• (The)Study of the Eastern Classic
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• no.73
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• pp.303-325
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• 2018

Hwang Hee (1363~1452), a well-known politician in the beginning of Joseon Dynasty, tremendously contributed to opening the glorious civilization during the reign of King Sejong. He was a public servant canonized in the Jongmyo Shrine and a good example of clean government officials in the Joseon era. There were two requests from scholars of 8 provinces across the country to ask his tablet to be enshrined in the Confucian shrine. As a matter of fact, historical evaluation as well as his status is somewhat extraordinary, but his appraisal during his living times was not consistent according to the annals of Joseon like "Sejong Chronicles". Many of his corruptions and unjust behaviors were shown in the annals. It is hard to accept all of them as truth. There are some questions raised about his character, but also some as intentionally bad judgments. However they should be respected now since the authors were trying to write objectively based on their consciousness. Hwang Hee was highly evaluated and popular among bureaucrats because of his generosity. On the contrary, his generosity was so big that he had problems dealing with his family matters according to an official writing historic chronicles. I think this judgment explains well the reason why then some raised questions about his reputation. This goes well with Confucian's saying, "Each fault by humans has a pattern. Seeing one's fault will let you know the one's personality."