Kim Sangheon

Kim Sang-heon (1570–1652) was a Joseon-era scholar-official and Neo-Confucian thinker, best known as a leading figure of the anti-peace faction during the Manchu invasions. When the Qing pressed Joseon to surrender, he insisted on resistance to the end rather than betray moral principle and loyalty, and his stance—choosing death over the abandonment of righteousness—became a spiritual symbol for later Joseon scholar-officials. His pen name was Cheongeum, and after his death he was enshrined in the royal ancestral shrine of King Hyojong.