the countryside between these two villages in order to fulfill my obligations to my mother.
I have seven children: four sons and three daughters. My son Yulgok is my third child. I am thirty-two years old when he is born. I realize immediately that this child is brilliant and commit myself to his education in the Confucian classics. He masters the classics by age seven and is writing beautiful poetry when he is eight. He continues to amaze me into his teens with his fascination for the classics and his dedication to learning. When I am forty-seven, my husband is given a position as tax official in another province. He takes Yulgok and his brother with him. While they are gone, I become very ill and die.
Even though I am a celebrated poet in my day, only two of my poems survive. One of them is about my mother. I am famous for my calligraphy, and seven pieces of my work still exist. My landscape paintings are widely praised. Today they are still appreciated and are considered to be great Korean treasures.
A statue now honors me in Sajik Park in downtown Seoul, and a street in Seoul is named after me. There is a shrine to my son and me near my home. Even though my accomplishments may seem small to you, I take pride in the fact that I have served as a role model for the women of Korea for nearly 500 years.
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