Hangul 문익점 Hangul 사은 or 삼우당 Hanja 文益漸 Hanja 思隱, 三憂堂 | Name Moon Ik-chum McCune–Reischauer Moon Ik-chum Role Politician | |
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Died February 1400, Sancheong County, South Korea | ||
Revised Romanization Moon Ik-chum | ||
Mun Ikjeom(korean:문익점;文益漸, 8 February 1329 – 13 June 1398) was a politician of the Goryeo Dynasty and a Neo-Confucian scholar. His given name was Ikcheom (익첨 益瞻), his courtesy name was Ilsin(일신 日新), and his pennames were Saeun (사은 思隱) and Samudang(삼우당 三憂堂).
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History
Mun Ikjeom was born in Gangseong village (강성현) in 1329. His father was Moon Sook-sun (문숙선 文淑宣), who had passed the civil service examination but did not work for the government. Ik-chom started working for the government as a historical recorder in 1360. In 1363, he went to Yuan China as an ambassador for cultural exchange. On the way back to Korea he put cottonseed in his writing brush cap to bring it secretly into Korea. In 1364, he went back to his home town Jinju to spread the seed and successfully grew one of the seeds he had brought back and continued to grow the number of plants significantly. Within ten years, Korea was able to produce cotton and was able to distribute it to the citizens. He died in 1398.