Jeong was born in 1546 to a yangban (noble) family in Jeonju-bu, Jeollabuk-do. When he was young, he was a disciple of Yi Yi and Seong Hon. In 1567 he achieved the rank of Jinshi, and in 1570 he achieved the rank of Bunka, in 1583 the rank of Reiso Sarō, and in the following year he was promoted to Shusen.
Politically, he was initially a Westerner, but later joined the Eastern faction. He was heavily attacked by the Westerners for criticizing his former teacher Yi Yi. His criticisms caused the displeasure of King Seonjo, who compared him to Xing Shu (邢恕) of the Song Dynasty who was widely believed to have betrayed his teacher, Cheng Hao.[1]
Following this, he resigned from the government and returned to his hometown, Jeonju, where he conducted academic research and formed an armed organization, Daedonggye (대동계; 大同契), to oppose Japanese pirates. The Daedonggye met monthly and trained in archery and other forms of combat. In 1587, the Daedonggye was powerful enough to defeat a group of pirates when the Jeonju magistrate's governmental army could not.[2][3] The Westerners claimed that the formation of Daedonggye was a plot against the king and a rebellion, while the Easterners countered, accusing the Westerners of slander. In 1589, as a result of the reported rebellion, he fled to Jukdo Island, and committing suicide when government forces closed in on him.[4]
^鄭汝立 [Jeong Yeo-rip] (in Korean). Archived from the original on 2012-07-01. Retrieved 2023-05-12.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^김, 용덕, "정여립 (鄭汝立)", 한국민족문화대백과사전 [Encyclopedia of Korean Culture] (in Korean), Academy of Korean Studies, retrieved 2024-10-12
