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Jang Yeong-sil, 15th Century Korean scientist and inventor
Jang Yeong-sil, (장영실 ) a peasant slave, during his youth, overcame the class barriers of Chosun society to become the court science advisor to King Sejong the Great, during a renaissance period in Korean history that saw among other things the invention of the Korean script hangul. Jang is created with innovating or improving various devices in the Korean society of his time, including an astronomically precise sundial to advise farmers of accurate planting dates, various celestial globes, accurately recording the positions of the moon, sun and known planets, and water gauges and clocks.
Jang Yeong-sil (c. 1390 – after 1442) was a Korean engineer, scientist and inventor during the Joseon dynasty (1392–1897). Although Jang was born as a peasant, King Sejong's (r. 1418–1450) new policy of breaking class barriers placed on the national civil service allowed Jang to work at the royal palace.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jang_Yeong-sil
One of my favorite Korean historical dramas is based Jang Yeong-sil's life, and presents the challenges of Chosun class society, peasant slavery, and the closed minded resistance of the conservative class of Confucian elites who resisted Jang's open minded view of science and the universe.
