HomeChoong-Jang Tul

What I’ve discovered

 

Kim Duk Ryang (Possibly also Chung Ki Ryong or Kim Duk Nyung?) was born in 1567;

 he was a commander in the army during the Yi Dynasty.

 

In 1592 when Toyotomi Hideyoshi began the Imjin Wars, Kim Duk Ryang was promoted to General.

 

 The invading Japanese were armed with around 300,000 imported muskets and faced Korean forces

mostly armed with swords, bows, arrows and spears in guerrilla groups.

 

On land the Korean forces struggled, while at sea the naval forces of Admiral Yi Sun-Sin were

victorious.

 

In 1594 Kim Duk Ryang was promoted to Commander in Chief of the Honam Province, under his great

leadership and with a fellow commander Ja Wu Kwak (also Kwak Jae Woo) the army was able to repel

the Japanese forces from the province.

 

The Japanese greatly feared Kim Duk Ryang and gave him the name General Ho-Ik meaning Tiger Wing.

 

The bitter rivalries at court also had their impact on Kim Duk Ryang, when he was arrested in 1595 in

 connection with the killing of a slave girl.

 

His success on the battlefield may have led to the King’s intervention and his release by royal decree.

 

He was finally killed in 1596, by poisoning; after allegations that he took part in the

Mong Hak Lee (Yi) rebellion, he was posthumously cleared of all charges and dishonour.

In his encyclopaedia General Choi told us:

Choong-Jang is the pseudonym given to General Kim Duk Ryang who lived during the Lee

 (Yi) Dynasty, 16th century. This pattern ends with a left-hand attack to symbolize the

 tragedy of his death at 27 in prison before he was able to reach full maturity.