Admiral Yi-sun sin presentation

Admiral Yi-Sun-sin

“Those who seek death shall live. Those who seek life shall die.” ― Yi Sun-sin

why do i want to talk about him

I wanted to talk about him as he is one of the key figures of changing the course of east asia's history in the late 1500s.And how he achieved one of the greatest military naval feats of all time and how he stayed loyal to a corrupted goverment that treated him so badly

So who is Admiral Yi Sun-sin and why is he so famous

Yi Sun-sin was a Korean admiral and military general famed for his victories agaisnt the Japanese navy during the Imjin war in the Josean Dynasty. Yi has since been celebrated as a national hero in korea since. Over the course of his career, Admiral Yi fought in at least 23 recorded naval engagements, all agaisnt the Japanese. In most of these battles, he was outnumbered and lacked necessary supplies, due to the big corruption in the military. However despite all these, all 23 navel engagement battles ended him winning without him losing a single ship. What also amplifies these victories is that he was an amateur, as he had no formal naval training of any kind.

Today Admiral Yi is thought of as one of the greatest heroes and admirals of all Korean history. He is regarded as a great man because of his courage, intellect, loyalty and strength. There have been movies about him and books. In Busan, South Korea there is statue of Yi. There are even video games where you can play as Admiral Yi.

why did he join the militray?

Korea had 200 years of relative peace by the time it was 1545, only being threatened by the occasional raids from the jurchen tribes on the northern border and pirate crews plying the nearby sea. Despite this he joined the military due to the fact that he dreamed of serving the militray one day as a child. However the military was not a highly respected career choice for man of noble birth. As taking the civil service exams and joining the ranks of the confucian court was a much better way to receive power and success.

However he joined quite late in the military. As at the age of 28, he did the military exam only to fail even though he impressed the judges with his archery and swordsmenship, but failed due to the fact that he had a broken leg during the cavalry examination. 4 years later he did the miltary examination in which he passed.

this is when things started to go downhill and uphill for him

The Schemes and struggle he had in the military

And so, when he had passed the military exam, he was appointed to a desolate fort along the northern border of korea. While most of the border forts were pits of corruption, seen simply as a place to dump individuals who had fallen out of favor with the court, despite this Yi drilled his men rigorously and refortified his post bringing it up to true readiness in case of an attack. One day, the provincial governor came by to inspect the post. This was a man all of the fort commanders dreaded, as he was known for his harsh punishments and brutal discipline. But when he came to Yi, he simply said: "Hm. well done!" and moved on. Shortly thereafter, Yi was moved back to Seoul, a sign of growing favor, and he was given a post at the military academy there, training new recruits. He was by all accounts Rigorous, Diligent and incorruptible. And this was the exactly the problem. At this time, the military was actually a tool for younger noble sons to jump up the ranks quickly, and for courtiers to channel their favorite people into the cushiest of assignments. And Yi was not cooperating. So after a short stay in seoul he was booted back to a provincial assignment. However despite that, he had secured a positon running a naval garrison and was rapidly rising up the ranks again. But here too, he was schemed agaisnt by corrupt officials. As their was many attempts in having Yi removed from the military. Only for Yi being able to defend himself agaisnt those attempts, however one of his previous superiors from the militray academy. One who Yi had rebuked for corruption, was called for his province to do an inspection. Seeing an oppotunity for revenge, the inspector wrote a report castigating Yi, saying he was 'completely negligent'. This caused yi to find himself dismissed from the military entirely. Four months later though he was vindicated. Found innocent of the charges agaisnt him, he was returned to service but demoted to the lowest possible officer grade starting at the bottom again

His greatest Achievement

Yi won the battle of Myeongnyang which was his greatest achievement. He only had 13 ships while the Japanese had 333 ships. This was one of the greatest victories in naval history. A famous quote from Yi Sun-sin Yi died from a stray gunshot wound at the naval Battle of Noryang on December 16, 1598. His last words were: "The battle is at its height. Beat my war drums. Do not announce my death."

The development he gave to korea

Yi further developed koreas militray power by making the Turtle ship as well as intrododucing guns into korea as at that time korea was still stuck with bows and arrows

Official Record of all Naval Battles under Admiral Yi's Command Japanese Casualty: 75,900 ~ 95,900 deaths Japanese Injured : 4,400+ Japanese Ship Completely Wrecked/Destroyed: 773 Japanese Ship Captured by Korean Naval Force/Chinese Naval Force: 127 Japanese Ship Heavily Damaged: 220 Korean Casualty: 200 ~ 210 Korean Injured: 480 ~ 500 Korean Ship Destroyed/Captured/Heavily Damaged: 0 Korean Ship Slightly Damaged: 9